Oil Pressure Hits Zero And Stays There- JGC '96

This is a graph from a study performed by an employee of the company that builds the official testing equipment. As I recall the study was published in 2004 using the filter size for the DuraMax Diesel.

The first chart shows the amount to the official sanctioned test 'dust' before the filter is considered to be clogged. K & N scores the lowest but to be fair you can just clean a K & N and reinstall it.

Please note the performance of the AFE which is also an oiled gauze like the K & N.

ROFLMAO!!!!

There is probably a better class of people at the DMV than the local student body. Plus the benefits are better.

Quality suffered when Fram was bought by Allied Signal and their attempts to save a few pennies per unit by cheaping out the designs.

I appreciate your candor...

Listen, I'm low on money, and $400 into this situation already. I feel my mechanic has some resposibility to figure this out. When I went to the dealership, I was told that it wasn't a computer flashing fix. Therefore, I was left to conclude that any mechanic could figure this out with a lower cost.

I'm going back to the mechanic tomorrow and he is going to install a mechanical gauge (it takes 25 minutes?) and he's going to have me drive around a little to see what the deal is.

If it's showing good pressure, then that would mean that the dash gauge is the problem? If it isn't showing good pressure, then I'm in trouble, right?

Thx

If your mechanical gauge shows okay oil pressure the problem is in the sender, wiring, computer, or dash gauge or the grounds for those components

If you had NO oil pressure you could not stand to be near the engine because of the horrible noises coming out of it.

Imagine you took that big tin tub your grandmother used to handwash laundry in an threw in a handful of nuts and bolts, broken tools and then caught a couple neighborhood cats and a pit bull and tossed them into the tub, slammed a piece of plywood on top and started beating the sides as hard and fast as you could with a tire iron. That noise you would be hearing would be a fraction of the noise an engine without oil makes. Before a motor seizes it actually 'cries and moans in pain'

And seizing is what it would surely do it you tried to run it more than a minute or two without oil. As you have been driving it for a week I doubt that is the problem.

Is it possible that the gauge is sensing "LOW" vs "NO" oil pressure? I guess I will find out tomorrow, but seeing as this has gone on for THREE WEEKS (one week of driving) I'm anxious to fix the cause of the problem- if there is one. It just seems that the engine doesn't respond as well when the gauge is at the bottom.

Few Other Notes:

-When I check the dipstick after driving 20-30 minutes, I notice that the oil on the stick has bubbles. I also hear a CHIRPING noise coming from the engine.

-I'm using a Fram Tough Guard filter.

-I used a 6 quarts of 10-30 Penzoil Synthetic- in the past I've used 5 synthetic 1 Lucas

And again, the car has 164,000 miles on it.

THX TO ALL!

Low oil pressure noises sound like you placed a bag of marbles in an empty paint can and shook them as hard as you could.

I know several guys that have complained of 'valve' noise that went away when they replaced the Fram filter with another brand

You might want to go to your corner auto parts store and pick up an STP, AC Delco, Purolator, Wix, Baldwin, Bosch, NAPA, champion, motorcraft, Deutch, mahle, or Mann.

I'm sure there are other good major name brands that have slipped my mind but it is almost 2:30 AM, pick one of these because Fram also makes a number of other brand and generic brand filters and you want to avoid them also.

You needn't change the oil, just replace the filter and top off any oil loss

Bubbles? What does the oil actually LOOK like? (color consistency, smell)

What does the coolant look like? (color consistency, smell) What color is it supposed to be?

What does the exhaust 'smell' like? (I realize this sounds like an odd question but there is a rational reason)

If you have a spark plug wrench pull the plugs and tell me if any looks 'different' than the others...an what the difference is....

Man you are dense, you complain that your dumb a$$ mechanic has told you all this crap about what you need to do, you went to the stealership and got their answer, you claim that you have paid your rip off artist of a mechanic $400 to misdiagnose your problem and you want things fixed. You were told by atleast 1/2 the responces here to get a mechanical oil pressure guage installed and go from there. The other

Now after three weeks of crying how your dash guage shows no pressure and crying about how much you have spent on the dumb ideas of your rip off artisit, you now decide to finally have a mechanical guage installed and decide to share new info about finding bubbles on the dipstick.. to quote Bill Engvall "here's your sign"

Having followed this thread since day one I can honestly tell you to sell your JeeP and buy a f%ck*ng bus pass.

