is the gauage broken lmfao

 

Some people lift the motor and some people drop the suspension. Take your pick..

 

I have a 98 Durango, 4x4,318 5.7 V8. I bought it used and the previous owner told me he took it to an oil change shop that used Castrol GTX oil. So on my next oil change I used Castrol GTX. Taking my first long trip on the interstate I lost oil pressure after about 200 miles. I pulled over. Shut her down. I waited about 3 minutes and fired her up. Got oil pressure for about 1 minute. then nothing. I let it idle until I heard my lifters just starting to click. Now I knew it was a oil pressure problem and not a sending unit. I let it sit for awhile. As I was right at a exit, I started it up and made it to a Walmart in sight. Something told me to try and change the oil filter. I did and that solved the problem. Drove another 600 miles. I started to see my oil pressure was slowly dropping off regular pressure. even during off interstate driving.I decided to change the filter again and got oil pressure back to normal. Before heading home with another 600 miles to go, I once again changed filter. When I got back home. I attacked the problem. What I FOUND, I saved the original filter I lost pressure with and the one I started losing pressure. I cut them open and found what you would consider coffee grinds of harden sludge.Evidently the Castrol GTX had enough strong detergents in it to break this old buildup of sludge loose in the engine. I pulled the filter base and cleaned. Went in through the drain plug hole with a round wire brush and scrubbed the oil pickup screen. Reinstalled the drain plug, dumped abot 2 gals of diesel fuel in the engine. Pulled the drain plug, flushing out alot of stuff. Filled engine with 10w-30 Walmart oil and cheap filter. ran Durango about 25-30 miles, draned oil and filter. Repeated that again and drove 200 miles. Drained oil and removed filter. Changed to CASTROL HIGH MILEAGE 10w -30 and a FRAM FILTER. When trouble started we had 88,000 mi. on the Durango. Have not had a problem since. We now have 182.000mi. on it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!! Wish others with this same problem luck. I have followed this thread for 3 years and can't believe that no one has come up with a definate reason why loss of oil pressure. Of course Mopar would not admit to nothing??? The synthetic blend of the High Mileage Castrol may have somthing to do with eliminating foaming and cavitation a subject addressed by others. JUST UPDATED THIS MARCH 18, 2012!!

 

Got any pictures?????

 

I have a 1999 Dodge Dakota V6 Magnum, Extended cab 2 w/d
165k miles.

At 60k miles I started losing oil pressure intermittently. Pressure would hold inf at 80 psi then suddenly drop to zero when I turned a corner or slowed down.

I had a mechanic check it and he flushed the engine,changed the oil pump and the sending unit.

No problems til 90k miles. Same problem again. I replaced the oil pump . It worked fine until a few weeks ago.
Now at 165 k, I am having the same problem.

So far, we have flushed the engine,changed the oil pump. changed oil and filters twice, blown out everything that an air hose can clean out, checked the PVC valve and even pulled the intake and checked the gear on the distributor shat ( a suggestion by a Dodge service tech). Everything looks good. No unusual knocking, rattling or or pinging until the oil pressure drops.

At this point the pressure goes to 80PSI and in a couple of minutes drops to zero and the tapping starts.

The engine each time had a lot of sludge. I have always uses Castrol oil and until I started looking at this problem I was afraid that Castrol had simply gone bad. Researching this issue tells me that indeed, the sludge happens with all oils in these engines with as little as 25k miles.

It seems as though there is something that closes, or becomes intermittently obstructed preventing the flow of oil (This particular engine does not have a bypass at the filter.). The problem would seem like a small piece of sludge that is lodged somewhere that floats and drops. ( I know...not likely) but that is how it appears.

Engine pressure is fine.

Now aside from changing oil viscosity and theories on temperature, does anyone have an instance or know of one, where this problem has actually been resolved?

If so please let me know. My truck is sitting in a garage waiting for me to bring it home.

Thanks,

Jim

 

Hay Jim. You can read my post above. You went through more steps and expense then I did. Right now, Change your oil filter!! Stick with Fram or Puralator!!! See if this will give you oil pressure for a few thousand miles.If this works, Change your oil and filter again. DO NOT USE CASTROL GTX. GO WITH CASTROL "HIGH MILEAGE" Evidently GTX has alot more detergent in it . If you would cut your filter apart , you will more then likely find "Coffee grinds" of hard sludge in the deep V of the filter material. You would not think this would cause a problem but it does. Post a reply after you try this. I change my oil every 3500mi.This las time I was going over 4500 and noticed my oil pressure was dropping. I am courious if this will help you. Ken

 

Hmmmm, single poster.......LOL

1. There is no problems with sludge so I don't know where you got that info?

2. No bypass on the oil filter?.......LOL.......You are INCORRECT!

3. Replace the $2 PCV valve instead of checking it and have a vacuum test done to ensure you don't have a Plenum leak or a major case of blow by. If you don't have enough vacuum (neutral) you will cause a positive PSI you can cause the pump to cavitation causing the issue. I did this by simply taking off my air breather tube and running my rig at 80mph for 1 hour and stopping at a light on a off ramp so there is even more proof.

Lastly, check all your tubes and vacuum.


Why don't you read the thread and it will answer you questions with data and tests.

 

wow, this is an interesting thread. as for the origonal post about powerstrokes, the reason they have the potential for foaming is not due to seal composition. the reason is the style injection system. ford powerstrokes used what is known as HEUI injection. it uses high pressure oil to fire the injectors rather then a high pressure fuel injection pump such as what is found on the 12 and 24 valve cummins. while you standard gas and diesel engines run at a max of 70-80 psi the powerstroke cranks that oil up to 3400 psi up to 4000 psi in the injection system. this extreme pressure is what breaks the oils down and causes foaming. as long as you use an oil that is ci-4 and cj-4 plus rated you wont have any problems. i have 300,000 foam free miles on my truck with no problems related to oil foaming.

on a tangent, the 7.3 was way ahead of its time when it came out. the heui system was top notch. the mechanical fuel systems were limited to roughly 12-15,000 psi injection pressure but the heui system using high pressure oil got injection pressure up to nearly 30,000 psi. that is why they were more efficient, and had more power in the stock unmodified form. to its downside it also hurt them in extreme cold weather, for as we all know cold weather makes oil thick, and when oil is your key to injection things become sluggish when your oil is cold-the main reason powerstrokes smoke so much on cold starts.


PLEASE dont bash me for the powerstroke talk, just figured i'd throw it in there since it was brought up in this topic, afterall, its what i made my living on till i went to work for the dod. i drive a powerstroke but mopar runs through my blood.

also, if you think you are having foaming issues, you may want to run a diesel oil to verify. i can say that ford motorcraft makes a 10w30 diesel oil that would rule out foaming as a problem if you were to run it in your rigs.

 

lol, you posted while i was writing a book........ the excess crankcase pressure definatly will cause problems...... our trucks not being mass air equipped may leave more options. i wonder hwo they would respond to a breather installed in the valve cover? sure beats a total rebuild.

 

The engine foaming was fixed in the oil formulas. My father-in-law helped in the reformat at least in Mobil Ones lubrication's case. I think they also changed the chemical makeup of the gaskets after the initial out come of the previous motors.