What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[97ranger22bronco]

Also switched out the coolant overflow/wiper fluid tank; minor thing but it bothered me so much to have that old dirty one there.

 

[97ranger22bronco]

If you bathe your self in gasoline, it kills the Covid virus. I’m not sure if there’s other bad affects though.

My wife was not thrilled (at all, may I add) when I came into the house smelling of old gasoline...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Well I went to wash off the mud and sand mix from my desert adventures a couple weeks ago on the '90 but some dumbass decided to pre rinse it in my pond and got algae and grass wrapped around the axles which is what I want to work on so I'll have to pressure wash it tomorrow...

On that note I found my extended radius arm materials so that's going to happen soon...

 

[JoshT]

Just purchased a replacement for my broken instrument cluster bezel on eBay. Mine wasn't bad broken, but the locations for mounting up into the dash above the cluster had all cracked and broken out. Likely from my over tightening it in the past. Nothing that stopped it from working, but I know its broken and it annoys me. I'll have to be a bit more gentle when installing this one.

Tomorrow (later today) I'll be installing a digital oil pressure gauge and a new sender for the dash gauge, to see if actually have an oil pressure issue or just the gauge acting up.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Just purchased a replacement for my broken instrument cluster bezel on eBay. Mine wasn't bad broken, but the locations for mounting up into the dash above the cluster had all cracked and broken out. Likely from my over tightening it in the past. Nothing that stopped it from working, but I know its broken and it annoys me. I'll have to be a bit more gentle when installing this one.

Tomorrow (later today) I'll be installing a digital oil pressure gauge and a new sender for the dash gauge, to see if actually have an oil pressure issue or just the gauge acting up.

For screws going into plastic parts "snug" is usually tight enough.

 

[JoshT]

Tomorrow (later today) I'll be installing a digital oil pressure gauge and a new sender for the dash gauge, to see if actually have an oil pressure issue or just the gauge acting up.

Well that was a bust. Installed both of those and now don't know if I've got a bad gauge, bad sender, or a bad engine.

To start with I drove it over to the parents house to do the wrenching. Was able to catch a video of what the pressure gauge was doing. This was after about 25 minutes of driving. Not really sure how to post a video, so here's the imgur link.

https://imgur.com/a/CNjb0r0

When I started truck after installing, engine had been sitting for a few hours after a 30 minute drive. Not hot, but didn't take long to warm back up to operating temperature. The new gauge started out showing 44 psi and slowly dropped down to 0 at idle. I creasing rpm brought brought the gauge back up into at least the 30s, if not 40s. No engine noises that would make one suspect loss of oil pressure.

At the same time the new oil pressure sender for the dash was installed. The entire time it was running the needle stayed solid in the normal range. I know it's a dummy gauge, but with the other dropping to 0 I would have expected something to happen on the dash gauge. Even just a little flickering. Sender is not shorted to ground, I checked for that, doesn't mean it's accurate either.

So now I don't know if I have one or two inaccurate gauges and/or an engine that's about to bite the dust.

I could try a third mechanical gauge, that might tell me which gauge is more correct. I don't want a permanent install and have no idea how to route tubing without going through the firewall. That's one reason why I went electrical gauge, was easy enough to just route the wires through the door jamb.

So not really sure how to progress right now.

For screws going into plastic parts "snug" is usually tight enough.

I know that. Knowing and doing are different things. Very easy to unintentionally use too much force with the 1/4 drive ratchet. A nut driver would be a much better tool for the job, but I'm not bullying a set of them. I need to get another 1/4 drive spinner handle, I've got every 1/4 socket I could need, except in 10mm. Used to have one, but haven't seen it in years.

 

[Roert42]

I would grab one of those oil pressure gauges that screw into the sender port and do the same test again but using that gauge.
At the very least, that will tell you if the new electrical gauge is trash.

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

Well that was a bust. Installed both of those and now don't know if I've got a bad gauge, bad sender, or a bad engine.

