What I do not understand is, you did a chemical flush with the old oil in and also checked the oil pressure and it was within limits, why would you drop the pan afterwards? This made no sense. If my oil pressure was fine after or before a flush, I would have changed the oil and put in a new filter. Not Fram of course. Then I would have rechecked the oil pressure again after a good warm up. Your pick up tube screen will have debris on it after a flush because you knocked all the carbon and some of the burnt oil loose from the engine. If it was more than half way clogged, then I would have changed it. If the check gauges light came on, it could have been also a low voltage and not low oil. What made me think of this is because you said it restarted after you waited fro 20 minutes. That would be enough time for the battery to get back up a bit to restart the engine. After you restarted the engine, how was the oil pressure reading and also the volt gauge reading? Was there any ticking heard when it did the same for your wife? A low voltage will set off the check engine gauge light along with all the gauges not operating. Since you have it torn down this far, you might as well replace the oil pump, a larger pick up tube will not assist you any better than the normal sized one that comes with a new pump.

 

Thank you for the input...

I was aware that the other gauges could trip the same warning but this was not the case. I witnessed the pressure drop, slowly, from start-up where the presssure was normal, to zero after eight minutes or so of my normal driving. When it got to the lower indicator marker on the dash guage, it would hover, then drop to zero and the red warning then came on. I then experiminted. I stopped the engine, waited two or three minutes, then restarted and drove. The dash gauge indicated some pressure. Repeated this procedure three times and it took much less time to reach zero on the second and third time. Waited 30 minutes to restart after that and pressure was normal again.

We then used the flush but I am/was not satisfied that it was a cure to the problem. Inspection of the tube, after the flush, as much debris and gunk remaining trapped cued me to a new tube. I can see where the pump would demand more flow than the screen would allow. That was my call.

As for mechanical noises, luckly, not yet. No metal on metal.

I have not changed the oil pump as it demonstrates that it is doing its job as of now.

Thanks, David

 

Thanks for clearing that up. I understand fully now. Sometimes it is hard to picture in one's mind on how things led up to the situation at hand. I do not know of an aftermarket larger pick up tube. The pick up tube is only going to supply enough oil for the pressure the engine is designed for. If the pressure output is getting too high, there is a relief valve built in the oil system to bypass the excess pressure. It would be futile to try to find another larger one, it is not a component that requires more than what it is designed for, otherwise the engineers would have done the needed change beforehand.

 

Being that far down I would replace the oil pump and be done messing around.


2nd, replace the stinkin $3 PCV valve and replace the sending unit.