96 Ram 1500 - 318 - Oil light

From : ann

Q: ok guys i have been reading your posts for quite some time now and i have used alot of the good advice here. i am at my end with an oil problem. i have a 96 ram 1500 quad cab 318 5.2l. last month i had the plenum gasket replaced. after that my check engine light came on and the code came up as the evap code. they checked all the hoses on the intake and cleared the code. then just two weeks ago i had the thermostat changed out because i was having erratic heat temperatures coming out the vents at idle. now i have my oil light coming on. this only happens if the truck runs for a good 2hrs in city driving. above 40 at cold and after warming up. after the 2hrs i come to any stop sign or a complete stop and the truck is at idle. the light will come on and the needle will drop way low enough for the lite to come on and start to flicker. i checked the oil level and it is at the safe level. i know it blows blue smoke but it has been doing it for years. oil pressure gauge jumps back to normal while driving. i am at a loss. i had one place tell me it might be the pistons/rings or valves that need replaced. i am not sure if it might be a bad job when they replaced the plenum gasket. just at a loss and would like to know if anyone else had this problem or if anyone knows what the problem is. hate to get rid of this truck since it has been a great truck and with almost 150000 miles on it. any help would be appreciated. .

Replies:

From : peterd

on sun 9 mar 2008 084225 -0400 ann babes@yahoo.com wrote ok guys i have been reading your posts for quite some time now and i have used alot of the good advice here. i am at my end with an oil problem. i have a 96 ram 1500 quad cab 318 5.2l. last month i had the plenum gasket replaced. after that my check engine light came on and the code came up as the evap code. they checked all the hoses on the intake and cleared the code. then just two weeks ago i had the thermostat changed out because i was having erratic heat temperatures coming out the vents at idle. now i have my oil light coming on. this only happens if the truck runs for a good 2hrs in city driving. above 40 at cold and after warming up. after the 2hrs i come to any stop sign or a complete stop and the truck is at idle. the light will come on and the needle will drop way low enough for the lite to come on and start to flicker. i checked the oil level and it is at the safe level. i know it blows blue smoke but it has been doing it for years. oil pressure gauge jumps back to normal while driving. i am at a loss. i had one place tell me it might be the pistons/rings or valves that need replaced. i am not sure if it might be a bad job when they replaced the plenum gasket. just at a loss and would like to know if anyone else had this problem or if anyone knows what the problem is. hate to get rid of this truck since it has been a great truck and with almost 150000 miles on it. any help would be appreciated. long post with little useful information 1. what oil does it have in it 2. when was the last oil change 3. what kind/brand oil filter 4. have you put on a known good/accurate oil pressure guage to confirm the reading id guess it was running cold never warming up. then the new thermostat let it warm up and now the oil is thin and it cant keep oil pressure. maybe a heaverweight oil might give you a few more miles. .

From : ralph

ok guys i have been reading your posts for quite some time now and i have used alot of the good advice here. i am at my end with an oil problem. i have a 96 ram 1500 quad cab 318 5.2l. last month i had the plenum gasket replaced. after that my check engine light came on and the code came up as the evap code. they checked all the hoses on the intake and cleared the code. then just two weeks ago i had the thermostat changed out because i was having erratic heat temperatures coming out the vents at idle. now i have my oil light coming on. this only happens if the truck runs for a good 2hrs in city driving. above 40 at cold and after warming up. after the 2hrs i come to any stop sign or a complete stop and the truck is at idle. the light will come on and the needle will drop way low enough for the lite to come on and start to flicker. i checked the oil level and it is at the safe level. i know it blows blue smoke but it has been doing it for years. oil pressure gauge jumps back to normal while driving. i am at a loss. i had one place tell me it might be the pistons/rings or valves that need replaced. i am not sure if it might be a bad job when they replaced the plenum gasket. just at a loss and would like to know if anyone else had this problem or if anyone knows what the problem is. hate to get rid of this truck since it has been a great truck and with almost 150000 miles on it. any help would be appreciated. same thing happened to my 96 two years ago. replaced the oil pressure switch and resolved the issue. the part was $40 if i remember correctly. ralph .

