is it 120k, or 220k . . . or 320k?
From : joe befumo
Q: a couple of years ago i bought a 1987 dodge b250 which purportedly had 120000 miles on it. after the first oil change i disovered that my oil pressure was falling down to near zero at idle when the engine a 360 btw is warmed up. okay so i change first the oil pump then the sender and finally the pressure gauge with no change. finally i switch it to 15w50 oil and the problem is solved -- presssure is up to 40 psi when running and no lower than 20 at idle from which we deduce that i need main bearings. so my question is should i take this as an indicator that this engine as gone around more than once it seems to have lots of power doesnt burn any oil that i can detect -- i use the van infrequently so its difficult to say for certain but it definitely doesnt smoke or do anythying thats in any way problematic. is it worth putting in bearings or would i be better advised to just get a low-mileage engine -- maybe even a 5.9 magnum ;^ id be inclined to just sell it but its really nicely equipped -- 360/727 torqueflite limited slip rear electric windows & door locks factory interior cruise control tilt wheel trailer towing package heavy suspension. . . and everything even works! what do you think ive had many 100k+ vehicles and have never seen bearings go in so short a time which leads me to surmise that maybe it has a lot more than 120k on it. thanks. joe .
Replies:
From : joe befumo
i might add that once a month i haul 40x50# bags of coal 1 ton with it and it handles it fine takes hills like theres nothing in it at all which seems to suggest that the compression is fine though i havent run a compression test. i guess that would probably be a reasonable diagnostic to try. . . .
From : grizz
joe befumo wrote a couple of years ago i bought a 1987 dodge b250 which purportedly had 120000 miles on it. after the first oil change i disovered that my oil pressure was falling down to near zero at idle when the engine a 360 btw is warmed up. okay so i change first the oil pump then the sender and finally the pressure gauge with no change. finally i switch it to 15w50 oil and the problem is solved -- presssure is up to 40 psi when running and no lower than 20 at idle from which we deduce that i need main bearings. so my question is should i take this as an indicator that this engine as gone around more than once it seems to have lots of power doesnt burn any oil that i can detect -- i use the van infrequently so its difficult to say for certain but it definitely doesnt smoke or do anythying thats in any way problematic. is it worth putting in bearings or would i be better advised to just get a low-mileage engine -- maybe even a 5.9 magnum ;^ id be inclined to just sell it but its really nicely equipped -- 360/727 torqueflite limited slip rear electric windows & door locks factory interior cruise control tilt wheel trailer towing package heavy suspension. . . and everything even works! what do you think ive had many 100k+ vehicles and have never seen bearings go in so short a time which leads me to surmise that maybe it has a lot more than 120k on it. thanks. joe before you get too excited about it try a mechanical oil pressure guage on it. i have a 89 pickup that i replaced both the sender and the guage and it still showed low oil pressure. i installed a mechanical guage and the pressure is fine. i still have both guages in it. a lot of the time the electrical will show 20 pounds and the mechanical shows 60 right where it should be. i was told that those years had problems in that electrical circuit. grizz440 .
From : joe befumo
thanks to all for the tips. considering how little i use it ill probably just keep running it on heavy oil for a bit. maybe if i get ambitious some day ill put a 5.7 hemi in it 8^ joe .
