Wouldn't work. Changed both vehicles in the same pan before pouring back into the bottles.

 

So, I dumped the oil and did a gallon of b12 chemclean. Left it in for 3 days and then dumped and did another gallon. Three more days and then fresh oil and filter. (went with 10w-40 just to see if that made a difference)

Drove the same as before. Super smooth idle, plenty of power, no unusual noises. Had 40 psi on start up and down to about 10 psi after a short trip down my road and back. Thought it might be OK now. Took it for a little longer drive and got it all the way warmed up. Popped the hood and looked at the manual gauge, 4 psi.

 

So now what? Just run it?

 

That's a blown motor waiting to happen. You have a choice, you can fix it now, before anything really blows up, and it tossed a rod, or worse....... and it's *relatively* inexpensive.... (as these things go.....) or, drive it till it does blow, (and it will, probably soon.) and buy another motor...... Of course, the motor will pick the worst possible time to abandon you.....

Maybe toss a used motor in there?? It would be difficult to get something worse than what you have now.

 

New oil pump? Anyone know shop time for that? What kind of repair am I looking at?

 

Not cheap, they have to lift the motor to get the pan off, and whatever the cost of a new pump is..... (plus peripherals....) You will spend a couple hundred bucks, and it may not help at all.

 

If it's not the oil pump, what is it?

 

Was oil thick and sludge looking when you flushed it ? I would go back to Mopar filter , I don't know how you plumbed mechanical gauge but I would double check it and make sure its working properly since you say you have no knocks or noise in engine,,and does it build oil pressure while driving ? And does engine run any warmer than usual ? As usually with weak oil pressure the engine tends to over heat a little more than normal If all checks out I would replace oil pump an pickup tube as engine wont last long if oil pressure is weak , of course cheaper if you could do it yourself

 

There was some thickish oily sludge in the bottom of the pan but not a ton. Mechanical Guage is in the sender unit hole and is zip tied near top of engine bay clear of everything.

Oil pressure IMMEDIATELY build even with the slight press of the gas pedal.

I haven't noticed any fluctuation on the temp guage at any time.

As mechanically inclined as I am, I think oil pump is more involved than I want to try to attempt.

I just hate throwing money at this engine if I'm going to have to end up replacing it.

 

Have you hooked it back up to factory gauge ? And does check engine light still come on ? If all this is still going on I would change pump an pick up tube over engine replacement for now also sludge in oil clogs the pickup tube screen usually . And how high does pressure climb when say at 3000 rpm ?