Oil Pressure Gauge

[78Jimmyish]

My oil pressure fluctuates a bit while I'm driving. If I'm at idle, it sits right areound 30psi, but while I'm driving it can be anywhere from 15 to 45 psi. Is this something I should be worried about, or is that normal?

 

[Can Can]

The first thing you shoudl do is change your oil pressure sending unit. It's located on the back of the block on the driver's side, beside the distributor. If that doesn't help, there's probably something wrong with the gauge(or the wiring), which is a pretty common problem.



<font color=blue> MEAN DAD WITH TWO BAD KIDS<font color=blue>

 

[POWERMAD]

Yep mine does the same thing.
I hooked up a pressure tester just to be sure and all was good.

<font color=green> Too bad ignorance isn't painful </font color=green>

 

[78Jimmyish]

Cool, that's reassuring. Is there a way of checking the sending unit without just replacing it??

 

[TorkDSR]

rplace the electric gauge witha mechanical one, that way even when the engine is off you can check your pressure!!! just kidding, but the mechanical needle doesnt fluctuate as much, and gives a trueer reading, they're only 18 bucks, but then the electric one just takes up space

Tork DSR
I just got a winch, it takes the fun out of things.

 

[84_Chevy_K10]

My mechanical gauge costed $8, and is more accurate than ANY electric gauge. Only downfall is the possibility of it leaking, which mine never has.

Tim
'84 Chevy K10, lifted, loud, fast, and 3/4 ton axles

 

[Pugsley]

You are lucky young Anakin - every mechanical I've ever owned except the OEM one on my 63 started oozing after a couple of years.

Clean up on aisle 3!!
<a target="_blank" href=http://pugsley.alloffroad.com>pugsley.alloffroad.com</a>

 

[dyeager535]

Try tapping on the gauge cluster when its acting up. Mine reads correctly most of the time, then sometimes drops to about half what normal is. I'm suspecting bad connection/corrosion at the back of the gauge.

As to factory gauges being inherently bad, thats a load of you know what..
First off, you want to talk about mass produced instruments, go to your local wal mart, and look at the thermometers. Same brand, same inside temperature, every single one of them will read differently. I counter that if you don't buy a top dollar aftermarket gauge, you have absolutely no clue that your new gauge reads correctly either! I know that *I* don't have any gauge testing apparatus.

As well, *in my eyes*, it has been proven that GM calibrated these gauges from the factory, for accurate reading. The ceramic pieces on the back of the guages, depending on color, do in fact have different resistance, and there are many different resistance ceramic pieces to be found. No reason for different pieces if GM didn't care, and wasn't tuning them.



Dorian
My tech/links page: &lt;a target="_blank" href=http://www.dorianyeager.com/index2.html&gt;http://www.dorianyeager.com/index2.html&lt;/a&gt;
No anti-theft measures on your truck? No pity when its stolen

 

[78Jimmyish]

Mine seems to read steady most of the time, but when I give it a lot of gas it drop to about half what it was reading. I'll try replacing the gauge first, since they seem to be pretty cheap. So now what's the verdict, electric or mechanical?

 

[blazer72]

I pulled all the stock gauges and replaced them with VDO ones much better Beside now more of that c to w, or l to h stuff. The VDOs are all Electric by the way even the speedo. Which is the first true reading one the truck as ever had.

 

[78Jimmyish]

Those VDO ones are kinda pricey though aren't they? I've got a lot of other issues that my truck has to deal with before I pump a bunch of $$ into gauges. Don't get me wrong, it's definately on the list..but more towards the middle. They do look kick-@ss though. I checked out Solowookies pics of his - definately impressive looking.