I finally have the straight six back that I love and respect, that torquey lil beast. I have the 5 speed mated to it,longbed, 4x4. I was on the diesel side for a while (93 f250 IDI 7.3L) and now I'm back with the gassers.

Here is my dilemma and I did search for solution thruout the threads but all answers seemed to be for 2x4's and the oil pan clearance, and not my 4x4 and my situation:
PO changed out oil pump because he was getting low oil pressure reading from idiot light gauge about 2 minute after startup. Didn't help. Thats where I swooped in and bought truck for $500. 172k, brand spanking new tires (31x10.50) and in pretty good shape for its age.
I think it has something to do with the oil tube and screen. He did say he was unable to reach it after lifting engine out 2-3 inches to do oil pump swap. I have read all the threads on lucas oil stabilizer, something called autorx ?, as well as some peeps suggest dropping pan and changing out the tube and screen but that it connected to a main bearing ? This is where I got lost. As well, I read that the timing gears are plastic and could have crumpled and lodged into my tube ?
PO said the previous PO did not take good care of the motor with timely oil changes. Me, knowing it was fords great I6, took the gamble, abeit $500, which if this engine is shot, I can get back in the new hankooks alone. But thats NOT what I want to do. I want to drive this 5 speed and enjoy it. So can anyone out there give me some mechanical advice on what is the culprit and what is the best way to deal with it ?
By the way, the truck will start, run like it has no issues then the dummy gauge swings hard to the left and sticks there. I drove it about a mile, going thru all the gears and it drives great. It will tick after a bit so when I did buy it I towed it the 20 miles home. I read I need to get a mechanical oil gauge and connect that to the existing dummy one next to the oil filter ? Where do I find this gauge and what psi am I looking for when it is hooked up.
Thanks for reading....

 

well, with the new pump and not knowing what regulator spring you have in there i would say anywere from 30-50 psi on idle. if you get a haynes or chilton it manual will give you a recomended oil pressure

 

ok, thanks 924.9 theres a start. how about where I can purchase a mech.oil presure gaude, where do I put it, and from what I wrote, what shape/ list of procedures should I be following to clean up the motor if it is indeed gunked up from prev PO negligence. Anyone been in this position ? What did you do ?

 

well you should be able to get a gauge from any parts store or place that sell parts, i dont know where to put it as i have never done one myself, i just mark the gauges where they are at all warmed up and cruising down the road. but gauges do go bad. knowing myself how tuff the 4.9 is the sludge probably wont hurt it a bit but if you want it removed people have had good luck with changing to synthetic oil

 

but if it is indeed in the pickup tube, that will not allow the oil to flow to the head, correct ? your saying syn oil is the answer ? It currently ticks after a few minutes so its my belief the flow of oil is being restricted.

 

well if the tube is plugged than the oil shoulnt flow when its cold as it is thicker, the only way to know if its plugged for sure is to pull it out. the synthetic oil will clean the sludge out

 

that brings me back to my original question which is my truck is a 4x4 and all the threads I can find deal with lifting the motor to clear the 2x4 front end, not the 4x4 diff. I need the info to do that lift, clearance, and at that point how do I clear out the tube. Does lucas work, does autorx (sp) work, will a motor flush work.... ?? a solvent based solution ? Help.

 

First of all, get the mechanical gauge to see what your oil pressure really is. I'm not sure if the '95s had an actual gauge in the dash, or just the glorified idiot light like the older trucks, but I wouldn't trust the oil pressure gauge in either case.

On the driver side of the engine, toward the rear of the block and just above the oil pan is where the sending unit is. It takes a special socket, but a large 12pt will usually fit it, or a small pair of channel locks if you are careful. You can just get one of the $20 oil pressure gauges made to go inside under the dash and use it for testing purposes.

I went ahead and installed one in my truck and used a short piece of threaded pipe and a t-fitting so I have both the factory "gauge" and a real one now.

4.9s don't have the plastic covering on the timing gears that are commonly associated with breaking up and plugging pickup tubes. The upper gear (cam) is plastic if its the original one, but if it has broken apart you would have other issues. It is possible that the original gear came apart and dropped plastic in the pan and was replaced, but most likely not. The factory gears seem to last a long time.

None of the stuff they sell to clean out the inside of your engine actually works, or at least not in the magic way they say on the advertisements. It is either fairly weak and takes a long time (months/years) to make any difference, or if its a strong one then you have to keep changing filters and oil constantly which is expensive and time consuming. You also run the risk of dislodging something larger than the oil galleries and/or lifters can handle and junking the engine on the spot. And if you actually do have broken plastic clogging the pickup screen it wouldn't help much anyway.

