Hey folks,

I have been a big dodge fan for years. I have had several darts, a ram charger and just recently bought an 04 quad cab pick-up. I am fairly knowledgeable with some things but I have a lot to learn. I am a carpenter, not a mechanic.

that being the case, I have a question about the 89 5.2L motor, particularly the oil pump. located near the main crank in the oil pan. My friend Natalie recently bought this 89 150 Ram and it has seen better days but she loves it. fortunately for her, she is pretty handy with stuff.

long story short, she hears this noise underneath, takes it to a shop and they say, Oil pump, she buys one and come to my shop with it. I hear the noise, would be my guess too, so we drop the pan and get to it. couple hours it's back together and running. no noise.

next day, noise is back.

I primed the pump before it was installed and I checked tolerance so I know it should work.

I pulled the valve cover and it is not getting oil to the top of the motor.
any guesses on what could be the problem, I.E. blocked ports, slipped bearing,....etc.

any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

(noise) What kind of noise? Knock clang squeal? Heavy metal or tinny? Oil pumps themselves are not known to make noise. I would throw a gauge in the sending unit hole to find out about the oil pressure first. If you lack oil pressure the pick up tube for the oil pump in this engine is screwed in and must be tight so it can't move around and it must be sealed or it can suck air. If the pick up tube is not flat it can hit against the oil pan and make quite a racket or it can hit the crankshaft as it goes around and in that position it will suck air instead of oil.

 

if you need a second I agree with seal

get a mechinical gauge installed to confirm pressure..

with the pan off - was there excess sludge?

 

Pull the sending unit which is just behind the intake back by the distributer and install a gauge. If you pull the sending unit and take it to the hardware store you can get the right size fittings and some teflon tape. A 100 PSI gauge is cheap and will work fine.

 

SEAL,

Thanks for the feed back. The pick up tube was tight to the pump when primed and installed. I didn't notice any wear on it from friction as would happen if making contact with crankshaft. good call on the gauge at sender port. will try that. no sludge when we pulled the pan. ran it after install and pulled driver side valve cover while running and no flow. snake cam revealed the same on passenger side.something is either plugged or not functioning.

The sound is a dull knock but not like a rod knock or a valve knock or dieseling type knock.

Spun bearing? clogged passages? unsure.
thanks again for your input.

 

by the way, what kind of pressure should it have in a perfect world?

 

Kev2

thanks for the input. no sludge to speak of. will try the gauge and check pressure although I am not sure what it should be.

She is interested in learning about the motor and how it works so we might just find a working 318 and swap it, and get a rebuild kit so she can make a mess in my shop for a week or so.

 

SEAL,

The sound is located at the pump, I used a mechanics stethoscope and it is most audible right at the well side of the pan directly under the pump.

 

the pressure is 1st step.. v8s are long lived and can get by with what seams like low pressure, idle as low as 8 and 35mph @30 I will post the spec BUT that is for new low milage eng.

a thought... no ticking or knocking from eng, esp lifters...
I might remove a pushrod and see if hole is plugged...
check the pump drive portion of dist...

OR I never said this....
get a new oil fifter- wix purolator- and 2 cans of something called lifter medic or valve medic* ... remove valve covers try to pour some down each pushrod get it on lifters is idea...then start....the new filter is to go on after the sludge hopefully starts moving ...

*detergent

 

30 to 70 PSI at 2000 RPM is normal.