Mechanical gauge reads about almost nothing at idle, about 12psi rolling down the road at 25mph, and 25psi max when accelerating. Will not go above 25psi. I guess I know what I have to do.....but is it worth it, every time I go to fix something on this truck the fix doesn't work or something else goes wrong; like a dam springing a leak I keep plugging holes with my fingers, gonna run out of fingers soon. 160,000 some miles on it and factory paints going to hell. I do love the truck though; it's lifted, extended cab, long bed, 4wd......Paint job, good oil pressure, no oil leak, dash quit cracking and it would be perfect

 

That would be for you to decide.

If you really LIKE the truck, and want to keep it, then it really doesn't matter how much money you put into it. (to a point....)

If you want to keep it, STOP driving it NOW. Your oil pressure is low, and I suspect you have the screw-loose problem. (on the oil pump cover, not your head..... although, we DO drive 8.0 liter gas hogs... so, maybe there too.....) If you have something else to drive, then, tear it down, see what ya got, order parts accordingly.

If its all ya got, consider buying a cheap beater to get you buy for a month or two, drive that while ya fix the truck.

I suspect you are going to have to fix it either way, as it is difficult to sell a truck that has poor oil pressure.......

 

I'm gonna stop driving it and tear it down. Thankfully work pays for my gas during the work week, it is a thirsty thing. Gonna try and borrow a truck. I gotta have a truck to drive for work, car won't work. Hope that it's just the screws loose on the inside of the timing cover. Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate you taking the time!!

 

Happy to be of service. Just be sure you report back what you find. With Pics.

 

I got screws loose. In my head because I drive a v10 and in my timing cover. I took off my timing cover and I had two visibly loose screws and one that was finger tight. The rotors are within tolerances according to a micrometer and feeler gauge. But the outer rotor clearance limit is a little over maximum. Maximum is .006" and my feeler gauge is saying .008"-.009". The timing cover itself is warn a bit. I'm gonna use it anyway as their is no guarantee that a used one will be any better and I can't find a new one.

I had 2 screws visibly loose and one that was only finger tight.


Screws Loose.


Rotors look good, I put a micrometer on them and they are within tolerances. I also used a feeler gauge for clearance over rotors and rotor tip clearance, both within tolerances.

 

Not so long ago, I was actually able to find some for sale, today though, not a single one. Part number is 53020971AB. Not even finding anything on ebay used.....

 

I have a bad feeling that I'll be pulling my cover off before long.

 

Getting everything put back together. I was installing the harmonic balancer and was at the point when it was tight enough to turn the crank shaft. I heard something inside break. My heart dropped into my stomach. I pulled the cover back off thinking I would find broken rotor pieces. What I found was a broken cam shaft position sensor. I found a new one on ebay. But I need to find out how it broke. I don't think I had it in too far, it has to slide in enough for it's mounting bolt. Any ideas?

 

Have a look in the service manual. (get one here, if you don't have one already) I think you are supposed to set the depth.......

 

I have the service manual. I looked at all the instances of camshaft position sensor and didn't see anything about setting the depth. It seems like there is only one depth it could possibly be; the one that allows the retaining bolt to thread through the sensor. I will check again. It's all back together now. I'm ordering the sensor, I would hate for the new one to break too