Do not use synthetic oil in your truck. It might clean it up a bit over time, but there is a fair chance you will get oil leaks all over the place. With 172k on the engine those oil deposits are helping keep the gaskets from leaking, if you remove it they are prone to leak. Obviously this would be a problem with the snake oil, err... engine cleaners mentioned above.

You also run into the zddp issue. Its a fairly long subject, so if you want to learn more about it just google "zddp flat tappet cam." Bobistheoilguy.com is a pretty good site to learn about oil in general and has a fair amount of zddp info.

The short version is that most synthetics don't have enough zddp for our engines. Some do but you will have to figure out which ones if you really think switching will help.

Also, what are you running for oil? Has it been changed recently? Good oil filter?

4.9s are known to tick a bit, unless its really loud I wouldn't worry a lot about that with 172k on it.

Your sudden drop off of oil pressure indicated by the dash "gauge" makes me think its possible the wire running to the sending unit is losing contact. Does the lifter noise show up at the same time, or are they unrelated?

You probably aren't going to have oil pressure up to the book spec, not with 172k on it, but that's ok. If you can hold 15 to 20 lbs at idle with the engine hot, ac on, and decent oil in it you will be fine. The factory oil sending unit is actually set at 7 lbs, so anything over that will keep the engine light off and it won't blow up, but if you can't hold 15 or so lbs under the conditions I mentioned you are definitely on the low side.

If the oil pressure is lower than that with good oil in it, and I would say 15w-40 hd oil would be ok for your truck, you can try some of the lucas oil additive.

Not that I believe it has any of the wonderful mystical powers a lot of people claim, but it is thick and if you have bearing clearance issues it might help for awhile, but then again so would a quart of gear oil, or changing to straight 50 weight oil, any of those would be a temporary fix.

Temporary being a relative term, I drove my truck like that for about 7 years here in Florida until I got the time, money, and motivation to pull the engine and go through it. I just put new main and rod bearings, and a high volume pump in my truck and with 15w40 I have a start up oil pressure around 55-60 lbs and hot idle with ac on around 40 lbs. I have right around 172k on mine as well. I used stock bearings, did not machine anything, and did not replace cam bearings.

I wouldn't get too excited about anything else until you know for sure what your oil pressure is.

 

he said it ticks after awhile and that a new pump was put in, which is why i would assume his psi at idle would be a bit higher, but i cant say for sure without knowing what kind of pump it is, how much it flows, stuff like that. also do not use solvents in the motor, this is a bad idea as most are harsh chemicals that will break other things down as well, like gaskets, also i do not know if you would have to life the engine but one way to tell is to crawl under and see how much room there is under the pan

 

Thank you both for your replies, I will substain until I get the mech gauge and can talk reality here. The replacement pump was a Mellings. PO put it in, left box in back. I have only started the truck three times since I have had it (2 weeks) for fear of seizing something. Perhaps I should stop watching those classless cash for clunker u tubes on the net. I will get gauge and report psi. The 15w-40 sounds like a plan, with the lucas to assist. I crawled under there, factory "lift" just a few inches with the front diff present as far as room for more oil pan stuff.
Thanks for your assistance, I will report findings sunday.

 

i take it you havent watched the cash for clunkers clunk off with a 300 vs a 350... and well the 300 ran out of gas, i dont think it should scare you it should make you feel better

 

I did see that one....that 300 would not die...saw a 3fe toyota motor out of a cruiser do the same thing...both straight sixes....hmmmm...

ok, bought mech sunpro oil pressure unit, attached it and here are the results:
startup: about 15-17psi
3-4 minutes later drops to 10psi
3-4 minutes later sits steady at 7-8psi. I revv it a bit it hits 4-5psi.

now I need your help.

 

well it could be bad main bearings, or it could be a oil pump pressure regulator, or it could be a leak,OR (lol i know) it could be the oil filter, yeah i know i said it, if its a higher flowing one it will lower the oil pressure by alot. i would start there as its the cheapest

 

While waiting I did a second test.
Startup 15-16psi
5 min later 10psi
drove it around the block (gauge is strapped to hose inside engine compartment until I can secure in cab)
0 (zero) psi.
shut off motor.
Await my friends.

 

where is the oil pressure regulator, and what oil filter do you suggest. and 15-40 ? one unit of lucas ? start there ?