if i was in your shoes, this is what i would do, and this is the order that i'd do it...

1. check the oil and examine the dipstick. 1/4" either side of full is fine. do you have black oil or do you have thick sludge. black oil thats thin enough to drip is normal. if the black stuff is too thick to drip, then you might have a sludge problem.

2. drive something other than your truck to the store and get 5 or 6 qts of oil and a new filter, and 1 qt of Gunk brand engine flush (its only about $3-4). follow the directions - pour in the flush. it will look and smell like paint thinner. start the truck and let it idle for about 5 or 10 minutes. don't rev it, don't drive it, keep an eye on the oil pressure. if pressure drops to 0 for an extended period, then stop the engine. cost- about $20.

3. drain the oil and let it drip for a long time. change filter and fill up with new oil. start truck and let it run for a couple minutes. monitor oil pressure.

4. if pressure continues to drop to zero. drive something else to the parts store and get an oil pressure sending unit. it goes on the very back of the block, beside the distrbutor, and on the passenger side. remove the air filter to get to it. its a pain. do not break the vacuum lines that are around it. there is an electrical connecton that attaches to the sensor that you'll have to unplug. it will have a locking clip that you'll have to figure out. it has a hex at the base and the whole thing just screws out. now this is just me being me, but while the old one is out, i'd start the truck and let it run for a few moments, while watching/feeling the location that the sensor came out of. you should get solid, strong oil flow. you might also, possibly, spit out some debris or sludge from the hole. that would be a good thing. cost - $25-30.

5. with engine flush, new oil and filter, new sending unit, and $50 less in your pocket - if your pressure still drops to zero, then you likely have something else wrong, and may have to either do the flush again, or, drop the pan and see whats up with the oil pump.

 

The end of the dipstick has a black plastic coating on it. It isn't sludge. Unless, of course you can clean it off.
Nix the Restore. Do the trans. fluid instead. But, drain off a quart of oil 1st and use a full quart of trans fluid or Marvel Mystery Oil. Drive around for a couple of days with that mixture (unless you still have no oil pressure;in which case DO NOT DRIVE AT ALL). Then drain and refill the crankcase with 4qts oil and 1qt trans fluid or MMO (with a quality filter). "6 qts."? what engine do you have? DO NOT OVERFILL! Drive around for a week with this new mix, then do another oil change (with filter). If after all this you still have pressure problems drop the pan and inspect.
I suspect with 6qts of oil and the dipstick 1/4" overfill that you are getting foaming as noted in the above post and that is giving your erratic o/p readings.

 

6 was a typo my bad i was in a hurry to get to calculus i ment to hit 5

 

+1 Good advice. Never done it, but seen it done, and it seems to work pretty well for cleaning the inside of stuff out.

 

good deal but my problem is that i HAVE to drive it i dont have another car and the boardin school im at wont let me do anything to it here i was checkin my oil the other day and the f*&kin maintenence tried to tow my damn truck away and have it impounded [sm=headbang.gif][sm=shootshoot.gif][sm=smiley35.gif][sm=chairshot.gif]

 

That's pretty extreme! I hope you never get a flat, they might tow it to a shredder [sm=noooo.gif]

 

thered be a couple of funerals if this damn school ever tried crush my truck id probably chain myself to the frame kinda like hippies chain themselves to trees me i dont care THEY AINT TAKIN MY TRUCK!!! even though its been the biggest pain in the neck ive had since me and my ex split

 

ok so after my little rant about this school im at i was lookin at a second set of gauges as i have already done the flush and that didnt do nuthin at all for the guage but it help the engine because i just put new oil in about 50 miles ago and what came out after the flush was thick black crap but anyway back to the guages should i get the mechanical or electric set up the kit im lookin at has the amp water and oil and i was wonderin if anyone knew anything about them (ive never done a guage install at all) and im completely clueless[sm=helpout.gif] thnx

 

I run electrical gauges in my pillar pod. Engine oil temp, tranny fluid temp, and rear differential fluid temp. Not sure what is available for vacuum gauges.If you are looking at temp gauges for water and oil I'd go with electrical, if the oil is a pressure gauge go mechanical. You already have an electric oil pressure gauge which you haveto leave installed or you get a check engine light. My guess is that you're looking at oil and water temp gauges and I would recommend electrical. Some one else will have to sound off about vacuum though.

 

ok so i got the mechanical guage but i caint find the sending unit im supposed to remove and put the line into but ive narrowed my problem down to the guage or sending unit i did all the flush and got a whole bunch of crap out and then now when i check the oil theres nuthin on it except oil[sm=happy046.gif]and then i was lettin the truck run and the oil pressure dropped and i was pissed so let the truck kepp runnin so i just let it sit at idle for wat ended up bein close to an hour and no noises or smells at all but ive got one more question for yall if the oil sending unit is bad will the mechanical guage save me from replacing the sending unit thnx for all yalls help