03 Ram 1500 5.9 tick/knock

[RyHirsc]

Oil filter gasket blew about 5 miles down the road after changing my oil, I walked to the store grabbed oil and filter to change it again on the side of the road. The computer shut it down as soon as the pressure went to the far high end and then all the way to nothing. most of the 5 quarts got dumped. I changed it again on the side of the road with a new filter put a new sending unit in. It dont make the noise of a knocking rod but a light tick of a lifter knock that you can only hear if the hood is up and your under the hood. Its only been driven about 4 miles since this happened but after this it started to want to die when the rpm's lower with speed or coming to a stop. Is it safe to drive with a lifter knock and what should I look at for the issue that its started to die at low rpms before the battery that was shot was replaced?

 

[tortillasoup]

Keep driving it, make sure you have sufficient oil that isn't too thick. Using thick oil is a great way to increase engine wear. If you have an issue with burning oil, go with a PAO synthetic oil of the same weight.

 

[RyHirsc]

I never run a thick oil Im just not sure what the problem was when dieing every time you came to a stop or the rpms dropped for a slow short turn or parking its an 03 5.9 with 192K on it I havent driven it since replacing the battery that was shot about 5 days ago.

 

[boomerang]

My guess is that the oil pump took a big hit with the initial oil dump. The lifter tick you are hearing may be because the pump cannot move enough oil to pressurize the lifters at low RPM. The big question of course is are the bearings damaged? Are one or more lifters damaged?

Is there an oil pressure gauge in the truck? If so, what's it showing at idle? If there is not, you should hook one up temporarily to find out what your pressure actually is. That's assuming you want to do any actual diagnosis.

I'd say you are risking further damage without diagnosing and fixing the problem you have right now. If you're showing low oil pressure, dropping the pan to replace the pump will be a great time to check the rod and main bearings. Check farthest from the pump. If one main and one rod are good I wouldn't bother checking any more bearings. Replace the oil pump and go from there.

There is no way to know the extent of the damage with the motor fully assembled. Checking the oil pressure and if it's low, will be the start of a journey. It may be a short journey or it may be a long one.