Need Opinions on a 1998 Dodge Ram 3500

ibkg · 10-02-2008, 07:13 PM

Hi, I just purchased a 1998 Dodge Ram 3500 truck with the 5.9 360 gas motor it has 39,815 miles on it it was a state owned truck used at a Hospital my question is about oil pressure I have all the service records on the truck and in 2001 they replaced the oil pump due to no oil pressure I have only had the truck for a few days now and when I drove it home I noticed when it was cold it showed 50psi as soon as the thermostat opened the pressure dropped to about 35psi I have another dodge truck a 96' model with almost 300,000 miles on it and it's oil pressure never drops below 40psi cold or hot so the other day I replaced the oil pump and pickup tube and the pressure switch and there was no change with the oil pressure so I put a tee where the oil pressure switch goes in the block and added a manual gauge because I don't think the gauge in the dash is too accurate from what I hear when its cold it shows 60psi and hot idle about 12psi going down the highway at 60mph it shows around 25psi and that's at around 1700rpm does this sound normal? if you rev the engine the gauge will jump right up I know the truck was never driven on highway except for once a week and that was only for 15miles the rest of the time it just idled around also they had put two brand new heads on the motor just a month ago I am assuming this truck had a sludge problem in the past but didn't see any signs of that when I installed the oil pump the other day also it has the typical lifter rattle when you start it first thing in the morning for about 2 sec my 96' model does that too I just wanted to get some opinions on this. Thanks KG

bradrhale · 10-02-2008, 08:14 PM

you are going to have that lifter tick. that is just normal until that oil gets a pumpin. that makes me wonder though that after 40K on the clock, she has already had heart transplant surgery and 2 heads. my 99 ram goes to 60 when cold and then settles at 45 or whatever that middle mark is when i get her hot. you may have a passageway blocked. 12 psi seems kinda low. 25 psi at highway speeds is not normal either. how bad was the oil when you first got the truck?? what oil did you put in there when you changed the pump??

ibkg · 10-03-2008, 05:53 AM

the oil was pretty beat up and there was a slight film of sludge in the pan I know from the service records they did flush the engine out I used 10W-30 Castrol and got the pump from the dodge dealer they told me the heads were replaced due to the truck just running idle most of the time and never being used on the Highway they replaced the pump in 2001 so I guess it's had this kind of oil pressure the last 7 years also I was looking in the service manual and it says min curb idle oil pressure is 6psi when hot and at 3000 rpm 30-80psi is normal so with 3.55 gears at 1700rpm I'm running 63mph I will have to check again to be sure but I think it was holding 25-30psi at that rpm other wise the truck runs perfect no smoke best I can tell yet uses no oil never ran into this kind of a problem with a dodge before if it is a problem? thanks for all the input so far. KG

10-02-2008, 07:13 PM	#1
ibkg Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 6	Need Opinions on a 1998 Dodge Ram 3500 Hi, I just purchased a 1998 Dodge Ram 3500 truck with the 5.9 360 gas motor it has 39,815 miles on it it was a state owned truck used at a Hospital my question is about oil pressure I have all the service records on the truck and in 2001 they replaced the oil pump due to no oil pressure I have only had the truck for a few days now and when I drove it home I noticed when it was cold it showed 50psi as soon as the thermostat opened the pressure dropped to about 35psi I have another dodge truck a 96' model with almost 300,000 miles on it and it's oil pressure never drops below 40psi cold or hot so the other day I replaced the oil pump and pickup tube and the pressure switch and there was no change with the oil pressure so I put a tee where the oil pressure switch goes in the block and added a manual gauge because I don't think the gauge in the dash is too accurate from what I hear when its cold it shows 60psi and hot idle about 12psi going down the highway at 60mph it shows around 25psi and that's at around 1700rpm does this sound normal? if you rev the engine the gauge will jump right up I know the truck was never driven on highway except for once a week and that was only for 15miles the rest of the time it just idled around also they had put two brand new heads on the motor just a month ago I am assuming this truck had a sludge problem in the past but didn't see any signs of that when I installed the oil pump the other day also it has the typical lifter rattle when you start it first thing in the morning for about 2 sec my 96' model does that too I just wanted to get some opinions on this. Thanks KG

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10-02-2008, 08:14 PM	#2
bradrhale Senior Moderator Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 8,025	you are going to have that lifter tick. that is just normal until that oil gets a pumpin. that makes me wonder though that after 40K on the clock, she has already had heart transplant surgery and 2 heads. my 99 ram goes to 60 when cold and then settles at 45 or whatever that middle mark is when i get her hot. you may have a passageway blocked. 12 psi seems kinda low. 25 psi at highway speeds is not normal either. how bad was the oil when you first got the truck?? what oil did you put in there when you changed the pump??

10-03-2008, 05:53 AM	#3
ibkg Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 6	the oil was pretty beat up and there was a slight film of sludge in the pan I know from the service records they did flush the engine out I used 10W-30 Castrol and got the pump from the dodge dealer they told me the heads were replaced due to the truck just running idle most of the time and never being used on the Highway they replaced the pump in 2001 so I guess it's had this kind of oil pressure the last 7 years also I was looking in the service manual and it says min curb idle oil pressure is 6psi when hot and at 3000 rpm 30-80psi is normal so with 3.55 gears at 1700rpm I'm running 63mph I will have to check again to be sure but I think it was holding 25-30psi at that rpm other wise the truck runs perfect no smoke best I can tell yet uses no oil never ran into this kind of a problem with a dodge before if it is a problem? thanks for all the input so far. KG