Mechanics Cmon in! Help me Diagnose and do some work on my truck

Hey gents-

My hope is that this might turn into a long, informative thread about engines, etc. that all can relate to, but my pressing need at the moment is for information.

I just bought a 1995 Dodge Ram 1500. It has the 5.2L V8 Magnum engine. The truck is a real pos and I'm not lookin to put much money in it; its only for towing my jetski to and from the boat ramp, less than 25 miles a week. I paid almost nothing for it. It has almost 200k miles on it.

ISSUE 1: I drove it home 50 miles today and noticed it has low oil pressure. The gauge sometimes reads in the middle, other times nothing at all. I noticed that it does have minor engine knock when its on zero so its not the gauge or the sensor. The engine seems to be running cool though, as the water temp gauge seems to be working also and hasn't gone into a real danger area.

The last part of this is that I parked it and let it sit and there is an oil leak; some puddled under the truck.

So I guess my question is where should I start? The truck doesn't smoke like its the head gasket or anything...

If it starts to knock when the pressure goes to 0, you have an oil delivery issue. Look under the valve covers and check for sludge.

Originally Posted by Len013091

If it starts to knock when the pressure goes to 0, you have an oil delivery issue. Look under the valve covers and check for sludge.

What about the leak underneath? Think its just a cracked pan or something?

I wouldn't worry about the leak I'd worry about the low oil pressure, if it knocks when the gauge goes to zero then obviously the gauge is accurate, what I would do is not even start it again until its fixed because right now most of the internals are probably salvageable but if you keep running it you'll probably throw a rod shortly, then I would replace the main and rod bearings and the oil pump and it'll probably be good to go.

Originally Posted by inlinesicks

I wouldn't worry about the leak I'd worry about the low oil pressure, if it knocks when the gauge goes to zero then obviously the gauge is accurate, what I would do is not even start it again until its fixed because right now most of the internals are probably salvageable but if you keep running it you'll probably throw a rod shortly, then I would replace the main and rod bearings and the oil pump and it'll probably be good to go.

Gotcha...I'm workin on it right now and am gonna rip apart what i can tonight

as a master chrysler tech i deal with this issue daily,
the oil pick up screen is clogged and you should drop your pan and replace the pump with a high velocity pump and replace the pan gasket. the more you drive it the more damage you will do... this job sucks but is very doable in the truck without much help id say a 6 on the dificulty scale of 1-10

as for your oill leak its either a rear main seal or front seal, id do the rear main while you have the trucks pan off

Originally Posted by 1bad420a

as a master chrysler tech i deal with this issue daily,
the oil pick up screen is clogged and you should drop your pan and replace the pump with a high velocity pump and replace the pan gasket. the more you drive it the more damage you will do... this job sucks but is very doable in the truck without much help id say a 6 on the dificulty scale of 1-10

as for your oill leak its either a rear main seal or front seal, id do the rear main while you have the trucks pan off

OK perfect this is awesome to have someone who knows pretty much what is goin on. I think I might be able to do this, but I really don't have access to the necessary stuff to do it (jack, etc.)

How much aprox. would this fix cost if I took it to you / a dealer or shop?

Originally Posted by david05111

OK perfect this is awesome to have someone who knows pretty much what is goin on. I think I might be able to do this, but I really don't have access to the necessary stuff to do it (jack, etc.)

How much aprox. would this fix cost if I took it to you / a dealer or shop?

Unless it's a 2x4 you shouldn't have trouble getting under the truck even without a jack.

Originally Posted by 04yfz

Unless it's a 2x4 you shouldn't have trouble getting under the truck even without a jack.

Unfortunately, it is...no 4X4 for me. I think I could still get under it, but it would be pretty tough and I couldn't do the job in my driveway because of homeowners association regs...

Really your only option is to diy, a shop will charge you at least $1,500-$2,000 to fix it and the truck is obviously not worth putting that much into it, it sounds difficult but I just replaced the oil pump and rear main seal on my 4x4 Jeep and it was really easy and done in about 3hrs, your truck is exactly the same.

