went to start the excursion tonight and no start, everything powered up, could hear the fuel filter housing filling, business as usual, but would not start. so i look at the dash and the oil pressure gauge is at the bottom, below the l, like it never moved. i look over everything else, looks good. i take my predator off thinking that might have something to do with. then i realize the truck is sitting on the incline. front end is down. so i hitch it up to my dads truck and pull it up to the top of the driveway to where it is level, have my wife try it and starts up like nothing was ever wrong. it got us home fine. so i parked it in our driveway which is on an incline too. just to see what it would do. went out 10 minutes after shutting it off and it started just fine. but the oil pressure didnt go to operating range on the dash until after it started. started it 4 times, no problems. so now i put it at the bottom of the drive where it is flat to check the oil levels. any thoughts? i honestly dont think it is low on oil. i will soon find out the answer to that one. anything else to check? any input would be appreciated. thanks guys

 

If the dash gauge takes more than 3 - 5 seconds to come up it is a sign the LPOP is under par. with the truck on an incline (tail Up) though if the oil is a little low the pickup foot is toward the back of the sump so it may have been sucking air.

 

thanks for the response amiller. what should i do next. where is the lpop? is there anything else i should be checking for or doing?

 

What type of oil (Brand and Weight) and how many miles on it.

 

i run rotella 15w-40. it has 76k miles on it. ive had it since 58k.

 

How many miles on this oil

 

between 3-4k

 

If the oil level on level ground is good you will need to monitor oil pressure in the HPOP reservoir to see what it is, should be around 12psi at idle.

Also need to check for oil aeration and a cracked pickup tube. The test for these involve jacking the rear of the truck up so parking nose down is simulating this test somewhat but you will need to be able to monitor injection control pressure to do this.

 

i just checked the oil level on pretty level ground at the bottom of the driveway and it was right at the top of operating level. i put the key in, turned it to where the the glow plugs kick on and watched all the gauges, they all went up except the oil pressure gauge. it sat still, but the truck started. to run these tests on the hpop, what all will i need?

 

Oil pressure wont come up with out the engine spinning over. The LPOP is attached to the front of the crank behind the balancer.

You would need a scanner capable of reading live data www.autoenginuity.com or similar.

 

A little education on the dual oil systems in the powerstroke

The lubrication system is comprised of a low-pressure system and a high-pressure system. The low-pressure system provides primary engine lubrication while the high-pressure system provides the hydraulic pressure required to actuate the fuel injectors.

Low Pressure: The low-pressure lubricating system draws oil from the engine oil pan (6675) through the oil pump screen cover and tube (6622) into the oil inlet passage in the front cover. The gerotor oil pump then pumps the oil back out through the outlet passage in the front cover. The oil separates into two paths.

One flow path sends oil into the high-pressure pump reservoir initial fill gallery (integral to the cylinder block) and through the anti-drainback check ball. During cold start the oil feeds in two directions from the anti-drainback check ball. One feed leaves the check ball and enters the front cover. From there it enters the high-pressure oil reservoir. The second feed exits the check ball and enters the left bank valve lifter oil gallery.

After leaving the front cover outlet passage, the second oil path sends the oil through the oil cooler and filter assembly. Once inside the filter housing, the oil filter bypass valve may open to vent excess pressure and oil back into the oil pan. After the oil has been circulated through the oil filter, the oil feed then enters the main oil gallery (integral to the cylinder block). Once in the main oil gallery, the oil is routed to the five crankshaft main bearings (6333) through five drilled and machined feed galleries (integral to the cylinder block). The five camshaft bearings receive the oil feed through five vertically drilled and machined feed galleries connected to the main bearing feed galleries. The front main bearing feed gallery also supplies oil to the right bank valve lifter oil gallery through a vertically drilled and machined oil feed gallery (integral to the cylinder block). The rear main bearing oil feed gallery also supplies oil to the turbocharger assembly through a vertically drilled and machined oil feed gallery (integral to the cylinder block).

Pressurized oil entering the turbocharger assembly is utilized to lubricate the compressor/turbine shaft. The oil drains back through the turbocharger mounting pedestal and back into the oil pan. The valve lifter oil gallery supplies pressurized oil to the valve tappets and to the piston cooling oil jets. Oil from the valve tappets is routed upward to the cylinder head valve train through hollow push rods (6565). Once in the cylinder head, the oil drains back to the oil pan through return ports at each end of the cylinder head.

High Pressure: During initial start or cold start, the high-pressure oil pump (6600) receives unfiltered oil from the left side valve lifter oil gallery through the anti-drain back check ball valve. Once the engine starts or during warm engine starts, the check ball closes and the high-pressure oil pump receives filtered oil from the high-pressure oil pump reservoir. The high-pressure oil pump pumps the oil under extremely high pressures (4,115-20,577 kPa [600-3,000 psi]) through the left and right side high-pressure supply hoses to the high-pressure oil rails (integral to the cylinder heads). Once in the oil rail, the oil is fed to the fuel injector bores through four oil feed galleries drilled and machined in the cylinder head. The high-pressure oil then actuates the fuel injectors.

 

I might be way off base here ,but how is the oil pressure going to come up with just the key being on ,the engine has a gear driven oil pump right,so the engine has to be running to turn the pump to have pressure just like any other engine,now if you crank it long enough you may get a reading on the gauge just by running the starter if you have a good pump and good bearing's,when i change my oil on my 7.3 i prefill the filter and when i start the truck i have a 1-2 second delay on the gauge with the engine running,all this did not address you question,sorry.

 

amiller, thanks for education on the oil. if the truck continues to start, should i write this up as a fluke? or is it something to work on? poppie, i am pretty sure that before tonight the oil pressue gauge would always come up to operating level before starting the truck.

 

It may come up while the engine is turning over but it will not move with just the key in the on position unless you just shut the truck off and went to restart and the pressure had not drained down yet.

Thats one of those keep an eye on. If you notice the gauge taking longer and longer to come up look into the LPOP.

 

i just went out and tried it again. it started just fine. i turned the key on and the gauge sat until it started, took about a second and then went up to operating level. so amiller, should i look to the lpop? it has been sitting in my driveway which is an incline, but not as much as my parents.