Hey guys,

Bad news, noticed low pressure on my oil gauge. Hooked it up to a mechanical gauge, zero pressure on idle. The oil appeared really thin, however it did not smell like diesel fuel and had no coolant in it. Changed the oil and added mystery oil to it. Cold, the pressure was at 40 idling, and when it warmed up it dropped down to zero on the dash. Don't have a gauge myself but my guess is it would be zero on the mechanical gauge.

Thoughts?
Thanks

 

how many miles on your rig does it rattle bad at idle and you say the oil is not thinned out oil pump problems maybe

 

sorry, i meant to post the milage. Im at 276,000 miles. It has always rattled, can't really say it got any worse recently. I figured oil pump, is it worth it to drop the oil pan and just change the pump. Or am I looking at a rebuild?

 

If you can get a high volume pump for it, get one and try it. If the pressure still remains at 0, your bottom end is about done (main and rod bearings), and the rest of the engine will be suffering.

 

with that many miles i would think rebuild time my old 1st gen has almost 300,000 and if something like this was to happen that would be what i would do

 

i would check the oil pump. if you replace it you need to get the 97+ high output pump like previously stated because its a big improvement over other pumps. if you need a rebuild i would go to diesel depot. they have a good reputation and they provided the engine that bill heath used to go 160+ mph in his 6.5 powered lsr racer at bonneville. they have some good cheap engines

 

Thats what I thought, I was hoping for some more time. I want to rebuild it for power but I don't really have the money right now. If the oil pump was shot, rather than the bottom end, would the pressure increase at higher rpms. I guess the pump just has a lot of wear. Thanks guys, appreciate the help

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so you would suggest buying a crate motor, rather than rebuilding on my block?

 

Depends on how much you feel like parting with.

$5000-$7000 for a fully remanufactured 6.5, or $1500-$3000 to rebuild yours, and that's if you did most of the work yourself.

 

Which would cost more, rebuild using my block or a crate, I would think a crate motor would bring a premium. There is a diesel shop near me willing to do the rebuild, also, a family friend used to work for a penn detroit shop. He is willing to do the rebuild at minimal labor, plus I can get my hands a little dirty then

 

1997 was the first year of the oil squirter block. there very succeptable to cracking because of the way the factory inserted the oil squirters. also 1997 seems to have the worst case of cracking failures. if you do rebuild your current block i would scoure your block for cracks. very likely there forming so you dont want a wasted block down the road.

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you can get a decent 6.5 crate motor for 3400 dollars and a decent 6.2 liter for 2300 dollars. i dont know how a rebuild would be. depends a lot on the conditon of your current parts