Ok so my buddy has an 01 ram 5.2L 2wd
He changed the oil and oil filter today and for some reason there is no oil pressure, we put the oil in the right spot did 5qts of 10w30
truck has 160k mi
weird thing is that when we pull the dip stick out there is no oil on it, any ideas what it could be, i wouldve thought it would have been the oil pump but with no oil on the dip stick it baffles me.

 

When you pull the dip stick out, is the engine on or off? let it sit over night and check again. It could just be your oil pressure sending unit.

 

You sure you are pushing the stick in all the way?

 

are you on concrete where you can see a leak, or are you on dirt where you may not see it ?

check that the rubber gasket on the oil filter is seated correctly and not leaking. i once had one "wrinkle up", and it was blowing out all the oil real quick.

check that and then 1 qt at a time, fill it back up. something's wrong, so don't drive it till you get it figured out. if you overfill it, just let some out at the drain plug to correct it.

 

there is no leak in the engine
ok so i went over to his house today and with further investigation, we drained the oil outa the oil pan, and there was only about 1qt that came out so it sounds like its all plugged up with sludge or something, my stepdad said we could flush the engine out with a can of engine flush that he said is essentially kerosean, this sound right? the oil poor in where the valve cover is does look like it could be a sludge problem. i no that if we wanted to do it right it would require a engine rebuild, but he doesnt have that kind of money.

 

It's going to be a mess but pull the valve covers(not that hard)and look. The blockage may be just in the top end. If you use engine flush you'll run the risk of it ending up in the pick up tube for the oil pump. Use a wet vac after the covers are off to suck out as much crap as you can, make an adapter to suck out the oil galleys(don't use air or anything else to force it in). You might have a crappy wet vac after , but it's easier to clean or replace than a motor.

 

Pulling the valve cover on the fill side is a good idea but just realize that it will be quite messy if there are 3-4 quarts of oil trapped up there. I have used engine flush many times and I am old enough to have used kerosene as well. The engine flush used according to directions will do the job. I always do at least 2 oil changes after the flush with a new filter each time. By the way kick your buddy in the *** for allowing that to happen to his truck.

 

If the top end is clogged that badly, no engine flush is going to help. It will just cause other probs. Like I said, suck it out, don't push it down with air or anything else. And btw, I'm old enough too! LOL

 

i cant really get mad at him he has had the truck for about 2yrs and has changed the oil every 3-5k mi religiously, the owner before him might not have changed it and the new oil may hav broken some of the sludge loose

 

zman
Your idea is a good one and I totally agree as I posted. I am not disagreeing just adding more. If there is that much gunk the engine will need flushing as the valve area is not going to be the only problem area.