Dodge Ram Oil Pressure

From : Annonymous

Q: i have a 98 ram truck with the 12 valve diesel engine. i have oil pressure loss. when idleing it will go from 45lb. to zero for about 10 secounds and then back up. durring driveing at times it will do the same thing. change oil a few times but stays the same. i turned up idle and it slowed down but still drops all the time when warmed up. i was going to pull oil pump out latter this week but hope somone has some input on this before i go to that extent. could it be pressure switch as it goes down fast and comes back fast. also where is pressure switch located on this engine. thank you all very much. drew .

Replies:

From : peterd

on sun 26 oct 2008 174619 -0700 pdt outdoors4fun@yahoo.com wrote i have a 98 ram truck with the 12 valve diesel engine. i have oil pressure loss. when idleing it will go from 45lb. to zero for about 10 secounds and then back up. durring driveing at times it will do the same thing. change oil a few times but stays the same. i turned up idle and it slowed down but still drops all the time when warmed up. i was going to pull oil pump out latter this week but hope somone has some input on this before i go to that extent. could it be pressure switch as it goes down fast and comes back fast. also where is pressure switch located on this engine. thank you all very much. drew this sounds like a sensor/computer problem. my 2k4 hemi does a similar thing start it and about once every six months it will read zero oil pressure. shut it off then restart and its normal again. yes it does have oil pressure... .

From : tom lawrence

some input on this before i go to that extent. could it be pressure switch as it goes down fast and comes back fast. also where is pressure switch located on this engine. the pressure switch is on the drivers side of the block just above the ecm. its a bit of a bitch to get to. before doing anything else put a mechanical gauge on the engine. there should be two 1/8 npt ports on the top of the oil filter housing. remove one of the plugs and screw in a gauge. you might need to make up a small extension - a couple of 1/8npt to 1/4 compression fittings and some soft copper tubing will do the job nicely. once plumbed in if the factory gauge is crapping out and the mechanical gauge says everything is fine well you have your answer and more importantly dont have to tear in to the engine. .