Oil Pressure Gauge Not Working - Any Ideas, Plse?

[mmatthej1 1]

The OP gauge stopped reading quite recently, so I thought of replacing the sender unit that screws into the engine block and even acquired this item ready to do this rather awkward job.

 

However.......... I then sandpapered the terminal on the existing sender and, lo & behold, the gauge started working and did so for about a week, then it died again and won't how respond to further sanding or 'squeezing up' of the connector.

 

I don't think that a fuse is involved, as it seems to share a fuse with various items that are working ok.

 

Any ideas, please?

[farmer 328 1 Cars]

Replace the unit and see what happens?

[Anthony 1,003]

Short the connector to the engine block to earth it - if the gauge reads full, it's a sender related issue, and if it still reads nothing, it's a gauge or wiring related issue.

[welshpug 1,661]

Earth it to the blocj, if the gauge shoots up its the sender, if it doesnt its probably the brown multiplug or wiring break/corrosion

[mmatthej1 1]

Hum, am I doing this right? Taken off the single (yellow) wire that connects onto the sender, then pushed a wire into the connector, other end clipped to engine block - right?

 

Result seems to be a slight movement of the gauge needle, when ignition is turned on - emphasis on slight! It doesn't shoot over to the max. position, nor is quite dead.

[Grim.Badger 15]

If I understand correctly that means that you have a bad, but not entirely dead, wire.

 

Also, I took a good look at the sender ages ago and the only way I could figure out to change it is with the engine out (or loads of components removed, can't remember which ones but I do remember it wasn't worth it).

[GLPoomobile 958]

Trace the wire back to the manky brown multiplug located above the gearbox. Try the same test but jumoing off the wire from the other side of the plug. In other words, you're bypassing the plug and just testing that you have an earth back from wherever you choose to earth it for the test, and the dashboard. If it works fine, then your problem lies between the sender and the brown plug, and I'm sure most of us on here will wager good money that the plug is the problem, as the design is s*ite and the terminals get all corroded up.

 

Be warned, as soon as you look at the brown plug let alone move the damned thing, it'll throw it's toys out of the pram and you'll probably find other things that run through the plug start to play up. I don;t wish to put you off, but it really is a pile of wank and it's better off just chopping the damned thing out, chopping your wires back to healthy copper, and then adding in a nice weatherproof connection block.

Edited June 6, 2013 by GLPoomobile