Do I Need a New Camshaft?

Capt Keith

New Member
Joined
May 31, 2020
Messages
16
Location
Ocracoke, NC
It is a 2005 Rubicon with an automatic transmission and 167,000 miles. Had the check gauge light come on a few months back due to low oil pressure. I change out the oil pressure sensor, no luck. I then had to wait 6 weeks to changed out the OPDA with a new Crown OPDA. (Crown OPDA out of stock everywhere) Thought I had it fixed until yesterday. Ran on the highway at 65 mph for half hour. Got off the highway and came to a stop light and lost oil pressure again. Oil pressure comes right back up as soon as I start to move. Also, if I put the Jeep in neutral at the stop light and rev the motor to 1,100 RPM, the oil pressure comes up and is fine as long as I keep the RPM's up. Once the light turns green, drop the RPM to 600 and put it back into gear and drive off no problem with the oil pressure. The low oil pressure only happens if I drive it long distances or at highway speeds. If I just run around town at 45 mph doing short trips, the oil pressure doesn't drop at any stop light. No check engine lights and otherwise the Jeep is running great. Give me your thoughts. I am afraid it's time for a new camshaft, but maybe I'm missing something. What does the forum wisdom think?? Thanks for any help.
 
Last edited:
Have you changed the oil recently and if you have what grade of oil? Was the gear on the opda chewed up? Why did you change the opda? Did you look at the camshaft through the opda hole when you pulled the opda and was the camshaft gear chewed up?
 
  • Like
Reactions: John Cooper
Thanks for your response. I have not changed the oil recently. It is over due. However, I bought all the supplies yesterday to do an oil change and I will do that this morning. I have run traditional Pennzoil 10W-30 motor oil, but am changing this time to a synthetic blend 10W-30. I did not think that the gear on the OPDA was chewed up. Some wear, but didn't look that bad to me. I changed the OPDA because I had read all the posts on the forum and did not know if it had ever been done.... ounce of prevention, plus I was having low oil pressure. I never heard the "squealing monkeys". I did not really look at the camshaft when I changed the OPDA. I just assumed a new OPDA would fix the problem, plus the gear on the OPDA I took out did not look that bad. Pictures of the old OPDA that I replaced.

OPDA 2.jpg


OPDA 1.jpg
 
Only 167,000 miles and low oil pressure to me would indicate worn crank bearings or worn oil pump. If the oil change doesn’t help that’d be my suspicion. Hopefully you religiously change the oil and if your not the original owner the previous owner hopefully did?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Morks
I can't speak for previous owner, but I have changed oil religiously at 5,000 miles. I did just complete the oil change 15 minutes ago.

I still don't understand why oil pressure is fine driving around town, but craps out once I do highway or long distance driving. Any thoughts on that? Again, thanks for all the input. It is appreciated!
 
I had an issue similar but for a valid reason (hydrolock). I could run down the highway and around 20-25 min mark it would then all the sudden lose oil pressure, around town if the engine did not get fully warm it would have good oil pressure, but when it got to full operating temp and I came to a stop it would lose all pressure. That is reading it from an actual mechanical gauge. Get a mechanical gauge to make sure it's losing oil pressure, mine ended up being 1 bad rod bearing with a slightly bent rod. However I drove it like this for close to a year (around 20k) before I put that rod through the block. I went through all the different possibilities, in frame rebuild, bringing it to a shop, DIY... ended up finding a used engine for $200 swapped it myself, and was done with it. However, having gone through that, I know now they are pretty damn tough motors. Taking it on 5-6 hr wheeling trips with 2-5 psi oil pressure, and towing my sled in the winter :)

edit: I also had no noises for a while until one day I was stuck with my trailer in the snow, it did not like redline that day! I hope Like tjlim said that it is an oil pump, I feel like if you just slap one in, if you know it is bad, you will have a motor that will last a very long time.
 
I had an issue similar but for a valid reason (hydrolock). I could run down the highway and around 20-25 min mark it would then all the sudden lose oil pressure, around town if the engine did not get fully warm it would have good oil pressure, but when it got to full operating temp and I came to a stop it would lose all pressure. That is reading it from an actual mechanical gauge. Get a mechanical gauge to make sure it's losing oil pressure, mine ended up being 1 bad rod bearing with a slightly bent rod. However I drove it like this for close to a year (around 20k) before I put that rod through the block. I went through all the different possibilities, in frame rebuild, bringing it to a shop, DIY... ended up finding a used engine for $200 swapped it myself, and was done with it. However, having gone through that, I know now they are pretty damn tough motors. Taking it on 5-6 hr wheeling trips with 2-5 psi oil pressure, and towing my sled in the winter :)

edit: I also had no noises for a while until one day I was stuck with my trailer in the snow, it did not like redline that day! I hope Like tjlim said that it is an oil pump, I feel like if you just slap one in, if you know it is bad, you will have a motor that will last a very long time.

