Dig deep to solve a 3 years old question?

I'd rather stick the these five basics:

1) Regular maintenance is the best medicine. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. If the PCV valve is more than a year old, spend $3 for pete's sake on a new one! It takes less than 60 seconds to swap out. If you don't, get a "I'm a cheap dumb bastard tattooed on your ***."

2) Change the oil regularly. So what if oil MIGHT be good for 10,000 miles. Regardless of what it says on the packages, it more than likely is not. While only getting your own used oil TBN tested can verify for sure, most have no incentive to get theirs tested on regular intervals. Simply change your oil come hell or high water at 5000 miles if synthetic or 3000 miles if dino oil. Oil gets old, contaminated, looses it's ability to do what it is supposed to do and gets thinner and thinner and thinner, especially with heat and age. Pulling or heat alone will not foam up your oil. If foaming is the really happening at the point of issue, that is just a symptom, not the problem. Quality, life-still-in-it oil isn't going to foam up unless you add it with a little egg and milk in a Cuisinart. Remember to ALWAYS change the filter too (see the tattoo above.) Avoid Fram, get a good filter instead. The web is your friend. Got Search?

3) Oil pumps fail. Often? Nope. If you take the percentage of forum users who claim a failed pump verses the actual number of owners who are not forum users that actually have a failed pump... one would think being on a forum actually causes an oil pump failure. That is the only possible explanation. (Pleezze!) True pump failure is rare and even rarer on lower mileage (less than 200,000 miles) vehicles. Pressure Sending Units fail so if that's it, that's it. More likely than the actual pump. When most units fail, they show full pressure even with the engine off. That's your sign it's bad.

4) Oil pick up screens get dirty. See #2. Solves that. If you are already behind on starting this process of regular maintenance and oil changes, reality says you earned what's coming. Pray.

5) Much more likely is a failed gauge. Especially the ultra cheapo gauges on the 2001-2003s. Truly common happening? No. Does it happen? Yes. It always could be nothing really wrong and just a bad gauge. Verification can be troublesome. Your oil pressure will move around between the middles. A drop to low is something to be respected. Stop, drop and roll... or at least turn off the vehicle. It isn't worth a new engine if the slight possibility exists that you have a real problem. They call these gauges "Idiot Lights" for a reason.

IndyD

 

First off I'm not saying this is the ONLY problem out there, just saying this problem IS out there.

1. This isn't this particular problem. What I'm talking about is people like me that are religious to their maintenance with additions to more PCV valves every 2 to 3 oil changes. I think I'm going to start doing it ever oil change or 5000k.

2. FS oil is being changed at 5000k intervals and using Mobil 1.
Thats total BS dude. If you over heat the oil it can break apart the silicone from the compound. Silicone is the additive that keeps it from foaming. But what I'm talking about is IF YOU ADD MORE BLOW BY then the PVC can take out it can and will do this and this is one of the main reasons the PCV valve is now included into todays engines. But if towing and heat shouldn't just do this and this is why the thread was started.

3. Yes oil pumps fail. I'm not discrediting this statement. But if the oil pump is fine and this is a known fact then what else is there. I know this can happen and is the usual suspect but what if it's good then what?
PS units are the usual candidates but if the heads are rattling, engine is bogging down, and getting really hot then theres no oil getting to the top or bottom of the motor and thats just that! Now the only way to totally prove 0 psi is by a gauge but in these cases they are all the exact same. No other problems and I know in MY case theres NO oil period!

4. Plugged screens might do this BUT it would do this all the time not just sometimes and high RPM would cause a decrease in psi considering it would be moving more oil at that time not a small amount like when idling at 600 RPM. Also more likely this would occur really bad in sub zero temperatures as oil regular thickens. Hell, I had regular 10W-30 in mine at -20 or less outside and didn't have that problem....... I don't think so.

5. I totally agree with stop, drop and roll when this happens. Also it possibly could be a bad gauge but read #4 again:
You think I would pour 3 years of head scratching into a simple problem. I'm not over thinking here just trying to figure it out. Also after years of talking to a chemical engineer (Senior Masters Degree) with Mobil 1 Oil Company (Father-in-law). I'm not discrediting these attempts but so far I've tried to rule these ones out already.


Again thanks for all the input guys! Keep it coming!

 

Can't let that stand just yet HS.

Again, heat and pulling a load will not make your oil foam. To create a foam, which by definition is "a mass of small bubbles formed on or in liquid, typically by agitation", leading us to the definition of a bubble which is "a thin sphere of liquid enclosing air" you need AIR. AIR is not added to the equation by adding a pulling load Nor by heat. Air is getting there via another source.

All I am saying is that you need to re-read and then re-read what you replied. You answered it yourself. The blow by and the PCV... both air related.

