Bought a 99 ram 2500 about 2 weeks ago. Bit of a rescue project. Trucks drivable, but rough. Along with fixing the lift (front axle not centered), smaller wheels and tires, as well as some electrical work, i need to solve an oil pressure issue. I have a new pressure sending unit and pig tail coming my way, but also want to replace the oil pump and clean out the oil pan and pick up. Pretty sure i need a special tool to remove the harmonic balancer to get to the oil pump, wanted to confirm that. Also, any other special tools needed? The job itself doesnt look that bad, esp since i have lift access at work.

the pressure problem. Sits at a hair below 40psi at idle and only jump to ~60psi when accelerating or if its above 55* out. Figure id throw the trifecta at it given its are, oil pump, sending unit and a good cleaning.

I am a nissan mechanic, pretty good with all makes given the different shops ive worked at, but have very little experience with these older dodge trucks, despite my love for them. Ive seen that oil pressure as well as exhaust issues are pretty common... Any tips or tricks would be welcome. Thanks

 

That's very good oil pressure the manual says 10psi at idle is good

 

Yeah, if you have 40 PSI at idle, on a fully warmed motor, you don't have a problem.

Just need a puller for the balancer. Everything else is pretty straightforward.

 

Sensor needs to be replaced anyway... Gage is being erratic and stays at 40psi even with the engine off. May need to replace the gage cluster at some point. There are so many ticks, buzzes and knocks coming from under hood i am just a tad worried i might ending up needing an engine swap 😂. I love these old trucks, but its vastly different beast than the audi a8 i also drive. Gonna take some getting used to.

need to redo the entire exhaust as well, it was botched. Looking at gibson header and cat back, with new cats, if i can find them.

 

Do gauge test. Ignition off, press and hold the trip reset button, turn ignition on, hold the button until the test starts, then release. All the lights should come on, and all the gauges should go thru a full sweep.

 

My oil pressure has always been good and I run 15W-50 Mobil 1 to keep it that way, but 'low' indicated oil pressure is a common and apparently acceptable trait of the 8.0, check it mechanically. Oil pump is a bit of work, you have that figured out, you'll have to lift the engine a bit. If you unbolt the motor mount from the block to do this, one of the coolant jacket drain plugs will be easy to remove, the other is not covered in this way. The gears will likely be okay but they ride on an aluminum pump housing in the timing cover, no longer available. Low mileage used ones are available if yours won't spec. Pick up a timing chain, common to small Magnums while you are at it. Cam sensor has a self sticky paper shim clearance spec, but if you don't remove it from the cover it should assemble correctly, just be careful of scraping/interference. These engines sludge up at the back of the head with the typical poor maintenance. FelPro makes steel core pan and rocker gaskets, as does Mopar still I believe, the only way to fly. RockAuto has the FelPro at very good prices usually. Upper core support, rad, fan and shroud are all easy, but you'll have to slap the wrench with a dead blow hammer to get the clutch fan loose, Never-Seeze will help next time you have to take it apart. Look the damper over, they can be rebuilt, but not purchased. Long winded, but easily removed. ReadySleeves are available if the seal surface is worn. The weakling factory thimble oil filter can be replaced with a WIX 51515 for oil capacity and filter surface area. Magnaflow makes the cats with the proper air injection nipples on them. My local shyster muffler shop just used generics and welded a nipple into the pipe ahead of the cat, weak. Good luck, Mike.