1996 Chevy S-10 Oil pump problem?

EWHIT

MEMBER
1996 CHEVROLET S-10
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
149,000 MILES

I was driving down the parkway and suddenly my engine started losing power. My oil pressure gauge went to zero and flucuated at zero and slightly above. I pulled over to the side of the road thinking I was out of oil but it was full. I got back in my truck and continued to drive down the road. I could barely get my truck up to fifty or sixty and the engine kept revving up and the transmission kept shifting. When I stopped at a garage there was a knocking noise in my engine. Three days later I had it towed home and when I started it the oil pressure gauge was halfway and there was no knocking noise. What could cause this?

2 Replies

HMAC300

MECHANIC
48,601 POSTS

Fromwhat you describe, it kind of sounds like you may have done some damage to the internals of the engine. The best thing to do is put a mechanical guage on the engine and see if you get better pressure as it could be a sending unit, but don't get your hopes up. The knocking noise may have been your lifters getting low on oil andthen when they got the oil they quit knocking or ticking. So try a mechanical guage first and see what you get if it's jsut as bad as the dash then have a pro look at it.