HELP!!!no oil pressure and I'm wheeling on saturday!

[wrangler]

HI guys,

Drove my rig for a while today...strenuous drive for it on the Pike. About half way though the trip, my oil pressure gage stated to read about 40 instead of the norm 60-80. by the end of the trip it read 20. Now i let it cool for a while and i started it up...it still says 20. Oil does not smell like gas. I have enough oil.(i triple checked) There does not seem to be any leeks. Is this most likely a gage problem or a real problem. Has any one had this happen before? I really hope its nothing major as i still want to wheel on sat.

thanks,
Cody

[dmxjg35]

when was the last time you changed your oil? i know im going on almost 4k on mine and its starting to do the same thing, so i donno if the jeep runs so hot that the oil gets thinner or what, ive had this happen before but when i changed the oil it was fine after that. Im going to be changing my oil this weekend and im going to see if that fixes it.

[sentinal02]

also, try changing to a different filter if you're using fram. I've found that lately they've been robbing some pressure from the system and I'm not the only one I've heard of with that problem. when warm i was running 30-35 with the fram, and now with a puralator i'm sitting about 10 psi higher when warm. if an oil and filter change don't help, change out the sending unit (really easy to do) and take apart the dash and clean up the contacts on the gauge and on the circuit board behind the cluster. if it still reads low, have a shop test the system to find out what the pressure is and if it is indeed low you're probably gonna need a new oil pump.

[badzook]

Yup, xactly what sentinal 02 said...

Mine runs at 20 psi at idle and 40 highway.. Had it checked with a Shop external Gauge and found the Sending unit bad... Those idiot gauges don't always work.. Better get it checked though. Sentinal is right you could have major issues..That's why the gauge is there in the first place...

badzook 8)

[wrangler]

ok...gona change to oil...even though its only 2000 miles...then i'll use a non -fram filter....i use fram now...what brand do u recomend? If that dont work i'll get the pressure tested at my grandfathers gradge...and hope it is a gadge problem.

Thanks guys,
I hope i can gt it fixed by sat

[wrangler]

Did 2 oil changes...changed the filter..no luck at all...the pressure is even less now....Now its so low that i don't want to drive it down to my grandpa's garage. I hope its the sending unit, because it seems to run fine. I would think it would run a little ruff on 10 psi oil. Hopefully I'll get it fixed and I'll be able to wheel on sat. Any more sudjestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the ones u already gave me!

-Cody

[ROCKREADYXJ]

do you have a oil pressure guage of the mechanical type to check your sending unit. or a dvom to check the resistance of the sending unit while it running.

[wrangler]

no mechanical Gage. the only mechanical test Gage i have has course threads were my jeep's sending unit has fine threads. My grandpa has all the testing equipment and should be coming down tomorrow. Hopefully he'll get it to work.

[Freebird01]

I SWITCHED TO USING PUROLATER whoops sorry about the caps...

anyway...the purolater are the same price as the fram and are a MUCH better filter. there was a study online that a guy did with about 40 different filters. he came up with wix and NAPA as the best but the Purolators are also made with the same guts.

first hand experience....with my 83 F150 i had a couple of years ago...if i would run a fram frilter it made all kinds of noise for the first minute it would start up. it would starve for oil. i switched to the purolaters and never had a problem after that....i run them religiously now.

[ROCKREADYXJ]

If you really want to get in to who makes a better filter. try to swallow this my first year as an intern working at a machine shop I aquored the knowledge that an oil filter only filter about 30% of the oil you use the reason it dosent filter all the oil is because it would clog up in a week and restrict oil flow so who makes a better filter is irellevent. I found that hard to believe myself untill I learnd how the oil passages work on a motor. Kind makes you wonder why even put a filter on it?

[Freebird01]

well..better filter or not, the components in a Fram filter are cheap. The purolators use a small check valve inside them that helps with oil starvation. thats exactally what was happening to my truck. ALL the oil would drain back tot he pan if it sat over night and it would rattle like crazy for 25-30 seconds until the oilpressure came up and started to circulate.

i went to the purolator filter and this stopped immediatly. ive even run the motorcraft (ford) filters and had better luck them the frams.


check out this page


http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html

[rsegriggy]

If you really want to get in to who makes a better filter. try to swallow this my first year as an intern working at a machine shop I aquored the knowledge that an oil filter only filter about 30% of the oil you use the reason it dosent filter all the oil is because it would clog up in a week and restrict oil flow so who makes a better filter is irellevent. I found that hard to believe myself untill I learnd how the oil passages work on a motor. Kind makes you wonder why even put a filter on it?

So once the oil pump picks up the oil from the sump, pressurizes it, and sends it on it's way, the oil is not sent through the filter immediately after the pump?

Wouldn't the bypasses open up if the filter were clogged?

[MYGOODNESS]

I SWITCHED TO USING PUROLATER whoops sorry about the caps...

anyway...the purolater are the same price as the fram and are a MUCH better filter. there was a study online that a guy did with about 40 different filters. he came up with wix and NAPA as the best but the Purolators are also made with the same guts.

first hand experience....with my 83 F150 i had a couple of years ago...if i would run a fram frilter it made all kinds of noise for the first minute it would start up. it would starve for oil. i switched to the purolaters and never had a problem after that....i run them religiously now.

I have been using fram filters for many years ....Something like 7 cars/trucks/jeeps...Never had a problem.

Anyone have any first hand experence with a fram filter causing damage?

[wrangler]

IT WORKS!!! no oil pressure problem...just the dam sending unit. It running at like 60-80 psi...i got tons of presure. I got a temporarey mechanical gagae rigged up and it works great. All this worry because the gage staps working lol...I'll be there 10 tomorow!

[Freebird01]

hey man...its good to worry about that gauge!!! if there had been a real problem you would have caught it in time to probably save the motor or at leat minimize damage!!!

no apologies nessecary!

GOOD JOB!

[wrangler]

o yea... and frams do stink. Fram gave me 40 psi city and 60 psi highway...the PUROLATER i just got gives me 60 city and 80 highway. 20 psi higher