Let us know how it goes with the valve covers, and if your up to it, take a few pics of the valve train.

If I had to venture a guess, they're probably not too bad now just because you flushed everything south. When you pull the oil sending unit, poke in there with something and see if have any blockage.

Hope you get it figured out-GOOD LUCK.

PM me if you need help

 

i was unable to pull the valve covers, just dont have enough time today with family down fro out of state. but i was able to pull out the oil pressure sending unit. i checked to see if ther was a blockage in the little hole, and there didnt seem to be. it went straight back to the metal wall. i couldnt hook up the mechanical guage because i didnt have the proper fitting, but i hooked up the sending unit to my air compressor and it seems to work because the guage in the truck rose to where it should be when you hit the button on the compressor end. i got under the truck to take pics to see if i can drop the pan without dropping the tranny. so heres some pics for you. oh and take a look at my valve covers. they seem to be leaking a little all of a sudden. is that a sign of anything?

 

some more pictures

 

mmstar, looks like removing that bracket will allow you to gain access to the pan bolts. I don't know much about the 4.7/tranny...I wonder if that's just an extra bracket to beef up the block to tranny connection? Or does it serve another purpose. Sure would be nice if it was as simple as dropping that bracket & then the pan!

 

Looks like you can pull the pan buy just removing the bracket.

 

Just a word of advice on the bracket, put a 2x4 on top of a floor jack and give the bell housing on the tranny some extra support while that bracket is off. Its there for a reason, and the shaft materials these days are kinda soft, as in, don't bend the input shaft to the tranny.

Well, it sems you've eliminated he sending unit prob, so does this mean you been runnin around without any oil pressure and the lifters aren't hammered down. Hmmmm-I think you're on the right track with pulling the pan. It'll tell tons.

As far as the film coming back on the engine, it almost looks like its spraying back from the front of the engine-cooland leak, or oil for sure??????

 

thats what i thought. support the trans with something and take off the plate/bracket. then i can drop the pan. hopefully unclog the screen and pickup and while im at i should just put a new pump in. how easy is it to install the pump and if i do this will it almost for sure fix my problems?

 

From the info you've given I bet replacing the pump & screen will solve them. The install shouldn't be too bad. Prime the pump before installing. When I did my 318, I bought a high volume pump as a replacement...I don't remember where, autozone, oreilly, abc auto...somewhere. It worked fine the 2 yrs I owned the truck after. Good luck. Take some pics of the inside of the pan & the motor during your pan drop!

Oh, I'm sure you know this too, but you'll need a pan gasket too. I remember spending 35 bucks for that one gasket back in 2003 for a different motor. Dunno if it'll be that steep for yours or not.

 

do i replace the screen too or am i just cleaning it. and if so what do i clean it with? brake cleaner? oh and should i buy the pump through mopar (dealership) or find one through autozone or pepboys, etc.?

next weekend should be a good time for the truck since the gf will be out of town. i plan on dropping the oil pan, cleaning it, replacing the pump and cleaning anything i think may be clogged/ dirty. then im gonna most likely get a new serpentine belt to stop some squeaking. then im gonna pull the valve covers, clean them and get new gaskets. and since theyre off i might decide to paint them (havent decided on a color. would a 500 degree paint work or should i go with a 1200?) with that, of course i need new oil. ill be getting royal purple back in her. thats what i plan if all goes well with my oil pump replacement and cleaning of the pan. if i get my oil pressure back, ill be doing what i said and ill be very happy

are there any tips when putting in the pump? like i wouldnt want there to be more sludge in the motor, then have it come down again and clog the new pump and freshly cleaned screen. and how do you prime it?

 

From what I remember, you can reuse the screen. Just clean it thoroughly...I imagine brake cleaner is fine. I used an aftermarket pump, but i know there are some who only swear by Mopar, especially for important parts such as the oil pump. It is technically the "heart" of the motor! Clean as much sludge that you can reach. Does the motor read any psi right now? I dunno if it would hurt more than help, but you might want to run some seafoam in it for a little bit; this might ensure you get as much clean as possible. But then again, if the screen is plugged pretty bad, this might completely starve your motor...so scratch that. Just clean clean clean then get the new pump in there.

*ok, so looking around, it seems that the pumps for your motor will run at least $130. Not sure what the mopar will run.