From : tom lawrence

hmmm a rebuild.... i cringe at the cost of that and do not think my extended warranty would cover that. that would leave me eating up the cost. what kind of extended warranty do you have on a 12 year old truck .

From : tbone

ok guys i have been reading your posts for quite some time now and i have used alot of the good advice here. i am at my end with an oil problem. i have a 96 ram 1500 quad cab 318 5.2l. last month i had the plenum gasket replaced. after that my check engine light came on and the code came up as the evap code. they checked all the hoses on the intake and cleared the code. it sounds to me like they forgot to connect something when they re-installed the intake. then just two weeks ago i had the thermostat changed out because i was having erratic heat temperatures coming out the vents at idle. was the temp guage jumping around as well. that is usually more of an indication of low fluid rather than a defective thremostat. now i have my oil light coming on. this only happens if the truck runs for a good 2hrs in city driving. above 40 at cold and after warming up. this is an indication of a worn engine. what weight oil are you using if you are using 10/30 or lighter you can probably buy more time upping it to 10/40. after the 2hrs i come to any stop sign or a complete stop and the truck is at idle. the light will come on and the needle will drop way low enough for the lite to come on and start to flicker. i checked the oil level and it is at the safe level. i know it blows blue smoke but it has been doing it for years. oil pressure gauge jumps back to normal while driving. the next time that it does this put it in neutral and slowly step on the gas while watching the guage. if the needle slowly comes up as you increase rpms then as said before the engine is just wearing out. if the gauge suddenly jumps back to normal. it could indicate a bad oil pressure sensor and i would have that replaced first. it is not overly expensive and will confirm what the real problem is. i am at a loss. i had one place tell me it might be the pistons/rings or valves that need replaced. i am not sure if it might be a bad job when they replaced the plenum gasket. the blue smoke is being caused by either the rings or valve seats and guides depending on when the smoke occures. start-up smoke is usually caused by worn valve seals and guides and smoke while running is usually caused by worn rings and/or cylinder walls. the plenum gasket repair has nothing to do with either. just at a loss and would like to know if anyone else had this problem or if anyone knows what the problem is. the symptoms that you described and the situation where it occurs really sounds like a tired engine. the oil pressure is dropping at idle when the engine is hot but it may not be dropping as much as the gauge indicates. you can replace the sensor and see if anything changes and you can increase the viscosity of the oil to buy yourself a little more time. hate to get rid of this truck since it has been a great truck and with almost 150000 miles on it. any help would be appreciated. you could always have the engine rebuilt if the rest of the truck is worth the expense. the way i do it is to figure out how much the project will cost and then take a good look at the vehicle and determine if i could get a replacement in the same condition for the same or less money. if so then i dont bother as i would be wasting money. good luck. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving .

From : aarcuda69062

ann babes@yahoo.com wrote ok guys i have been reading your posts for quite some time now and i have used alot of the good advice here. i am at my end with an oil problem. i have a 96 ram 1500 quad cab 318 5.2l. last month i had the plenum gasket replaced. after that my check engine light came on and the code came up as the evap code. they checked all the hoses on the intake and cleared the code. then just two weeks ago i had the thermostat changed out because i was having erratic heat temperatures coming out the vents at idle. why anyone would do an intake gasket job and -not- replace the thermostat is beyond me... now i have my oil light coming on. this only happens if the truck runs for a good 2hrs in city driving. above 40 at cold and after warming up. after the 2hrs i come to any stop sign or a complete stop and the truck is at idle. the light will come on and the needle will drop way low enough for the lite to come on and start to flicker. i checked the oil level and it is at the safe level. i know it blows blue smoke but it has been doing it for years. oil pressure gauge jumps back to normal while driving. sounds like this may be a high mileage engine. i am at a loss. i had one place tell me it might be the pistons/rings or valves any of the three is quite a stretch. that need replaced. i am not sure if it might be a bad job when they replaced the plenum gasket. if they used roloc discs to clean the gasket surfaces the debris from the roloc discs will more often then not find its way to the bearings and destroy them. oil analysis and autopsy of the oil filter will reveal whether this has happened. just at a loss and would like to know if anyone else had this problem or if anyone knows what the problem is. or it could simply be that the oil pressure sending unit has worn out and needs replacing. hate to get rid of this truck since it has been a great truck and with almost 150000 miles on it. does your repair order from the intake gasket job show that the engine oil and filter was changed it should/better have been! .

