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I'm looking at a '97 PSD w/ 120k. What is the normall position of your oil pressure gauge? I know it is a crappy stock one but this truck seemed to keep it lower than my '94 5.0 truck does. I wonder before I buy what they normally run. Also the truck has a Donaldson oil filter on it, are they any good? It was a fleet truck so I think it has seen regular changes. The truck looks to only have minor leaks kind of what I expect from a 120k truck.
If this truck is using the stock factory oil pressure gauge set up, what you have is an idiot gauge, in which the sending unit turns the gauge either on or off. The needle will stay in the same approximate position no matter what the ambient conditions are and regardless of engine speed. Ford did this to reduce oil pressure related warranty claims. The sending unit turns on at 2-3 PSI and turns off at about 1.5 PSI (it is either on or off -- it does not read actual pressure). The easiest way to solve the question of how much actual oil pressure you have is to install a direct reading after-market gauge.
hmm. My 5.0 '94's gauge moves. That's how I knew when to change the filter when I worked on the road. It holds the gauge to around the "a" in normal w/ fresh oil filter. I run synthetic oil and w/ the amount of miles I logged it was cost effective to run it about 7,000 miles. At 3,500 miles the gauge would hover around the "m" in normal. That's when I would pop in in new filter and the gauge would return to the "a" position.
Yes I know it is a crappy electrical gauge but it is all most trucks have. I want to know where the gauge stays at on a typical PSD as I've seen my crappy gauge move around letting me know they do indeed change w/ the pressure.
My Thunderbird also had a gauge that read oil pressure but my Ranger truck has the same type of sending unit in it that the Power Stroke uses. I've hooked a DVOM up to it with an air pressure regulator to see where it turned on and off at on the pressure gauge which is where I got the numbers from. We are not dealing with a typical "crappy gauge" here. What we've got is a gauge system which doesn't do a frapping thing.
Is this gauge system still in use. The question was about a 97, would the 2002 have the same gauge system? I am expecting my new PSD around the end of April. My first trip is to the diesel shop to get a Pyro, and boost gauge. Should I get an oil pressure gauge with the setup as well?
>If this truck is using the stock factory oil pressure gauge
>set up, what you have is an idiot gauge, in which the
>sending unit turns the gauge either on or off. The needle
>will stay in the same approximate position no matter what
>the ambient conditions are and regardless of engine speed.
>Ford did this to reduce oil pressure related warranty
>claims. The sending unit turns on at 2-3 PSI and turns off
>at about 1.5 PSI (it is either on or off -- it does not read
>actual pressure). The easiest way to solve the question of
>how much actual oil pressure you have is to install a direct
>reading after-market gauge.
:-staun Have you verified this statment using a DVOM or other sender
to gauge test devise? thanks, John
[updated:LAST EDITED ON 27-Mar-02 AT 04:15 AM (EST)]John: Yes I have verified the information by using a DVOM and a pressure regulator as indicated in post #3. I read somewhere that someone got some electronic components from Radio Shack and using a variable rate sending unit made the dash gauge read oil pressure but it sounded like more trouble than putting in an after-market gauge to me. (How high is high? How low is low? I want to read oil pressure in actual PSI.)
[updated:LAST EDITED ON 28-Mar-02 AT 07:13 PM (EST)]I would go to the NASCAR site to see what and where they get their gauges and sender units.
Also, use a fluid pressure gauge, not an air pressure gauge, there is a big differance in the two. How precise are you wanting to go and why?