oil level guage stays pegged.......

bell · bell's Garage

my oil level guage is staying pegged, i'd imagine it's the sensor/sending unit thing. i did notice before it pegged itself that it was pretty bouncey.
how hard is this to replace?
i have been checking the oil frequently to see if it wasn't just overfilled, which it isn't, it's in between the 2 hash marks on the "dipstick".
thanks in adavance

Thomas Owen · 03-24-2002, 01:08 PM

It is not a problem to replace the tank sending unit at all. Jack up car on right rear and remove the tire to give yourself some additional room. Pull out the old unit (10mm nuts, six I believe). Install new sending unit with new cork gasket. Observe that the orientation is the same as the old unti. Connect wires and you should be all set.

RLJ · RLJ's Garage

Sounds like you have an short somewhere, sender unit, wire, or gauge.

Randy Jones
1971 911

cegerer · cegerer's Garage

My oil gauge was pegging intermittently when the brake lights activated. I traced it to a loose ground near the right rear talilight housing. The ground wire was connected to the right bumper mount and the bolt had come loose.

Early_S_Man · 03-24-2002, 01:51 PM

Pegged gauges on a 911 are ALWAYS an indication of an OPEN or high-resistance CIRCUIT, either in the sender or connecting wiring between gauge and sender, unless the gauge itself has failed! To test the gauge and wiring with the ignition switch on ... disconnwect the stripped wire from the sender, and touch it to the White wire connector ... the gauge should drop to zero, or the lowest level.

Jim Sims · 03-24-2002, 02:15 PM

One additional cause of a pegged oil level gage. I have an oil tank oil level gage ('76 911S) which is pegged because an internal tank baffle screen has come loose and prevents the level indicator float from moving down freely. I will have to either attempt to remove the screen through the filler neck, cut the tank open or get a new (likely used) tank. Hope your problem is electrical or with the level sensor as it is much easier to fix. Cheers, Jim

bell · bell's Garage

wow, great responses, i love this board

i'm going to have the car in the air this week for my valves/maint. so i'll hit this at the same time (going to check the guage itself first). i have a short in my fog light wire somewhere also (they just blow fuses when turned on) so i've gotta dedicate some time to the wiring harness to make sure i don't have any major problems there.
i'll post what i come up with on the guage for anyone interested.
again, thanks everyone.