I have a 2001 GM. It''s about 20deg F up in MI. now and when I start my car(after sitting all night) the oil pressure doesn''t move till well after the car has started(like five minutes). Is this normal? It''s like the oil is "frozen". once the car gets to temp. no problems(until the car sits again for a period of time) help!!!????

 

The pressure sensor may be "stuck" you can check if there''s actually oil flowing by strapping a paper towel (I prefer shop towels - those blue paper towels) to the oil fill in the valve cover with the cap off and see if any oil hits the towel (the valve rockers will usually throw some oil towards the cap)... or you can just take the cap off and see if anything sprays out and clean up the mess later). do check your oil level and make sure it''s up where it needs to be.

since the pressure does come up after the car warms up, I''m thinking that it''s just a sticky pressure sensor.

 

thanks slymer!!!! I''ll try that.

 

x2 on the sending unit.. Several mins without oil pressure and she wouldn;t be running very long.. What weight oil are you running?? Too heavy can cause funky things like this to happen...

 

yeah you are right, max. I use 5w20 like it calls for. it is working perfectly now. i''m going to get the sending unit changed next weekend

 

sending unit changed today...........small leak around the sending unit. works perfectly now. Does this sensor "report" to the PCM? Why no check engine light for something so important?

 

it didn''t completely fail. hence no code. small leaks won''t trigger codes. There would have to be a break in the circuit before the oil pressure sensor would code for sensor problems.

 

Majority of the time the oil pressure and temp sensors are not linked though the PCM..I would think it would be more fail safe not too.. THe check engine light primarily is for emission related issues, and also covers some drivability related issues...


General motors did link theirgauges to the PCM (one coolant temp sensor for all) IT seemed to be troublesome too.. Alot of temp gauges and gas gauges that were squirley... Kinda scarey since alot of the models they did this on had engines with failure prone intake gaskets.. (they blew out at the coolant ports)....

 

The oil pressure switch on most Ford models (and Mercury as well), is actually not really an oil pressure switch. It does not show the actual oil pressure, only if there is any at all.


You can tell by looking at your gauge, it doesn''t move, where as real gauges do move between idle and some 1,500 rpm''s.


It is a common issue on Ford Explorers, and most time when you don''t get any gauge reading, it is a faulty switch.


However, a few years ago I helped a friend of mine, her gauge didn''t show anything either.


When we drained the oil (which looked awefull) and the oil pan, we saw the sludge was everywhere, and has clogged the filter intake in the pan.


Glad to hear that it was the sensor, this is where you usually start.


Greeting!

 

So that gauge on my dash is just for show?