From : christopher d thompson

on sun 09 mar 2008 084225 -0400 ann wrote ok guys i have been reading your posts for quite some time now and i have used alot of the good advice here. i am at my end with an oil problem. i have a 96 ram 1500 quad cab 318 5.2l. last month i had the plenum gasket replaced. after that my check engine light came on and the code came up as the evap code. they checked all the hoses on the intake and cleared the code. then just two weeks ago i had the thermostat changed out because i was having erratic heat temperatures coming out the vents at idle. now i have my oil light coming on. this only happens if the truck runs for a good 2hrs in city driving. above 40 at cold and after warming up. after the 2hrs i come to any stop sign or a complete stop and the truck is at idle. the light will come on and the needle will drop way low enough for the lite to come on and start to flicker. i checked the oil level and it is at the safe level. i know it blows blue smoke but it has been doing it for years. oil pressure gauge jumps back to normal while driving. i am at a loss. i had one place tell me it might be the pistons/rings or valves that need replaced. i am not sure if it might be a bad job when they replaced the plenum gasket. just at a loss and would like to know if anyone else had this problem or if anyone knows what the problem is. hate to get rid of this truck since it has been a great truck and with almost 150000 miles on it. any help would be appreciated. how often has the oil been changed regularly as in every 3000 miles put a manual gauge on it and run it for long enough to get it acting up if the manual gauge shows a problem then drop the pan and look. i suspect you will find sludge particles floating around in the oil pan these get picked up in the oil pumps pickup screen little by little. then you find a dropping or erratic oil pressure. most common is the dropping oil pressure. if you find sludge your best course of action is to replace the engine assy. the next best would be to clean the pan replace the oil pump and pickup tube then hope you can last a while before enough of the sludge up top gets dislodged to start causing you problems again. when i was working on cars i replaced more than a few engines for this very thing. another guess would be that you have a leaking oil pressure sending unit. ive seen them leak into the plastic housing and after its warmed up good give all kids of erratic/wrong readings before again this can be proven with a visual inspection and mechanical oil pressure gauge. -- chris .

From : ann

thanks to all who gave some insight. i just had the oil pressure sending unit/switch *behind the engine* replaced. yes oil change has been done every 3000 miles as i have had problems before with the oil pickup screen getting clogged. that was replaced last year along with the oil pump. last place that worked on it changed the oil and put 10w40 in it. i am wondering if the place before them actually did any work because the last place i took it to said the thermostat was not replaced and had not been changed in quite some time. that was based on the way the gasket was when it was taken off. as for the blue smoke i am thinking about having the piston rings redone on my extended warranty and since they have to take off the top part of the engine to replace the valve seals and guides while they are in there and accessable. any other gasket they can get to might as well replace those. just today on errands after it was warmed up the needle would slowly drop to just above the lower mark and stay there. but then sometimes at idle it would be just enough for the light to flicker on / off. i did slowly give it gas at idle but the needle did not jump. got it up to 2000 rpms and it slowly got up to just below 40 and then after letting off the gas it slowly dropped again. needless to say i think the piston rings valve seals and guides and another plenum gasket will need to be done and hopefully they will put it all back together correctly. as i have a feeling the last place did not do it right. as for the oil pressure sensor since a new is on maybe it is a bad one or something internaly in the engine. the last place told me they put a gauge on the sensor and it matched what the needle was showing. thanks for the great comments.... anymore to what i have included above ok guys i have been reading your posts for quite some time now and i have used alot of the good advice here. i am at my end with an oil problem. i have a 96 ram 1500 quad cab 318 5.2l. last month i had the plenum gasket replaced. after that my check engine light came on and the code came up as the evap code. they checked all the hoses on the intake and cleared the code. then just two weeks ago i had the thermostat changed out because i was having erratic heat temperatures coming out the vents at idle. now i have my oil light coming on. this only happens if the truck runs for a good 2hrs in city driving. above 40 at cold and after warming up. after the 2hrs i come to any stop sign or a complete stop and the truck is at idle. the light will come on and the needle will drop way low enough for the lite to come on and start to flicker. i checked the oil level and it is at the safe level. i know it blows blue smoke but it has been doing it for years. oil pressure gauge jumps back to normal while driving. i am at a loss. i had one place tell me it might be the pistons/rings or valves that need replaced. i am not sure if it might be a bad job when they replaced the plenum gasket. just at a loss and would like to know if anyone else had this problem or if anyone knows what the problem is. hate to get rid of this truck since it has been a great truck and with almost 150000 miles on it. any help would be appreciated. .

