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Oil Pressure Dropped........Pump Removal Questions

DIYORPAY

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:eek: About half way home from Texas to Wisconsin( pulling 5th wheel camper) , i noticed my oil pressure gauge slowly go down from 50psi( at 65mph) to 35psi (at 65). After noticing it i slowed down and pulled over to check the oil. as i coasted on to the exit ramp my rpms were at about 1000 and my gauge went to 5psi and the check gauges light came on. Sooooo, kinda freaking out a little, i stopped and shut off the truck, checked the oil and it was right on the full mark. I figured if i had some oil pressure i was going to keep on truckin twards home. Well i made it the 400 miles i had to go(but very nervous all the way!) and now im trying to figure out why............

The first thing i thought was OPS, then Gauge on dash, then oil pump. So i bought a new OPS. I am going to install it today. If that doesnt keep my "Check Gauges" light off, i am going to put in another oil pressure gauge to confirm what pressure i actually have. If its still very low, i thought about changing the oil pump.

What i am wondering is, can i get the oil pan off while in the truck and change out the oil pump? Also does anyone have any other suggestions or tips on changing the oil pump?

Oh yah........ the first thing i did when i got home was change the oil(Rotella-T). It actually made it a little bit worse on the gauge. Now when the oil gets warm it goes to ZERO on the gauge. :mad2:
 
One more thing............. I am going to remote mount my new ops. I thought someone said it needed to be grounded. Is that true? If so, whats a good way to do that? In case anyones wondering, i removed and cleaned all the grounds yesterday again thinking that might be an issue. It didnt help.
 
I hope you are not using Fram Orange oil filter?

Yes, the OPS can go out and make sure you get an ACDelco OPS.
 
UH OH. No Fram Orange Filter? Thats all i have ever used. I better do a search. I musta missed that one.
 
If you get a steel braided hose and the end have electrical continuity between them then you dont have to worry about grounding the OPS, the hose will do it. A cheap grease hose wont do that. When I did mine I converted an 1/8" NPT end to 1/4" NPT and I installed a ground on a ring terminal between them. You can also install the ground between the OPS and the fitting, but would need some washers to make sure when the OPS gets tight that the ground ring terminal gets tight too.
 
UH OH. No Fram Orange Filter? Thats all i have ever used. I better do a search. I musta missed that one.

Lately, Fram Orange PH5 has been collapsing in 6.5 Diesel. Paper end cap does not hold in hot oil too well.
Try to cut the one you replace and see if it is still intact. If yes, then it is probably not your issue.

If you want economical filter, try Purolator Classic (white) or even cheap Napa, cheaper than Fram Orange but better constructed.
For a little bit more, the Napa Gold, Purolator PureOne, Wix, Bosch, etc. are around $6.
 
I never had a problem with the fram filters in the 14 yrs i drive these diesels.
The OPS is prob the issue,i had that once before.
IMO A oilpump just does not looses press just like that,but like been said,verify with a mech gauge.
 
I had an old Suburban that did this very same thing. Driving, towing a car trailer and my oil pressure was 60 and all of a sudden it went to 35, thought that was kind of wierd, so when I got off the freeway at idle it had 0-5 psi. I let it idle for a while and it started to get a slight know at idle. Got if home and drained the oil and there was a bunch of metal flake in it. Pulled the pan and 7 of the 8 main bearings were showing brass. Rod bearings were starting to as well. I don't know what went through it but it took the bearings out quick and lost oil pressure. I hope this is not the case with you.
 
Similar thing with all the bearings and what not happened in a gasser vehicle of mine and I traced it back to a timing problem with the electronics not working. Oil pressure did start being an issue before it just totally imploded and seized up.
 
I had an old Suburban that did this very same thing. Driving, towing a car trailer and my oil pressure was 60 and all of a sudden it went to 35, thought that was kind of wierd, so when I got off the freeway at idle it had 0-5 psi. I let it idle for a while and it started to get a slight know at idle. Got if home and drained the oil and there was a bunch of metal flake in it. Pulled the pan and 7 of the 8 main bearings were showing brass. Rod bearings were starting to as well. I don't know what went through it but it took the bearings out quick and lost oil pressure. I hope this is not the case with you.


I hate to say it but that is the case. I went to get a gauge with the wifes van. Got back and hooked it up. Cold it had 20 on mechanical gauge and 38 on dash gauge. I took it for a drive and mechanical gauge went to 0-5 and dash gauge went to about 25psi. Within 2 miles. Then things started rattling and i got major blow- by. UGH! I shut it off, let it cool down for an hour and got it back home. I coasted for over a mile with it shut off down a big hill and into our driveway.
I guess i should be thank full that i got it home from Texas with my camper and it didnt toss her cookies all over the interstate!
 
now im going to cut the old oil filter apart and see what kind of things i can find in there.:mad2:
 
Just what i thought............ It looks like someone dumped a bag of silver and gold dust in there.
 
Your engine could have just worn out or spun a bearing.

Check that the old filter you were driving with did not collapse or come apart. Make sure as the cardboard Fram end caps can fail and go through the engine. And Fram is famous for not only that but leaky check valves that let the filter drain out when the engine is off resulting in longer dry starts and noise. You can hear the lifter clack on a gasser after start up with a leaky check valve Fram vs. an AC-Delco oil filter.

Simply put a better filter will result in longer engine life esp. If you reduce the dry start time. Yes, I also used them till I found out what kind of garbage :eek: they were and that there are way better filters out there. Myself I will use a Wix, Mobile1, AC-Delco or in desperation anything but the nuclear orange can of death.

http://people.msoe.edu/~yoderw/oilfilterstudy/oilfilterstudy.html
 
Your vehicle has more than 272,000 miles? When you hit the high 180,000's, the bearings should all be replaced, including the cam bearings, whether you think so or not. Good time for a new oil pump and timing chain and gears; especially if cylinders have next to no ridge. Too many guys run these till they die and are then surprised. Especially so if towing. Double especially so on hopped up engines.
 
Your vehicle has more than 272,000 miles? When you hit the high 180,000's, the bearings should all be replaced, including the cam bearings, whether you think so or not. Good time for a new oil pump and timing chain and gears; especially if cylinders have next to no ridge. Too many guys run these till they die and are then surprised. Especially so if towing. Double especially so on hopped up engines.


The truck im having trouble with has 161,xxx miles.(the 96 in my sig) I agree on the life span of the bearings/oil pump/timing chain and gears. I just didnt think it would happen this soon. It was running so well. Tomorrow im gonna start pulling the engine out and get the truck ready for a different engine.
 
Yeah, many have gone further, and its hard to fix something that aint broke. But when we have a 250K mile motor we arent really as upset when they go.
 
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