JPaul
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 2,401
- Location
- Way up north, UT
So I'm having fun. We've been trying to sell our house and move to far north Utah but of course that hasn't happened yet. I was hoping to have moved by now so that I could park my truck for a bit and give it a good going over. But since that hasn't happened the Alpha has apparently decided to start voicing its displeasure and is starting to give me new grief.
Last week it suddenly died while stopped at a light. Started up but was it was grouchy, drove it a few miles then pulled over and shut it off for 5 minutes or so. Started back up no problem and hasn't died since. The code it gave me when that happened was P0335 for the crankshaft sensor signal. I had that earlier this year when I had my previous set of gremlins that ultimately went away when I replaced the throttle pedal assembly (after also replacing the throttle body sensor).
Next up a couple weeks ago I got a low oil pressure alarm while taking a slow but sharp turn. I have a separate MaxTow oil pressure gauge that feeds off the port above the oil filter (remember this is a 5.3L V8) but when I got the alarm it cleared before I could look at my MaxTow gauge so I wasn't sure if I really did lose pressure. I checked the oil level and it was only about a quart or so low, but I topped it off anyway. Didn't have any more issues until yesterday when I started regularly (but not consistently) getting oil pressure alarms while accelerating, usually from a light. However I have also gotten the alarm while cruising, so it's not dependent on acceleration. This time I have been able to verify with the MaxTow gauge that I do in fact have full oil pressure (my pressure range hot is 28psi or so at idle, and 35 to 50 psi while cruising/accelerating) when the alarm is going off. I also see with my Ultragauge that the computer is seeing either extremely low pressure (~1 psi) but majority of the time it is straight up reading zero pressure.
The sensor is practically new, I replaced it (along with every other engine sensor) last year when I rebuilt the engine. I have a really hard time believing that I can have 40+ PSI at the filter and zero PSI at the top pf the block (for those that don't know, the oil pressure sensor, and yes it is a sensor and not a switch, is at the back of the block on the top of the valley, rather than in one of the heads). The oil pressure at the sensor is usually about 10-15% less than at the filter. While it could be the sensor itself is going bad, it seems unlikely. I screwed around with it last night, I thought maybe it was due to the fuel and vapor lines rubbing against the wires to the sensor, but after spending several hours last night futzing around with it (most of that was spent trying to fish my 1/4" ratchet out from between the transmission and the fuel/vapor lines after I dropped it like an idiot) and getting them to clear the sensor and its wires, it still showed zero pressure a couple times this morning.
And now I also am having an issue with the HVAC blower motor. Yesterday it wouldn't come on at all after working just fine before parking at a store. Turned the car off, then back on after a couple minutes, blower started working just fine and kept working all the way home. Started teh truck up this morning to go to work, guess what, blower isn't coming on. Fortunately it's cool in the morning so I just left it off and went on my way. Seems like it's either the blower fuse, the speed switch, the resistor pack, or a bad ground.
Oh, and I apparently should have replaced the PCV hoses when I rebuilt the engine as well, one of the rubber fittings cracked open at some point which explains the random rough idle I was getting. New ones are on the way, they are surprisingly cheap from Rock Auto, $20 shipped for both of them.
Soooo much fun.
Last week it suddenly died while stopped at a light. Started up but was it was grouchy, drove it a few miles then pulled over and shut it off for 5 minutes or so. Started back up no problem and hasn't died since. The code it gave me when that happened was P0335 for the crankshaft sensor signal. I had that earlier this year when I had my previous set of gremlins that ultimately went away when I replaced the throttle pedal assembly (after also replacing the throttle body sensor).
Next up a couple weeks ago I got a low oil pressure alarm while taking a slow but sharp turn. I have a separate MaxTow oil pressure gauge that feeds off the port above the oil filter (remember this is a 5.3L V8) but when I got the alarm it cleared before I could look at my MaxTow gauge so I wasn't sure if I really did lose pressure. I checked the oil level and it was only about a quart or so low, but I topped it off anyway. Didn't have any more issues until yesterday when I started regularly (but not consistently) getting oil pressure alarms while accelerating, usually from a light. However I have also gotten the alarm while cruising, so it's not dependent on acceleration. This time I have been able to verify with the MaxTow gauge that I do in fact have full oil pressure (my pressure range hot is 28psi or so at idle, and 35 to 50 psi while cruising/accelerating) when the alarm is going off. I also see with my Ultragauge that the computer is seeing either extremely low pressure (~1 psi) but majority of the time it is straight up reading zero pressure.
The sensor is practically new, I replaced it (along with every other engine sensor) last year when I rebuilt the engine. I have a really hard time believing that I can have 40+ PSI at the filter and zero PSI at the top pf the block (for those that don't know, the oil pressure sensor, and yes it is a sensor and not a switch, is at the back of the block on the top of the valley, rather than in one of the heads). The oil pressure at the sensor is usually about 10-15% less than at the filter. While it could be the sensor itself is going bad, it seems unlikely. I screwed around with it last night, I thought maybe it was due to the fuel and vapor lines rubbing against the wires to the sensor, but after spending several hours last night futzing around with it (most of that was spent trying to fish my 1/4" ratchet out from between the transmission and the fuel/vapor lines after I dropped it like an idiot) and getting them to clear the sensor and its wires, it still showed zero pressure a couple times this morning.
And now I also am having an issue with the HVAC blower motor. Yesterday it wouldn't come on at all after working just fine before parking at a store. Turned the car off, then back on after a couple minutes, blower started working just fine and kept working all the way home. Started teh truck up this morning to go to work, guess what, blower isn't coming on. Fortunately it's cool in the morning so I just left it off and went on my way. Seems like it's either the blower fuse, the speed switch, the resistor pack, or a bad ground.
Oh, and I apparently should have replaced the PCV hoses when I rebuilt the engine as well, one of the rubber fittings cracked open at some point which explains the random rough idle I was getting. New ones are on the way, they are surprisingly cheap from Rock Auto, $20 shipped for both of them.
Soooo much fun.