No Oil Pressure

[IH8PVMT]

Ok i have a 99 Dodge Ram Sport 1500. I recently was just in an accident where i got smooshed on the freeway. No real damage except to the body and some suspension parts. All Good, so i thought. I picked up my truck from the collision shop and first made it about a mile down the road from the shop and boom NO GAS! after being rescued with a gas can i made it less then a quarter of a mile and NO OIL PRESSURE! The guage was at flat 0. When i checked the oil (it was hot) it read low, i added 1 quart and let it sit now it reads full. I started it, let it idol all seemed fine. As soon as i engaged it into drive and hit the gas, NO OIL PRESSURE! And it boggs way down, like it has a vaccuum leak. Is this the oil pump? Anyone have any suggestions? And does anyone have any idea how hard this is to fix?

[wayneo69]

first you need to put an oil pressure guage on it to see if it does have oil pressure and how much

[denisond3]

If you were only a quart low, that would not be the reason you didnt have oil pressure. I think oil pumps are more reliable than the oil pressure gauge function. It could be a damaged sensor or its connector. It could be a damaged connector on the instrument cluster; and if your cluster is mounted on a printed circuit board, it could be something on that circuit board got delaminated in your freeway crunch.
But when you say it bogs down when you start to drive it - I begin to suspect something on the wiring harness has gotten partly unplugged by the impact. Finding a bad connector or damaged wire in the wiring harness can involve removing a lot of things that are in the waY

[wayneo69]

well idont think i would want you throwing parts at my vehicle if you don't use an oil pressure guage to verifiy that you actually have oil pressure or maybe you just don't know how to use one but the rest of what you said is good advise i just can't believe you would not spin out the sending unit and screw in an oil pressure guage to verifiy you have pressure that should be the first step and in the process you check the wiring in that area and the connector

[rhandwor]

The reply to put a pressure gage on the engine is correct. The next step is to pull the distributor if it has one and check the drive gear for the oil pump some used a plastic gear. The next step is to pull the pan and check for a plugged strainer. If the strainer is clean buy a new pump and check if it runs properly.
You may need a rebuilt engine.

[inafogg]

if you just got it back from repairs i would return to repair shop.let them know it was not doing this before accident. get a supplament

[fredjacksonsan]

Originally Posted by inafogg

if you just got it back from repairs i would return to repair shop.let them know it was not doing this before accident. get a supplament

Great advice; if it was OK prior to the accident, the insurance company that's paying for your repairs is required by law to pay for ALL the repairs. Take it back.

But if you decide to DIY, then definitely get a guage to check your pressure; it could just be a bad sensor that got knocked out in the accident.