From : tbone

thanks to all who gave some insight. i just had the oil pressure sending unit/switch *behind the engine* replaced. yes oil change has been done every 3000 miles as i have had problems before with the oil pickup screen getting clogged. that was replaced last year along with the oil pump. last place that worked on it changed the oil and put 10w40 in it. i am wondering if the place before them actually did any work because the last place i took it to said the thermostat was not replaced and had not been changed in quite some time. that was based on the way the gasket was when it was taken off. as for the blue smoke i am thinking about having the piston rings redone on my extended warranty and since they have to take off the top part of the engine to replace the valve seals and guides while they are in there and accessable. any other gasket they can get to might as well replace those. just today on errands after it was warmed up the needle would slowly drop to just above the lower mark and stay there. but then sometimes at idle it would be just enough for the light to flicker on / off. i did slowly give it gas at idle but the needle did not jump. got it up to 2000 rpms and it slowly got up to just below 40 and then after letting off the gas it slowly dropped again. needless to say i think the piston rings valve seals and guides and another plenum gasket will need to be done and hopefully they will put it all back together correctly. as i have a feeling the last place did not do it right. as for the oil pressure sensor since a new is on maybe it is a bad one or something internaly in the engine. the last place told me they put a gauge on the sensor and it matched what the needle was showing. thanks for the great comments.... anymore to what i have included above the plenum gasket has nothing to do with the problems that you are now having. also neither the rings or the valve seals have anything to do with oil pressure. if you are already running 10w40 then it is time for a rebuild. the results from the test that you performed indicates that the sensor is working properly and your engine is losing oil pressure due to bearing wear. if you are considering replacing the rings have them do a full rebuild since they basically have to take most of the engine apart anyway to do that and you need the bearings replaced anyway. take it to someone that you trust and ask them for a full breakdown of what they are going to do. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving .

From : ann

hmmm a rebuild.... i cringe at the cost of that and do not think my extended warranty would cover that. that would leave me eating up the cost. maybe it is time for a new truck! thanks to all who gave some insight. i just had the oil pressure sending unit/switch *behind the engine* replaced. yes oil change has been done every 3000 miles as i have had problems before with the oil pickup screen getting clogged. that was replaced last year along with the oil pump. last place that worked on it changed the oil and put 10w40 in it. i am wondering if the place before them actually did any work because the last place i took it to said the thermostat was not replaced and had not been changed in quite some time. that was based on the way the gasket was when it was taken off. as for the blue smoke i am thinking about having the piston rings redone on my extended warranty and since they have to take off the top part of the engine to replace the valve seals and guides while they are in there and accessable. any other gasket they can get to might as well replace those. just today on errands after it was warmed up the needle would slowly drop to just above the lower mark and stay there. but then sometimes at idle it would be just enough for the light to flicker on / off. i did slowly give it gas at idle but the needle did not jump. got it up to 2000 rpms and it slowly got up to just below 40 and then after letting off the gas it slowly dropped again. needless to say i think the piston rings valve seals and guides and another plenum gasket will need to be done and hopefully they will put it all back together correctly. as i have a feeling the last place did not do it right. as for the oil pressure sensor since a new is on maybe it is a bad one or something internaly in the engine. the last place told me they put a gauge on the sensor and it matched what the needle was showing. thanks for the great comments.... anymore to what i have included above the plenum gasket has nothing to do with the problems that you are now having. also neither the rings or the valve seals have anything to do with oil pressure. if you are already running 10w40 then it is time for a rebuild. the results from the test that you performed indicates that the sensor is working properly and your engine is losing oil pressure due to bearing wear. if you are considering replacing the rings have them do a full rebuild since they basically have to take most of the engine apart anyway to do that and you need the bearings replaced anyway. take it to someone that you trust and ask them for a full breakdown of what they are going to do. -- if at first you dont succeed youre not cut out for skydiving .

