Factory oil pressure gage lies

[Brian R]

I was halfway home last nigbt (in terms of elevation, anyway), minor traffic in the California Gold Country town of Placerville, when the oil light begins to flicker and the gage is reading almost nothin'! These engines are supposed to last forever and mine only has 97K. I almost completely freaked out but I managed to check the oil (could use 1 qt. ), get to NAPA and buy a mechanical gage. I drove it the rest of the way home, hoping for the best. I installed the gage and voila, 40+ psi at idle! The factory sender provides a signal to both the light and the factory gage so I suspect it is the culprit. I don't need that kind of stress right now. Has anyone else had trouble with the factory oil pressure gage/light?

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

I've not personally had a problem with mine, but the sender is a little "semi-notorious" for this kind of thing. Usually the worst that happens is your own personal on board pump (heart) goes into a condition know as "over-boost" resulting in alot of mental "fault codes" being set.

Geezzzz I hang around in here too much... .



Not to worry, change the sender and you should be ok.





Bob.

 

[R.E. Miller]

Yup.....love the excitement!

Mine quit while hauling a 8000# enclosed trailer Just installed two mechanical Isspro gauges to solve the problem Of course my getrag just quit, so the gauges have been off duty for a while My gauge failed the same way, to top it off, I had just replaced the sender with a genuine MOPAR part, well yeehaw, when I pulled into the parts store lot, I see oil running out the bottom of my engine... . sender innards failed. If that had happened while I was towing, that would have been a big mistake.

Good luck,

Russell

 

[JFitzgerald]

The thing I don't like is how slowly the gauge responds. Seems like you could lose pressure and might not know it 'til it's too late. Mechanical oil pressure and temp gauges are hard to beat.