so i bought another truck recently, this one is my third bricknose now, this one is just for daily driving and hauling, and it had an oil pressure issue, ruled out the sending unit and the actual gauge on the dash, and heres the symptoms, when cold runs fine with good pressure, but when warms up pressure goes way down and the engine light comes on and the gauge shows nothing, so sitting at a light i have no pressure, but upon takeoff the pressure comes back. weird, and when the pressure is down you can clearly hear engine noise in the top end, so this morning i hooked up my oil pressure tester, and on cold start it has about 35psi, then after about 5 minutes as it was warming up it had dropped to about 22psi, then when warmed up the psi was at 12. with the top end engine noise, also when revved above 2,000 rpm it doesnt sound too good, the engine has 159,000 miles,

is it time to rebuild?
or maybe just thrown in a new oil pump

thanks!

 

What kind of oil are you using? What is the specification for oil pressure at 1,000 rpm? Usually lower end engine wear causes pressure to drop off at idle and pick back up at increased speeds. Oil pumps generate flow, not pressure. The resistance to flow (bearing clearances) generates pressure. It sounds like this truck may not have been well maintained by the previous owner. That said, try switching to a high mileage oil with more detergents and changing it sooner before ripping the engine out.

 

Well as soon as I bought it I did a tune up and put in 10w-30 Quaker state high mileage oil. I was told that's what oil weight has been used in it for a long time. So that's what I put in

 

it sounds to me like its just plane worn out a rebuild with new bearings and refinishing surfaces will put you back on the road.

 

It sounds like its just tired, I think I will pull it and throw new bearing and such in it.

 

thats not a bad idea. make sure you measure everything first id hate to see you put bearings in and it be to worn

 

I'd say time to rebuild.
there's a difference between oil volume and oil pressure.

An oil pump will solve a volume problem but not a pressure problem.

 

If you ask me, I think you should just rebuild it. I'd hate to put new bearings in it only to have it blow up the next day.

However, if you're looking for some more power you could build a 351w to put in it when the 302 fails.

 

Now there's a plan!