Hey all,

I took my E-350 7.3 (van) on its first real road trip since owning it and since fixing a multitude of intake issues (https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ower-loss.html).

The first two hundred miles were uneventful, everything normal, but then on-start I noticed the dashboard oil gauge reading lower than usual (usual was ~ 50% between H/L) and the oil/coolant red warning light staying on (usually it would turn off after warming up). The oil pressure gauge hovered there for ~ 100 miles. Next time I started it was even lower, reading just about the L, did ~100 miles. Next time, a few miles, lower still. Now when I start it it's on the red, not raising at all.

Through all of this, the van has run seemingly normal, no change in behavior at all and the warning light remains on. The oil level seems steady, right in the middle of the dipstick hashes. No visible leaks. When I plug in the scanner no codes of interest appear, only the same two that have been there for some time:

P0113 -Intake Air Temp Sensor 1 Circuit High (Bank 1)
P0603 - Internal Control Module Keep Alive (KAM) Error

I took some data while driving it during one of these stretches and posted it here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y7bzlpfnhj...%20PM.xls?dl=0

There are tons and tons of threads about low oil pressure so I'm still active in searching, but any advice/guidance is appreciated as to my next move. If it's checking the oil pressure with a manual gauge, could someone point me to a thread on how to do this? Anything van-specific is appreciated as well.

Thank you!!

 

Not 100% positive with yours being a van but if it's wired like mine then the pressure sensor for the low oil pressure is just a switch. Not only that but the gauge and the red low oil pressure warning light are run off the same unit. It sits on top of the HPOP reservoir. Check the connector and replace the sender if no wiring issues are found. If your low pressure pump had quit completely then the HPOP would not be getting oil and the engine wouldn't run. That's not to say the LPOP isn't getting weak but start with the sensor. Mine did the same thing after sitting for a while and it was the sender.

 

If you want to check oil pressure then plug a gauge into the hole were the sending unit or service plug are on top of the HPOP reservoir. Can't remember if they are -4ORB thread or 1/8 NPT. Maybe someone else can help us out.

 

#4orb thread, in hpop plug

 

Seconding what AllaboutMPG said, no oil being fed to the HPOP reservoir stops the engine cold. This sounds like the sensor is done.

 

Interesting day trying some of these out...

I unplug the sensor/sender (still a bit confused on the terminology here), ground it to the chassis and at key-on the oil pressure is immediately ON again (smack middle of the scale). Plug it back in, start the van and still at low/off.

Next is checking the oil pressure. To do this, though, I need the correct brass fitting and as I am driving around town to find it, after the fourth hardware shop (rough day) I am driving out the parking lot and the engine suddenly feels weak and within a few seconds putter-putter-dead.

So, my van is chilling here, dead on the pavement for the moment.

Tomorrow I will be able to test the oil pressure. I'll bring the gauge and hoses here and try and start the van.

Tomorrow I will also have access to a new oil pump, there's an Adv Auto here and they'll have one tomorrow morning for me if needed.

Anything else I should be considering at this stage?

 

Replacing an oil pump is no small task - it's behind the harmonic balancer... that is being held on by a big bolt with over 200 foot/pounds of torque. If it gets to that point, I don't know if your hardware store is going to feel warm and fuzzy about you doing work on oil components in their parking lot.

 

Still no face-palm emoji?? haha ... Soooo it was a terrible coincidence of symptoms. Not only do I know now that the oil pressure is just fine (testing it saw it up towards 20 psi on start-up) but I also know the fuel gauge is way off, and this is a very recent behavioral change.

I tested the oil pressure, just fine. Even though the fuel gauge is hovering above E (and last tank I ran it to E and light-on without problem) it looks like something has changed in the tank because putting diesel in it had me on the road again no problem.

Thank you all for the good advice and patience with this noob! haha... Still looks like the sender on the LPOP is bad so I'm going to try replacing that and see how that goes. Hopefully it's another 140k (when I'll reach 200k) that the LPOP will last!

 

I have never seen a LPOP fail, I have customers with over 600,000 miles and still the original pump.
if you do change it get a melling they are higher volume than stock.