OT 93 Chevy 1/2 ton Truck Problem

The "flaky" oil pressure gauge may be a separate (electrical) problem altogether.

I would put a mechanical gauge on it, to see what the oil pressure is REALLY doing, to rule out ony electrical "gremlins".

If you are concerned about sludge in the valve covers or drain-back holes, it's pretty easy to pop the valve covers off and have a look.

If, for some reason the pickup tube has fallen off altogether, that MIGHT cause the pump to suck air momentarily from time to time as the oil sloshes around.

Also, the tube could be intalled wrong, too far off of the "floor" of the oil pan. However, I don't think it could be tipped up a LARGE amount, as the rotating assembly would hit it.

Another thought... you do have it full of oil... (5 quarts with the small filter)... if you know this, OK, but it HAS happened where someone has put the wrong dipstick in an engine, making it APPEAR to have more oil in it than it actually does.

You say you had the valve covers off, and it was clean in there. Did you happen to check the oil return holes at the lower front and back of each head?

The oil from on top of the heads has to get through those holes to get back to the lifter valley, and THEN through a whole bunch of holes to get back to the crankcase.

If sludge WERE a problem, I would think it would be MUCH more likely to be plugging those 4 small, LONG passages in the heads than the multiple SHORT passageways from the lifter valley to the crankcase.

If you pull a valve cover again, and have a GOOD penlite, you shold be able to see down into the lifter valley through various holes in the head castings BETWEEN the little holes the pushrods come up through.

Post back and let us know what you figure out!

Actually, to get in the lifter valley, and plug the holes that return oil from the lifter valley to the crankcase, the remains of the filter would have to pass THROUGH the hydraulic lifters, and that AIN'T gonna happen. No way. And, through the lifters is the ONLY way for FILTER DEBRIS to get up in the lifter valley.

Sludge is another matter, but there's LOTS of holes leading from the lifter valley down into the lower part of the engine, and it would take an engine sludged up beyond belief to plug all those holes!

Stories like this go around all the time. Have you ever seen a failed oil filter, FRAM or otherwise, or have any direct knowledge of someone who did?

I DO buy them from WaldoWorld and use them on my older vehicles.

I've never had a problem, and the ones I am using DO have the rubber ant-drainback valves.

Not sure if I have the numbers correct, but here goes. (Even if I have the actual filter NUMBERS wrong, the basic facts the story are TRUE.)

WIX made a 51060 (with a anti-drainback valve), and a 51061 (WITHOUT an anti-drainback valve).

The ones WITH the anti-drainback valve were used when the filter was REMOTELY mounted, and the ones WITHOUT the anti-drainback valve were used when the filter was mounted in the standard upright position, ON the engine.

Now, I believe they have more or less eliminated the filter WITHOUT the anti-drainback valve, and the catalog lists the filter WITH the anti-drainback valve for BOTH types of applications.

So, Fram is NOT alone in making both styles of filter, and I believe the ENGINE MANUFACTURER would have originally "spec'd" which type to use, and generally ALL manufacturers' filters for a given "app" would meet the design specified by the OEM engine builder.

Fram is a unit of Honeywell, and it seems hard to believe the filters can be as bad as some folks say. Wouldn't they tire of claims and litigation from failed engines if the filters were REALLY bad????