Questionjust started, oil pressure decreases alot when decelerating and increase to normal reading when accelerating. temp is normal. 95 dodge dakota with 111K miles on it. do i need to worry or get it into a shop ASAP.
AnswerYou did not mention how long this has been going on..............so, let's look at a couple of things
1-if you are low on oil in the oilpan and decel, then oil can "uncover" the oil pump pickup tube and cause a low oil pressure signal
2-HOWEVER.....what it actually sounds like to me is worn main bearings (some people would say the oil pump is worn and has excessive clearances in it, but it is rare for oil pumps to wear before the bearings do); in an engine oiling system, the main bearings always recieve oil first and then the camshaft bearings and the upper part of the engine; if you have worn bearings this can cause excess clearance and as a result low oil pressure. You did not state what oil pressure was at idle. You need to know this, it will tell you if you have bearing issues. If you have lower than normal oil pressure at idle by more than 10%, then yes you need to go to the shop. If you cannot afford to go to the shop yet, then you can keep some oil additive in it to help out (STP,etc) keep in mind though, this is not a long range cure, but the thicker STP oil product will help keep more oil on the bearings for you......but go to the shop for a permanent repair
You mentioned that temps were normal, but did not mention if this was oil or water temps ??? In the case of oil temps this would be a good thing; several years ago when we used to run some dirt track race cars...we never had a car with an oil pressure gauge in it; instead we used an oil temp guage. The reason being is that before a bearing goes to the point of failure, you will see the oil temps rise. a noticeable rise in temps let us know that we were having bearing issues and to shut the motor down (it is much easier to replace $200.00 worth of bearings than $25,000 worth of motor)
