Solved oil pressure gauge mod?

[gear_grinder]

anyone done this? i know people have done it for the 1st gen trucks, but i havent seen any threads on 2gen. I swapped the sensor in mine today, my gauge acts a little more normally (comes up slow-ish rather rather then snapping up like it did with the stock sensor) however it wont go past the oil pressure symbol thats in the middle of the gauge regardless of engine speed. it does drop a little bit at idle (as i expected). i checked the wiring diagram via alldata and it shows no resistor in the circuit

 

[Vic_Ferrari2002]

Its kind of dumb but ford used a switch and not a sender for oil pressure in the second gen Explorers (positive for both v6's 99% sure for the v8). So all it is telling you is that you have oil pressure and will never tell you how much or ever be an accurate assessment of the pressure. I'm sure you could use a sender and modify the gauge to actually become a functioning gauge. To me its not worth it when you can get an actual oil pressure gauge and remote mount it. "A" pillar pods comes to mind.

 

[gear_grinder]

lol, i guess you don't understand the oil pressure mod. the gauge is a normal gauge, the sending unit (IE sensor type) is whats different. older-larger sensors are variable resistors where the smaller ones are just preset pressure switches designed to close when their calibrated pressure is reached.

swapping the sensor to a variable resistor type should net more normal gauge function. mines better but still doesnt seem to be acting correctly.

 

[Maniak]

The big pressure switch/gauge mod thread has some info aboit 2nd gens too. Not sure what year bit sometime in the 2nd gen series they put the resistor into the gauge so you cant short the resistor out and make it read right.

Search the useful thread forum to find the big pressure gauge thread.

~Mark

 

[gear_grinder]

The big pressure switch/gauge mod thread has some info aboit 2nd gens too. Not sure what year bit sometime in the 2nd gen series they put the resistor into the gauge so you cant short the resistor out and make it read right.

Search the useful thread forum to find the big pressure gauge thread.

~Mark

no resistor in the circuit, check the wiring diagrams. it does go to the "anti-slosh" module (ford's name for the thing) and i'm wondering if its not happy to see some actual value rather then full open or full closed

 

[Maniak]

no resistor in the circuit, check the wiring diagrams. it does go to the "anti-slosh" module (ford's name for the thing) and i'm wondering if its not happy to see some actual value rather then full open or full closed

No idea.. Just thought I remember that there isn't a 20 ohm resistor you can jump over on the back. I could have sworn I read that when the mod was discovered years ago when the mod first became popular and people found they couldn't do this.

I've done more searching since I am on a computer this time and not the phone. I found a couple thread where someone other than me said they didn't have a 20 ohm resistor and I found others where someone had later 2nd gen (2000) and they had the resistor.

~Mark

 

[rickybobby]

on my 97 i just stuck a 1st gen guage in the 2nd gen cluster and it works fine

 

[gear_grinder]

on my 97 i just stuck a 1st gen guage in the 2nd gen cluster and it works fine

lies

 

[colintrax]

^Yeah, I wanna see this

 

[Maniak]

no resistor in the circuit, check the wiring diagrams. it does go to the "anti-slosh" module (ford's name for the thing) and i'm wondering if its not happy to see some actual value rather then full open or full closed

Aparently, I did remember correcly. I am writing this from the junkyard.

The 1996 explorer here has the 20 ohm resistor. The 1999 I pulled the cluster from does not.

That means on the 1996, which is a 2nd gen, you just short out the resistor to make the gauge use the sending unit instead of the pressure switch.

Ill post pics of the back of the clusters later.

~Mark

 

[Maniak]

Here are a couple pics..

First is the back of a cluster pulled from a 1996 2nd Gen X.

You can see the 20 ohm resistor used to center the oil pressure gauge when the oil pressure switch closes.

1996 ford Explorer instrument cluster by maniak_az, on Flickr

The 1999 2nd gen cluster doesn't have that 20 ohm resistor That means it is centered by some other means. My guess (and from what I remember reading) it is in the gauge itself.

1999 Ford Explorer instrument cluster by maniak_az, on Flickr

The front of the cluster between the 1996 and 1999 appears to be the same so "in theory" you might be able to take the oil pressure gauge part from the 1996 cluster and put it into the 1999 cluster.

I didn't take apart the clusters or try them when I was at the junk yard today so I have no idea if you can really do that, but its a theory .

~Mark

 

[rickybobby]

lies

^Yeah, I wanna see this

Aparently, I did remember correcly. I am writing this from the junkyard.

The 1996 explorer here has the 20 ohm resistor. The 1999 I pulled the cluster from does not.

