Bad guage...or something worse?

[Jspafford]

Thanks... well not really...

Is it possible to get too with all the engine together?

Shit!

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

ummm...ya id say so

its actually not that bad to get to, you just cant see what your doing. lay on the motor with both hands around the back of the head and wrench by brail....hmmm, kind like reaching around a girl to undo bra hooks

 

[Bob Ayers]

Thanks... well not really...

Is it possible to get too with all the engine together?

Shit!

When I converted my "switch" to an analog sending unit, I went in through the fender well on the passenger's side. If you take the tire off, you will have plenty of room to work.

 

[Jspafford]

What a pain in the ass! I tried taking the fender liner out, but one of the bolts snapped (gotta love ohio). So I worked from the top. The cover on the A/C condensor tore the hell out of my arm. I put a T in there, major PITA by the way and put a new sending unit it along with the manual guage line.

I put the Sender back in the same place it was on the T and put the guage line off the bottom of the T. No leaks... I still have to wire it for the backlighting.

Started truck, idles up to 45psi. I think it's fine.

Where did everyone else mount their guages? The only place I could find was on the passenger side right up against the black cubbie on the floor. Looks stupid over there, but had no where else to put it!

 

[Mutant Pony]

The factory gauge is not the problem. It is a quality piece that will outlast all but the best aftermarket gauges. The factory gauge is capable of reading exact oil pressure (at least close enough). You mearly need to replace the switch with a sender and remove the inline resistor. The resistor may be a little complicated to find as it is taped into the wiring harness.

 

[Jspafford]

I've got a sunpro mechanical in there now..

Factory guage still reads though, hence why I put in the T.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

The factory gauge is not the problem. It is a quality piece that will outlast all but the best aftermarket gauges. The factory gauge is capable of reading exact oil pressure (at least close enough). You mearly need to replace the switch with a sender and remove the inline resistor. The resistor may be a little complicated to find as it is taped into the wiring harness.

huh? the factory "guage" isnt a "guage" at all...its an idiot light. noones doubting its reliability, we're doubting its usefullness. its good for telling you when you just ate $400 worth of engine parts by running at 8PSI at highway RPM under load. a real guage can at least warn you with low oil pressure figures before its too late. the factory unit is not capable of of reading exact oil pressure because it doesnt have numbers on it...its only capable of showing you "higher" and "lower" oil pressure...where on the scale is too low? and the resistor that needs bridged is on the back of the instrument cluster (at least it is for gen 3's).

im suprised you of all people would stick up for a basically useless instrument

EDIT: i was so startled by mutants post t made me forget what i was gonna say

IIRC, 30~ PSI @ 2,000 RPM with a hot engine (oil takes a few miles of highway driving to reach full temp.) is considered OK.

 

[Bob Ayers]

The factory gauge is not the problem. It is a quality piece that will outlast all but the best aftermarket gauges. The factory gauge is capable of reading exact oil pressure (at least close enough). You mearly need to replace the switch with a sender and remove the inline resistor. The resistor may be a little complicated to find as it is taped into the wiring harness.

If you have the resistor (22 OHMS) it will be on the instrument panel PCB. My
1999 3.0L FFV didn't have a resistor.

 

[Bob Ayers]

huh? the factory "guage" isnt a "guage" at all...its an idiot light. noones doubting its reliability, we're doubting its usefullness. its good for telling you when you just ate $400 worth of engine parts by running at 8PSI at highway RPM under load. a real guage can at least warn you with low oil pressure figures before its too late. the factory unit is not capable of of reading exact oil pressure because it doesnt have numbers on it...its only capable of showing you "higher" and "lower" oil pressure...where on the scale is too low? and the resistor that needs bridged is on the back of the instrument cluster (at least it is for gen 3's).

im suprised you of all people would stick up for a basically useless instrument

EDIT: i was so startled by mutants post t made me forget what i was gonna say

IIRC, 30~ PSI @ 2,000 RPM with a hot engine (oil takes a few miles of highway driving to reach full temp.) is considered OK.

Mutant is correct, the gauge is fine, it's the OEM sending unit N/O switch that is the problem. You will not know how many PSI of oil pressure you are
running, you will see if you have a drop in oil pressure.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

with no numbers on the gauge, how low is too low, bob? a gauge with no numbers is nearly as useless as an idiot light. of coarse your oil pressure is lower at idle than it is at 2,000 RPM, but how much lower is it? it could be 9 PSI (problem), or it could be 20 PSI (no problem) and you wouldnt know either way without numbers on the gauge! "guessing" is never better than "knowing".

 

[Mutant Pony]

Hey Wicked, Have you ever saw one of those clocks that have no numbers on them, Some people say that they are useless too.
Oil press numbers don't mean jack unless it is to the point of problem diagnosis an then you would have a mechanical pressure tester on it anyway. The only thing you really need to know is that it isn't low. If it is down to the low line on the guage (or lower) the motor is done.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

i guess some people would argue that clocks and oil pressure gauges have differnent purposes in life.

if im 5 minutes late to work because my clock doesnt have numbers on it, no big deal. if im 5 minutes late shutting my engine off after running down the highway with 9 PSI...then im out several hundred dollars.

 

[MUDDING B-3000]

i had that problem with my truck but i found out it was my oil pressure line cuz i had oil leaking, i had an aftermarket guage but it had a plastic line an it got bent an kinked, so it took for ever for my oil pressure to go up, an when i was trying to find the line it blew up an almost drained my engine of oil cuz my truck was running in the drive way an when i came out of the garage i seen oil everywhere so i shut the truck off an i got a autometer copper line an now my oil presse gauge is super sensitive, the gauge is at about 30 to 40psi at idle an then flucuates when ever the rpms go up. an the guages are nice an small like 2" i got the three pack with oil press, voltage, an water temp an there nice gauges they light up an everythin i like them alot

i can tell you its a pain in the ass to change the line i had to crawl under my truck an shove my hand up the passenger side of the engine an feel for the fitting, then get the wrench that fits it an get it out to put a new on in.

one question i got is to much oil pressure bad? like when you start to drive to merge on the highway an you at like 4500 rpm an its at like 80 psi?

 

[Mutant Pony]

i guess some people would argue that clocks and oil pressure gauges have differnent purposes in life.

if im 5 minutes late to work because my clock doesnt have numbers on it, no big deal. if im 5 minutes late shutting my engine off after running down the highway with 9 PSI...then im out several hundred dollars.

Ok then, I'll explain it to you. Most people don't need the numbers on the clock because they have seen enough of them to know where the numbers are.
On the typical oil pressure gauge the low number is twenty pounds and the high number is 80 pounds. The gauge goes above and below those lines. If your gauge is reading below the low line you have trouble.
For the most part though, all an oil pressure gauge does is make you worry about your motor. If you've spun a bearing, shutting the motor off isn't gonna do much for you. The damage is already done.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

all my gauges start at zero...

clocks are all pretty standardized, oil pressure guages are not.

a spun bearing is different than reduced flow from a failed oil filter, worn oil pump/bearings, improper oil grade selection, etc.