I bought a 2004 Dakota about a month ago and I bought it with it needing a timing chain because the main tensioner was bad. I also replaced the oil sending unit because it had an erratic reading. I got both of those fixed and the truck ran great for about two weeks (250 miles driven)before the oil pressure gauge started acting erratic again it will only drop at a stop and will only occasionally drop to 0. Checked the sensor and it was leaking oil. The connector to the sending unit is also broken and barley stays on the sensor, doesn’t click in either. I can let off the gas and it stays normal and it sometimes stays normal even when hot and at a stop. It’s intermittent and only happens sometimes. The truck never makes any knocking or ticking even when the pressure drops. I checked the oil and it’s got a good level I also emptied the pan a bit to see what the oil looked like because someone said that I could be the main bearing.the oil is glittery but I’m not sure if it’s from the timing chain hitting metal or a bearing. I have no knocking or weird noises ever so I’m not sure. What would I do. I’m broke and this is my daily. I will fix what it needs as I love the Dakota but I need to know what should be replaced. I dropped a 10 mm socket into my oil pan too when doing the tc so idk if that got anything to do with this or not. I never retrieved that 10 mm

Glittery oil. Not sure if from the timing chain hitting metal or from a bad bearing


Main tensioner broken and driven like this for who knows how long. It rattled something awful

 

That's quite a bit of metal in the oil there. Is this the first oil change since you replaced the tensioner? I don't remember if these have a plastic or metal tensioner. If its a metal one it could be from that. See if the amount drops after the next oil change. Might do it early as well. As for the oil sending unit. Does the gauge just drop out when it starts acting up or does it start bouncing all over? If the connector is broken on the sender you might want to just replace it. They aren't very expensive. If its the harness side that's broken you might try taping it on or using a bit or shrink tubing.

 

Yes this is the first time I’ve changed the oil since I got the truck and since the guides, tensioner and chain replacement. the guides/ tensioner are plastic and metal. When It was rattling, meaning it was slapping onto the metal part of the guide/tensioner. I bought it with it making that noise so I’m not sure how long it was driven like that. And I plan on changing the oil when I put in the new connector (on the harness side) I just dropped a bit of the oil to see what it looked like because people (on the internet) were saying it’s an engine bearing causing the pressure issue. And it will drop all the way out sometimes and other times it will just bounce around. The truck sounds fantastic it has no knock which is why I’m confused on how it would be an engine bearing.

 

Personally I would just wait till the next oil change and see if the metal content drops significantly. If you have no to little glitter then it was probably the debris from the chain slapping around. If it stays then you have a large job ahead of you.

 

If the glitter looks copper, then that will be bearings going away. If it's silver, then it's steel or aluminum. Unfortunately, that glitter looks copper to me, and that would explain the oil pressure loss, particularly at low RPM when hot. What oil viscosity are you running? You can go to a thicker oil (10-40 or 20-50) to make up some of the bearing gap until you can service it. I don't know much about the 3.7's, but if it's 2 wheel drive, you might be able to lift the engine up slightly and drop the oil pan around the crossmember.

I'd change the oil, run it a bit more, then re-examine it. If the glitter goes away, cool. If not, time to do some planning.

Pro tip: Get yourself a clear 3 gallon tupperware container from the store, and drain the oil into it. That will let you examine the oil closer, and also give you the ability to dump it back in if it is clean. You might also invest in a tool for cutting open oil filters.

 

Do you know how long/how many miles that oil has been in the truck? Yeah, it doesn't look good but that oil may be years old and be old oil topped off with new oil occasionally. Run the new oil for 1K and drain to see if it's still glittery.

 

they prev owner said the did an engine flush and an oil change right before I got it but since the dude was a mechanic and said the noise was a pulley and they said they were moving then didn’t move I don’t really know how much I trust what they did to the truck. I’m also not sure what viscosity they put in there either if they really did do an oil change. I’ll probably run thicker oil and a bigger filter for like 500 miles and see what it looks like. And it would give me time to save the money for tools, the bearing, ect