Q&A

my oil pressure bottomed out then came back up, i pulled over and checked my oil level and it was fine. i started the truck back up and the pressure was good then it bottomed out again and the engine started tapping then the engine died. i restarted and the pressure was good and parked it real quick. do you think the pump is bad?

Are you reading the gauge?

The tapping and dying is concerning, but I would truly have a base oil pressure test done first, monitoring pressure for a little while.

yes the oil guage reads zero, then normal then zero again and the engine starts making the noise only when the guage is at zero, then the fail safe kicks in and shuts the engine off

Is this a manual gauge? If not, a manual gauge needs installed to check and verify.

it is the manual guage on the truck, not a test guage

OK, apologies for the confusion on my part.

The main cause of intermittent oil pressure loss is a pick up screen that is getting debris into it. This is probably beacuse either bearings are worn and maybe one has spun (doubtful, since you'd have more noise), or aluminum / plastic from somewhere in the engine has gotten into the pan, and now is getting sucked into the pump screen. Dropping the oil pan will tell you what may be in there, and sure - you could replace the screen and/or pump, but the question is - where did the debris come from? The timing chain guides could be a source of debris, as well as cam journals in the cylinder heads...

Have you had any other work done on this truck or engine recently?

no other than brakes and tires i really havn't had to replace anything other than the alternator. i changed the oil and filter today and still didn't have any luck so im assuming it is in the oil pan and since it is 4x4 that is going to be a major chore

Yeah, that's an ugly ordeal. I'm sorry you're going down this road. Good luck...

thanks