From : max dodge
since the oil flow is from mains to rods imo you would have a problem with rods before mains. not that the mains cannot be the problem but i suspect not if the rods are not rattling. im more inclined to think that the cam bearings might be a problem. i have a 318 with the same symptoms you describe and i changed all bottom end bearings. i also changed the oil pump and none of this helped. i had tried heavier oil and nothing changed. this car now awaits a 360. if the heavier oil has solved your problem you should continue to use it. meanwhile you can build or acquire an engine that might be a bit better than what you have in terms of power. changing bearings especially cam bearings in a van can be more of an adventure than simply pulling the engine and swapping in another. if you decide to swap engines i suggest power washing the underside and under the engine cover before starting as this will reduce the amount of crud you have to deal with. -- max join www.devilbrad.com and find out what free exchange of info is all about. there are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty soap ballot jury and ammo. please use in that order. -ed howdershelt author a couple of years ago i bought a 1987 dodge b250 which purportedly had 120000 miles on it. after the first oil change i disovered that my oil pressure was falling down to near zero at idle when the engine a 360 btw is warmed up. okay so i change first the oil pump then the sender and finally the pressure gauge with no change. finally i switch it to 15w50 oil and the problem is solved -- presssure is up to 40 psi when running and no lower than 20 at idle from which we deduce that i need main bearings. so my question is should i take this as an indicator that this engine as gone around more than once it seems to have lots of power doesnt burn any oil that i can detect -- i use the van infrequently so its difficult to say for certain but it definitely doesnt smoke or do anythying thats in any way problematic. is it worth putting in bearings or would i be better advised to just get a low-mileage engine -- maybe even a 5.9 magnum ;^ id be inclined to just sell it but its really nicely equipped -- 360/727 torqueflite limited slip rear electric windows & door locks factory interior cruise control tilt wheel trailer towing package heavy suspension. . . and everything even works! what do you think ive had many 100k+ vehicles and have never seen bearings go in so short a time which leads me to surmise that maybe it has a lot more than 120k on it. thanks. joe .
From : joe befumo
on wed 21 mar 2007 144901 -0400 roy roy@home.net wrote ya heard it here first!! se ya cant help yourself. no you are the one that cannot help themselves but we already know that. sad so sad. but now that you are paying attention and before you bury your head in the sand. explain the sensor on the v10!! roy explain the sensor on the v10!! snopuddle help me im melting....... fmb north mexico .
From : grizz
joe befumo wrote thanks grizz -- actually that was the second thing i did right after the sender. as it stands ill probably run it for a while just sticking with heavy oil as someone else suggested. it pulls just fine starts right up even in sub-zero weather so . . . at some point id probably want to change the timing chain so then i might consider going a bit deeper and replacing cam cam bearings & main & rod bearings or i might just keep an eye out in the meantime for a low-mileage 360. what id love to do is put in a cummins diesel or a 5.7 hemi but i have a feeling that the first wouldnt fit height and the second would require all kinds of sensors that i wont have available so a straight swap would probably afford me sufficient grief as it is. thanks again joe joe befumo wrote a couple of years ago i bought a 1987 dodge b250 which purportedly had 120000 miles on it. after the first oil change i disovered that my oil pressure was falling down to near zero at idle when the engine a 360 btw is warmed up. okay so i change first the oil pump then the sender and finally the pressure gauge with no change. finally i switch it t
From : beekeep
on sat 17 mar 2007 103928 -0400 joe befumo joe@nospam.befumo.com wrote a couple of years ago i bought a 1987 dodge b250 which purportedly had 120000 miles on it. after the first oil change i disovered that my oil pressure was falling down to near zero at idle when the engine a 360 btw is warmed up. okay so i change first the oil pump then the sender and finally the pressure gauge with no change. finally i switch it to 15w50 oil and the problem is solved -- presssure is up to 40 psi when running and no lower than 20 at idle from which we deduce that i need main bearings. so my question is should i take this as an indicator that this engine as gone around more than once it seems to have lots of power doesnt burn any oil that i can detect -- i use the van infrequently so its difficult to say for certain but it definitely doesnt smoke or do anythying thats in any way problematic. is it worth putting in bearings or would i be better advised to just get a low-mileage engine -- maybe even a 5.9 magnum ;^ id be inclined to just sell it but its really nicely equipped -- 360/727 torqueflite limited slip rear electric windows & door locks factory interior cruise control tilt wheel trailer towing package heavy suspension. . . and everything even works! what do you think ive had many 100k+ vehicles and have never seen bearings go in so short a time which leads me to surmise that maybe it has a lot more than 120k on it. thanks. joe i dont think you have any problem at all. some of those engines just need a heavier oil to keep the pressure up. the 318 in my van has been that way since i installed it. ive put 80k on it without any problems. beekeep .