Originally Posted by inlinesicks

Really your only option is to diy, a shop will charge you at least $1,500-$2,000 to fix it and the truck is obviously not worth putting that much into it, it sounds difficult but I just replaced the oil pump and rear main seal on my 4x4 Jeep and it was really easy and done in about 3hrs, your truck is exactly the same.

Alright wow that's ridiculous...sounds like a job I gotta do in the garage


So if I'm gonna replace the pump, should I replace it with the OEM replacement or a high velocity? 1Bad - what do you think?

First thing to do is remove the oil pan which is super easy because you aren't 4x4 and pull a couple bearing caps off and inspect the bearings but with that high mileage and oil pressure problems I'd be willing to bet you they are bad.

If it were my truck I'd replace all the rod/main bearings and just get a OEM oil pump but if you don't want to replace the bearings then you can go with a high volume pump to try to make up for the worn bearings but who knows how long that will last.

Originally Posted by inlinesicks

First thing to do is remove the oil pan which is super easy because you aren't 4x4 and pull a couple bearing caps off and inspect the bearings but with that high mileage and oil pressure problems I'd be willing to bet you they are bad.

If it were my truck I'd replace all the rod/main bearings and just get a OEM oil pump but if you don't want to replace the bearings then you can go with a high volume pump to try to make up for the worn bearings but who knows how long that will last.

See I can figure out some stuff, but I'm no expert DIYer or mechanic. I can drain the oil and drop the pan. I can probably change the screen out and maybe even replace the pump, but I don't know ANYTHING about bearings...

This is what the bottom of your engine is going to look like when the oil pan is off.



These are the rod bearing caps



These are the main bearing caps



The actual bearings are just thin pieces of metal that you just pop out and put new ones in.



This is what they look like when they are worn.



That should give you a good understanding of how it all works

That doesn't look too bad actually...this whole job looks like it could take me forever though...I'm probably gonna have to devote an entire day to doing this whole thing (oil change, drop pan, drop pump, work on bearings, and replace everything). Thats also assuming I have all the parts I need to do the job when I start and that I don't run into major issues when I do. So I guess I could start at like 8 in the mornin and try to be done by 8-9 at night...

Make sure you get a repair manual so you know all the torque specs when you put it all back together.

Here's a list of the things you will need to get.

Bearings
Oil Pump (you can get a new oil pickup tube but I just cleaned the screen on mine and it was fine)
Rear main seal
Oil Pan Gasket
Torque Wrench
Assembly Lube

Go watch some videos and look at some pictures of engine rebuilding so you get a little more comfortable with taking it apart, but overall its a pretty easy job and you should be able to do it in one day, and believe me there's nothing more satisfying then the first time you fire that engine up after all this work.

Wow, intelligent and insightful responses in OT on a Saturday night. Who would have thought...

Originally Posted by inlinesicks

Make sure you get a repair manual so you know all the torque specs when you put it all back together.

Here's a list of the things you will need to get.

Bearings
Oil Pump (you can get a new oil pickup tube but I just cleaned the screen on mine and it was fine)
Rear main seal
Oil Pan Gasket
Torque Wrench
Assembly Lube

Go watch some videos and look at some pictures of engine rebuilding so you get a little more comfortable with taking it apart, but overall its a pretty easy job and you should be able to do it in one day, and believe me there's nothing more satisfying then the first time you fire that engine up after all this work.

Picked up a manual this afternoon so Ive been looking through it. I'll get on all this stuff and probably try to do it on tuesday...sounds like a blast

Alright I have a question. I was reading through the instructions in the manual today to drop the oil pan and it mentions supporting the engine from above and removing the through-bolts from the engine mounts.

Does this really seem necessary to anyone? I definitely don't have an engine hoist and there's no way I can do this job if I have to support it from above and undo those bolts. Anyone have experience doing this? Is it really necessary to do this when just dropping the pan?

I couldn't really say for sure because I've never pulled the oil pan off a Dodge truck but if it turns out that you do have to support the engine I have a little trick I used last time I replaced motor mounts, get a tie down and attach the hooks to the lift points on the engine then loop the tie down around a beam or something on the ceiling of your garage then crank the tie down till its really tight.