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stock oil pressure gauge or oil pump went bad?

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oplix

15+ Year Contributor
217
0
Mar 9, 2008
Zion, Illinois
I've just noticed last night that my oil pressure gauge (the stock one to the right of the stock boost gauge) was not showing pressure at all. I don't have a oil pressure light so im wondering if its just the gauge that crapped out or if i could have a oil pump problem.

Thanks.
 
look on your oil filter housing where your oil pressure sending unit is. there should be a single wire hooked up to the end of it. take that wire off and let it dangle. turn the key on ,but don't start the engine. look at the oil gauge at see what it reads. it should be pegged at zero, or all the way on High. turn the key off and hook the wire directly to a ground on the block or oil filter housing. turn the key on again. the gauge should be pegged on the other side , this will tell if the gauge itself is working. also, are the other gauges working? temp. and boost. could be a fuse blown. if you can get a mechinical pressure gauge, take your sending unit out , and hook the mechanical guage to the housing, and start the enging while reading the gauge(this is best done with two people so just in case you have no pressure on start up you can immediately shut it back down. if u have an auto zone nearby, you can rent a pressure gauge from them.
 
all my other gauges work fine. boost, fuel, temperature. i tried to see if the wire was bad and it was kinda weak looking on the end so i tried to reconnect it a bit better but it still wont work.

Am I right though that if I dont have a oil pressure check light than it should be working fine?
 
i went to autozone and it didnt pull any oil related codes. only a few old sensor codes i had from after installing my 16g
 
i have this simular problem with my car, but my gauge actually goes up a little when im in throttle. But it doesnt ever go into the suggested range. Leads me to believe the gauge is inaccurate. If you had no pressure you would know it, that thing would be tapping like crazy. Do what was stated before with the wire to the sending unit
 
if you do have a light for the oil, it should come on when the key is turned on, then should go off as soon as it is started. in my experience, 99% of the time, it is the sending unit that is bad or a bad connection. if u can't get a hold of a pressure gauge, i would get a new sending unit, especially if you know it has never been changed. but if you have to. you can start it up, and if there is no oil pressure you will get tapping from the valve cover. if you here this tapping, shut off immediately. one more thing, make sure there is the correct amount of oil in it, might have a possible leak that wasn't seen. and not gotten noticed. Personally, i would get a new sending unit if you can spare the money. at least this way you will know it is new.
also, oil related problems usually don't show up as codes, so it wouldn't come up, even if the the sending unit is bad, it will not set a code, because if it reads zero oil pressure, it assumes the engine is not running. hope this helps. good luck.
 
i think ill just get a mechanical oil gauge when i get the money. how much would a new sending unit cost?
 
I know this thread is old, But i saw that Dale187 had the same problem i am having. My Oil pressure gauge is at 0 at idle and then climbs to normal when im on the throttle. Is this normal?
 
I know this thread is old, But i saw that Dale187 had the same problem i am having. My Oil pressure gauge is at 0 at idle and then climbs to normal when im on the throttle. Is this normal?

Try taking the wire off the sending unit and clean the connections up and bend the prong a little for better contact.
That is what my 1g was doing until I did that.
 
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