When It Rains, It Pours - Oil Pressure Issue

[X6StringerX]

I thought that was a catchy title despite my problem having nothing whatsoever to do with rain, but rather with the frequency of problems in the recent months between our two vehicles.

I won't bore you with the complete details of all of the problems, but they include flat tires, hard start issues, a pcv valve, a nasty throttle body, water in gas, screeching brakes, a camshaft synchronizer, lug nuts backing off despite 110 ft. lbs., and I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff. Most of these issues have been with the Focus, but the most recent ones have been with the Explorer. I popped a tire, via gigantic snow covered hidden hole, over this past weekend and my spare was visibly bigger even though it was also a 235/75. Since the X is AWD, I just decided to get new tires. I wanted to upgrade anyway. I would have preferred to wait a little longer, but oh well. Yesterday, I had 4 new 31x10.50 Firestone Destination ATs installed. Since having them installed, I've only driven the Explorer from the shop to the house, which is only 5 miles. There were no issues on the way home. Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that I'm not suspecting that the new tires caused the issue below, but just wanted to give a little background on other recent issues. Anyway, I was super excited to get some more seat time with the new tires today. I went out this morning and fired it up to take my better half to work and what does my cluster greet me with? A check gauge light and no oil pressure gauge movement. I immediately shut it off and restarted to see if it was a fluke. When I started it up again, the gauge bounced up to the middle and then continued to twitch about 1/8". I decided to take the Focus until I could get back to the forum to put together my diagnostic path. Before reading, I was already aware that the gauge is just a simple on/off switch, so armed with that knowledge, I started searching and reading about the oil pressure sender. It seems that it is likely the problem. I didn't realize how frequently this issue has occurred here on the forum. So, to make a long story short, I'm going to replace the switch either today or tomorrow and see if that's the cure. If anyone has any other ideas before I tear into it, feel free to share. I'm going to try to find a gauge while I'm at it to get a real pressure reading.

 

[X6StringerX]

I went ahead and picked up a new oil pressure sender today. I figured since it was less than $10, it wouldn't hurt to replace it anyway after reading about the frequency of the problems. When I got home, I checked the oil level again just to make sure prior to starting it and it was fine. I fired up the X and the gauge functioned as it should and didn't twitch any. I shut it off and restarted it a few more times just to see if I could get it to fail again, but it worked each time. There is no ticking noise or anything of that nature, but immediately upon startup, there is a split-second sound that is almost like the A/C compressor engaging or disengaging. I'm not sure if this sound was present before, but I'm trying to listen extra carefully for anything abnormal. I hope I'm just being paranoid and the sound is normal and was there all along. It looks like we have another nasty storm coming through, so I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to swap out the sender, so to be on the safe side, the X is staying parked until I can get my hands on a real gauge.

On another note, I read a few more threads today and apparantly someone here experienced this issue after an offroading trip and it turned out that the plug had just came loose. This got me to thinking a little more. When I blew the tire over this past weekend, it was because my driver's side front wheel dropped down into a huge hole while I was turning around. It hit really hard... the seatbelts locked and everything. Maybe my connector is just a little loose as well. I guess I'll find out in a couple of days when it clears up outside.

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

Was it below 32* when you had the no oil pressure issue?
My guess is that there was a bit of moisture around the
sender, and it froze overnight and made the sender stick
slightly......

I don't think it's anything to worry about, the new sender
should fix it.

 

[X6StringerX]

Yeah, it was down in the 20s if I remember correctly. I'm really hoping that it's just the sender.

Does anyone know what size socket I need for the original sender? The new sender is 13/16", but that's too small for the old one. So far, I've tried 13/16", 7/8", and 22mm and none of them work. It's really hard to see on the 5.0, so I can't tell if I'm actually on the sender or not quite. I had to remove the oil filter and go up from the bottom just to unplug it. If anyone can chime in with the correct size, I'd appreciate it. I'd rather buy one socket than five, lol.

 

[X6StringerX]

Well, whatayaknow, it was a 13/16" the whole time.

The gauge is working fine now... hope it stays that way. I can't help but be a little nervous until I put a few miles on it.

 

[Tiron]

My Explorer had a similar problem. The oil pressure would stay really low until I let it warm up for about 5 minutes (the gauge would twitch a little too).

I went out and bought a new oil pressure sensor, but the problem disappeared before I actually put it in.

 

[X6StringerX]

I actually started mine a couple more times before I started trying to remove the old sender and everything functioned fine, but I thought it would be best to go ahead and replace it anyway since I already bought the part. If it stuck the other morning, there's no guarantee it won't stick the next time it gets cold.

Now I'm just hoping that I tightened it enough. I put it on hand tight at first and then used a ratchet to go another 3/4 of a turn. At that point, the resistance was making me uncomfortable and I didn't want to slip and break the plug off of the new one like I did the old one. I'll keep a check on it for the next few days to make sure no oil is leaking from it.

 

[Tiron]

I had the problem for at least a month, at which point I finally had the time to go fix it (at which point it fixed itself). It did seem to be colder when it happened.

It was 34 °F at 10:00 AM this morning, no problems. I still don't know what was causing it.

 

[gmanpaint]

Your just a little paranoid. If you had a real oil pressure problem, you would know it. I had the same reactions when my sender took a dump. They are really just a dummy light type gauge. Sure would have been nice for Ford to install a real pressure gauge with a numerical read out. BUT Nooooooooooo!! What does a grocery getter need a real gauge for? My Ex thought a brighter dash light would come on if something really needed attention. As she explained it, "OH... the light I had seen, was just a warning, not an actual instruction". Sigh.

 

[Tiron]

Maybe I am, but when I have lights on my dashboard flashing "Check Gauge!", I tend to at least look into the problem.

 

[X6StringerX]

Update: I've put around 100 miles on the Explorer so far with no issues. I'm starting to relax a little now... I hope it's not too soon.

 

[Currency]

You have to love potholes. My entire body tightens up every time my front passenger side hits one the size of a person at any speed over idle. Maybe it's the bad RA bracket? : 26 PSI in all fours?

I don't know, I live in pothole heaven.

I wish you the best of luck with your problem. I'm off to search for threads containing useful information about rear freeze plugs on first gens