My shop manual states that oil pressure (at curb idle) should be between 30- 40 and I can only sustain 40 while driving. When the engine idle's, the oil pressure drops between 5-15, but raises back to 40 when I start driving again. I changed oil to see if that would change things, it didn't. The troubleshooting section says if oil drops below normal ranges, it means you might have to repair rubber gaskets on the oil pump. The engine mileage (age and actual miles) is low enough that I still consider everything to be new enough that the gaskets shouldn't need replacement?

The pressure doesn't change when using 30 or 50 weight.

Any suggestions? I don't think it's the pressure sensor, because when the pressure drops, you can hear the valves clinking (not enough oil getting to head)....

Has anybody dropped the oil pan and replaced the gaskets, and if so, what kind of job am I looking at (huge, normal, easy)?

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Lets say you have actually established (with a mechanical gauge) that you have unacceptably low oil pressure. There are two different things at work. First, you could replace the oil pump, which means on a 2.6, dropping the oil pan and the front cover, removing and replacing the timing chain then the balance shaft chain and replacing the associated components along the way. It's a fairly involved repair.

Secondly, the oil pressure could be low due to worn bearings, either main or cam or both. That means a total tear down rebuild.

Thought you were going to sell the truck?

John B.

How many miles? Things like this usually have a few wear-out-mileages and the first one can happen normally to older engines at about 120k.

Did you find any metal in your oil?

Vector, his signature says he has a rebuilt engine. Not sure why he would be having this problem. First step is to determine the "real" oil pressure, preferably with a mechanical gauge. The stock electrical gauge is a rough approximation, at best.

I suggested replacing the oil pump as one step. It could be said that perhaps the oil pressure relief valve is malfunctioning, but it's right next to the oil pump, so the access steps are the same, no real gain there.

John B.

Is the 2.6s oil pressure different than any other vehicle? I've never seen 40 at hot idle, but I regularly see about 10psi - on all my vehicles.

Is it a diesel? Do they have higher oil pressures?

No metal. The engine has around 8K since I did the install (crate engine).

Hot idle and 10 psi isn't completely unacceptable, really.

Jon, this isn't a Jasper engine, is it?

John B.

Wow, you guys will not believe what just happened. I started it up and the oil pressure never went down until the engine hit running temperature (weird). Then when the oil pressure dropped, the knocking started.... I know, you're thinking its suppose to knock when the pressure drops.

Fact: idle speed stays the same (I have it set high at 900) and the pressure didn't drop until the knocking started (which is the complete opposite to my expectations).... Now this makes me think I have a broken part or something with the oil pump..... ????

=27148209&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0]Photobucket - pressure at 40

=27148209&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1]Photobucket pressure at 20 <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Its still up for sale, but until its sold, I thought I'd dig deeper into this oil pressure issue.... Tearing this sucker down (is a pain), but I've been there before, and don't feel right about selling it to somebody with an oil pressure problem (even if I had to sell it for less, I still don't feel right about selling junk to somebody)....

Jasper engine? I dropped (replaced original) when I was living in Mesa Arizona because the original already had 150-170K on it (low power), so I purchased an replacement (came from Washington state). However, I continually had emission issues, so it sat and I just hauled it all over the US (moved to Utah, Virginia, then to Washington).... So the engine doesn't have anymore than 8-10K miles on it....