Assumption here is you have tried the book spec that came with the trucl.I would go with the standard spec oil. I would then add a can of Bardall if still available. I mention this because, (old guy story, back in the day), I once saw an engine with lifter noise purr like a kitten and noises go away with bardall. We had added STP with no noise reduction and the Bardall shut it right up.

 

Idk after trying that Lucas (this was my first ever oil additive) I probably wont ever be using any additive ever again.

It makes me wonder why if now that I am getting better oil pressure my truck is running worse then when it was getting zero oil pressure. Kind of weird no?

 

Not in love whth lucas, ot could be making things too thick. Spec oil with bardall always had done me fine. As for additives, I once was given a mustang that smoked and ran like crap but i needed the car. Oil Filter, anti smoke additives and STP got me 40 K miles till I could get something else.

 

I don't know if it is making things too thick, maybe it is. My oil pressure takes like a good 10 seconds to rise on a cold day. When I turn the truck on the light and gauge don't move for a good 10 seconds, when they finally do you hear this like buzzing sound for a few seconds like I don't know how to explain it, almost like a fan kicking on but you hear it from inside the engine kind of towards the oil pan, who knows could be pump related.

And once the truck is completely warm and the oil has heated up I still get the oil light to come on, gauge no longer drops below the "safe" line now but the light still comes on.

Also if I wanted to check flow towards the top half of my engine could I just turn the truck on with the oil cap off and see if oil sprays out, or is that a bad idea? Haha.

 

LOL factory valve covers usually have a plate installed in them to prevent splash out, not to hinder our troubels shooting but to prevent splash on fill of a running engine. YES THERE ARE IDIOTS OUT THERE THAT TRY TO ADD OIL WHTH THE ENGINE RUNNING!

 

did you confirm the sending unit is fine ? if so, that would leave the pump as the most likely cause of your problem. people have mentioned these 2 things several times already. i seen you poured some mystery oil additive in but have you investigated a proper fix to your problem ?

 

I've replaced the sender nothing happened, so I even bought a mechanical gauge and tested it. Low pressure.

It could be the pump... though I highly doubt it. If the pump works when the trucks cold and even up to the point of being warm the pump is fine. RPM's are what create my pressure... Which leads me to bearings, main and rod.

Funny thing haha is my water pump gasket blew on me today..

I'm just going to try and sink as little money possible into this engine to get it to last as long as I possibly can. Fix the gasket on my water pump throw some Rotella 15w-40 oil in there and drive it till she blows.

Then buy and get a re manufactured engine put in.

 

You have confirmed its low oil pressure by replacing the sender and adding a mechanical guage. Now the question is how long can you run with the situation? LOL I ran a 351M Ford for four years with bad oil pressure, only went 50 K in miles in that time, but I did use it on short trips, actually highest was around 600 miles in the summer in one weekend. THank you STP.

 

**** if I get 20k miles out of this engine I will be happy.

All this thing is is my off road buggy to drive down the beach with. Farthest I would travel would be like 15 miles to the beach and maybe like 3 miles down the beach. Then back of course.

Hopefully the Rotella 15w-40 will do just fine for my summertime beach driving. I mean summertime driving here on long island, temp rarely gets above 90 degrees.

Now to fix this water pump gasket and get her running again.

 

I have a 95 ram with 115k and mine also shows no oil psi and oil light comes on at a stop. Changed oil and sending unit no affect