Ok I drove the Ram I just purchased two weeks ago off the internet, Its a 97 Ram 1500 sport with a 5.2. auto. 155 400 on the clock.

My question is , How low is your oil pressure according to your dashgauge?I was driving most of the time (7 hours)on the highway on the cruise and the engine was revving at 1750 rpm. Thepressurenever went higher than 40 psi(which is thehalf way mark on the gauge),even whenI floored it,the needleocsillated in between the first white mark and 40 but never higher. Is it normal??

I also noticed the needle doesnt stay steady , its always moving , even at steady rpm , I think its weird sinceoil pressureshouldnt fluctuate that much atsteadyrpm

later in the day just before I turnedoff the engine while I was parking at a rest area, the idiot light for oil came up,I turned off the engine immediately , and check the oil level, the oillevel was low( at the ADD mark). I didnt see the oil light coming on for the rest of the drive, but the oilpressure stayed kinda low, well too low formy taste.

Could the low oillevel (about one pint missing)had something to do with the oil light coming off , I suspect the oil sender on the engine that may have a faulty connection, making the needle to oscillate.

Maybe its wishfull thinking because I will need a new oil pumpand I refuse to admit it...


Your input would be really nice, Im new tothe Ram world and always willing to learn.

 

Sounds wierd to me. My oil presure stays right about 40. A hair below at idle, a hair above while driving.

Could be the oil pump which would kinda suck, it'd be a weekend project. I would just keep an eye on it and make sure the oil stays topped off.

 

Best thing to do would be to run an aftermarket oil pressure gauge, such as an autometer. This would give you true correct oil pressure.

I prefer to run a mechanical oil pressure gauge with either a copper feed line or a ss braided feed line. Do not use the ****ty nylon line that it comes with. With this setup, I've never had a leak.

Some guys prefer to run an electric gauge, and thats fine too, whatever floats your boat. I prefer a mechanical oil pressure gauge.

Others things you could try is swapping out the stock oil pressure sending unit with a new one from napa, etc, to see if you had a faulty sending unit.

 

mine reads around 40 or maybe a little under or over at highway rpm, always less than 40 at idle. i replaced the oil pump and sending unit recently and that had no effect on my gauge. my oil light never comes on.

the easiest thing to do is replace the sending unit. its on top of the block, about center or maybe slightly to the passenger side of center on the very very back, beside the distributor. i didn't say it was easy, just easiest. a clogged up or faulty sending unit will cause low pressure and idiot light.

if this doesn't help, and you really do have very low oil pressure, then you have bigger problems. one thing i want to try at my next oil change is to drain out 2 qts of oil, replace with atf, and let idle for about 30 min (while monitoring oil pressure). its supposed to clean any sludge build up in the oil passages, and be less harse than kerosene, which is the old way of doing it.

if you do decide to replace the oil pump, there is a write up on pavementsucks. its not too bad, except that i went with his conclusion (right or wrong ?) that you have to remove the starter in order to remove the flex plate cover in order to remove the oil pan. stupid dodge. after all that removing oil pan and oil pump is simple. but then again, like someone asked.. how can an oil pump ever wear out ? (a simple set of gears running in an oil bath).

 

i think it's more likely, assuming that his pressure sender/circuit is good, that the pressure release valve is sticking causing pressure changes than the pump itself wearing out, but anythings possible. you do have to remove the starter to remove the torque convertor/flex plate access cover though. i'd replace the sending unit, or put a gauge on it temporarily in it's place, and see what happens. as for a minimum oil pressure...i. think i recall reading somewhere that 10psi of oil pressure for every 1000 rpm is the minimum required as a baseline? can anyone confirm that? anyways, my oil pressure fluctuates with rpm somewhat also, but it always does it consistently. sorry, my trucks canadian, so the pressure is metric...but the oil system cleanout, whether with that or some other stuff (mechanic buddy of mine suggests the AC Delco engine flush) it could help out, especially if it's the pressure valve in the pump sticking.

 

well thanks for the input, I will change the sending unit and check connections, like I said its weird on the highway it wanted to stay just under 40, but then again , losing pressure, up again , going down , oh up again to 40 even a little bit higher.

The thing was driving me crazy, you are 500 miles from home, by yourself in a truck you dont know , im glad I made it safely and the truck is up to my expectations, I got just over 390 miles out of one tank . I get 220 miles off the first half. Its not that great but could be worse...I drive jeeps and they are pretty terrible on gas as well.

The exhaust system is too loud for me it has a dual (Y system) exhaust with a tiny flowmaster (one in dual out), I want to switch to a longer muffler hoping to quiet it down a little.

Thanks for the info.