Can't find my oil pressure sensor in my 5.0 liter, 97 Explorer, Limited.
Oil pressure gage is erratic and goes to zero at stoplight. I want to check sensor before worrying too much/ Thanks. Opie

 

It's actually just a pressure switch, not a sensor. The service manual for 1998 (I don't have the 1997 manual, but should be the same as 1998) states that the switch is located on the engine next to the power steering pump which would place it at the front driver's side of the engine (for the US). With normal oil pressure the switch closes and causes a reading of "normal" and opens with low pressure causing a reading of "low."

-Rod

 

Thanks! My Haynes manual said it was somewhere else. I will check when I get back home. By the way, you are right that it is a switch. The idiot gage on the dashboard goes to mid-way upon startup and then goes to zero a few minutes later. The oil idiot gage stays in the mid-position while driving but goes to zero at a stop light. In between fast and idle, the gage jumps back and forth like crazy. It has been doing this for 5 years and the car has gone to California and back. 5 years ago and each time I take it to a service shop, they tell me the engine is shot and I need a new engine. Even the factory service shop told me that. Could it be that the oil pump can not be replaced or checked without removing the engine (as my Haynes manual says)? SO that these shops are saying that it is not worth it to remove an engine to check an oil pump without going ahead and replacing the engine? So what I have in mind is putting in a real pressure gage in a tee with the idiot oil pressure switch (Autozone??) and then looking at the real oil pressure. Think that can be done??? Thanks.

 

Did any of these mehanics put a oil pressure gauge on it??? Was the pressure correct? Did they try replacing the sending unit??

BTW, my 97 EVTM shows the sender in the same location as Rod mentioned. Single wire is dark green/white stripe.

 

shorod,
I got dirty to my elbows and looked and looked but could not find the oil switch sensor on my 97 Limited. Anyway someone could send a picture or an exact location. The only sensor I found was the water temp sensor with three wires. Yep, 87xlt, my Haynes manual says to look for a single dk/g wire, but I can not find it. No one ever put a gage on the oil pressure so I want to do it.
HELP!! with the location...... thanks

 

In the past it's been pretty common to position the oil pressure switch in close proximity to the oil filter. If I remember my 2000 well, the oil filter was near the location suggested by the service manual above. Have you looked near the oil filter from underneath the vehicle?

-Rod

 

Rod,
Yep. I looked and looked and probed and felt..... I am looking for a walnut sized switch with one wire (DK/G) coming out somewhere between the oil filter and power steering pump. Today I plan to pull out the oil filter, as maybe it is hidden behind the filter itself. I will update later. Still, anyone with a defintite location, weigh in.... Later.....

 

If all else fails a dealer parts department can pull up an exploded engine view & show you where the miserable thing is.

My 87 2.9 has the sender buried in the same location & it really takes some hunting to find it.

 

I found the sensor. I am starting a new thread for the tool to remove it.
It was under the power steering pump. I had to remove belt but not the oil filter.

 

I have had to replace this before. I found that if you go in from the wheel well its easier to get to.

 

Good idea on some models, but I found no access at all on my 5.0L engine, although I could barely see it.

 

Hi All -

I got the same one for my truck - MotorCraft - but it came with like a white cap - do I discard that cap before I instal it, or is that part used to protect it from heat? (can't imagine since it's plastic)

it's like a yellowish white color, comes right off

Thanks

 

That sounds like a cap to keep dirt and cardboard fibers out of the sensor during transit and handling. You should remove the cap, which is likely why they made it so easy to remove.

-Rod