91familyxj

So i have been driving and my gauge drops to 0 i thought at first it was just the solenoid because it would go down come up some times it would be fine. But yesterday it hit 0 and never came back up and i got a pretty loud tic. Today she fired up and drove oil pressure at 40 on freeway then when i got off it dropped to 0 again. I have oil its a 96 limited with the 5.2.any thoughts would be great i dont know i thought if the oil pump goes out it just stops working all together. Anyone ever had this happen? Thanks

91familyxj

It likes to sit just under 20 at idle if it doesnt drop to 0

kjc

Oil pressure gauges aren't always very accurate. Rent a gauge and test it maybe?

91familyxj

Thats what i was thinking till i heard the ticking last night. I just dont know if its a sign of it going out

91familyxj

Anyone? Thought should i pull the pan off and look at pump or is there another way. Or just pull dist. And test pump that way?

JCJimmyD

Could be the main bearings are worn. That will cause the oil pressure to drop when the oil warms up. And most likely a thumping sound from the bottom end.

dave1123

Could be just the oil pressure sensor. If you don't have oil pressure at all, you'd know by the heavy thudding of the bottom end. Bearings don't last long with 0 pressure. Also, the lifters would all be clattering, not just one.

I probably shouldn't admit this, but I drove a Chevy truck for 4 years without a guage.

91familyxj

Thanks guys. Ya its weird that i can only hear noise sometimes

91familyxj

well chaqnged out oil and filter and put a new pressure switch on not bad at all to get to( except the $10 socket you have to buy). Everything seems to be back on track and normal again. I did add some of the lucas oil stabilizer. Anyone ever run it? thoughts about it.

dave1123

The only oil I've ever used in my personal vehicles is Valvoline. Except for cars that were POS from the start. I had one that had a terminal sludge problem. I ran it with Aero Shell oil for 1000 miles and the stuff came out in chunks! I switched to Valvoline Maxlife 10/30 after that and ran it another 25,000 before it gave out. Who am I kidding? I beat the CRAP out of it!

91familyxj

Im a castrol fan myself. Have you ever used the lucas oil stablizer?

dave1123

No, I haven't. The only thing I've used before was STP when it was the rage. Of course, that didn't do a thing. I've heard a lot of guys use Marvel Mystery Oil but, again, I haven't. What I HAVE done was IDLE a warm engine with kerosene in it for about 5 minutes to flush it out. Boy, you'd be amased what comes out!

I am interested in the Seafoam stuff you guys use. I've never even heard if it before.

91familyxj

kerosene? you lost me on that. lol I havent used seafoam before but I hear good and bad about it. like it can plug up your cat so just dicconnect it for a breif secound while doing it. I know you cant talk about disconnecting it and driving on here so Im not saying that. lolI have used a bunch of lucas injector cleaner but Im really currious about the kerosene thing your talking about.

dave1123

To clean out a bad case of sludge, drain the oil after it warms up. replace the oil with kerosene and one guart of oil. Idle for 5 minutes. IDLE ONLY!! Drain and refill with oil. This is my grandfather's trick from the 40s. I've only used it once. It broke up the sludge and drained out in chunks! I did another oil change a week later which came out black, but was fine after that. This engine was so sludged up, the rocker arms made grooves in it.

This was a Chrysler 383 that I beat the crap out of for 4 years after doing this.

91familyxj

Thats crazy I wanna see it done now. lol