ESP47
Well-Known Member
This is a 75 Dodge D100. The guy I bought it from said it had a stock rebuilt 318 roller engine in it with about 30k on the rebuild. He owns a local business and was honest with everything I could verify on the truck so I have no reason not to believe him there.
The gauge on the truck is not the most useful thing in the world. The gauge starts with 0 and then the next number on it is 40psi. When I'm driving and periodically looking down at the gauge, it can randomly be close to 40psi or it can be way down at what I'm assuming is around 5psi or so. The other day I was driving home from work on the freeway and I look down and the gauge is pegged all the way to the left. Like far beyond zero. I immediately pull off the freeway and check the oil. It seemed right where it should be on the dipstick. I went inside the gas station and put a half a quart in it anyway and it still checked out ok on the dipstick. Fired it up and the pressure was back to "normal", fluctuating between 5 and 40psi again. More often than not the pressure is closer to 5 than it is 40.
I've never had a single problem with the engine. Fires up right away, runs smooth and doesn't make any funny noises. Runs as well as you could ever ask for. I just had a blown fuel pump diaphragm and changed the pump and the oil + filter. Thought maybe there was gas in the oil, leading to the low readings but upon changing the oil I didn't notice any gas in it and the pressure didn't change after. I've been searching the forum and found some information on oil galley plugs being left out so that's something I can check but in the meantime could someone explain to me what I can expect from an engine like this while looking at the gauge? I'm fairly certain the pressure is low but I'm not even quite sure what I should expect from it while idling vs accelerating, etc. Thanks.
The gauge on the truck is not the most useful thing in the world. The gauge starts with 0 and then the next number on it is 40psi. When I'm driving and periodically looking down at the gauge, it can randomly be close to 40psi or it can be way down at what I'm assuming is around 5psi or so. The other day I was driving home from work on the freeway and I look down and the gauge is pegged all the way to the left. Like far beyond zero. I immediately pull off the freeway and check the oil. It seemed right where it should be on the dipstick. I went inside the gas station and put a half a quart in it anyway and it still checked out ok on the dipstick. Fired it up and the pressure was back to "normal", fluctuating between 5 and 40psi again. More often than not the pressure is closer to 5 than it is 40.
I've never had a single problem with the engine. Fires up right away, runs smooth and doesn't make any funny noises. Runs as well as you could ever ask for. I just had a blown fuel pump diaphragm and changed the pump and the oil + filter. Thought maybe there was gas in the oil, leading to the low readings but upon changing the oil I didn't notice any gas in it and the pressure didn't change after. I've been searching the forum and found some information on oil galley plugs being left out so that's something I can check but in the meantime could someone explain to me what I can expect from an engine like this while looking at the gauge? I'm fairly certain the pressure is low but I'm not even quite sure what I should expect from it while idling vs accelerating, etc. Thanks.