From : nosey

dont know how my last reply to this thread ended up starting a new thread but either i or my reader hit a bad line of code. the subject line was changed so it shows up as a new topic. -- ken .

From : ann

i bought an extended warranty from a company for a couple grand that covers about 75% of the engine and powertrain. but it only pays out if there is a part that actually breaks down. will cover gaskets etc.. if some tear down is required to get to a part. it will cover pistons and rings! so that is why i am thinking of having them pay for that along with whatever else it takes to get to the pistons. just hoping that there is nothing else discovered while tearing down. engine runs smooth no knocks pings etc.. other than this #@$^$# oil pressure problem and blue smoke. i can smell the smoke when i have to put it in reverse when backing into the driveway or if at idle i give it gas. if i have to do a rebuild. i will buy a new truck and sell this one or keep it parked in the driveway until i have money for a rebuild. hmmm a rebuild.... i cringe at the cost of that and do not think my extended warranty would cover that. that would leave me eating up the cost. what kind of extended warranty do you have on a 12 year old truck .

From : nunya

i bought an extended warranty from a company for a couple grand that covers about 75% of the engine and powertrain. but it only pays out if there is a part that actually breaks down. will cover gaskets etc.. if some tear down is required to get to a part. it will cover pistons and rings! so that is why i am thinking of having them pay for that along with whatever else it takes to get to the pistons. just hoping that there is nothing else discovered while tearing down. engine runs smooth no knocks pings etc.. other than this #@$^$# oil pressure problem and blue smoke. i can smell the smoke when i have to put it in reverse when backing into the driveway or if at idle i give it gas. if i have to do a rebuild. i will buy a new truck and sell this one or keep it parked in the driveway until i have money for a rebuild. hmmm a rebuild.... i cringe at the cost of that and do not think my extended warranty would cover that. that would leave me eating up the cost. what kind of extended warranty do you have on a 12 year old truck dont know how my last reply to this thread ended up starting a new thread but either i or my reader hit a bad line of code. i dont believe in rebuilding in todays modern age of crate engines unless it is a classic engine and ride. you can get a drop in replacement from mopar with a warranty in the 3000 dollar range. i cant buy the parts and pay the machine shop for that. much less figure in labor. michael .

From : peterd

on mon 10 mar 2008 184844 -0400 ann babes@yahoo.com wrote i bought an extended warranty from a company for a couple grand that covers about 75% of the engine and powertrain. but it only pays out if there is a part that actually breaks down. will cover gaskets etc.. if some tear down is required to get to a part. it will cover pistons and rings! so that is why i am thinking of having them pay for that along with whatever else it takes to get to the pistons. just hoping that there is nothing else discovered while tearing down. engine runs smooth no knocks pings etc.. other than this #@$^$# oil pressure problem and blue smoke. i can smell the smoke when i have to put it in reverse when backing into the driveway or if at idle i give it gas. if i have to do a rebuild. i will buy a new truck and sell this one or keep it parked in the driveway until i have money for a rebuild. try some lucas oil treatment... that may solve temporarily your problems. eventually you will need to rebuild probably. .