Losing oil pressure

[Red_Rider_00]

My 01 3.0 is showing about 40psi at 60mph and between 0 and 20 at idle. I figure it's a broken shaft between the camshaft position synchronizer and the oil pump. I don't know how to time an engine so will I be able to install this myself and expect it to run? How hard is it to get the engine to TDC? Will I have to pull everything off the front of the motor to be able to see the marks on the crank? Christmas time means no mechanic, I must do this myself. Any help appreciated greatly! Thanks

 

[Psychopete]

My 01 3.0 is showing about 40psi at 60mph and between 0 and 20 at idle. I figure it's a broken shaft between the camshaft position synchronizer and the oil pump. I don't know how to time an engine so will I be able to install this myself and expect it to run? How hard is it to get the engine to TDC? Will I have to pull everything off the front of the motor to be able to see the marks on the crank? Christmas time means no mechanic, I must do this myself. Any help appreciated greatly! Thanks

If it were broken, you won't have any pressure at all at any time. I would suspect it's the CPS synro itself (chewed gear) or possibly a bad oil pressure sender.

Given the failure rate of the cps syncro, I'd probably look there first, as it's not at all good to run a engine with no oil pressure. Either way, that will give you a oppertunity to check it's condition and make sure it's lubricated properly.

To get to TDC, pull #1 plug, put finger in #1 spark plug hole, turn engine with breaker bar by hand until air pushed it out. That will get you on the right stroke and pretty close to TDC. TDC is when the piston is at the top of the compression stroke.

Edit:
Make sure you read up on the replacement procedure before pulling the syncro first!

Pete

 

[Red_Rider_00]

Well, thanks Psycho! I'm going to try your TDC method and just mark the position of the synchro electrical connector and basically hope for the best.

 

[almostclueless]

The engine is probably toast.

 

[Psychopete]

The engine is probably toast.

I've heard of a few running with no pressure for a few sec, turned off, filled with oil and it was fine. This actually happened to a friend of mine with an inline 6 200, we were cruising down the road and heard his engine faintly starting to knock. Told him to pull over, we did, checked oil, and it was bone dry. He had a shop change his oil and they forgot to tighten the oil plug. Dropped in a few quarts, tightened the plug, and away we went.

If he didn't notice any low end knocking and the motor didn't freeze, I think it would be worth ~$60 to try a new syncro.. He may have just caught the problem in time if that's really what it is, and he could always transfer the new synco to a j/y engine if need be. If the engine has around or over 100K, I can only recommend that it gets checked due to the frequent failure of that syncronizer.

Pete

 

[Red_Rider_00]

Got the new synch. from NAPA with the alignment tool included. Will keep you posted. By the way, clueless, thanks for your optimism!

 

[BlackBII]

Got the new synch. from NAPA with the alignment tool included. Will keep you posted. By the way, clueless, thanks for your optimism!

Sounds good. Good luck man

By the way, clueless, thanks for your optimism!

lol

 

[WNY964x4]

Change the synchro as soon as possible , i was dumb and let mine run like that for a month , i am now fighting to get a new engine in my truck , and it is not going good

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

a failing cam syncronizer will not effect oil pressure until it completely fails. if it were failed, you would have no oil pressure at any time.

it sounds to me like your gauge might not be that accurate. 20PSI at warm idle is perfectly normal.

0-20psi is a lot of variance. you should attempt to take a more accurate reading than that.

what pressure do you get at warm 2,000 rpm? what brand oil filter are you using?

causes of low oil pressure could be a worn oil pump, bearings, or blockage (such as RTV in the oil pickup screen).

 

[Red_Rider_00]

OK, installed synch. with no problems at all. Thanks to Psycho for the tip on TDC, that worked like a charm. The synchro lined up very easily and truck started right up and runs great, although I haven't taken it out on the big road yet. By the way, the sensor was filthy and I'm suprized the thing worked at all. After installation of cps, oil pressure was still doing the same so I took Pyscho's advise again and took off the oil sensor for the Summit brand gauge and put on a new factory sender hooked back into the factory gauge and pressure on it looks great. So maybe it was a faulty sender after all. But, the new synchro was only $60 and took about an hour to install so I don't regret that at all. It's a small price to pay for a little peace of mind. Thanks to everybody for input

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

the factory guage doesnt tell you the oil pressure, its a dummy light. anything over 8PSI and the needle jumps up to the halfway point of the scale. anything below 8PSI it reads at the low side. your aftermarket guage was probably working fine.

 

[Red_Rider_00]

ok this doesn't look good at all. I got under the truck to check the head gaskets and it looks like [believe it or not] straight coolant dripping from the front of the oil pan gasket. What in the world has happened to this poor truck??!!

 

[Red_Rider_00]

to be more exact, it looks like straight coolant is dripping from several spots around the oil pan gasket. I just came off the interstate, about 350 miles. Thank God I put Castro Syntec when I changed it last.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

do you have coolant in your oil (white, milky substance on the dipstick)?

check your core plugs to make sure one hasnt sprung a catostrophic leak. you might have to pressure test the system to see where that coolant is coming from.

 

[Red_Rider_00]

honestly, except for a few bubbles, the oil on the dipstick looks pretty good. The coolant thats dripping looks green like it was straight out of the bottle. But, I just don't see how it could travel through the oil pan without mixing with the oil. Maybe it has just been leaking elsewhere and splattering up onto things. Either way I'm finally going to break down and take it to a Ford dealer. It hurts my heart to have to admit defeat over this, but I just can't afford to put any more time into it.