Hello,
perhaps someone could tell me what has occured here. 1972 225 cu. in.
The car has about 125k on it and runs really well. Recently after sustained highway driving, when coming to a stop, i would get a flicker on the oil pressure light. At times the light would stay lit for what would seem like too long, at which time I would put the trans in nuetral, rev it slightly, and the light would go out.
I changed the oil pump and this has not re-occured again.
Question 1, do the pumps go bad with such low milage.?
Question2, Could i have caused significant damage, and shortened the life of this engine? Any one heard of this before?
Thanks.

Thin oil due to heat breakdown or high temp.
A slightly plugged oil filter or a mis-functioning oil pressure sending unit could also caused the problem.

The oil pump in a SL6 is pretty good, I would put a machanical oil pressure gauge on the engine and watch the pressure before changing out the oil pump.
DD

Old wires were my problem. The clip on the end of the wire was not making good connection at the sender and would cause flickering. It finally broke off. since the wire was pretty crusty. I tried several things and eventually did what Doc suggested. Went with a mechanical gauge. Problem solved!
I found I was getting 47 pounds at cruise and 20 at idle. Since I rebuilt the engine I get 47 at cruise and 32 at idle when hot after driving for two hours with 5-30W Mobil One.

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Aggressive Ted

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74 Swinger, 9.5 comp 254/.435 lift cam, 904, ram air, electric fans, 2.5" HP2 & FM70 ex, 1920 Holley#56jet, 2.76 8 3/4 Sure-Grip, 26" tires, 25+MPG

Could it be the pressure relief valve sticking? Thats one of the things that was suggested to me when I was having a simular problem.Since you cured it by putting in a new pump why not pull the relief valve on old pump just for a look see .

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83 B-150 slant 6,4 speed. 79 B-300 360 pathfinder 4x4. 74 W-300 318 4x4 git-r-done 80 B-100 sl6,4speed

An engine w/ 125K mi may well have enouch clearance in enough places that the stock oil pump can't pump enough to keep the pressure up at idle. Also consider that the Mopar oil pressure senders do sometimes go bad by leaking inside and reading very low. It is best to test with a mechanical gauge.

If your pressure is very low at idle, you can use thicker oil (or put in some thickening additive) or a higher volume pump to get get the pressure up, but if it's marginal, I may suggest putting some Slick50-style stuff to protect things at idle and just not worry about it. The last time I looked up the Mopar spec it for pressure at idle, I seem to remember that it was very low - 2psi or something like that.

Probably not the problem.
Agreed.
...but not before you service the oil pressure relief valve to make sure it's doing its job (thread 1, thread 2.)

Absolutely not, unless you are trying to kill your engine. As has been covered numerous times, Slick-50 and all the other "miracle" additives do not "protect" anything except the maker's profits, at the expense of your engine's health. KBB, I'm really surprised at you for making this poor recommendation. Your advice is usually way better than that.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I KNOW that I posted in this thread, don't know what happened; but the others basically covered it. EDIT: AHHH>>> I see what happened; he asked this Q in the Gallery 1st, didn't realize that he had it in 2 places.

Very likely it was just a worn oil pump. I've seen this before. Note that the oil pump works in an unfiltered oil environment; under dusty conditions, all the grit in the oil goes through the oil pump, wearing the parts and increasing clearances, before it goes through the oil filter. So even if the filter is changed regularly and there is no unusual wear due to this in other parts of the engine like the crankshaft bearings, the oil pump still takes a beating. Oil pump rebuild kits are available for a fraction of the cost of a complete pump.

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1964 Dart 225 1966 Valiant 225
1966 Dart 273 1966 Barracuda 273
1969 Dart 225
'64-170 engine '66-170 engine
(two) 198 crank/rod sets in custom-fitted wooden boxes

wooden motor scooter with hybrid-electric drive

hey
ok thanks for all your comments. i did change out the pump. oil pressure is good now. Would like to see this engine go 200k plus.

