Dodge Dakota problems!
Dodge Dakota problems! I recently bought a 1998 Dakota with a "new" 318 crate motor with 40,000miles. It has no leaks and runs like a champ. My only problem is that while I'm driving and I come to a stop or slow down the chime inside the cab goes off and the oil pressure needle drops close to zero them immediatley goes back up and the chime stops. It doesn't do this everytime but quite often it does. So what could the problm be? The guy I bought it from just changed the oil and some other tune up stuff. What sensors should I change or tests should I run? Please help as I'm tired of the stupid chime going off when I drive! 
when you come to a stop the oil flows to the front of the oil pan, away from the pump pickup, and the oil pump runs dry until the oil returns. this is more pronounced when the oil level is low. the 5.2 (318) and the 5.9 (360) magnum engines have a 2 part intake manifold. the bottom "floor" of the intake is stamped steel and has a bunch of bolts that attach it to the intake. it has a gasket that is VERY famous for failing which causes an internal vaccum leak. this vaccum leak sucks oil from the lifter valley into the intake manifold and is burned. surprisingly most times you don't even get much smoke from the exhaust. other signs from this are knocking and pinging under load from the too lean condition the leak causes. this can cause very rapid oil loss and repotedly has led to engine failures from complete oil loss in just a few hundred miles in some cases. shine a light down the throttle bady and look for the oil residue on the bottom of the intake. some people swear by the mopar M1 intake (1 peice design) as the fix for this problem but most people report a loss of low end torque on stock engines. with mine (99 5.9 durango) I just replaced the gasket (known as the intake plenum gasket) with a better quaility (felpro) one. it is a time consuming but rather easy job. requires intake manifold removal. dealers want $800-$1000 to do the job but anyone with some skills can do it themselves.
I did my plenum gasket 3 weeks ago in my 318. It took about 7 hours. But my intake is clean again. Is your engine stuttering at all or do you just loose the oil pressure?
If you have the plenum leak, you should notice a rapid loss in oil. I was loosing about 1 quart in less than 1000 miles. There is some good information here:
http://www.dodgetrucks.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=54255
If you do the plenum gasket, you'll want to clean up that intake as best as you can. An important one to get is your IAC valve. Get that and the place that it fits into clean as well. Be very carefull with it, though. It can be destroyed if you move the valve while your cleaning it.
If you have the plenum leak, you should notice a rapid loss in oil. I was loosing about 1 quart in less than 1000 miles. There is some good information here:
http://www.dodgetrucks.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=54255
If you do the plenum gasket, you'll want to clean up that intake as best as you can. An important one to get is your IAC valve. Get that and the place that it fits into clean as well. Be very carefull with it, though. It can be destroyed if you move the valve while your cleaning it.
