oil sending unit?

[dtl 2k2 sport]

SLOW oil pressure ??

We'll on my 2000 xlt, i noticed the past two mornings when it was really cool out, the oil pressure would be slow to raise. THE check gauge light was on and no oil was registering. Then after a min or two the guage would go back to where it should be. In the afternoon it's fine. There's plenty of oil in the truck, and it doesnt knock or make any noises out of the ordinary? Faulty gauge?

 

[dogfriend]

Using 50W oil? :



Might be the sender unit failing. You could test with a real gauge to see if the pressure is ok or not.

 

[dtl 2k2 sport]

uhm i think 5 w 30,,lol am i killing my truck doing this??

 

[dogfriend]

Its kinda bad not to have any oil pressure, so you may want to check with a manual gauge to see. Or, the sender unit doesn't cost that much (<$15), so maybe just replace it & hope for the best.

How many miles on the engine? I don't think that the oil pump wears out at low mileage on the 4.0; I saw a thread just the other day where several people were getting 200 - 300K without rebuilding.

 

[dtl 2k2 sport]

120k on it, how come it's only in the morining and not in the afternoon or/ eve on the drive home,??

 

[dogfriend]

Its colder in the morning. :

 

[dtl 2k2 sport]

urgh, more money down the drain,lol
how hard is it to install one of those things?

 

[dogfriend]

I thought of something else - Are you using a Motorcraft oil filter or some other brand?

The OEM filter (Motorcraft) has an anti-leakback device that is supposed to keep the oil from draining back out of the filter. Maybe that is happening overnight and then you don't see any oil pressure until the oil is pumped back up through the system.

I was being somewhat facetious in my previous post - but oil does flow more slowly when cold and it has more time to drain down into the pan overnight.

 

[dogfriend]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167755&highlight=oil+pressure

 

[dtl 2k2 sport]

yeah dont worry about the previous post, i know it's harder to get thjings going in the mornings, but this is jsut started out of no where. I'm using a fram filter and it's only just started in the colder mornings not every day, just when the temp got down to 40 degrees or so

 

[dtl 2k2 sport]

i'm not alone

thanks looks like a bunch of us are having these problems,,lol havent heard of anyones engines dying but i'll check tomarrow on that issue , hopefully it wont happen!lol

 

[dogfriend]

Fram filters are generally not the best quality - they may have been once a long time ago, but most agree that they are not very good anymore.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67626&highlight=fram+filter

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168524&highlight=fram+filter

 

[dynamite196]

Best way to check is use a regular oil pressure gauge and check. The electric unit doesn't really tell you much. It's possible it's clogged with sludge and once the engine gets warmed up it thins out enough to let oil pressure register. I'd recommend not driving it until you get the pressure situation checked out as low/no oil pressure can really screw up the engine.

 

[dtl 2k2 sport]

Okay getting ready to replace my oil sending unit,, When it's cold out it takes a min/ or two to go to regular level on the guauge. After that it's no problem and I can roll right on down the road. I'm wondering where is the location that i need to replace this at w/ the new sending unit? And is there anypics thta could be shown? thanks d

 

[ExplorerDMB]

what kind of oil are you putting in the engine?

-Drew

 

[dogfriend]

what kind of oil are you putting in the engine?

-Drew

I think we established in this thread that he is using 50W. :


The oil pressure sender is on the block at the driver's side front corner just above the oil pan.

 

[dtl 2k2 sport]

cool, yeah I'm using money 5w30 valvoline,,,,,,,,,, i just bought the unit so i just needed to know where to throw that bad boy on! Dont need to unhook anything else do i?? Just making sure it's just a plug and play unit,, thanks all<!!

 

[KPT]

I really doubt the sender is the problem. As was stated in the previous thread you should check the pressure with an analog gauge... If you are intent on replacing the sender search for the thread that details swapping a sender that will read actual pressure, not just yes/no as the stock one does.

 

[alandg]

almost certainly the sending unit is the problem. my 2000 started doing it at 35k. drive mile or 2 and gauge popped up to where it belonged(more if cold). i use amzoil 5w30. replaced sending unit 7 whole bucks. really isn't a problem you can hear very easily if oil pressure is 0.