I just had the transmission rebuilt in my 01 Ram, while they were at it they replaced the window motor on the drivers side because it kept blowing fuses and did not work half the time. When I got it back they suggested that I get the oil changed and do an over all tune up on the truck. So I got the oil changed (havent had the money or time to finish the tune up), now when the truck is in park and is ideling for about 2 to 3 minutes it soundes like the motor is knocking and is low on oil. I have checked the oil mulitple times and it is full and clean. Any ideas on what it could be? I am also looking for a new dash for the truck since mine is broken and cracked from the freezing cold weather in North Dakota a year ago and Massive heat in Texas over the last year. Any thoughts and suggestions on both would be greatly appreciated!

 

What does your oil pressure gauge say when the engine is knocking?

 

At the very least, be fore you run it anymore, hook up a manual oil pressure gauge to verify that you have pressure. Does your oil gauge work at all?

 

I agree with jam23. I did some work on an 01 1500, Bearings, pump, plenum plate, cleaned the pick up tube and a new sensor and still had only 11 psi with a manual gauge @ idle with 10w30 oil. I read somewhere about the oil passages were manufactured too small and over time clog up restricting oil pressure resulting in a dash light warning and oil pressure drop to 0 on the gauge.

 

I feel like an idiot but I am not sure what the psi is. When the truck is running in park the oil gauge shows that is sitting right in the middle. Which is where it has always been at sense I bought the truck. How do I go about checking the PSI?

 

That's about where it is supposed to be. (right about 40 PSI. PSI = pounds per square inch. Just a measure of pressure. Anything over 10 is considered "ok") Does the gauge drop off as the engine warms up?

 

Yes the oil gauge works fine. When I am driving the truck down the road it sits between the middle line and the far right line. When it is in park running it sits right on the middle line. The shop I took it to suggested running some expensive fluid (i forgot the name of it) through the engine to help clear the gunk out of it, but they wanted 200 dollars to do it for me. I figured I could find out what would work that wasnt as expensive and do it myself and now I am not sure what to do with it.

 

Change the oil filter again....... See if that makes any difference.

How long does it take for pressure to come up when you first start the truck cold?

 

The autoshop teacher up at my highschool told me in the old days they used to run atf fluid through their old motors in the 60-70's. Apparently the atf fluid would clean up some of the nasty **** in the motor, however I would do some research before you put it into a modern motor.

Another fluid you could try would be marvel mystery oil... supposed to work wonders. However your oil pressure readout seems to be really good. my truck is running very well and even so when I idle I usually achieve a little above the first line when hot and over 40 when I romp on it. As long as your oil psi isn't busting seals or clogging you pcv system with gunk a little more pressure isn't going to hurt you.

 

One more thing... Do you hear the knocking sounds when your oil psi is reading, above the first line? If so is it a hard slow knock or a fast tap. You could have a stuck lifter or something rather than a full blown rod knock.