To start with I drove it over to the parents house to do the wrenching. Was able to catch a video of what the pressure gauge was doing. This was after about 25 minutes of driving. Not really sure how to post a video, so here's the imgur link.

https://imgur.com/a/CNjb0r0

When I started truck after installing, engine had been sitting for a few hours after a 30 minute drive. Not hot, but didn't take long to warm back up to operating temperature. The new gauge started out showing 44 psi and slowly dropped down to 0 at idle. I creasing rpm brought brought the gauge back up into at least the 30s, if not 40s. No engine noises that would make one suspect loss of oil pressure.

At the same time the new oil pressure sender for the dash was installed. The entire time it was running the needle stayed solid in the normal range. I know it's a dummy gauge, but with the other dropping to 0 I would have expected something to happen on the dash gauge. Even just a little flickering. Sender is not shorted to ground, I checked for that, doesn't mean it's accurate either.

So now I don't know if I have one or two inaccurate gauges and/or an engine that's about to bite the dust.

I could try a third mechanical gauge, that might tell me which gauge is more correct. I don't want a permanent install and have no idea how to route tubing without going through the firewall. That's one reason why I went electrical gauge, was easy enough to just route the wires through the door jamb.

So not really sure how to progress right now.


I know that. Knowing and doing are different things. Very easy to unintentionally use too much force with the 1/4 drive ratchet. A nut driver would be a much better tool for the job, but I'm not bullying a set of them. I need to get another 1/4 drive spinner handle, I've got every 1/4 socket I could need, except in 10mm. Used to have one, but haven't seen it in years.

+1 on @Roert42 's post.

Is the aftermarket pressure gauge wired into the same sending unit as the factory one, or does it have its own sending unit? From what I understand, the factory sending units are more of a switch than anything.

 

[Rick W]

What I know about the Ranger truck specifics will fit in a thimble. But what I know from my chemical engineering is that a gauge that is fed with an oil line that has a pressure diaphragm in it is going to tell you a whole lot more than an electrical gauge feeding off a sender/sensor (at least the variety you can buy for your vehicle).

There are many things that could be off with the electrical gauge and you could swap parts forever. If you T into the oil pressure line, you may be able to temp mount a diaphragm gauge in between the hood and the front cowl outside. You could bend up a little sheet of whatever metal and mount the gauge on it and feed the little oil line down around the hood somewhere. That’s so you could see it while you’re driving. That will definitely tell you if your engine is making pressure, and if the pressure is going up and down with RPM, and if it is going up or down from cold to hot

Another thought, you could T into the line and just rev the engine when you’re sitting in the driveway and see what the diaphragm gauge does just hanging loose under the hood. Even if it is inaccurate, it should go up and down with the oil pressure in the truck.

And another last thought, if you’re going to run a temp line, copper, aluminum or steel is always best, but you can actually use a plastic line. If you use a plastic line, it has to be a very small diameter, like the cartridge of a ballpoint pen. If you use something much bigger, the wall of the tube can expand and contract and defeat the diaphragm in the gauge. The “spring rate” of the plastic wall might be lower than the “spring rate” of the diaphragm. If so, the diaphragm could just act like a plug, and the gauge wouldn’t move. Obviously just make sure it’s not laying on the manifold anywhere.

A couple more last thoughts. Whether it’s a direct line or a sensor, a gauge flickering like that on a liquid line, could be an indication that the line is drawing in the air on the suction side of the pump. Now again, I don’t really know how the pump is configured on the truck. But air may be coming in the suction pick up side of the pump, like on the tube that hangs in the oil pan. While the oil is cold and thick, it could be minimal, but then draw a lot of air once the oil thins out.

And my final (for now) thought is that there may be a loose or worn electrical connector that is vibrating somewhere once the engine heats up and the wiring softens up from the heat of the engine. With the engine hot when the gauge is flickering, you could just take a stick and wiggle around the wires under the hood that feed the gauge and see if that levels it out or if the gauge just goes dead. Obviously wherever you’re poking the stick or pulling on the wires is where you want to look for a problem.

