I'm pretty sure my oil pump is going out. The idiot light on the dash for oil has been slowly flickering on more and more consistently. At first, it would only come on occasionally while in gear, at idle, and only when the engine was at normal operating temp. If I shifted it into neutral or gave it some gas, the light would instantly turn off (the higher RPMs increasing the oil pressure, I'm guessing?).
Today the light finally started flickering while in neutral, and when in drive if I was coasting at 20 mph or below the light would be flickering just short of completely on, and when I came to a stop the light came on and stayed on steadily. I don't have any way to check the oil pressure, so I just have to go by the light.
The car has about 77000 original miles on it so I'm guessing this is just normal wear and time to replace the pump, but I wanted to get second opinions to make sure.
If it is the pump, how much of a pain is it to replace? I haven't actually replaced one yet on an engine still in the car.
Also, is this a decent pump? Right now the $120 or some such that I've seen the pumps priced at will really hurt the pocket, but this one is on sale. Still, I'd rather have good parts if I can get them.
Thanks guys...

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<i>D'Artagnan</i>
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v432/stephaniexchaos/dart/th_IMG_0326_zpsumhhfxi0.jpg">

With your car in the state you received it I wouldn't be surprised if the oil pump is worn. I would also expect a fair amount of bearing wear too, but short of a major tear down the oil pump is your best option.

That should be a good oil pump and the price is right. I would make sure it isn't made in China if possible. If it is Chinese I have a US made pump I'd sell for the same price.

Replacing the pump in an F-body shouldn't be too bad. There should be more clearance to the K-member than in an A-body, but it's still not a quick and easy task.

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Joshua

Does Pep Boys still have the $2 pumps? The one I got was an older Melling.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

please dont tear apart your engine based on an oil light, stephanie.

get a GOOD mechanical gauge in there and take down some hard numbers before making a decision. No stupid sunpro autozone disco gauge, look in yellow pages under "hydraulics" and go to a hydraulics shop and get a good 0-100/300 gauge from winters or mico. WHERE is the REAL oil pressure, at idle, at WOT; after the engine has shut down how fast does the oil pressure drop

that last one will isolate the oil pump versus the bearings.

spend the money on a good tool and earn some independence.

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely look into it, but unfortunately, there is a very low limit to what I can do right now money-wise. So I'll have to either get lucky and find something on sale, or hopefully someone around here has a good gauge they can show me how to use? Unfortunately, I still have a few more days of classes and finals to get through, then technically I don't have to drive for a month (it's a 40 mile round trip drive to school).
Hoping my car makes it through til then.. [/quote]

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<i>D'Artagnan</i>
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v432/stephaniexchaos/dart/th_IMG_0326_zpsumhhfxi0.jpg">

What grade / weight oil are you running?
Thin oil will aggravate the low pressure condition so you may want to switch to a higher viscosity as short term "help".
DD

anyone you know with a remote OP gauge, you could remove the sender and see what pressure you REALLY have; but, yeah, as Doc says thin dilured oil will make that lite do goofy things; I hate idiot lites; much rather have a gauge (Best=both gauge and lite) but it might be just the sending unit.
I've seen sending units go bad in such a way where they are "OFF" such as when sitting at a stoplite but go "ON" when you take off; the ones used with a gauge would see the gauge reading go UP at a stop and down when underway; a sending unit for that car is CHEAP.

Also; if the brand that your parts house of choice sells, calls it an "oil pressure SWITCH", the counter jockey may not understand you, when you say "sending unit"; another name for the same part. Never heard of the brand of gauge that Step mentions; that don't mean they are no good, just because I have never heard of them, for sure;
I have a (cant remember which) Mac or Snap on remote gauge for such testing.
A Sunpro, mounted under the dash is better than nothing; (I would rather find an old school Stewart Warner at a swap meet or via Ebay) but DO NOT use the plastic tubing that they come with; go to Menard's (or ACE or True Value, etc) and get a few feet of copper 1/8" tube; much less likely to break, and spray the inside of the car with oil; Don't ask how I know; you could use that one intended to be mounted under the dash can be used underhood like my Snap on one, in a pinch.

also the best way, would be to "tee" it in so the gauge and lite BOTH work; even with a cheap gauge, you will know when something's up as you'll notice that the gauge is not where it "usually is" under those conditions; between cold idle, cold (eng temp) driving, different road speeds, OP HOT both idling and driving and yes being cold or warm outside will all make a difference in OP as will viscosity of oil being used.

