Question On Oil Pressure Sender

[slow&rusty]

Took my car to Cars N Coffee here in Houston this morning. Noticed that the for the first time in my almost 6 years of ownership the oil pressure gauge was doing the meringue (or bouncy) between 2.5bar to 4.5bar where it used to peg solid at 5-bar for anything over 1,500-rpm.

I figure the sender is "going bad" and was wondering the avg. life of these units? Any of you guys have the same issue and at what mileage?

My car has 60K on it. Seems like removing the sender is going to be a tricky (remove A\C compressor and muffler) but crossing fingers it goes well.

Thanks - Yasin

[Ken911]

Its a huge pain in the butt to change it with the engine in the car. you need to get a crows foot to tighten it up. I'm on my third one and it's dead. I thought it was due to heat soak from the turbo and exhaust. but recently i noticed that when i turn on the rear window wiper the oil pressure pegs. So checked and yes the sensor is dead and the sender line see's 12V when the wiper motor it running. So now it looks like a wiring short has been killing the senders. Any way i had to remove the ac and couldnt really get it tight even witht he crows foot. so I had to lower the back of the engine, remove the bumper, exhaust, engine tin, ac bracket. hope this helps.

[slow&rusty]

Originally Posted by Ken911

Any way i had to remove the ac and couldnt really get it tight even witht he crows foot. so I had to lower the back of the engine, remove the bumper, exhaust, engine tin, ac bracket. hope this helps.

Holy crap..that is alot of work. looks like I have my work cut out for me...sigh..thanks for chiming in Ken, I appreciate it.
Regards - Yasin

[Ken911]

you might be able to get it by just removing your ac but i couldnt get mine tight enough to not leak.

[JJ 911SC]

You might want to go the easier way by removing the banjo bolt that go through the block that the the Pressure Sender screw into.

That will leave you with the PS on the block on you workbench.

[Ken911]

yeah but to get to the banjo bolt you have to remove the ac bracket. and to remove that the muffle rear engine tin need to tbe removed. which means pulling the rear bumper and lowering the engine

[slow&rusty]

Ken - Question for you, did some checking today, with the ignition on, car not running am I supposed to see 12V at the (disconnected) wire to the oil pressure sender?

The gauge does peg "5" with the car running and the pressure sender wire disconnected.

Thanks!
Yasin

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by slow&rusty

... The gauge does peg "5" with the car running and the pressure sender wire disconnected.

and go to "0" when grounded. That prove that your gauge (and wiring) is OK

[550SPYDER]

Yasin - check your alternator - all kinds of crazy guage dancing and readings if the regulator or alternator is going out. EASIEST way to ckeck it is to use a volt meter at the battery with the car on - you should see something over 12 volts - preferably something like 13.5 to 14 v.

- Ryan

[slow&rusty]

Originally Posted by JJ 911SC

and go to "0" when grounded. That prove that your gauge (and wiring) is OK

Originally Posted by 550SPYDER

Yasin - check your alternator - all kinds of crazy guage dancing and readings if the regulator or alternator is going out. EASIEST way to ckeck it is to use a volt meter at the battery with the car on - you should see something over 12 volts - preferably something like 13.5 to 14 v.

- Ryan

Thanks guys. I will ground the wire and see what it reads - Thanks!

Ryan - I replaced my alternator back in 2007, but definitely a great suggestion and never thought that a wacky alternator might be the issue. I know I had a dancing tach when the alternator went bad in '07, but certainly worth a check.

With the ignition on and car not running I only see a meagre 7.3Volts at the wire to the oil pressure sender.
Regards - Yasin

[BMAN]

Did you ever figure out your problem? When I turn the ignition on my car it shoots to 5, engine not running.

Sounds like I need to pull the wire from the sensor and ground it to see if it reads 0? Thanks

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by BMAN

... When I turn the ignition on my car it shoots to 5, engine not running...

Normally, when the ignition is turn on, it should go from "resting below 0" to 0.

Do the plug "in and off" (at the engine) while the engine is running and post the result.

[BMAN]

I pulled the wire off the sensor and turned the ignition on then grounded the wire and it dropped to 0, so it seems my sensor is bad?

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by BMAN

I pulled the wire off the sensor and turned the ignition on then grounded the wire and it dropped to 0, so it seems my sensor is bad?

Not yet.... Do the test with the engine running.

Fill in the blanks:

Engine running at idle, wire on sensor; Guage shows = ??

Engine running at idle, wire not on sensor; Guage shows = ??

Engine running at idle, wire grounded on the engine; Guage shows = ??

[BMAN]

Ok, I'll need to check it tomorrow. I do know once the key is turned it jumps to 5 and once I start the engine it stays there.

[JJ 911SC]

We need all the info before making the call

[BMAN]

No problem, I get that info tomorrow.

[BMAN]

Had a chance to take a look at it and here are the findings.

Engine running at idle, wire on sensor; Gauge shows 5

Engine running at idle, wire not on sensor; Gauge shows 5

Engine running at idle, wire grounded on the engine; Gauge shows 0

[JJ 911SC]

Yeah, you need a new sender

[BMAN]

Thanks for all the help.