this is strange but has been occuring for about the last year, I just ignored it. The oil pressure guage does not work until the engine warms up. For the first few minutes the needle is pegged all the way down. after a few minutes the needle will jump once or twice, then it comes on. I know it has oil pressure from the get go. If I let the engine warm up, and drive to oil change place and they change the oil, then crank the guage works fine. It just seems to happen when it is cold. It also takes longer for the guage to come on if it is a cold temperature outside.
Other than that all the other guages work fine.
I asked a mechanic who was working on my truck if there was anything that could be done to rectify this like change the sender. He commented he could change it but it would likely not fix the problem.
any comments on this would be helpful. I dont like seeing a burried needle eventhough I know it has pressure.
My first thought would be that the sending unit is too new to be faulty. My second thought would be to change the sending unit anyway. And that's what i would do if this were my truck.
When i changed my sending unit (switch) it made all the difference the way my guage read the oil PSI. For years my guage showed very little if any oil PSI. After changing the unit i had oil PSI ¾ up the guage. I was impressed considering i have 160,000 miles on my 1991 ranger 3.0L.
I bought the sending unit for around $6 and also bought a special socket for $3 that is made for the sending unit. It is tappered to fit over the sending unit, yet slim enough to fit in between the firewall and engine block. It's one heck of a tight squeeze. I removed my passenger tire and went through the wheel well to get at the sending unit. Good luck if you do this yourself....just have some patience with it.
My first thought would be that the sending unit is too new to be faulty. My second thought would be to change the sending unit anyway. And that's what i would do if this were my truck.
I had a faulty sending unit on a 2002 that I had to replace at 45,000 miles. Sometimes you just get a bad one and age doesn't really have anything to do with it. When I would be driving long distance at highway speeds and then pulled into a rest area, the needle would start flickering up and down. I could also hear a clicking in the dash area (like an relay opening and closing) when this would happen. I agree with hood. If you're sure that you've got oil pressure then change the sending unit.
A buddy of mine has a 2002 Explorer Sport-Trak that does the same thing. I drive it occasionally,since we carpool, and one of us will be working at a different firehouse. It's wierd- no oil pressure showing when cold, but you know it has pressure, cause it's not knocking, then the gauge comes up to normal while you're driving. I believe it has something to do with the vehicle computer, but don't know for sure. Gonna keep an eye on this thread, though- someone must know.
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If it ain't broke...just gimme time.
well, it sounds like I can try to change the sending unit, and see what happens. the mechanic I talked to, who has been our family mechanic for years, and proven to be a very honest person, and does good work, felt like it might be something electronic in the dash....
I have the same thing happening on my '00 FFV 3.0L. When I first start the engine I have the "check guage" light on in my cluster and the oil pressure needle is showing nothing. Then after about a mile it starts hopping around and then stops at it's normal operating level.
I've just always ignored it. After 96,000 miles of driving with no oil pressure, I'm pretty sure I'd have more problems than my dumb Flex Fuel Sensor.
I was thinking about this today... if the oil pres sender was bad, wouldnt the computer put up a CE light? what i mean is does the computer monitor the oil pressure?
Dito on the oil pressure gauge problem, I too have a '00 3.0 Flex Fuel and have the same thing going on. 0 pressure for a couple minutes (longer when cold) then boing!!!
needle jumps up to normal position. Have seen it flutter a couple of times but mostly all or nothing.
I've chocked it off to a cluster problem because my tach only works occasionally also and the colder (outside temp) the worse it is. So I've been reading up on the threads concerning a cluster swap.
Looks like it could be quit a job for a guy with 5 thumbs on each hand.
If you change that sending unit and it cures the problem, please let us know.
I better investigate further, in another thread about oil pressure, a reference was made to the fact that the gauge is a "dummy gauge" and that it only reads in the middle when the oil pressure reaches a certain limit, which means to me that maybe at start up, and especially in cold weather the oil pressure is not enough to "trip" the gauge so to speak.
This would explain the boing effect or the all or nothing characteristic of the gauge.
Somewhere I recently read, and I believe it was in the tech section where Ford is now recommending 5w-20 oil, this could make a difference where 5w-30 or 10w-30 might have been used before.
I doubt there is anything wring with your oil pressure, the sensor is probably flaking out. I've read more than a few posts on these sensors needing replacement on the 3.0L.
Unless your engine has been run hard and has excessive mileage, using 5W-20 instead of 5W-30 shouldn't have any measurable affect on oil pressure, certainly not enough to affect the dummy gauge.
My 99 Ranger 3.0L does the exact same thing as the other guys. It takes a little while for the needle to come up on cold mornings. I just wonder if the oil is so thick, that it takes it awhile to read the oil pressure. Seems like this is a common problem among the Ford family of vehicles.
I tend to agree with the last post. I've been paying better attention to when my needle finally pops up and it is about the same place and time every morning. Then if I drive the truck again within an hour or so the gauge pops up right after start up. (oil is still warm) But if I don't drive it till later in the afternoon, half to wait till the oil warms up again. I do have alot of miles (118,000) so I'm worried about a weak oil pump maybe? or worse?
I dont think you have anything to worry about Knoxnil, my needle has been doing it since about a month after i bought the truck new. I am sure it is just a flakey sensor, and if you did not really have oil pressure you would know right away... I.E. knocking, and parts coming out of your tail pipe...
Hi, I had the same problem 2 years ago. It was the sensor located in the back of the motor, very easy to get to and change. The dealer told me it is very common on that truck and if I remember correctly it was $9.00. The only mistake I made was that in the clymer manual it says to take the sensor out and start the truck for a second to make sure the oil pump does work. ----VERY VERY MESSY---- JUST PUT THE NEW SENSOR IN --- THEN START THE TRUCK---- LET THE SENSOR DO THE TALKING----
If you have a hard time locating the sensor let me know
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