So far, I'm having a hell of a time getting the transmission pan to seal... 3rd time and 3 stripped out holes in the tranny. I'm going to take it off, clean it up again, and this time use the "Right Stuff" by permatex along with another new pan gasket.

I got the cab ready for primer, put the new radiator in, and put the lift kit on the rear. I took it out to warm it up and run the coolant through and everything was going very nicely. About 8 minutes into my drive, the engine started ticking fairly loudly and it increased with the engine speed, so I'm guessing it was in the engine. I checked the oil pressure gauge and it was at around the 2nd tick mark. I figured this to be low (even though I understand you can't trust those stock gauges), so I turned the engine off while rolling down the road. Once I started slowing down, I started it back up, put it in drive, and the oil pressure went to about the 3-4 tick range, and the noise stopped, but returned a little later and I checked the gauge again, and it was back down to about the 2nd tick mark.

Any suggestions?

 

Oil pickup restricted?

 

That'd be a possibility as once the suction stops when I cut the engine, whatever is on the screen would likely fall off. I was going to take the oil pan off, but I couldn't get the two bolts on the extreme end towards the transmission, as there are some tabs that won't allow a socket to fit on.

 

I believe the ticking is the hydraulic lifters not getting enough oil....you'll hear a similar ticking on a cold start up for a second or two as the oil in the lifters comes up to pressure. The oil pressure gauge on my 88 Ram D100 w/ a 318 (v8) normally only goes as high as the second "tick" mark, which concerned me, so I purchased an oil pressure gauge off ebay for about $20 and checked it (it was fine). I agree w/ previous diagnosis - sounds like something getting sucked into the oil pickup. I believe the engine needs to be jacked up a bit to remove the pan.....pretty sure there is a post in this forum somewhere about how to do that. PS I would not drive the thing until I figured out what was going on w/ the oil pressure!!!

 

Are the tabs on the dust cover that covers the engine side of the flywheel/torque converter? If so it comes off.

 

Yes, that's them

 

Here's how she sits as of yesterday.

 

And you drove this down the road? Lol. Thats sweet. I'd never get away with that. I get pulled over the minute a taillight or anything else goes out. Thats pretty sweet.

 

That's the beauty of living in the country... I even drove it up to the gas station to get gas.... I got more looks than a guy in a Ferrari!

 

Thats not the country, the roads are paved and there are houses around.