Oil preasure.

[86_cookiemonster]

I have a 1986 2.3 ranger. I have just recently put in a new cam shaft, lifters, injectors, and all that good crap, as well as having the head remaned. It was great for a little while, then all of a sudden my oil preasure just dropped out of the bottom. It is my only car so any help would be greatly appriciated.

 

[Mark_88]

First thing to check is the oil level...if you don't have any oil in the crankcase then that is the first thing you need to deal with...

If there is oil in the pan then check the wire to the oil pressure gauge...it's on the driver's side up behind the intake manifold...just a little sensor that sticks out and has a single wire attached...if the wire comes off (or your system is not grounded properly) your gauge simply won't indicate anything...

 

[krugford]

And while you're in there, get a mechanical oil pressure gauge and see what you're really getting for oil pressure.

 

[86_cookiemonster]

First thing to check is the oil level...if you don't have any oil in the crankcase then that is the first thing you need to deal with...

If there is oil in the pan then check the wire to the oil pressure gauge...it's on the driver's side up behind the intake manifold...just a little sensor that sticks out and has a single wire attached...if the wire comes off (or your system is not grounded properly) your gauge simply won't indicate anything...

And while you're in there, get a mechanical oil pressure gauge and see what you're really getting for oil pressure.

the truck does have oil. Filled up all the way. I learned my lesson the hard way last time. always check the oil before going on a long drive

And where can I find a mechanical pressure gauge and how much will it cost?

 

[superdave1984]

Mechanical gauges can be bought at any parts store for a reasonable cost. I am thinking either the sending unit is bad or maybe the pickup screen is clogged. A mechanical gauge will give you a better idea. Since this happened suddenly, is there anything else going on with the engine? Does it miss, get hot, Lope or idle erratically?

 

[merlinicorpus]

I had a '92 2.3L that the oil pressure suddenly dropped like a rock. Turns out the oil pan gasket disenegrated and was pulled into the oil pump. You can disconnect the electrical sensor and screw a mechanical one into the same port. Mechanical oil pressure gauges can be found at any automotive store.

 

[shadetree]

The gasket problem usually exhibits odd symptoms. When the engine is cold, oil pressure will come up. As the engine warms and the pickup starts clogging, pressure will drop. It may then swing up and down depending on the amount of the clog, and rpm.shady

 

[Winger]

After you've done as everyone else suggests and you still find the oil pressure to be low say around 20 psi or so at idle you need to take off the valve cover again and check those cam bearings! I've had the same issue with mine lately for some reason. The machine shop is pulling there hair out over this. We thought we had it licked once and then the two out of 4 of the cam bearings started making metal. This wasn't by chance a Competition Hydraulic cam was it?

 

[86_cookiemonster]

Mechanical gauges can be bought at any parts store for a reasonable cost. I am thinking either the sending unit is bad or maybe the pickup screen is clogged. A mechanical gauge will give you a better idea. Since this happened suddenly, is there anything else going on with the engine? Does it miss, get hot, Lope or idle erratically?

It idels real rough when you start it up. I had linked that to the fact i haven't put new plug wires on it for 130,000 miles.

 

[Winger]

Geez Cookie you related to any Johnson's in Kansas? My father would always brag to me about getting a 100,000 miles or more out of plugs and wires. Until one day his car stopped running! Of course I was driving it that day and had to have it towed. My father was pretty adamit that he get the old ones back just to make sure he wasn't getting ripped off. I laughed so hard when I saw those plugs there was almost no electrode left! Modern Electronic ignitions are marvelous they can over come a lot of missing metal!

 

[86_cookiemonster]

hahaha, yea no, i am from ohio. It was my dads's truck originaly. I just got it 2 years ago, and have been slowly fixing things like, rust, bad battery, bad cam, bad tranny, you know. This oil problem is the latest thing.
Oh there is a loud vibrating noise coming from the front of the block. I check that everything was tight, adn it is still happens. Could this be caused by the low oil preasure.

 

[Mark_88]

hahaha, yea no, i am from ohio. It was my dads's truck originaly. I just got it 2 years ago, and have been slowly fixing things like, rust, bad battery, bad cam, bad tranny, you know. This oil problem is the latest thing.
Oh there is a loud vibrating noise coming from the front of the block. I check that everything was tight, adn it is still happens. Could this be caused by the low oil preasure.

The oil pump could be causing the noise and that would explain your oil pressure issue...replacing the oil pump is not that difficult, but the noise you're hearing could be a number of things...

If you have a mechanics stethescope and put that on the oil pan and hear the noise much clearer then it's probably the pump...

Otherwise, the noise could be caused by a bad bearing in the water pump, alternator, power steering (I know most 2.0 engines don't have power assist steering), or a belt that is not sitting right (they don't usually stay on long if they're not though)...

 

[86_cookiemonster]

The oil pump i had not thought of that. I will have to check it out. I just put a new water pump, alternator, and belts on it. The power steering is working fine (first thing i went to for the noise) Hopefully its the oil pump, because i can fix that. I will check it out this weekend and get back to you all.

After i let it sit for a while, and i fire it up, it makes a horrible racket, like all the oil drained out of the head. Could that all be caused by the low oil preasure?

 

[86_cookiemonster]

How would i go around changing the oil pump?

 

[86_cookiemonster]

Well I found the problem, it was actualy quite simple. I hooked up a mechanical gauge and found that I had sufficent oil preasure. So I put a new sending unit in. The gauge still didn't work right. But i figured that if it has preasure, I can wait a little while to fix the problems with the gauge. Then on my way home from work the other gauges started dropping down, my radio truned off. My alternator was dieing, and not sending a charge through the system. I replaced that and all the gauges work fine now.

Thank you all for your help.