Snow...

NJPa> CHECK GAUGES: Zero Oil Pressure reading-

Thanks coach, I guess I'm gonna have to stay after practice and do laps.

My mechanic isn't ripping me off. He's been lazy. I'm tapped out of money at this point. I'd just replaced two Michelin LTX M/S tires, two reflex struts, got a brake job and work is slow, so I'm in a jam.. Can you blame me for not wanting to spend $100/hr at the dealership? My mechanic sent me there because he saw a TSB about computer flashing. When I got to the dealership the desk guy said that that wouldn't be the problem. I spoke to a mechanic at the dealership and he said it could be blockage, wiring or worn engine. The desk guy told me a new engine would be $7000. Do you blame me for running away?

I've been burnt by mechanics before. $500 to NOT find a problem I had with a Chevy Astro. After dealing with that guy I'd brought it to 2 other places for diagnostics and no one could figure it out. (ANOTHER $150)

How is my mechanic ripping me off if charges me $50 bucks to change the oil sensor because thats what he thought the problem was? Why am I wrong to bring it back to him to do his due diligence? He's changed my exhaust manifold, he just did my girfriends water pump and he does work at reasonable prices.

I'm not trying to dismiss any advice here. I'm just not at the stage where I can switch mechanics, without having a Certified Jeep Surgeon in waiting. If you know of one in my area I would certainly consider it, but at this point- actually at 11:00AM- I'm bringing it to the mechanic down the street and he's going to put on the mechanical gauge.

I've got a Pure One Filter, ready to go. I've compared the inlet holes and they are wider than the Fram Tough Guard.

With only 150 miles on it, the consistency is thin, smells like oil, and has a slightly amber color. Since we flushed it, the oil has been very clean.

It's green. Mechanic tested it- it performs up to 195. He said it was fine.

What does the exhaust 'smell' like? (I realize this sounds like an odd

I'll do the smell test when I go out. What smells am I looking for? I know there isn't unspent fuel in there, butbesides that I haven't made a

I'll have him check that...

You needn't a Jeep specialist although that would be preferable, any competent mechanic would know that sending units are trouble prone and rarely reliable and the VERY FIRST test is to attach a mechanical gauge. If he was too lazy to do that then........

To make it perfectly clear...... With ANY vehicle, of ANY make, by ANY manufacturer, ANYWHERE in the world, and in the case of NASA, (or any other space agency), ANYWHERE in the universe if an electrical sending units is even remotely suspected of being inaccurate the first thing you do is temporarily install a mechanical gauge

Now.... I haven't any idea where you live but there really has to be a competent and honest mechanic somewhere within a reasonable area, finding that mechanic is another story.

Ask around for advise from people you trust who have limited reason to steer you wrong. Good sources are... the church on the corner (doesn't matter what kind of church, the religious leader there knows the neighborhood), the firehouse on the corner (most firemen I know are fairly adept mechanically), the corner business that delivers (they have to keep their vehicles running), your corner pharmacist (you would be amazed at what they know about your neighbors), your local professional auto parts store (auto Zone, etc might do but a NAPA type place would be better, your corner post office... this is getting to be a pretty complicated intersection.... especially from a guy who lives in a town that has the Welcome To and Now Leaving signs on the same pole

If coolant had gotten into the oil it would look like a milkshake .... almost exactly like a milkshake.

If you were burning coolant the exhaust would smell 'sweet' and that sparkplug would be dramatically cleaner than the others.

If oil was in the coolant you would see globules or an oily layer,or it would smell faintly of exhaust, or may be full of air bubbles from the compressed gasses inside the engine or maybe the bubbles are from the cooling system 'burping' itself if the level is low or the coolant recently changed.

Billy ray!

Don't send this fool on any more wild goose chases! His engine at 'zero psi' for oil pressure would have failed long ago if anything was actually wrong with it!

Mike

Later, "low pressure oil noises" sound about the same, as silence. ;^)

Earle