Need help!

[whitelightning87]

Hey guys I hope someone can help me out. Ive got several problems and I cant figure out and I need some help. Problem number 1 is that the car has been runnign hot the past two days, but not that hot. According to the guage its running at 200 to 220. When it starts to run hot the heater blows warm air or cool air, not hot air like normal. It has plenty of anti-freeze and the thermostat is new. Problem number 2 has a back story. I had gone about 8k miles on an oil change and at the 6k mile mark the engine started to tick when it was cold. It sounds like a sticky lifter. Also when it did this the oil pressure guage would drop the longer I ran the engine. So when I would first start out it would have over 60 psi, and then decline to below 60. And when I would put it in neutral it would bounce around sometimes going below 30. Well I changed my oil, using what I always do, RP with a k&n filter and it stopped. My oil pressure went up and the ticking stopped. Well it started up again and I only have about 700 miles on this oil change. Im at a total loss here. Does anyone have any ideas?

[Rob Bell]

Re: Need help!

How's the oil pressure now? If the gauge is jumping around, hook up a mechanical gauge to it to see what it's REALLY doing.

[whitelightning87]

Re: Need help!

The oil pressure is doing the same thing again. Thats a good idea with the mechanical guage. is there a way to test the resistance of the oil pressure switch to see if it is that?

[Bird_Of_Prey]

Re: Need help!

What concerns me is the noise. Engine noises generally don't get better by themselves. You can try and fiddle with the oil pressure sensor, but I doubt that is the problem. Also, if it isn't getting over 220, I wouldn't worry. However, the hot/cold/cool air blowing makes me think a heater core issue, clogged or leaking.

[whitelightning87]

Re: Need help!

Could the heater core be leaking and I not see it? There is never a puddle under my car, and the floor mats are dry, but I do seem to be losing coolant. Flushing the whole system has been on my list to do I just haven't been able to get to it. Sometimes it does go over 220 but only for a few seconds, and then drop back down.

The noise bothers me too, and why would it coinside with the oil pressure dropping, and go away once I changed the oil. I first thought that maybe the oil had just broken down so badly that it was causeing the problem, but my oil still has a purple tint to it so it's not burned or broken down. Lets just say that it is loosing oil pressure, would that cause a ticking sound if there was already a sticking lifter?