Dodge Ram Oil Pressure

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outdoors4fun@yahoo.com - 27 Oct 2008 01:46 GMT

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

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PeterD - 27 Oct 2008 14:24 GMT

>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
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
>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 it's normal again. (Yes, it
does have oil pressure...)

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Tom Lawrence - 27 Oct 2008 15:00 GMT

> 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 driver's side of the block, just above the
ECM. It's 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 1/8"NPT 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, don't have to tear in to the engine).

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