Greetings.

I have an '03 Explorer Limited 4.6L V8 4wd.

It's new treat for me is that the digital readout will show LOW OIL PRESSURE, the little red light that says Hi Temp, Low oil (or something like that), the needle pegs zero and then DING DING DING DING beeper goes off.

I've changed the sending unit before and in my mind, it stopped for a while. Now, it's doing it again. I have another sensor that I haven't swapped out yet.

I did have the timing chain guides grenade at one point. I'm wondering if there's maybe pieces of plastic that could be getting to the sensor part of the sending unit. When I had the guides replaced, they SAY they changed the oil and filter, cleaned the pan, ran the truck for a while, dropped/cleaned the pan and changed the oil and filter again.

Also, it sounds to me like I have a bearing noise from the engine. Like the noise when a water pump is going out. Curious if it could be the oil pump failing. (no, they didn't tell me at the time that as long as they were doing the chains/guides, you should do the pump). Would the oil pump do that? like pulsate and trigger those issues above? Or would it either work, or not work? It seems to me it's all centered at the sending unit since it hits the computer readout, the dash red light, the needle and the DING DING DING DING DING DING beeper.

Any ideas of where to start checking on that thing?

I figure when I get home, I'll see about putting a manual guage on where the sending unit goes. Should I put a T-fitting and have the manual and sending unit on there? or just put the manual on there for testing and go with that?

Is there a known faulty grounding point that could cause it?

Thanks guys.
ps, I'm currently in Iraq so I won't be able to mess with it until about October.

 

The first question is did you check the oil to make sure the level is not low?

-Rod

 

Yep, have done that several times. It's never low, doesn't burn oil, etc.

Also, it is intermittent. It can do it like 15 times on the way home from work one day, then not do it again for a week. Or, every day. Doesn't matter if I'm going up hill, down hill, flat level ground, turns, starting, stopping.. it just does it at random times. Hot, cold, whenever.

 

Before panicking, do the diagnostics..

Remove the sender unit and install a pressure gauge, If it runs with steady pressure to spec, then either chase the electrics for the dash gauge or dual (T) the switch and run both.... Philip

 

If you bought your sending unit from a chain parts store, it may not be unusual for it to have already failed. You're probably aware that the guage on these trucks is not really a gauge. If the fuel pressure is above the minimum threshold it displays good (halfway up) pressure. If below that threshold it displays no pressure.

-Rod

 

Yeah, the first time it happened, I freaked a little. I was on the freeway in rush hour traffic. Then once I realized it did it ALOT and if it were the pump actually stopping, the engine would have already had serious issues, I just kept driving it. I figured worse case scenario... rebuilt engine with fewer miles... then another 100k miles. lol.

When I get home, I'll throw the new sensor in there and see if it changes. If not, I'll put on a mechanical and see if it fluctuates at all.

Thanks guys.

 

did you find the wiring harness under the oil pan rubbing the drip protector from a oil filter change? The harness rubs the protector until it rubs through the black plastic harness, then starts rubbing through the oil sending unit wire and will eventually get to the started wire!

Did on my 03 Explorer Limited!!!

 

Looking for a little help. 2003 Mercury Mountaineer won't start. Jumped it yesterday, started, drove home turned off tried to start again and won't start. Purchased a new battery and same thing. It cranks and no lights dim or anything like that. Battery gauge reads good so I don't think its the alternator. When I did put in the new battery it started right up then the High Temp/Low Pressure light came on, I also smell a strong odor of gas. I let it run for a while did a system check and it stated "Engine Data Sensor Error", shut the truck off and tried to restart with no success at first then it seemed to turn over after cranking for about 30 seconds but just wouldn't grab. Any help would be greatly appreciated. THANKS

 

Welcome to the forum!

If the starter motor is spinning the engine fine, the issue won't be your battery or the alternator/charging system. Was the engine spinning fine when you replaced the battery?

The strong odor of gas could have been due to flooding the engine from all the cranking.

There are several details that will need to be understood in order to give you better help.

1. Does the starter motor spin the engine over fine?
2. Which engine does your Mountaineer have?
3. Has the vehicle been sitting for several weeks or more?
4. When is the last time the truck had a tune up, consisting of at least spark plugs?
5. Have you checked the condition of the air filter?
6. Do you have a means of checking the fuel pressure at the fuel rail?
7. Do you have a spark tester?

-Rod

 

Hi
I have a 2004 Ford F150 Heritage XLT 4.6L
the other day my son was driving my truck on the Highway, he heard a loud bag, pulled over and the drive shaft was on the ground, I thought that's all it was but when I got the vehicle towed to my house, I started the vehicle and it had no oil pressure, checked the oil level and was fine, so I drained the oil and feed it into both sides of the engine so it would get oil on both sides, when I did that the engine sounded normal till all the oil was back in the oil pan, do you think its just a bad oil pump or something worse I don't know if the drive shaft was just a freak thing that happened at the same time
please advise
thanks
Paul

 

help! I have an 03 Expedition and I'm having the same problem! What can I do? I took it to ford gateway and they can't figure out the problem.

 

What has the dealership done to try to figure this out? The oil pressure indicator circuit is not very complicated in these trucks, and the senders are typically not very expensive, so shot-gunning a new sending unit is not a very large expense. I'm surprised the dealership hasn't tried that if the truck was left with them for a half a day or so.

-Rod

 

I had this same issue out of my 03 limited. It started after the dealer replaced the abs module. I took it back to them and they explained it to me that all the "idiot light" gauges run through this module. They changed it again and I've had no more issues. For what it's worth