Oil Pressure Gauge stuck at 5+

[MRGT]

Got in the car this morning and switched on the ignition. I noticed that my oil pressure gauge immediately shot up beyond the 5 bar mark and stayed there. After a quick look at Clarks Garage this would seem to indicate a dodgy oil pressure sender, would any of you fine chaps like to confirm before I start ordering parts ?

Thanks

Howard

 

[DavidL]

Howard,
Almost certainly the sender - mine old one did exactly that.

 

[James_G]

Howard

I had this with mine a few weeks ago. A quick check underneath though showed that the wire had come loose. 30 seconds with some pliers to put it on tight and all has been well since. Worth checking before you go off and order parts.

Cheers

James

 

[MRGT]

thanks for the replies, will have a look at the underside this evening.

 

[Peter Empson]

Because full deflection of the needle shows an open circuit, it could also be a dodgy earth (in the dash for example) but given the heat and vibration I'd start at the sender and work from there.

 

[Diver944]

If it is the sender then they are only around £25. I replaced mine due to the exact same problem last summer

 

[dirtydirtyharry]

Ironically I read this post at lunch time today and when I drove home tonight I noticed the gauge was stuck well above 5 (presumably at the limit). It stayed there when on the motorway. When i got off the motorway and slowed to 30mph it did creep back down to 4.

I have not noticed it go above 5 before.

Will have to keep an eye on it.

 

[stevemac2002]

I just got exactly the same symptoms (gauge reading 5+ all the time after working perfectly forever) so checked the sender wiring and sure enough the blue had come off completely. so I fixed it back on and cleaned up the connectors but the problem is still there! i.e. gauge reading off the top all the time with ignition on and engine running or ignition on and engine not running.. So i disconnect the wiring again and check the sender resistance (10ohms when engine off rising to many Mohms when engine running so that seems OK). So I check voltage on wiring, 12v appears on blue with ignition on, blue/white 0v. So I check impedance on disconnected wires to earth with ignition off, blue white 0ohms to earth, blue 32 ohms to earth. Connect it all back up and still the same problem....Anyone got any ideas or a simple diagram of how thegauge/sender/power are connected? Could anything get damaged if the blue wire disconnects form the sender and/or pshorts to earth. I cant see any fuses or relays specific to the oil pressure and everything else seems OK... Plenty of oil in the engine by the way....

 

[Landroverstormer]

Mine is at 5 when driving, but drops to the half way point when at idle..... does this sound ok or on the high side?

 

[stevemac2002]

thats exactly what mine used to do! around 5 when driving/after starting then dropping to 3 on idle when hot. I had a new sender fitted 200 miles ago and now after the wire came loose it is reading off the top all the time.

 

[MRGT]

In my case it is the sender thats u/s so a replacement is need, approx £25 I believe

 

[stevemac2002]

does anyone know what impedance a good sender has? I mean what is the resistance between the terminals with the ignition/engine off, when driving ( gauge at say 5) and when hot idling (gauge at say 3). Is there a published spec for this?