low oil pressure?

[stew17]

Ok for the past 2-3 months the oil pressure gauge on my dash has shown that I have next to no oil pressure. This has been going on while the oil level is fine and I have been driving it. Now I've just changed my oil, and the oil pressure gauge is still really close to the LOW icon. What is the problem here and how do I fix it?

 

[Roadrunner777]

If I were feeling lucky, I would replace the oil pressure sender. If I were feeling methodical, I would put a manual oil pressure gauge on the port and see what I really have. The pressure port is on the front driver corner of the engine, low, so you will need to go under the front bumper to reach it... it's up in the power steering hoses, and it has a single wire going to it.

Aside, the oil pressure sender is actually a switch that... well, if you are concerned about accurate oil pressure readings, do some searching here on oil pressure gauges.

 

[Mudboy]

you may have a loose bottom end or plugged up/worn oil pump. have you recently done anything to clean out your engine? Tranny fluid? Sea Foam? I'd say to confirm that your gauge is correct hook up an aftermarket one.

 

[Maniak]

Step 1 is to put on a mechanical gauge to see what you really have. I have a dash mount style cheap gauge that I screw on when I need to see real pressure on a vehicle. The line it comes with is long enough that I can zip tie it to a windshield wiper.

The "gauge" that is on the dash is actually just an analog idiot light. At about 5psi it shows good pressure. If you had no oil pressure the motor would be extremely loud.

Once you know you really do have oil pressure you can look for broken wires and even convert the take oil pressure gauge into a gauge that actually moves with oil pressure using the instructions here.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65575&highlight=oil+pressure

~Mark

 

[rustbucketMI]

I had this same issue and actually had a shop check it out. I actually was running more pressure than the spec (2 or 3 psi over) so I ignored it and probably 6 months later the problem fixed itself. I wouldn't say ignore it completely but rather that the gauge might not be working properly.