Hope it helps. I’ll probably think of some more last things before I’m done.

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

What I know about the Ranger truck specifics will fit in a thimble. But what I know from my chemical engineering is that a gauge that is fed with an oil line that has a pressure diaphragm in it is going to tell you a whole lot more than an electrical gauge feeding off a sender/sensor (at least the variety you can buy for your vehicle).

There are many things that could be off with the electrical gauge and you could swap parts forever. If you T into the oil pressure line, you may be able to temp mount a diaphragm gauge in between the hood and the front cowl outside. You could bend up a little sheet of whatever metal and mount the gauge on it and feed the little oil line down around the hood somewhere. That’s so you could see it while you’re driving. That will definitely tell you if your engine is making pressure, and if the pressure is going up and down with RPM, and if it is going up or down from cold to hot

Another thought, you could T into the line and just rev the engine when you’re sitting in the driveway and see what the diaphragm gauge does just hanging loose under the hood. Even if it is inaccurate, it should go up and down with the oil pressure in the truck.

And another last thought, if you’re going to run a temp line, copper, aluminum or steel is always best, but you can actually use a plastic line. If you use a plastic line, it has to be a very small diameter, like the cartridge of a ballpoint pen. If you use something much bigger, the wall of the tube can expand and contract and defeat the diaphragm in the gauge. The “spring rate” of the plastic wall might be lower than the “spring rate” of the diaphragm. If so, the diaphragm could just act like a plug, and the gauge wouldn’t move. Obviously just make sure it’s not laying on the manifold anywhere.

A couple more last thoughts. Whether it’s a direct line or a sensor, a gauge flickering like that on a liquid line, could be an indication that the line is drawing in the air on the suction side of the pump. Now again, I don’t really know how the pump is configured on the truck. But air may be coming in the suction pick up side of the pump, like on the tube that hangs in the oil pan. While the oil is cold and thick, it could be minimal, but then draw a lot of air once the oil thins out.

And my final (for now) thought is that there may be a loose or worn electrical connector that is vibrating somewhere once the engine heats up and the wiring softens up from the heat of the engine. With the engine hot when the gauge is flickering, you could just take a stick and wiggle around the wires under the hood that feed the gauge and see if that levels it out or if the gauge just goes dead. Obviously wherever you’re poking the stick or pulling on the wires is where you want to look for a problem.

Hope it helps. I’ll probably think of some more last things before I’m done.

I agree that a mechanical gauge is best. However for me, with my (soon to be installed) aftermarket gauge, I don't want a pressurized oil line running all the way up to the cab.... That's asking for failure. So i instead ordered a decent quality GlowShift electronic gauge, and will test its accuracy against my mechanical test gauge (the kind that looks like a compression tester). It runs a seperate sensor, one that isn't a glorified on-off switch like the Rangers have from factory.

 

[Rick W]

I agree that a mechanical gauge is best. However for me, with my (soon to be installed) aftermarket gauge, I don't want a pressurized oil line running all the way up to the cab.... That's asking for failure. So i instead ordered a decent quality GlowShift electronic gauge, and will test its accuracy against my mechanical test gauge (the kind that looks like a compression tester). It runs a seperate sensor, one that isn't a glorified on-off switch like the Rangers have from factory.

I don’t disagree. I’m just saying a mechanical gauge with the diaphragm is the best to use to troubleshoot if you don’t know if your problem is the engine, the sending unit, the gauge, your mother-in-law…

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

I don’t disagree. I’m just saying a mechanical gauge with the diaphragm is the best to use to troubleshoot if you don’t know if your problem is the engine, the sending unit, the gauge, your mother-in-law…

Yep.

Another question you may have the answer to...

Should I put my aftermarket pressure sender before or after the filter? I have a sandwich plate coming with the gauge, that would allow me to take the pressure reading right off of the pump, before the oil flows through the filter. Of course, filters have some degree of restriction, and thus there is a pressure drop after the filter. Is it enough of a drop to warrant moving the sender after the filter, i.e. where the OEM sensor goes in the main oil galley.

