wtf whered my oil pressure go

[59flatbedford]

ok so tonight i started having some problems. for the past few days my 89 xlt 4x4 hasnt been charging quite right then finally tonight it broke the belt and died at the grocery store in the dark with temp below zero. so i got that fixed and got it jumped with my fiances pickup and let it run for a while then drove it home and let it sit and idle for like 10 mins while i was warming up then me and my fiance went back to the grocery store to get her truck. on the way back home it started acting strange. coming out of stop lights it would clatter like a deisel and try to die. then when i got home and parked it i looked at my gauge and it said no oil pressure but it seemed to be idleing fine but i shut it off right away. So what the hell could have happened. my fiance said it was smoking on the way home too. I just dont know what the heck could have happened so suddenly. any ideals. figured id check the oil and all that good stuff in the morning but anything else to look for.

 

[IMenriched]

ok so tonight i started having some problems. for the past few days my 89 xlt 4x4 hasnt been charging quite right then finally tonight it broke the belt and died at the grocery store in the dark with temp below zero. so i got that fixed and got it jumped with my fiances pickup and let it run for a while then drove it home and let it sit and idle for like 10 mins while i was warming up then me and my fiance went back to the grocery store to get her truck. on the way back home it started acting strange. coming out of stop lights it would clatter like a deisel and try to die. then when i got home and parked it i looked at my gauge and it said no oil pressure but it seemed to be idleing fine but i shut it off right away. So what the hell could have happened. my fiance said it was smoking on the way home too. I just dont know what the heck could have happened so suddenly. any ideals. figured id check the oil and all that good stuff in the morning but anything else to look for.

well it certainly doesn't sound good. considering the chain of events.

before you do too much make sure you didn't have a head cracked....check oil & coolant levels

you might have had a oil filter fail internally ....id change the oil and filter to be safe anyway.

If you didn't have all the noise andor smoke , 1st thought is that the oil pressure sending unit went bad, which can happen, rather still could of happened.

 

[Sevensecondsuv]

Watch the gauge as the RPMs change. If it's only losing it at idle my guess is that the cam bearings are worn and are hemoraging oil thus creating an oil pressure loss. Mine did the same thing 2 years ago. I guess it's a pretty common issue on the 2.9s right after cracked heads. Unfortunately it requires a partial rebuild and pulling the engine to fix.

 

[59flatbedford]

yea it was wierd cuase ive only had it for about six months and when i bought it i drove it about three hours to school and it never had a problem. and now that im about to take it 5 hours home for christmas and it goes to hell in a hand basket. thanks for the tips tho i will check it out. and see if it is rpm dependent

 

[fordman4488]

If it only losses oil pressure at Idle, 1st put a mechanical oil pressure gauge on it(one that reads in like 5 psi increments) and see where it is at. It may be that the pressure relief valve in the oil pump decided to go, this is what just happened to me. I had 7 psi of oil pressure at 1100rpm cold, and 30 at 5500 rpm, and rattled and chattered like a diesel. Put a new oil pump in it, and now i have 60psi oil pressure cold, and 35-40 warm at idle. My engine has 155000 miles on it, and once I put in the oil pump, and adjusted the rockers(had to cuz i tried to quiet it down before the oil pump), I sounds like a brand new engine. Only time mine makes any noise is when It is really cold out(below 25 deg) because the oil is too thick when that cold, once it warms up, it goes back to quiet as can be

 

[59flatbedford]

well im pretty much positive that i have a cracked head or a bad gasket. because now i topped off the raditor with antifreeze at the gas station and drove it home and it started to get really hot and when i got home i couldnt see antifreeze again. then i took it on the high way and when i got up to about 60 the temp gauge was going through the roof (its in the single digits) and it started smoking white. so i think i have a head problem and probably need new bearing.