My 250 I6-300 gages bug me, the oil pressure is always low and the charge gage is high. The oil pressure will go up a little when I drive but not much, and every now and then if it is idling it will start to whine a little until I rev it up.

The charge gage went up after I put in a windshield wiper regulator, just plain weird.

here is a picture of the gages while driving..........What do you guys think is going on here?

 

Have you checked to see what your oil pressure REALLY is? Does your gauge peg out when grounded? Is your sending unit good?

I replaced my sending unit a couple years ago with a NAPA unit, and it always ran low like that, even though I had good oil pressure. But the gauge still bugged me. Then I bought a MOTORCRAFT oil sending unit, and the gauge shot all the way across the gauge to the "A" in "NORMAL" at startup. Runs around the "R" when warm, and all is right with the world.

What kind of oil filter are you using? I ran a FRAM oil filter once for about a week and my truck did that. I changed the filter to back to a MOTORCRAFT FL-1A and everything returned to normal.

Moral of the Story:
ALWAYS USE MOTORCRAFT PARTS!

 

How do you go about checking oil pressure?Mine does the exact opposite of his and always runs on high.

 

How high is it showing on the gauge? Does it drop some when the truck gets to operating temperature?

 

With manual gauges.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Go to an Auto Parts store and get a manual oil pressure gauge with the NUMBERS on it. Should run you about $30. Take out your oil sending unit, and plug the oil pressure gauge into that hole your sender was in. Start up your truck and then read the gauge.

 

I use FRAM oil filters and my needle stays on the A in [ N O R M A L] also.

 

I don't recommend useing a Fram oil filter on a 300-6 engine. There is no check valve in the filter like on the Motorcraft FL-1A and the oil will drain out of the filter causing dry starts.

Check the oil pressure with a manual gauge as described above. (I don't like it whining at idle) and see what the pressure is. Most of the time though the sending unit gets plugged and causes the gauge to read low, or the oil pump quits or gets plugged at the sump filter.

As for the charge gauge. Clean your battery cables, and have the altenator, and voltage regulator tested. It may be overcharging or your battery is on it's way out.
Also, with the truck engine off, but in the run position, see if the ammeter reads a discharge. Turn on the lights, heater blower, switch various things on and off, and see if it will read a discharge, and how much the needle deflects. If it deflects around the same amount as it does at charging, then I'd say it's still serviceable, but the ammeter shunt is probably on it's way out.

 

I've never seen Motocraft filters. Can you get them at O-Reliey or Advanced? Are they behind the counter or something?

 

You can get motorcraft FL-1A filters at autoparts stores.

Kragen, O'Rileys etc... You may have to ask for them.

Kragen sells a lot of Motorcraft parts, or OEM quality parts, you just have to ask, or special order them. The stuff they usually stock and sell over the counter is basic and cheap however, why you have to specify or special order what you want.
Brands Kragen sells that are made like OEM quality are Motorcraft, (of course) Borg/Warner (BWD) nascar performence parts line, (not BWD's standard line), Bosch, etc...

Walmart also sells motorcraft filters, oil, etc...

Or even the Ford Dealer. Motorcraft is Fords Brand after all.

 

Fram Filtration is fine, It also has a back flow preventing check valve, the problem with it versus a better filter is the check valve is made out of cardboard and they typically fail.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Is this an electrical or mechanical part you're referring to? If it's electrical, try removing it
and hooking it backup like it was and see if your ammeter problem is still there; if it's
mechanical, nevermind.

Oil pressure gauge, yes, try a real gauge and see what it says. You might run 'em both in
tandem, split the pressure line with a brass T.

-ct

 

I will do the Oil pressure check this week after I get the part. I am using a Mobil1 filter.

The Voltage Gage does not change no matter what I turn on or off. The intermediate wiper sending unit is a plug unit. The plugs only work on the opposite plugs (idiot proof designed) after I put it in behind the dash, I realized I could have put it under the hood.

Thanks again for all your help.

ja

 

Just for clarification on my part...

You tried turning accessories like the heater blower, headlamps, turn signals etc... on and off with the engine in the truck off, but in the ignition in the run position correct?

Otherwise this test won't work.

The ammeter should deflect to the Discharge side, engine off, ignition in run position, as accessories are turned on or off. It may only deflect a small tiny amount.


Have your voltage regulator tested, if external mounted, it's located on the fender just below the starter solenoid. It has been known for the voltage regulators to stick and cause a overcharging problem. This will show up on the ammeter simular to what yours is. A weak and dying battey can also show an excessive charge on the ammeter as the altenator and regulator trys to build the battey back up.

Also make sure the connector at the back of the cluster isn't loose, or halfway unplugged.

Also you can remove the intermitant wiper module and see if the problem was related to your install. Although these components are normally not connected, a problem in the main harness may be the culprit, and disconnecting it might help isolate it if the problem once again disapears with it disconnected.