Yeah I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news to @Capt Keith best case scenario the oil pump. Worst being the crank bearings. 😤
 
Hey, I really appreciate you thoughts fellas. It is what it is. If it is crank bearings, then I just need to deal with it. I'm no mechanic, so this is pretty new to me. I am very "hands-on", so if I see a video (like how to replace the OPDA) it's no problem. I changed out the old OPDA to the new one in under an hour by myself.

Do I just try a new oil pump, or take it to a dealer for a professional evaluation? Is there anyway to tell what the actual cause is?
 
I would throw a mechanical gauge in to confirm what your dash is saying. If it reads bad, short of dropping the oil pan and looking for wear on engine components like main bearings and excessive heat I am not sure. If everything looked okay and the mechanical read bad I would replace the oil pump (standard melling volume would be fine), rear main seal, and oil pan gasket... I am new to mechanics so don't take my word 100%. I would definitely wait for others to chime in!
 
Check your used oil for the glitter, and run a magnet through the drain pan to fish for metal. Cut your filter open to see what it looks like in there as well... maybe sent a sample off to be analyzed.

If you find debris in the old oil, you might want to try flushing out the block with oil, only run your new oil for a few hundred miles and change it again, drain it through a coffee filter...
 
First off, the oil pressure "gauge" in your 05 is nothing but a switch that tells the PCM that you have around 6 PSI of oil pressure. If so, it moves the gauge to mid range and moves it around just enough to fool you into thinking it's an actual gauge. Below that, it moves it to L. So, it's an idiot light dressed up as a gauge.

So, you need to get a mechanical oil pressure test gauge and verify your actual oil pressure.

If it was an OPDA issue, you would lose all oil pressure and your engine would have seized by now.
 
JKP - thanks for your response. I will work on getting a manual oil pressure gauge and try and get it on by the weekend and report back. I am still trying to understand why the dummy gauge looses pressure only at idle after longer trips.
 
JKP - thanks for your response. I will work on getting a manual oil pressure gauge and try and get it on by the weekend and report back. I am still trying to understand why the dummy gauge looses pressure only at idle after longer trips.

I don't know if it's a thing on later TJs, but what you describe sure sounds like the typical bad oil pressure sender found on the earlier TJs. Mechanical gauge will flush that out for sure though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Capt Keith
Your oil pressure will be the lowest at hot idle, so maybe it is dropping below the 6 PSI liimit.

The test gauge will tell you if that is true.

Cold oil or higher RPMs increase oil pressure.

It the pressure is actually low, it could be debris over the oil pump pickup, a worn oil pump, or worn main bearings.

Thicker oil will increase the pressure if it's a worn pump or bearings for awhile, but is not a an actual fix.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Capt Keith
JKP - thanks for your response. I will work on getting a manual oil pressure gauge and try and get it on by the weekend and report back. I am still trying to understand why the dummy gauge looses pressure only at idle after longer trips.
as he said get one of these
download (3).jpeg

Plastic hose is fine and screw it into the block in place of the oil sender. Any time oil pressure is in doubt on all years tj this is the first step.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Capt Keith
Thank you all very much!!!! Great insight and thank you for your thoughts on my issue. Clearly I need to get the mechanical oil pressure gauge and start there. I hope that is the issue. Fingers crossed.
 
If you're worried on the oil pressure and the pump, mechanical gauge is a quick check.

If you are questioning the cam gear on a 05-06 TJ with the history of their issues, then the only way to confirm is pull the OPDA and take a look at the cam gear or drop the oil pan (not recommending this option) to take a look.

OPDA wear is not indicative of the cam gear. That's the simple answer for the F'ed design we got in the 05-06 design...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Capt Keith
With any intermittent issue, I would suspect the wiring.
Not sure if that sender runs through the harness that rubs behind the engine.
 
Just a quick update: Ran over this morning to Harbor Freight to pick up a manual oil pressure kit. I have not installed it yet. On the way home I drove on the highway again at 70mph to see if I could reproduce the low oil pressure problem when I came to a stop light. It would seem that the oil change made a difference. No check engine gauge light and the oil pressure stayed rock solid the entire time. Obviously I am going to drive it some more and see if the problem is really gone.

One question I have: Can I get a "T" fitting to put on the engine block so I can monitor the manual oil pressure gauge I just bought at Harbor Freight as well as the "dummy" gauge on the dash? This way, if the check gauge light does come on, I can see the actual oil pressure on the manual gauge.
 
  • Like
Reactions: UNLTD06 and Morks