97 Dodge Ram 1500

shane416ex · May 19, 2009

Got a 97 Dodge Ram 1500, has the 5.2 318cid, auto, 4X4. Got a weird problem, I use it to tow my rig to the trail, the last couple times the oil light has been coming on and flickering on and off at idle at the stop lights, so this only seems to happen after I have been driving under load. If I idle it up just a little it goes away oil pressure stays normal. Does this sound like the main bearing are starting to go out? Any other ideas?

zukkev · May 19, 2009

these have alot of issues with the sender...does the guage read normal when the light flickers??? if you're gonna change the sender---get a manual oil pressure guage and screw it into the spot where the sender goes, and check the oil pressure(hot of course)--if it's low, then you have a problem developing....how many miles on it?

unclestripey · May 19, 2009

Sounds like low oil pressure due to overheated/low viscosity oil. Has it been changed regularly or at all? I'd start here and see if it can be solved simply and cheaply--would suck to have to tear into the bottom end.

shane416ex · May 19, 2009

Yes the manual oil pressure gauge also goes to zero and bounces around, the truck has 115,000miles, and yes the oil has always been changed on a regular basis, I find I can drive all over with no problems at all but after hauling a heavy load for a while the problem starts.

nate8887 · May 19, 2009

quit driving it I am changing a motor in mine right know same problem only took to days to cease thought it was electrical. turns out it wasnt

shane416ex · May 19, 2009

I keep a close eye on it when I drive it, you must have been driving around with absolutley no oil pressure to seize it up. I have oil pressure normally but that changes after having a load on.

nate8887 · May 19, 2009

NO I was not driving with no oil pressure I had your same thought process.
Actually the thought process was ill just pull over and have my wife come with the trailer if the oil pressure drops. It was very sparatic. And then motor seized and all I smelt was clutch it was fun getting it on the trailer with a come along.

Park it until you fix it just my advise being that I am swapping a motor due to this problem I had 113496 miles on mine.

Zale · May 20, 2009

If you seized up the motor ,you where without oil pressure.
You see, a motor "seizes" when there is no longer OIL to lubricate the cylinder surface area.
Come on back please.

shane416ex · May 20, 2009

After your motor did seize, did you find out what the problem was?

nate8887 · May 20, 2009

I haven't pulled the old motor apart yet. I understand how a motor works. What I am saying is mine was acting identical to his oil pressure never went to zero by the gage. I do not believe it is a complete mechanical guage. I think there was a combination of problems, I will not have the old motor apart until probably next weekend.

zukkev · May 20, 2009

shane416ex said:
Yes the manual oil pressure gauge also goes to zero and bounces around, the truck has 115,000miles, and yes the oil has always been changed on a regular basis, I find I can drive all over with no problems at all but after hauling a heavy load for a while the problem starts.

If it's been maintained regularly, it's pretty rare to see these engines have mechanical failure at this mileage...at least from my experience!!! When you say the mech guage bounces around, does it do it suddenly, with almost a jerky type motion, or does it just drop to near zero as the engine comes down to idle and sit there til rpms are raised???? Sounds electrical to me---BUT CHECK THE OIL PRESSURE WITH A SEPARATE MECHANICAL GUAGE!!!Hook it up, and go drive it, tow something if you have to!!! I don't want you to lunch a motor on a hunch/pattern failure....:awesomework:

nate8887 · May 20, 2009

And besides I am trying to save this guy the heartache of having to pull his motor and find a new one because he seized it. Why are you being a ****. I told him to figure out the problem before you drive it. Wouldn't you do that normally? If you heard your valves ticking would you just drive it around or would try to adjust them?
The good thing about that motor is they all are the same block from the early 80's to late 90's You just need to retain all your mounting brackets.

zukkev · May 20, 2009

shane416ex said:
I keep a close eye on it when I drive it, you must have been driving around with absolutley no oil pressure to seize it up. I have oil pressure normally but that changes after having a load on.

As stated before, the oil senders have a pretty bad rep---and they usually show up at certain temps....JUST CHECK IT WITH A SEPARATE MECH GUAGE!!!!

zukkev · May 20, 2009

nate8887 said:
And besides I am trying to save this guy the heartache of having to pull his motor and find a new one because he seized it. Why are you being a ****. I told him to figure out the problem before you drive it. Wouldn't you do that normally? If you heard your valves ticking would you just drive it around or would try to adjust them?
The good thing about that motor is they all are the same block from the early 80's to late 90's You just need to retain all your mounting brackets.

This directed at me????:eeek:

nate8887 · May 20, 2009

No. zale

shane416ex · May 20, 2009

Lots of good ideas here and I appreciate them, the first time this happened was a couple months ago and I have been driving it since then without it occuring anymore until I towed this last weekend, so if yours seized in two days it may not be the same problem, or it could be. I also agree that with regular maintanence it is rare for this motor to go bad at 115k. I will buy a mech. gauge tommorow and find an oil port to hook it up to and see what happens.

zukkev · May 21, 2009

Just remove the oil sender at the back of the intake (kind of a PITA, but doable) and screw the mech guage into its port & do your testing; have a new sender ready to screw back in if everything checks out ok....saves an extra run to the parts store...You can always return the sender if the problem is deeper...