That means on the 1996, which is a 2nd gen, you just short out the resistor to make the gauge use the sending unit instead of the pressure switch.

Ill post pics of the back of the clusters later.

~Mark

Here are a couple pics..

First is the back of a cluster pulled from a 1996 2nd Gen X.

You can see the 20 ohm resistor used to center the oil pressure gauge when the oil pressure switch closes.

1996 ford Explorer instrument cluster by maniak_az, on Flickr

The 1999 2nd gen cluster doesn't have that 20 ohm resistor That means it is centered by some other means. My guess (and from what I remember reading) it is in the gauge itself.

1999 Ford Explorer instrument cluster by maniak_az, on Flickr

The front of the cluster between the 1996 and 1999 appears to be the same so "in theory" you might be able to take the oil pressure gauge part from the 1996 cluster and put it into the 1999 cluster.

I didn't take apart the clusters or try them when I was at the junk yard today so I have no idea if you can really do that, but its a theory .

~Mark

Mark is exactly correct. beginning in 97 the resistor was moved to the guage its self. The 1st gen guage mounts in the same manner as the 2nd gen guage, only the 2nd gen cluster doesnt have removeable modules. The pinouts are exactly the same, as are the screw locations. I did however have to use the 1st gen needle, as the pintle is smaller. If you read the entire thread for the oil pressure guage mod it is clearly outlined there, and IIRC there was a diagram to support this. If you really need to see proof i can post a video when i can get to where my explorer is currently being stored, but a little research will tell you that i am correct. I have absolutely no reason to lie about this. This forum is here to help people, and that is why i am here. And if you are going to accuse me of spreading false information, please have evidence to back me up.

 

[rickybobby]

anyone done this? i know people have done it for the 1st gen trucks, but i havent seen any threads on 2gen. I swapped the sensor in mine today, my gauge acts a little more normally (comes up slow-ish rather rather then snapping up like it did with the stock sensor) however it wont go past the oil pressure symbol thats in the middle of the gauge regardless of engine speed. it does drop a little bit at idle (as i expected). i checked the wiring diagram via alldata and it shows no resistor in the circuit

Alldata wont show the resistor in the diagram because it is built into the guage. it is extremely simple to swap the guage with a 96 or 1st gen guage. just remove the needle and 2 or 3 screws (cant remember exactly how many)

 

[gear_grinder]

so you guys think it has nothing to do with the anti-slosh module that its tied into?

 

[gear_grinder]

Mark is exactly correct. beginning in 97 the resistor was moved to the guage its self. The 1st gen guage mounts in the same manner as the 2nd gen guage, only the 2nd gen cluster doesnt have removeable modules. The pinouts are exactly the same, as are the screw locations. I did however have to use the 1st gen needle, as the pintle is smaller. If you read the entire thread for the oil pressure guage mod it is clearly outlined there, and IIRC there was a diagram to support this. If you really need to see proof i can post a video when i can get to where my explorer is currently being stored, but a little research will tell you that i am correct. I have absolutely no reason to lie about this. This forum is here to help people, and that is why i am here. And if you are going to accuse me of spreading false information, please have evidence to back me up.

just an impolite way of saying i didn't believe you. the 1gen have different sweep ranges, could cause some confusion.

 

[rickybobby]

It has nothing to do with the anti-slosh module, all that does is steady the signal so the needle doesnt bounce around all the time. The 1st gen guages have the same sweeps, the small guages are all 90degree sweep from 91-01 as far as i know. Either way, my needle sits dead centered most of the time, which is right around 45psi when i put air to it. I guess i dont personally care if the sweep is a smidge different, as there are no numbers, it just gives you a reference as to what is normal, and when it isnt, rather than just telling you that there is less than 4psi. again, it is referenced several times in the big oil pressure guage mod thread that a 1st gen guage is a direct fit, a 94 guage can even use the 2nd gen needle so it will appear completely stock. I do agree that a 95 or 96 guage is the best answer, but i couldnt get one in the local JY and im not gonna tear the cluster back apart just because the needle coloring is different

 

[96eb96]

Someone on a mustang forum tried to create a microcontroller to create an accurate oil pressure gauge using the stock gauges. The 97+ gauges with the internal resistor turned out to be impossible to deal with, because of the internal resistance wiring. Also, he determined the gauge is non-linear. I don't think he made the final product but he mentioned people would have to swap a pre 97 gauge to make it work. I also suggest you get a Motorcraft OEM sensor. I tried a BWD one, and there was lots of flickering and weird readings. It always read in the normal range, but it couldn't reflect trends. I tried it with my air compressor and found similar results. Even the motorcraft sensor is not perfect in terms of linearity(it is acceptable though), so it is just an approximation.