Oil pressure test or installing oil pressure gauge
 

Well I got the engine flushed and it seems to have cleared up the valve noise and the oil guage bottoming out on me.

The Ford man suggested they test the oil pressure first, but it was 1/2 hour labour and like 60 bucks with tax and I'm on limited funds and really wanted the engine flushed with their machine .

But I think I will take his advice and test the pressure anyway, or even better install a real guage. The manual doesn't offer any advice on installing a real guage so if someone has already done this and can describe the procedure I'd be glad to hear it.

It's a 93 with a 300 L6. No air, manual 5 speed.

The factory guage is the not a real guage kind that just looks like a guage but does not indicate actual oil pressure.

Pull the factory switch out of the side of the block (low on the driver's side), put a tee in, and run an aftermarket gauge off one side and the factory one off the other. An aftermarket gauge is about $25. Just be careful of the routing and don't route the tube over any sharp edges.

The tubing looked kind of cheap so I got the one that has a sending unit attaches to the motor and a wire to the guage

That's the way I installed my oil gauge to the console I built. Since I didn't like running an oil line under my newly installed carpet set, I installed a sender on the Tee and used an electric gauge.

Any way to get at the oil pickup and clear the screen?

yeah that`s the way I want to do it an electric sending unit. I don`t want to have all that plumbing under there. I`m still taking everything off the top of the motor so I can check out the injectors, fuel pressure regulator, change the plugs, clean the throttle and IAC, check all the vacuum and fuel lines, etc. I`m gonna do a big tune up and I`ll put that sending unit on the block when I make enough room and find where it goes.

I wanted to do it this weekend but my girlfriend`s colleague lent us her cabin for the weekend so I`m not getting anything done.




It`s pretty tight under there. To get off the oil pan I have to undo a whole bunch of stuff to raise the engine. I could do it, but I think the engine flush did a good job of clearing the sludge out of there. I called two companies that make machines the garages use, and they both told me the same thing. That the solution is pumped in thru the oil filter port. That makes it pass thru the oil pump backwards and clears the crap out of the pickup screen. That`s what they say anyway, but after I got my truck back, I drove it about 100 miles with no problems. Was even idling at the dump for over an hour. I`m gonna put the real gauge on there when I get a chance so I can see for sure, but I feel a lot better not hearing that valve clatter and the oil gauge not cutting out on me.

I like mechanical gauges better - they change instantly. I agree though, the plastic line is not good enough. I used a copper line for my oil pressure gauge instead. The plastic style is prone to leaking.

Define "anything". :-X03

I took some pictures... I`ll post them when I get home

I'm not sure those will be "family friendly"..... J/k.

Ok I finally installed the new oil guage. I'm not sure about the wiring but it seems to work. When I started the truck it was saying around 35 psi. After driving around for a little bit, it worked its way down to about 25 psi.

The wiring I was a little confused what they meant by ignition. I connected one wire to the sending unit, another wire to where there's a ground strap on the intake manifold, and the last one on the relay, on the side closest to the passenger, where all the other stuff is plugged in.

Ignition means Power on with the Key in RUN.

Copper has a way of getting brittle and cracking under heat and vibration. Factory mechanical gauges never used copper, but steel instead. I use aluminum tubing for such things. The plastic is fine as long as you keep it way clear of any hot metal.

Jim

My Mustang has 2 oil leaks 1. is the PCV grommet and #2 is that cheap plastic tubing.