oil pressure gauge oddities

rokclimb15

Registered User
The oil pressure gauge on my '93 SC has been going crazy lately. It will function normally, then for no apparent reason, shoot all the way to the top and stay there for 10 minutes+, then go back down when I turn a corner or something. Occasionally, it also goes all the way to the bottom. I am almost certain that this is not actually happening since my engine doesn't sound like a dryer full of marbles. This happens sometimes when I'm driving down the highway, and sometimes when I'm at a full stop. Is there a loose connection someplace? Is the sending unit bad?
 
rokclimb15 said:
The oil pressure gauge on my '93 SC has been going crazy lately. It will function normally, then for no apparent reason, shoot all the way to the top and stay there for 10 minutes+, then go back down when I turn a corner or something. QUOTE]

My gas guage does that.....:confused:
 
Just recently, I've seen something similar. For awhile the gas gauge stayed at the top then started working again. When the gas gauge was at the top the oil gauge was higher than normal. It seems that either both are correct or both are too high at the same time time. ???????????????
 
Its usally one of the 2 plugs on the back of the guage cluster are not fully pluged in or not makeing full contact. The only other thing would be one of the grounds just under the steering wheel.
 
Does anyone know where the oil pressure sensor is on a 93 SC? I can't find it anywhere or in my chilton manual (yeah I know they suck). Last time I had a wierd problem, although it was a different one, it turned out the sensor wire had come loose.
 
The oil pressure sender unit on the SC is near the driver's side front of the block. I think you can see it if you look in at the block from the front just above the PS pump.

Jon
 
:cool:

Check for loose grounds. Ford was nictorious for bad ground locations. My suggestion is to remove the ground wire, Clean the area and reattach the ground. Also check and clean the wiring contacts where the plugs go into the cluster and inspect the contact points where the gauge attaches to the cluster.
 
Socal SC Man said:
:cool:

Check for loose grounds. Ford was nictorious for bad ground locations. My suggestion is to remove the ground wire, Clean the area and reattach the ground. Also check and clean the wiring contacts where the plugs go into the cluster and inspect the contact points where the gauge attaches to the cluster.

Thanks for the tip. I am suspecting this as well since currently my tach only works intermittently, my speedo has occasional problems, and recently, both of my turn signal indicators have been flashing sometimes when I apply the turn signal (but the actual turn signal lamps work normally). I think something is whacked up back there.
 
On my 95, the speedo works intermittently, but is nowhere near accurate. Sometimes, I have to tap the dash for the needle to move. Also, my oil pressure barely climbs at all. I have verified proper oil pressure with an external guage, so I know it is the guage somehow. Just a couple things I am trying to track down and fix.

Also, I have a pair of aftermarket guages that I am going to install on a pillar pod. Can anyone tell me where I hook the aftermarket oil pressure sending unit up? Never had to mess with this before--do I just replace the factory one and have the factory guage inop, or is there another location I can put it so that both guages still get readings? After that, I need to hunt down a good vacuum line to use for the aftermarket boost guage too. Any thoughts?
 
skydivr7673 said:
On my 95, the speedo works intermittently, but is nowhere near accurate. Sometimes, I have to tap the dash for the needle to move. Also, my oil pressure barely climbs at all. I have verified proper oil pressure with an external guage, so I know it is the guage somehow. Just a couple things I am trying to track down and fix.

Not sure if this helps, but when I took apart my instrument cluster today, I discovered that the main electronics connection going into the back of the circuit board was only half plugged in (there are tabs that should snap and lock this into place). As soon as I connected it, my tach started working again, my oil pressure gauge behaves, and my turn signals which used to act up are also ok.
 
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