318 no oil pressure

[Charger1970]

A friend of mine has a Ram with a 318. He says suddenly it holds 4-7 PSI oil pressure at idle. This was verified by a mechanical oil pressure gauge. He had the pump changed with no improvement. I told him it is probably time for an engine.

Any suggestions to make the motor last a while longer?

[Chryco Psycho]

did he just change the oil ? did he use a fram filter ?
what happened at the time the pressure dropped , or did he just start it & the pressure was low , any noise when it started ?

[cudaken]

 Depending on what you answer to Chryco Psycho questions he might try this. Use some slick 50 and Moble 1 20 W 50. There are a few things that could cause the drop, but if just old and wore out this will help to delay the rebulid some.

On the mechanical oil pressure gauge, was this a hand held one or one that has been on the truck for a while?

                                                   Cuda Ken         

[Charger1970]

Thanks for the responses Neal and Ken.

what happened at the time the pressure dropped

He said he was driving and the Check Engine light came on. He said it started running rough (which I suspected was the lifters collapsing, not sure how far he drove it like that). He saw there was no pressure so he pulled over, shut the truck off and towed it to a garage. The mechanic hooked up a handheld mechanical gauge and verified no-pressure then changed the pump with not much improvement. He put 20w-50 oil and a can of Lucas Oil treatment.

I am not sure if he had recently changed the oil with a Fram Filter.

He is still driving it, it holds pressure with the engine above idle. I didn't hear any knocking in the engine. I also don't know the mileage on the motor but the truck is a rough work-truck.

[cudaken]

 Little I know I do not think the Check your engine light does not watch oil preesuer. On my wifes (Yuck T/C) car it will tel you if it is low oil but that is it.

All I can miss spell at this point is drive it till it drops.

             Cuda Ken