(My thinking is that I want the reading closest to what the bearings, tensioners, etc are seeing, not necessarily the (possinly higher) pressure right off the pump)

 

[Rick W]

Yep.

Another question you may have the answer to...

Should I put my aftermarket pressure sender before or after the filter? I have a sandwich plate coming with the gauge, that would allow me to take the pressure reading right off of the pump, before the oil flows through the filter. Of course, filters have some degree of restriction, and thus there is a pressure drop after the filter. Is it enough of a drop to warrant moving the sender after the filter, i.e. where the OEM sensor goes in the main oil galley.

(My thinking is that I want the reading closest to what the bearings, tensioners, etc are seeing, not necessarily the (possinly higher) pressure right off the pump)

I may not be the right one to ask on this. I’m sure a lot of these guys know this much better than I do. I’ve always played with the cars, but mostly with the cosmetics and horse trading and such, not so much with the building of engines, although I’ve done it once or twice. I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve always been able to use professional mechanics to keep up with my drivetrain and such.

Having said that, I think I would prefer the pressure sensor after the filter. You want to know what the pressure is in your operating engine, not what the pump is putting out if it happens to be feeding a clogged filter. The double whammy is that if the filter is clogged, that would give you an even higher reading before the filter, not indicative of what’s going on in the engine.

Of course, if you’re crazy like me, and you’re building your engine for flash and fun, as well as performance, why not put a gauge in before and another gauge after?

Hope it helps

 

[JoshT]

I would grab one of those oil pressure gauges that screw into the sender port and do the same test again but using that gauge.
At the very least, that will tell you if the new electrical gauge is trash.

That's kind of the plan. On the way home I picked up a mechanical OPG from O'Reilly. Will plumb it in tomorrow and see what it says.

+1 on @Roert42 's post.

Is the aftermarket pressure gauge wired into the same sending unit as the factory one, or does it have its own sending unit? From what I understand, the factory sending units are more of a switch than anything.

No, has it's own sending uint. You are exactly right on at least the 98+ engines. That is why my interpretation of the flickering gauge was that either I had a faulty sender or the oil pressure is borderline when hot. Hence installing a gauge to verify oil pressure.

What I know about the Ranger truck specifics will fit in a thimble. But what I know from my chemical engineering is that a gauge that is fed with an oil line that has a pressure diaphragm in it is going to tell you a whole lot more than an electrical gauge feeding off a sender/sensor (at least the variety you can buy for your vehicle).

There are many things that could be off with the electrical gauge and you could swap parts forever. If you T into the oil pressure line, you may be able to temp mount a diaphragm gauge in between the hood and the front cowl outside. You could bend up a little sheet of whatever metal and mount the gauge on it and feed the little oil line down around the hood somewhere. That’s so you could see it while you’re driving. That will definitely tell you if your engine is making pressure, and if the pressure is going up and down with RPM, and if it is going up or down from cold to hot

Another thought, you could T into the line and just rev the engine when you’re sitting in the driveway and see what the diaphragm gauge does just hanging loose under the hood. Even if it is inaccurate, it should go up and down with the oil pressure in the truck.

And another last thought, if you’re going to run a temp line, copper, aluminum or steel is always best, but you can actually use a plastic line. If you use a plastic line, it has to be a very small diameter, like the cartridge of a ballpoint pen. If you use something much bigger, the wall of the tube can expand and contract and defeat the diaphragm in the gauge. The “spring rate” of the plastic wall might be lower than the “spring rate” of the diaphragm. If so, the diaphragm could just act like a plug, and the gauge wouldn’t move. Obviously just make sure it’s not laying on the manifold anywhere.

A couple more last thoughts. Whether it’s a direct line or a sensor, a gauge flickering like that on a liquid line, could be an indication that the line is drawing in the air on the suction side of the pump. Now again, I don’t really know how the pump is configured on the truck. But air may be coming in the suction pick up side of the pump, like on the tube that hangs in the oil pan. While the oil is cold and thick, it could be minimal, but then draw a lot of air once the oil thins out.