Thus, I firmly stand by my statement that "Pulling or heat alone will not foam up your oil." and rebuff the BS comment as inaccurate. Pulling or heat may SOMEHOW be related as to WHY the blow by is affect or as to why the PCV is failing, but neither cause foam in and of themselves, thus are not the CAUSES. Only ancillary elements that may be related when the issue shows up. Getting us back to the AIR, back to the most likely culprit related to that area with air and the PCV... the reason to replace it annually for $3. That is less than 6 cents per week.

IndyDurango

 

I know you can't........LOL

Agitation of an oil (by way of a rotor syle pump) with a positive force of air will mix with the oil causing bubbles to form. The positive air pressure is being caused by blow by. When the rings are allowing excessive blow by to occur (some motors not all) and the PCV valve is not venting out the positive pressure. The PCV valve is there creating vacuum and this is what will pop the bubbles.

All I'm saying is this is the final culporite!

Now why does it do it more in the 5.9L gas motor....IDK.... Maybe it's the way the breather is hooked into the intake....IDK.... To base this hypothisis one would need to see if (because of the configuration) the pressue by way of a mechanical gauge.

I totally agree with your statement Indy, however if you over heat the oil it breaks down. Just towing or heat shouldn't do this and in shear numbers the chance is very low but it CAN happen. If you overheat an oil many things could occur. When you get oil very hot and mix a positive pressure, bubbles are going to form thus if conditions are right foam CAN occur.

What I'm thinking is that the heat generated when these things are ocuring with a positive pressure CAN make it foam, but only if conditions are right. I'm not saying it's the only culporite.

The problem IF and WHEN it occurs COULD be explained by this and this is why I started the thread. This particular problem is mainly caused by posivtive pressure in the crank case. The entire reason I brought this thread to life is that I finally figured it out and people need to be aware that if their engine has more than usual blow by then change their PCV valve more often.

I know I answered my own question and thats the reason for this entire thread. What I am asking is that all you tech heads out there is:

Is there anything else that you can think of besides the regular basics?

 

Testing results are verified: https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...ml#post1778597

 

You guys are seriously overthinking things. This happens to my 2000 5.9 all the time. I come to a stop, gauge drops to zero. Guess what? Check the oil. Every time this happens my oil is low. So, when I'm coming to a stop, all the oil that remains in the sump sloshes to the front of the pan. I'm pretty damn sure the pickup is in the back. So, faulty gauge? No. Faulty oil pump? Probably not. Low on oil? Absolutely. I have to add about 3 quarts every couple of weeks (oh, yeah, sucks to be me. Bought it that way, no way of knowing).

So the real questions is, why do I go through so damn much oil? It doesn't leak or noticeably smoke. New PCV valve too. Everything runs great on this truck, just uses a ton of oil.

 

a) you have a plenum leak

b) one should never allow the oil pressure to drop likes yours is

c) when you loose pressure because you know it is low on oil, of course it isn't the pickup or gauge

d) too seriously? whatever. Enjoy that dying Durango you have. Pushing 211,000 miles here and just took 3rd Place at the 2009 All-Chrysler Nationals in the Durango division. Must be doing something right eh?

IndyD

 

Yes this could be because you are low on oil. Do you seriously think we didn't think of that? Like I said, other reasons OTHER THAN the normal reasons. Yes it can happen with the oil sloshing to the front of the pan but being that the pickup tube is towards the rear 3/4 of the motor (approximately at the 6/5 bearing locations).

Now in this write up is dealing with complete loss of oil pressure. Not just coming to a stop. It also has to due with loss of oil pressure when the motor is hot if you had completely read this thread. I have had the truck sitting at a stop sign after the loss of oil pressure and feathering the throttle to keep the oil pressure up then let off and still the same issues. Users have also talked about this issue. This goes against everything you just posted bproosow!

Now I even tested this as a theory and proved it's correct and I also studied this over a very long time period. Yes you are correct, if you come to a stop after high RPM's with low oil in the pan the oil is still in the top of the motor and hasn't fallen to the pan yet and also the pump isn't forcing it down the oil jackets to the pan to be picked up because the pump losses RPM. But this is not because the oil sloshes to the front of the pan. Can it happen, yes but only if you are low on oil and the right conditions are met.

Now Indy's is 100% correct. You need to do your homework if your going to prove someone wrong. You didn't even know where the oil pickup tube is and you have to curse in your post to try to force your information down our throat? Not to mention you don't even fully understand where your oil is going?

 

come on hydra, id have thought you were better than this

 

I fed the troll too I guess. It was even his first post.

With that said, last time I called someone a troll, I got my hand smacked. Must be only something a moderator can get away with?

J/K.

If he was serious, then he has been straightened out. If he was a troll, he has been called out. Solved IMHO either way. I'm done with him.

You can pick your nose and you can pick your friends but you can't pick your friend's nose.

IndyD