Hey, my 97' dodge 1500 has this issue that when you get on it the oil light pops on and the pressure gauge drops to zero. When the light isnt on and everything is good it runs are 40 pounds of oil pressure. We just got the oil all cleaned out and a new pump in but that doesnt seem to make a difference. Any ideas what the problem is? Someone was telling me about a rod the runs from the distributor to the oil pump.

 

and also when i turn it off and start it up its usually good for a little while

 

Is this with a mechanical gauge, or the one in the cab that may or may not give you an accurate reading? Is the truck making any noises that coincide with no oil pressure?

It's likely the sending unit giving a bad reading.

 

When the oil pressure gauge drops it will sound just fine for a couple minutes then you hear a knock. But when you shut it off and turn it on it will knock a couple seconds then it will quit when the oil gets back up. I just took it in to get it fixed but what they thought was wrong wasnt the problem.

 

What did they fix? Could be as easy as low oil level... or a bad sending unit. The fact that it gets noisey though... indicates a bigger problem. I would drop the oil pan, and have a look. Might be the pickup is getting clogged. (higher demand at higher RPM... may not be able to pull enough oil thru a restricted tube.)

Upgrading to a high volume pump may not be a bad idea either. Around a 100 bucks for the whole job, including an oil change.

 

i checked the oil and its good and they cleaned the oil ways out. Im just thinking that they is a little bit more sludge in there. They put a new oil pump in and it runs 40 pounds all the time. Also i dont think that they tightened down the lifters right. Because now it has a lifter tick and everything else seems fine.

 

You cant tighten down lifters as they sit in a hole above the cam shaft what all did they tear down ?

 

All the did was take off the valve covers and the oil pan and cleaned everything out and put a new pump in.

 

Probably some of the crap that was in there got broke loose during the cleaning, and has found its way into the oil ports on the lifters...... may need to go in there, and clean or replace the lifters... the valve train is not adjustable.

 

soundslike the pickup tube is clogged. get that fixed asap man. dont ask me how i know.... and i got lucky too.