With the sludge & carbon buildup and the fact you have replaced the oil pump 3 times in 8 years on one engine I would look at getting another engine and rebuilding it. It does not sound like this engine will last many more miles.

 

I hope your wrong. I mean that in the kindest way. Money is super tight. Normally, my van would be at the mechanics shop. As far as the oil pump goes. The first time the oil light came on at 5 years old, first response was to replace the oil pump. So I did. And I did regular oil changes and maintainance. Second time it happened was less than 2 years later. And I was told to bring it back to the dealer as this truck has been known to have problems with oil pump screen. It's tiny and funnels downward. Dodge dealer told me they had a process to reverse pressure flow the oil system to blow out the build up in the screen for 150.00. So I did it and it worked for another 2 years or so. Then light came back on again a few years later. And this time my mechanic pull the pump and said the screen was clogged again and it a poor design that funnels to a small orifice. He recommended changing the pump again as long as he was that far into it. So I did. Then a couple of years later light comes on again. This time I said to hell with it. It only comes on when in drive and stopped. So I went to a heavy weight oil, which took care of the problem. Don't know why but it worked. Lukas oil treatment additive 1 to 4 quarts oil. But last year I had this hard starting problem in colder weather. So I went to a thinner weight oil. And the oil light comes back on again. It was suggested to to use 20w-50w oil. so I did and no light. Again colder weather and hard starting caused me to switch to lighter weight again. I've read in a few threads that the oil sensors are not accurate. Some threads say to use a dodge sensor and others said they had corrected the problem with after market brand instead. I still have the original. I cleaned it out this weekend with break fluid cleaner with same results. I don't have any numbers on the dash guage. What happens is when stopped in drive after driving at higher speeds for a while, the needle drops a bit and if really hot and using thin weight oil it will bottom out. But no difference in sound of engine. I usually just put it in nuetral when stopped to avoid this problem. In the summer I use 20w-50w and no problem. Long explaination I know, but felt it should be explained. I've read many threads of the same exact symptoms.

 

Has not anyone came up with a different design to eliminate the screen and orifice problem? That is not a good design when it clogs up that easy.

 

The screen or it's design is not the problem you need to address. The real problem is the sludge, you shouldn't have so much as to clog the screen, especially that often. I would do a couple of engine flushes using cheapy oil and filters in-between. Then after say three flushes, install a good filter and use synthetic oil.

 

If he has had the oil pan off the engine 3 times to change the pump and/or clean the screen I would hope that the pan was cleaned out at those times. My question is why is the engine producing so much sludge to clog the screen 3 times in 8 years?

 

No guarantee the pan was cleaned when it was off. That aside if an engine is producing a lot of sludge it's a sign of excessive blow-by due to worn rings. I suggested the use of synthetic oil because less to no sludge is produced with it than is with regular motor oil.