oil pressure guage

[PanelWaggin']

my oil pressure guage quit working!!! now i know i should find out myself, but.....
whenever i turn the key to the "on" position, the guage shoots up to 80 and stays there. any suggestions???

P.S. what should the pressure run at idle for a 360? when it worked, i was getting just a little below 40, and about 70 or so at 60 mph on the highway.

[SAR-4800]

I am far from being an expert, but that sounds more like your electric pressure sending unit than a faulty gauge.

My '88 GW had the exact same problem, so I just replaced the pressure sending unit and presto... worked great.

Try to squeeze the project in while you're changing the oil. The unit is far easier to get to while the oil filter is removed.

The unit cost me $14 at AutoZone.

Hope this helps.

[Darin]

MoBeast,

SAR4800 is absolutely correct. Same thing for 89 GW. Your oil pressure (when the guage was working), is exactly what I run. From what I hear it is great.

The manual for the 360 says 40 lbs. at 2000 rpm is spec.

[BIGYELLOW78J10]

My sender went bad, too. Crank up, it goes to 80. Drive a while, drops to ZERO. I'd rather it stay at 80. I bought a cheap mechanical gauge, pressure is actually right where I'd like to see it. I'll buy the replacement sender and be good as new. I'm not sure if I could have changed mine with the oil filter in. I'd definitely pair the swap up with an oil change. By the way, make sure you buy a sender when you go to the store. There is a oil pressure SWITCH available for vehicles with a warning light and no gauge, but a sender for those with gauges. Some stores call them both switches, but you should be able to tell the difference by the connection on the rear of the switch. The larger threaded end goes into the engine, and the other end will be a small threaded piece for attaching the connection of a sender(with gauge) or will be a button-like tab(no gauge, warning light). It wouldn't hurt to go out and feel in the engine compartment, with the engine cool,(my manifold burn is still healing) and pull the connection on the back of the sender to see what it feels like to help you out in the parts store. Hopefully you'll go to one with a good crew of people who will simply ask gauge or warning light. Good luck

Daniel

[Snakeyes_Tx]

Simple Fix... dude... it's a resistance gauge... and I bet 99.9% that the wire just got unplugged or broke off the sender.. just re-wrap the wire back around the post! :D

[PanelWaggin']

thanks peoples smile.gif as soon as the weather clears up around here i'll get to it. i'm due for an oil change anyways

[BufordJeep]

It is possible that the wire has shorted out on some metal along its path. Sometimes the insulation wears off, and whenever it completes a ground, it spikes up like you are talking about also. Make a visual check that it is not touching anything else.

[woodybeone]

If it intermittent it could be a short. Otherwise probably a bad sending unit.
My GW's run around 40lbs at idle and 80lbs on the highway.