Symptoms described could easily be caused by a progressively-failing oil pressure sender — easy/cheap fix. If you don't have time or money to put in a mechanical gauge, spend $15 and put in a new pressure sender. Also service the oil pressure relief valve to make sure it's doing its job, as described in these two threads: thread 1, thread 2.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

i would personally reccommend castrol GTX 20W50 as a commonly available heavier weight oil to use while you figure things out. you may want to smell the oil in there now for signs of fuel dilution as a rupturing fuel pump diaphragm could explain any developing loss of oil pressure. but first things first establish your true oil pressure with a mechanical gauge. limit your driving in the meantime as much as possible. bum rides from friends if you have to. the symptoms are mild enough now that you have some choices and some time to exercise them.

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

Steph. If you need an oil pressure guage, I think I have an extra......it may be an autoguage, but it is a mecanical one. I think the copper tubing kit I bought for the drag car was $17....you will need a tubing kit/connectors. I may have that as well. Will look this weekend, can send it for free w/ the speeedo cable
Andrew

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Wife's: 64 Valiant
My: 70 Road Runner, 67 Barracuda, AND the 62 Valiant drag car!!

Last oil change I put in 10W-30, I've been burning oil a bit so last top-off I grabbed some 5W-30 going along with conventional "it's winter and cold" type thinking, but then talked to Ceej who informed me to stick with the 10W-30 for regular causes, maybe putting in some heavier stuff for right now.

I'm taking the car down to Ceej's this weekend, we're going to check out the oil pressure problem (as well as a couple other little gremlins) and I'll let you guys know what we find.

Andrew - you're a hero. I'd love that gauge, just let me know, and get back to me on the shipping costs of that and the spedo cable so I can drop you that check!

Dan - Oil pressure relief valve - will do this weekend with Ceej. Pressure sender I'll look into, if I can get one before the weekend I'll pick it up as well.

Steponmebbboom - Thanks for the reccommendations. I'm just about to leave for class, so I'll check the oil for fuel dilution - I never even thought of that. Luckily, the only places I have to drive are school today and to Ceej's - I live right behind the shopping complex I work in.


Again, thanks everyone for the input.. I'll post what we find after Ceej and I check things out on Saturday.

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<i>D'Artagnan</i>
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v432/stephaniexchaos/dart/th_IMG_0326_zpsumhhfxi0.jpg">

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDeta ... 51&PTSet=A I see $36.99 for that pump.

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Well, after inspecting and testing things with CJ, it looks like we're in for tearing down the engine. Bearings seem to be worn, and with that we may as well go through the whole engine. Luckily, I'll have LowerClassYouth's '73 Duster to drive around while we're digging into the Volare, so we can do the rebuild nice and proper.
In the meantime, next chance I get when it's not raining I'm going to change out the oil to a thicker weight to hopefully keep things going on the occasions when I do need to drive the Volare.

Thanks everyone for all the advice and tips, I really appreciate it!!

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<i>D'Artagnan</i>
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v432/stephaniexchaos/dart/th_IMG_0326_zpsumhhfxi0.jpg">

I'm glad to hear you have something else to drive. My Duster did the same thing when I bought it. I thought it was strange that it had a "new" oil pump on the side of the engine. The PO replaced it trying to fix or cover up the problem. It lasted me 10 days. I got about 10 miles outside of town and the engine locked up solid. When I tore it down #1 connecting rod had welded it's self to the crank, I never bothered to take the rest of the caps off. Just good to know you didn't get stranded somewhere.

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There are 3 things that will live forever, cockroaches, Keith Richards, and Slant Six Dusters !!!

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y128/slantasaurus/

take a look around

FYI- to replace the oil pump on an F-body, you need to remove the passenger side motor mount and jack the motor up about six inches. You can get the bolts off the block no problem, but the pump doesn't slide out enough to remove it from the car. Unless you jack the engine up, about three inches of the pump driveshaft stays in the block and prevents you from removing the pump.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.