Oil Pressure Drop (Found on road dead)

ben04

Registered User
Yep, I guess the numonic sentence is true this time for me...
Driving to a huge mustang/fbody meet today, annual thing, really pumped. Bring the car out of hibernation, put on day insurnce the whole bit...

Driving down the main road, i look at my oil gauge (pressure) and its shaking at LOW, and the check gauges light is on. I rev the motor to get it in the NORM to HIGH area and pull it over.

Got road side assistance to come by, guy got me to start up the car again with the oil cap off, then told me to shut it off right away cuz he said he didn't see any oil moving around or something?

I'm thinking this is the oil pump? If so, i also hear its a really big job on our cars? Requiring the motor to come out cuz u can get hte oil pan off? I'm not mechanically inclined so excuse me if all these accusations are way off haha.

1) What could be wrong?
2) Expensive? (Stupid question, everything is expensive with these cars).
 
oh ya.. 217,000 kilometers.

I've never redlined, race this car in anyway... yeah, its gone around the block a few times, high milage. Ive just read a couple posts on this site regarding similar situations and it doesn't seem pleasant... :mad: :( :confused:
 
Check the sending unit connection first. After a long nap it's likely to be corroded or something and not working right. Clean it, crimp it, and try again.

If it still reads low then pull the stock sending unit and install a real gauge ($20 at a parts store). You don't have to permanently mount it or run the lines anywhere, just hook it up and run the motor to see what you've really got.

Let us know what you find out.
 
Check the sending unit connection first. After a long nap it's likely to be corroded or something and not working right. Clean it, crimp it, and try again.

If it still reads low then pull the stock sending unit and install a real gauge ($20 at a parts store). You don't have to permanently mount it or run the lines anywhere, just hook it up and run the motor to see what you've really got.

Let us know what you find out.

hmmmm really eh? im afraid to run the motor period becuase if the pump is dead, then that could be trouble right? dont wanna seize the mother.

sending unit connection is located where? haha sorry, not too mechanically inclined.
 
On SC's the oil sending unit can be found to the right of the waterpump sitting on the timing cover.
 
Dont trust the factory guage. Its garbage. Its worth the 20 dollar guage check before you do any high cost tear down. You should see pretty much instant pressure on it, so it should only take about 10 seconds of running to know if you have pressure. Not long enough to seize it.
 
hmmmm really eh? im afraid to run the motor period becuase if the pump is dead, then that could be trouble right? dont wanna seize the mother.

sending unit connection is located where? haha sorry, not too mechanically inclined.

If there is indeed an oil pressure problem, the damage is already done because the car has already been run with virtually no pressure. The factory gauge doesn't move until like 11 PSI, and something is seriously wrong if it can only muster that. Running it for 5 or 10 seconds to check the pressure with a real gauge won't be a big deal. If that doesn't show any pressure, then you're pretty much screwed anyway, so don't worry about it.
 
its the sensor or the sensor connector, do what dave said, mines was having the same problem, it turned out to be the sensor was dying and the connector needed to also be crimped on...
 
its the sensor or the sensor connector, do what dave said, mines was having the same problem, it turned out to be the sensor was dying and the connector needed to also be crimped on...

i really hope so hahaha. when i heard the motor had to come out to change the oil pump, im pretty sure i felt my heart stop for a second or two.

thanks guys, im gonna give that a try when i get back to my parnets house this week:D
 
oh yah, when the oil pressure dropped, the car ran perfectly fine. revs weren'et dropping or anything, just hte oil pressure sittin low. my engine temp gauge has never worked either, its always said LOW or cold or whatever... stupid piece.
 
just replace both sensor, replace ur oil pressure sensor and clean the sensor connector, and also replace the water temp sensor on the thermostat housing,

mines did that also, and it scared me when it was twitching on the freeway, and when it dropped at a stop light, but the engien was running smooth as silk...
 
If it comes down to it, you can change the pump out without removing the engine. Its a fun ride but it cane be done fairly easy though.
I agree with the others as to the sending unit or the gauge being bad though.

S
 
It sounds like the sensor. If you loose oil pressure you will hear the lifters ticking and its unlikely your pump will just fail. When these engines loose oil pressure you have just lost your bearings 99.99% of the time. Just so you know the oil pump is on the front of the engine and not in the pan. Please never use this phrase> Found on road dead. We are afraid of that happening to us.
 
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Any make of car can be "Found On Road Dead" but only a Ford can be First On Race Day.
 
Any make of car can be "Found On Road Dead" but only a Ford can be First On Race Day.

haha amen brotha! I just had to get your attention :D

dbd: thanks for hte pic, im gonna look for that on wednesday!



a mechanic buddy of mine said to test the sending unit, ground it out and watch the gauge. if it flies to one side, then back to the other, its good to go? is this true?
 
Ben,

I had the same issue with my 91 when I first got it. Next to nothing for pressure. I recrimped the connected and now it is still low but riding just below half. We have already replaced my brother's 93 for the same issue.

Hodian,
We're talkin Ford your talkin Chevy. No wait you said fix not haul out to the wreckers.
 
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