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I did put a mechanical gauge on it last year -I think it was about 5 psi at idle. I did change oil from 30W to 40W -no change in pressure. The truck is under a tented canopy with no solid floor for the hoist or protection for the engine once it is out, I could move the truck and rent some space else...

My '71 318 only has 19K miles on it. I suspect the bearings are shot due to years of dry starts. Oil Pressure in single digits, silver colored oil. I'd like to get it up and running again without making it a major project. I would like to know the feasibility of an in-truck rebuild. I have only rebu...

I have a red tail gate, but it is not the original. The chrome rear bumper is not original either. The fire dept. used to have a "beaver tail" rear step and rail that guys could ride or step up on, but OSHA made them remove it. (I added a pic of this). The fire dept had also lined the ends of the be...

Wow, you guys don't miss a thing.
It was on CL a couple years back. Had some unexpected bills come up. Fortunately I was able to come up with some creative financing and keep the truck. I knew this was a once in a lifetime truck for me -sell it and I would never have this nice again.

Buschguy -Hanson, MA

Yeah, I bought this truck a few years ago on ebay from Wisconsin. It is a sweet weekend warrior. I can go to cruise night, home depot on weekends and load it up for camping & canoe trips. I added the pre-oiler, a vintage SW engine temp gauge to match other dash mounted gauges, four point seat belt h...

Hey, only took me a few years to figure out how to resize these pics. Here's Red - a '71 Power Wagon with a 318 and 19000 original miles. Engine rebuild plans underway. Bearings did not appreciate years of dry starts. The pre-oiler was installed a little too late. Will be nice running unleaded fuel ...

I replaced my stock temp sending unit last year in my 71 W200,318. Like another post here a while back, my reading went from about 1/3 to just about "H" at running temp. I tried several new sending units, same result. I had a radiator shop verify my thermostat was opening at 190 and the radiator was...

Yeah, their cheap so I have tried two more. Same problem. I didn't know if maybe the OE parts were calibrated different and if anyone else was having consistent issue with new units.

I had to replace the temperature sending unit for my 71 W200 w/318 last year. The only parts store near me that even has the unit is NAPA. The unit looks the same as the unit I replaced, but now when the engine is up to temperature the needle is at the hash mark right before H on the gauge. It used ...

Thanks for the responses everyone. I came to the same conclusion as Sterno. It was a bum original oil pump. I have been driving it this weekend running 50-65 psi. I now have a new motto -drop the pan, swap the pump. For $30 you can't beat the peace of mind of a new pump vs. the pain in the rear to d...

I think the bearings may be worn, but I don't have the time or $ to get into that now. I just want an operable truck to make it to winter. I put in the Hi Vol pump and pressure skyrocketed to 70-80 psi whether it was running 20W50 or SAE 30. I then thought maybe the original pump was on the way out ...

I didn't get a chance to read the posts you guys left this weekend as I took some time to drink & relax around one morning of wrenching. I got up at 4am on the 4th to try & bang out the truck by noontime. I inspected the pan again that I previously used to drain my oil into. Sure enough there was a ...

Just ran straight 30 weight, Seemed to do the trick. Until really warmed up after 30 minutes, then back down again. I've got my mechanical gauge zip tied under the hood. I think I'm screwed. I'm gonna drop the pan again to check the screen again and maybe try a new pump, but I have a bad feeling tha...

Well that's bad news. I need to figure out why I dipped to 8 psi or so. I don't think running 40 weight is gonna cure that.

If 14 is Ok warmed up at idle, what psi triggers the idiot light in a stock 318? I just want to be extra careful. The wife wasn't psyched about my purchase of a 40 year old truck. If I smoke the motor I will be without a truck and probably a bed for quite some time!

I installed a fan shroud last month & changed the coolant. -No oil was present in coolant. Ditto when I drained it this weekend to get the freeze plug. I drained my oil at the end of the night last night. There was no coolant and no metal visible. I pulled apart the Trufilter oil fliter as well and ...

The truck ran soooo smoooth. I don't know what the pressure was prior to working on it because I only have an idiot light. It never came on before though. I used a gauge to check the pressure after the light came on.

Prior to this weekend my 71 W200 w/318 was running like a top. It has 12K original miles as a former brushfire truck that saw little action. It had a leaky oil pan gasket and a bum freeze plug. I swapped out the gasket and the freeze plugs. I didn't touch the oil pump because of the low miles and th...

I've got a low-miles motor and the exhaust manifold bolts do not look too rusted. I've also gotta change a leaking freeze plug. I've heard that due to the high heat and torque you should replace the manifold bolts. What do you guys think?