Do I need ANOTHER oil pressure sender again already ?

[davem]

My 2001 XLT V-6 SOHC has 162,000 miles on it. This morning, after driving it about 10 miles, I noticed the oil pressure dropped (idiot gage dropped and 'check gage' light came on) when I stopped at a stop light. Once I accellerated, it was normal. This process repeated every stop light. At a stop light, pressing the gas pedal enough to get the RPMs up to around 1000 is enough to get pressure to show up on the gage. The oil level is fine. No engine noises. (Oil and filter were changed about 1200 miles ago, Quaker State full synthetic and Purolator filter)

Of course I hope its just the pressure sender, but I just had a new sender installed on 1/27, 2012 - 34,000 miles ago. Seems like a short life span ....

Anything else I should consider ?

 

[2000StreetRod]

oil pressure?

Before replacing your sensor the previous time did you measure the oil pressure? The pressure switch activates to give a "Normal" reading when the pressure is above about 5 psi. Maybe the oil pump is failing.

Have you recently flushed the engine or switched to synthetic oil? If so, maybe sludge has come loose and clogged the pressure switch.

 

[davem]

I switched to synthetic in May of 2014. Put 7000 miles on it, and changed it in late October 2014 - have about 1200 miles on that oil. Both were the same type of oil (and filter).

So perhaps some sludge finally kicked loose and plugged it - seems to make sense.


I dont recall whether the shop that replaced the sender actually tested the pressure when they replaced the sender (almost) 3 years ago.

 

[rb142]

That sounds more like a real reading than a bad sender. Get a real gauge on there and see what the oil pressure really is.

 

[koda2000]

I agree with rb142 and 2000StreetRod. Only way to know for sure is to get a real oil pressure gauge on it. I don't want to burst your bubble, but I think what you're seeing is the for real oil pressure. The SOHC engine, with 162K it could be junk blocking the oil pickup screen. That "junk" could be the remains of broken plastic timing chain cassette parts in the pan, or maybe sludge if your lucky.

 

[Flash]

Another vote for checking the oil pressure using a mechanical gauge.

As Koda said you might be lucky and it's just sludge but what kind of engine sludges up at 162k?

You might get away with flushing the engine with something like Seafoam; when the head gasket on my BMW blew and introduced my crankcase to chocolate milkshake I flushed it out with a 50/50 mix of kerosene and cheap, thin oil.

But be prepared to pull the engine to do the oil pump and timing chains.

 

[SoNic67]

Oil sender is OK, the camshaft bearings are toast. Use heavier oil like 5W50 and hope for the best.
Run like that and you will get a seized engine really quick.

 

[davem]

The repair shop says I need a new pressure sender - if I understood correctly, some diaphram was leaking oil and old was getting into the electronics portion of the part, messing with the reading. (Still not sure why increasing the RPM seemed to get the pressure to the 'normal' point ........... but if the part is bad, suppose all bets are off)


Its a welcome relief compared to the cost of replacing an oil pump, but will need to drive it a few days to see if this truly resolved it.

 

[SoNic67]

That would some coincidence that you had two sensors fail!
I had the sensor in my '96 Sable leak trough. Never had issues with miss-indication, just a massive oil leak, and replacement sender lasted until I sold the car 3 years later.
Good luck!

 

[Maniak]

I'm using the larger ford sending unit as I've converted my gauge to work like a real gauge (non analog idiot light) and they don't last as long as you would expect..

I put the last one when I rebuild the motor at 355k miles and I just had to change it again at 393k.

It was working but it would sporadically read really low (no change in engine sound) at higher rpms..

~Mark

 

[davem]

Here is a video of how my gage behaved BEFORE the new sensor was installed:

http://youtu.be/oPbKUnDZtRc


So far, the new sender has resolved the problem.