A little back story. I have a first gen but the FIL has a second gen, a 2001 4x4 short bed 5.2 magnum. Anywho, back a few years ago we use to go to the lake at least once every other month which is about 150 miles one way. Once in a while he would pull over and we would also stop to see what was wrong. He would complain that he would see the oil pressure gauge go to zero when under load. he would pull over shut it down, and then on restart, everything was perfect. It might not happen at all on a trip but also might happen multiple times on a trip there or back. I told him it was probably the oil pump but he should check it out but he never did.


One trip he was coming back, I was right behind him and it happened and he didn't notice it. Yea, the motor spun a bearing due to loss of oil pressure. After that incident and having to tow him into the nearest town with my truck, I jumped on the net and started poking around and saw at least ten or more stories about the same thing. Oddly enough, none of them ever said if it was a Dodge recall or not or even if it ever got fixed under a warranty. BTW his truck was about 1200 miles out of warranty when it happened. He out in a crate motor and it has been great ever since but was there a problem with the second get earlier trucks with the oil pumps being bad?

 

Did you disassemble the old motor to see what happened? I would suspect either a clogged oil pump pickup, or something similar. Low oil level (due to consumption from a blown plenum?) would also do the same thing...

 

The place that did the crate motor install did that and nothing was plugged, blocked or anything. And it had plenty of oil in it when it went bang, I checked that first.

 

it only appears to be an issue when something clogs pick up as HeyYou referenced. The gauge ong to 0 without losing pressure does seem to be problematic, whcih can be attributed to loose connector on sender or faulty sender. Others reference fautlty gauge, but sender is more likely the issue. But oil failure could be pump or improper fit on bearings, allowing excess flow at bearing and inadequate oil at other strategic points in engine.

I have often recommended that people with what may "appear" to be low oil pressure issue actually connect a mechanical gauge at leats temporarily to see what is actually going on, then go from there. This will either confirm that pressure is indeed low, or a sender/gauge issue. I have checked mine twice with such gauge to verify that I am actually getting the 50 psi or so that gauge is showing after reading numerous threads about low oil pressure. Sometimes it may be pieces of plenum gasket that could get into pan and clog pick up. Don't really know what else it could be.

For your FIL, I would recommend just keeping an eye on it. I would not worry about it, just keep cheking. Actually having low oil pressure should also come with ticking or slight knocking sound from engine.

 

For your FIL, I would recommend just keeping an eye on it. I would not worry about it, just keep cheking. Actually having low oil pressure should also come with ticking or slight knocking sound from engine.[/QUOTE]His new motor has been in for years with absolutely no problems, the firs tone however, is in some junk pile in Santa Rosa New Mexico! HAHA! Now my truck (1991 W150, 318 all dead stock) USE to have a problem where it would go low pressure after warm up at stop lights. However, I noticed it would be accompanied by it almost stalling. Turned out to be a partially clogged low speed squirter in the TBI. I ran a tank of G2P and Premium and ever since, that problem has gone completely away.