And my final (for now) thought is that there may be a loose or worn electrical connector that is vibrating somewhere once the engine heats up and the wiring softens up from the heat of the engine. With the engine hot when the gauge is flickering, you could just take a stick and wiggle around the wires under the hood that feed the gauge and see if that levels it out or if the gauge just goes dead. Obviously wherever you’re poking the stick or pulling on the wires is where you want to look for a problem.

Hope it helps. I’ll probably think of some more last things before I’m done.

You are very likely correct on your assessment of mechanical vs electrical OPGs.As I meant to say before my intention was/is to use this gauge for temporary troubleshooting purposes. I did not want to drill a hole in the firewall to run an oil line into the cab. An electrical seemed to be the most practical solution for the situation. If it works correctly it still is the most practical IMO, but from what I say today I need to use a mechanical to confirm whether that electrical gauge/sender is good or not. (really hoping for not, but not holding my breath)

Before leaving the shop I came to the same conclusion about temporarily mounting a mechanical gauge to the cowl. Not ideal, but it should suffice for my needs and last long enough for my purposes. Gauge I purchased came with a plastic line as you describes assuming that it is long enough to reach the cowl without melting on a header.

On the subject of line material. I'm not worried about the plastic line as much as I don't want a line at all. I would agree that the metal lines are better, but I still don't like piping hot oil into the cab for a mechanical gauge. My F-100 still has the same OPG that dad installed in the late 80s or early 90s. It's using the same plastic line that it came with. When engine gets rebuilt/swapped, I'll be deeming an OPG unnecessary and that will be removed. Until then it's not hurting anything sitting there.

You may be onto something with the pickup tube suction, but I don't know how one would check that without removing the pan. Either remove the engine and take the pan off, or remove the differential and raise the motor, then drop the pan enough to reach between it and the block. Removing the differential is a near future project and if I haven't found a solution before then I'll consider going that route.

Just a thought on that last possibility. The cold oil is t̶h̶i̶n̶n̶e̶r̶ thicker and slower to flow than hot oil. As such the oil should be harder for the pump to draw up the pickup tube when cold. If it were a leak prior to the pump, I would think it should be more likely to draw in air when the oil is cold than when the oil is hot. Like sucking fluid through a straw, if there is a crack above the fluid its likely to pull air in through that crack, the thicker the fluid the more likely it is to draw in air. A better analogy might be the bypass valves they install on cold air intakes in cars, in case they drive through a deep puddle and the filter gets submerged.

Possible that electrical could cause the flickering needle, but I don't think so. If that were to be the case I should have seen it doing the same when I drove the donor home. (IMO it's more likely that sender failed during swap, than harness was damaged during swap, and as likely that the engine I used is more worn than believed.) I also should have seen that symptom after replacing the sender, with it stationary and running up to operating temp, the underhood temperatures should have been higher than when driving down the road. If it were vibration induced it shouldn't shouldn't always come back to working, and should also have shown the flickering symptom when off idle.

Another question you may have the answer to...

Should I put my aftermarket pressure sender before or after the filter? I have a sandwich plate coming with the gauge, that would allow me to take the pressure reading right off of the pump, before the oil flows through the filter. Of course, filters have some degree of restriction, and thus there is a pressure drop after the filter. Is it enough of a drop to warrant moving the sender after the filter, i.e. where the OEM sensor goes in the main oil galley.

I'm not qualified to answer that question, but mine is teed off the original sender location. I'm about 90% certain that is after the filter, but not 100%.

 

[ben_2_go]

Shaky gauges are a bad connection, or ground, somewhere in the circuit. It is also a sign of a failing gauge or sensor. Ground out the wire to the sensor temporarily. Then, drive the truck. The gauge should stay maxed out. If it does, the sensor is bad. If it does not, then it's a ground possibly a wire rubbing through somewhere, or the gauge kicking the bucket. I agree with others, a quality aftermarket gauge is the best.