Hi Dan,
Normally, I'd not recommend Slick50 or its ilk, but I have personally seen several engines run w/o oil after treatment with Slick50 that lasted >30mins... if I had to run an engine w/ little or no oil pressure, I would try it. We all know it's a kludge, but it sure seemed to work.
Our club used to have an annual Ford vs Chevy pull at our big all-Mopar show - both would be drained of oil, chained back-to-back, and the pull would continue until one or the other blew up. After the participants started putting in Slick50 awhile before draining the oil, the pulls lasted a very long time and the tires distigrated long before the engines did...

Yeah, but a solid-lifter engine will sit there and run without oil (and without Doctor MoJo's Miracle Motor Cream with Flex Fluoride and Vitamin E) for a long time. The "demonstration" you saw was lacking the critical piece (an identical engine that hadn't been "treated" with Shlock-50) and did not demonstrate what you were led to believe it proved.

This is not a case of "it might help and can't hurt", either. Slick-50 has been demonstrated (by properly scientific tests done by those without a financial interest in the results) to cause damage to engines.

Just say no to BS miracles in a bottle.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Hi Dan,
I agree completely it wasn't a rigorous test of any kind, merely an observation, but for several years the club pulls would last 5 -10min or so, after they tried the stuff the engines lasted 30+min... it could be that all the treated engines were in better shape to start - they were all just donated junkyard cars.
I remember hearing that Slick50 lost a lawsuite - could you please give a reference for the damage test? Thx.K

I'm surprised at that comment. I have had very good success with Slick 50.

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Chuck Rivers, Webmaster

Success defined and measured(!) how?

Here are some sites worth checking out:

Federal Trade Commission hauls Slick-50 makers up on false and misleading advertising charges

The outcome of the FTC case against Slick-50 (read the list of claims they're not allowed to make 'cause they're not true)

Slick-50 makers' inappropriate behavior

Outcome of class-action fraud suit against Slick-50

"No discernible benefits": Consumer Reports (search for the word "Slick" until the page scrolls down to the discussion)

BITOG thread (what this board is to \6 engines, that board is to engine oil and related products)

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Well, I had to grow some more brain cells to remember how it all started.

When I had a shop in the mid 80s, a guy came in with his Dart and asked for a tune-up and oil change. He brought in Slick 50 and wanted that added to the oil as well.

We did as he asked, then fired it up and let it run to warm it up before adjusting the carb. My partner and I were just yacking while it ran, and after a few minutes, we noticed that the engine was racing away. We went over to the car to kick off the fast idle, but the idle didn't come down, so we backed off the idle screw and let it warm up some more.

A few minutes later the engine was racing away again, so we lowered the idle again. I figured that there was something wrong with the carb. We has to lower the idle 2 more times before it settled in. We left it as a mystery and returned the car to the owner.

A few weeks later, the same guy came in with another Dart for us to do the same thing. After the tune-up and oil change, we fired it up for the warm-up and had the same issue as his previous car. We eventually has to lower the idle 3-4 times before it settled in.

At that point we were more curiuos about Slick because it appeared to have reduced the friction in the engine, allowing for a higher idle with the same amount of gas.

I have used Slick on at least 10 different Slants, always with the same result. The idle needs to be turned down 3-4 times to set the correct idle speed after the oil change.

I also had it installed in a Dodge 2.2l 4 cyl. that I owned. At one point I had to do some head work, and I replaced the cam as well. For some unknown reason, the oil level on thet engine ran low. My wife was driving it most of the time, so I didn't notice it until it was about 3 quarts low. The top end was making noise, so I removed the valve cover for inspection. The cam was shot and I had to replace it again. Because it had been replaced AFTER I added Slick, it had not been coated. I measured the original cam and discovered that it was within spec, so I put it back in.

What surprised me was that this was a turbo car, and I expected the turbo bearings to be shot. I had no problem with the turbo, and there was no noise from the crank or rod bearings. Not very scientific, but it seemed that the Slick had protected everything else. (The car had run low on oil for months.)

My brother is a beer brewer and at one time knew someone at the Coors brewery in Colorado. The guy told my brother that the gear boxes used where they stir up the mash would only last about a year. After adding Slick 50 for transmissions, the boxes lasted 5 years or more.

I can't vouch for anything else about the product. Perhaps I was using products that used the original Bishop Formulas, which seem to be the basis of the original claims.

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Chuck Rivers, Webmaster