it "should" come on with low pressure

at some point if there is zero pressure then yes , the engine will not get it's oil and heat up , and seize...

what you could try , i'm not sure about this one:

if i'm not mistaken , there should be 2 contacts on the sender
one for the gauge, one for the warning light

maybe one isn't giving good signal

try switching them

but again , i'm not sure if this is the case on your 88

could also be something with the wiring
did you connect that other gauge on the dash wiring, or directly on the sender?

The no oil pressure thing would scare the hell out of me. I wouldn't crank it til that is figured out.

I would definitely install the cam oiling restrictors on this car. This problem is the poster child for that fix. Check out http://www.dietersmotorsports.com/tech/2002/3-2002.htm

If your restrictor doesn't have the groove then go get a pair of these restrictors and the 6 washers that you will need to install them. Total will be less then $20. Afterwards you should see 1.5 bar at idle when the car is hot.


Wayne

you can't troubleshoot anything without cranking a car

modifying the engine with upgrades will at best change the results of the readout, but that won't necessarely fix the problem, if there is one...

there should be proper pressure without the restrictors...

yep, assuming it doesn't turn out to be a gauge problem then the restrictors would just be a bandaid not a fix.

I'd definitely want to check with another gauge though, Then I'd be worried.

One thing to note is that to take the old sender out you'll need a 15/16 craftsman crowsfoot and/or you'll need to remove the AC compressor and maybe bracket to get the existing sender out of the block that it screws into. You may have luck without doing that, but many respected mechanics recommend against that because they've seen the block break off in the case.

well unfortunately I will not be able to look into the problem for a couple of weeks since I am leaving to go offshore in a few hours. (work :( )

But still I am curious wouldn't the engine be running at much higher temps than usual (since the psi/BAR is low)? and wouldn't my light come on indicating too low of oil pressure. The best I can tell is that the light does work like its supposed too.

This all leads me to believe that either the sender is wrong/bad or the gauge is bad.

yeah , but you won't know till you do some testing and eventually get the right readout, or proof that the gauge is telling you the right thing...

Thanks SVANDAMME

I just wanted to make sure my thinking process was correct since I cannot find too much on this in any of the books I have.

I will definitely look into it when I get back home.

The other thing that has me confused is the fact that I DO get a good reading when the oil is cold but after the oil is warm, Thats when the readings show low on the gauge.

The question is are you going to destroy the motor while you are troubleshooting it. If it isn't getting correct oil pressure then I wouldn't let it move until it is right.
Ever lose an engine from oiling problems? I've lost a list of them. The happy little secret is that, with only one exception, all of the engines made their failure known much later when the problem condition was gone. One specific failure was 2 months later. (It is a 3.2 that is on the engine stand in the garage right now.)

So first bit... Does the gauge work correctly? Seeing as you have already run the engine for sometime with a possible problem, then stop running it. I can think of a number of ways to test a sender without running the car. The one that comes to mind is cut the valve off of an old bike tube and use a short piece of tubing and 2 hose clamps to hook it to the pressure sender. Use a bike pump with a gauge to pressurize it and check the readout. Question definitively solved.

As for the second bit... The cam oiling restrictors need to be done no matter what. The factory didn't supercede all earlier restrictors to the smaller new one for no reason. They had a problem. The idiot light with a reduced pressure was a stupid fix and they knew it. An engine needs adequate oil to the rotating assembly period. It won't hurt your trouble shooting. If you put in the restrictors and you only have .5 bar then you know you have a problem. If it isn't the gauge then the clearances are too big somewhere.
BUT if you have enough pressure then it probably won't ever make a difference during the life of the motor.


Wayne

There is still an open debate on the oil resrictors....
If your paticular engine has indications of low operating pressures, then ir might be a candidate for these. If, on the other hand, your engine shows good oil pressure at various RPM's, then the reduced oil flow to the (hot) head area miht not be such a good idea....

Some are thinking to go "half way"...and drill out the restrictors to diameters that are about half-way between old ( 6 or so mm) to new ( 2-2.5 mm)....

---Wil

I've kind of wondered about the cooling effects especially on turbo motors where there is a lot of heat in the heads. The thing that would lead me to believe that isn't a problem is the restrictors were initially released for the turbo.
I wonder if there is incrementally more rapid valve wear in a turbo from additional heat in the head.
In this case the motor is most likely the stock 3.2 so I would definitely put the restrictors in.

Wayne

However...I believe it was a 964-based Turbo that these were first found....

Coincidentally......Synthetic oil was standard fitment by then too..hmm?

-Wil