oil pressure problem, need a few more opinons

[ncguy89]

got a 84 chevy truck 4x4 with 350. i was sittin out side the store waiting on the ol lady the other day and my gauge fell to 0 oil pressure. its done it before but i figured it had air in the line since its a mechanical gauge. well this time and for the first time i put it up in park and cut it off. but i noticed before i cut it off it started ticking and stopped and the gauge went back up to normal. it has never ticked before at all even when it dropped to zero the last time. i put a gauge on it and ideling its putting out 8 psi and at 2000 rpms its putting out 30 psi. im thinking maybe the oil pump could be getting weak or maybe something got caught in the pickup screen. before these problems the gauge runs normal and it only has 64k miles on it i wouldnt think the mains are wore. what do you guys think it is? i can replace the oil pump cheap so im not worried about that i just want to get a few more opinons before i go any further. thanks in advance and sorry for such a long post!!!!

[ncguy89]

and i forgot to mention that it was a quart low in oil which the oil change has about 4,800 miles on it and its synthetic oil. since i put a quart in it, its been fine the little bit iv drove it.

[VileZambonie]

Sounds like your pick up tube fell off..... better drop the pan or if you know anyone with a borescope go in through the drain plug hole and see if it's there.

[ncguy89]

i have a borescope out in the shop in my toolbox.

[ncguy89]

ill check but would the pickup tube make it just drop to zero out of nowheres and go back to normal and not do it again for maybe a month or 2?

[VileZambonie]

I've seen quite a few of these with the same issue only to find the pickup tube sitting on the bottom of the oil pan. I had it happen to me even with a fancy miloden that bolts on. The tab snapped off and the pick up tube dropped out (that one sucked) but it happens. It's easy enough to check but one quart low shouldn't drop you to no oil pressure so if you have that bore scope, drain the oil over night and peek inside in the morning.

[ncguy89]

im one step ahead of ya lol i already had it in the shop so i just went out and pulled the plug ill let it drain over night and im gonna go ahead and drop the pan tomarrow.

[Jason S]

I'm curious as to what you found?

[ncguy89]

it was not the pickup tube. i put a new oil pump in it and it fixed the problem. before it was running 10 psi at idle now its running 40psi and at 1500 rpm's 29 to 30 before and 52 after. so it definitely made a difference!!