Hello, Sonix here. I got my cooling issue fixed. And my brake issue appears to be fixed. Now for the latest thing. When I took it out for its first test drive the oil light started flickering. It would go solid and then flicker. Sometimes change with the rpm. I did not notice any loss of power nor any knocking from the engine. I replaced the op sending unit/switch and it still flickers. After I shut the truck off and restart it the light stays off for a while. Reved it up to about 2000-2500 and after about 15-20 seconds it started to flicker again. Sometimes go out at idle other times stay on. Could it be a bad wire or connection between the sending unit and wherever it goes. My luck will require a new oil pump. Is the pump located on the front of the motor or in the oil pan. What gasket kit will I need to do the part on the front of the motor? If I have to go into the pan, then it should be just the pan gasket. Also how hard is it to change the oil pump which ever one it is. As in the past thanks for all the input. It is nice to know/remember that there is still a lot of good people out there that do not mind helping out when they can. Thanx Sonix

 

You will need to hook up a oil pressure gauge & monitor oil pressure. This will tell you if its actually pressure related or a electrical issue.

 

Hello, Sonix again. Here we go. I bought an oil pressure tester and this is what happened. I started the truck had 50+ lbs of pressure. I then drove it about 10 miles, the engine was warmed up good. I then started to slowly lose pressure. After about 3-4 miles I was down to about 10 lbs. It went down to about 8 lbs and the light started flickering. The light would be on solid at stop signs or at idle. It would go up to 10-11 lbs and the light went out. I drove it home about 3 miles with 10-13 lbs. Revving the motor only got about 3-5 lbs more pressure. I am running 10w-30 Valvoline conventional oil. I had changed oil and filter and when I checked the level was good. I have another filter I am thinking about trying. I am wondering about cam and or crank bearings, also I have read about a check valve somewhere. When I first started the truck about a month ago it had a noise that sounded like a bad hydraulic lifter that went quiet after about 5 seconds. This makes me wonder about cam bearings. Even now while it is running it does not have a bad main journal sound, but it does have a light tick. And it runs very smooth and quiet right after startup. I think the easiest thing to try is the cam bearings first. Anyone know where I can get a set. A parts store told me that the cam and head were machined together so I would have to replace the whole head assembly as one unit. Any thoughts!! Thanx Sonix

 

How old is the oil from the last oil change as mineral oils can breakdown over hard mileage (esp stop start traffic) and cause a thinning out of the oil when hot which will not keep pressure up where it should be, when I first got my tribute the yard claimed it had been freshly serviced after about a month went on a long freeway trip about 400 km and had the oil light flickering at 110km/h oil level was great.
Did an oil change in a rest area and put in a good quality oil and new filter and no further problems for the rest of the 1500 km trip, now I do oil and filter changes every 5000km instead of the recommended 8000km as I figure oil and filter is cheap insurance

 

Hello again, Sonix here. Now for the latest on my truck. I dropped the oil pan. (I could not believe how easy it was, about 15 min at most) Inside the pan was a biscuit of crude I think that as the motor warmed up and the oil thinned the biscuit got sucked up to the screen. And the screen was somewhat caked with crude. I cleaned the screen and cooked the small chunks inside the screen to hopefully turn them to ash. While I was there I checked the three center main cap bearings and none of them appeared to have any bad scratches or burn marks on them. I scratched my finger nail across them could barely feel any imperfections. I changed oil up to 10-40. After re-assembly I got the following. 68 lbs on startup after about 3-4 minutes of idling it started to drop it got down to about 40-45 lbs. I then took it for a drive. I went about 10 miles and was down to about 30 lbs. I kept driving and at around 20-25 miles I was staying in the 25-30 lb range. At idle it would drop to about 15-16 lbs but no lower. And that is where it stayed for as long as I drove it. I let it sit and idle for a while and it would not go any lower than just over 12 lbs. No oil light at any time. So I think these were my problems. 1-plugged screen 2- lower weight oil 3-I had used some Justice Bros additive to help with the valve sticking I had which I think thinned the 10-30 I was using. So now I need to find an additive to help keep the viscosity of the 10-40 up. And when I change to summer oil I wonder if I should go to 20-50 or straight 30 or 15-40. I will be putting in an oil pressure gauge to better monitor my pressure. Also sometime around late summer I am planning on getting a different motor altogether. I would like to go bigger but stay with my original motor mounts and tranny and such. Any suggestion on another motor a 2200 or maybe bigger that would bolt in? I am debating a re-built short block and buy a new head for it or possibly a completely re-built long block or even a used motor and re-build it myself (how far can I bore the cylinders out on a used motor?) Any thoughts? Thanx again Sonix

 

Hello again. I have a line on a 1990 b2200 engine that I got the valve cover off of. Will this motor bolt into my body or if not which motors will? The truck is sitting in a salvage yard and did have a carb. The carb is gone but I would go aftermarket for that any way. Any ballpark dollar amounts I should expect to pay for that motor? Someone mentioned that they thought that a 2200 was a re-stroked 2000. I am not worried about how long the piston stroke is but how much it can be bored out to gain more power. I am hoping that by increasing the power curve of the truck it will increase the mpg. Which right now appears to be about 14 mpg. Nothing near what I wanted. Is it possible to buy a rebuilt/re-manufactured 2200 that has been bored out already? Also, does the cam on this 2200 have replaceable bearings? Thanx for the info. Sonix