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Oil pressure gauge? (digital)

Oil pressure gauge has been strange since I got my 87 Tbird.
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Been doing this ^ number while running. Will only have 1 bar when not running. I replaced the switch. Something the cluster maybe?

Oil pressure gauge? (digital)

Reply #1 –
Quote from: Keltel
Oil pressure gauge has been strange since I got my 87 Tbird.
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Been doing this ^ number while running. Will only have 1 bar when not running. I replaced the switch. Something the cluster maybe?

:laughing: :laughing:


if you have have two bars ontop and two bars on the bottom

your doing ok then:D  that means you gauge is peaked!!

i have never tested it to see at what pressure it peaks at but..

i have had a high volume oil pump in the last two motors and it's allways peaked even at idle..

if you switch to the oil pressure gauge right after you start the car you will see it rise too the top and then peak then goto two bars ontop and two bars on the bottom but it useuly happens quickly. well it happends quickly on my motor..

is your motor bone stock?

Nick
Quote
there's only about a half a dozen man made objects that are herd by the human ear below 40Hz,a pipe organ,thunder,the space shuttle lifting off,a jet airplane taking off or landing,a large canon,an atomic bomb ignited in your back yard and the heat wave afterward oh wait you would be dead so you would'nt hear it scratch that!,and maybe beating your hear against a wall less then 40 times a second..rap music is'nt one of them!thats 40-60Hz@100+db the moving air is under 40Hz

Oil pressure gauge? (digital)

Reply #2 –
I put an aftermarket oil guage on my car and that digital guage does that whenever the wire going to the oil pressure sender is grounded or if the little sensor wire fuse is removed which is just above where the wire plugs into the sender and is silver looking.  So I would look under there and see what is going on.

Oil pressure gauge? (digital)

Reply #3 –
Try a Wells PS4 Oil Pressure Sender. If you do not have the extension pipe allready, you will need to get one for this sender to fit due to it's size. Also, the sender needs to be installed with the connector pointing in an upwards direction. The smaller gauge senders have a range from about 3 to 8 psi, while this gauge has a range from 0 to 90 psi. After installation, you should have a pressure reading somewhere mid to top of normal when the engine is running.

I had the same issue on my Cougar after my Cluster swap and this fixed the problem. (I too have a High Volume Oil Pump)

Oil pressure gauge? (digital)

Reply #4 –
Keltel...were you ever able to solve your issue with the oil digi oil pressure gauge?  My car is doing the same thing and I just wondered if anyone found a good solution.  It's wierd because my mechanical aftermarket gauge says I'm only at 50psi, I wouldn't think the factory gauge should be pegged at this pressure.
1988 Thunderbird
306 HO w/ A9P processor
AOD w/ Transgo Reprogrammer
Full Digital Dash w/ twin Cyberdyne A-pillar gauges 
245/50/16 Tires on Snowflakes
Engine swap - CA smog compliant

Oil pressure gauge? (digital)

Reply #5 –
My digi did the same still does.but one time a while back my sump tube came loose error on my part,It let me know then that I had a problem along with the bells.
Old Grey Cat to this.88 Cat, 5.0 HO, CW mounts, mass air, CI custom cam, afr165's, Tmoss worked cobra intake, BBK shorty's,off road h pipe, magnaflow ex. T-5,spec stage 2 clutch, 8.8 373 TC trac loc, che ajustables with bullits on the rear. 11" brakes up front. +

Oil pressure gauge? (digital)

Reply #6 –
i think i did  a wrtie up in my DIY link on troubleshooting the oil pres guage which came from my shop manual.  Someone has had this problem in the past year i think and if you search, you'll prob find alternate answers.

however,,, none of us know exactly how much presure equates to how many bars.

Oil pressure gauge? (digital)

Reply #7 –
Tach/Multi guage diagnostic

all codes are Hexadecimal format and can range from 00 to FF (binary 0000 to 11111111)or

(decimal 0 - 128)  . While active in the various modes, they can be used as a

"wiggle test" to check for shorts and intermittant circuits. Anyway,, display will be

in hex format.

hold the guages button in and turn the ign key to RUN
Advance through the tests by pressing the guages button.
A steady Tone and 8 bars lit is a passing test
No tone with 24 bars lit is a fail

To enter the Fuel computer self test
Press and hold the Select button atleast 5 or so seconds until the test display appears

then advance thru the tests by pressing on Select over again.

Oil pressure gauge? (digital)

Reply #8 –

thats for the tac,,,,,shesh.
ill see if i can dig up the oil guage test feature.  im sure its a part of the same process, just hold the guages button and i think you advance to the test for the oil indicator.,,,cant remember right now, im not home either,,on the road down in Boone NC
 

Oil pressure gauge? (digital)

Reply #9 –
Quote from: jcassity;166661
thats for the tac,,,,,shesh.
ill see if i can dig up the oil guage test feature. im sure its a part of the same process, just hold the guages button and i think you advance to the test for the oil indicator.,,,cant remember right now, im not home either,,on the road down in Boone NC

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I busted my stuff today,To much info for me.
You must read a whole lot.It is interesting tho!
Old Grey Cat to this.88 Cat, 5.0 HO, CW mounts, mass air, CI custom cam, afr165's, Tmoss worked cobra intake, BBK shorty's,off road h pipe, magnaflow ex. T-5,spec stage 2 clutch, 8.8 373 TC trac loc, che ajustables with bullits on the rear. 11" brakes up front. +

Oil pressure gauge? (digital)

Reply #10 –
Good info, Scott!  Thank You!
-- 05 Mustang GT-Whipplecharged !!
--87 5.0 Trick Flow Heads & Intake - Custom Cam - Many other goodies...3100Lbs...Low12's!

Oil pressure gauge? (digital)

Reply #11 –
One bar on any factory digital gauge does not equate to one unit of ANYTHING. It was merely a representational (visual) aid for understanding a bar graph concept. Our logic wants to equate one bar as 20 degrees or 5 psi...but in the 1980's, Ford gauges simply didn't work that way. That's why they shouldn't be taken at--literally--face value.

Think of the digital gauges as a progress bar on your computer, say, if you're copying a large file from one hard drive to another. Now in Windows, there is usually a percentage number along with the progress bar. Imagine that number being gone (or, being on a Mac LOL) and trying to guess how much of the progress is being made. You can be fairly certain of the progress but you can't be exactly certain without a percentage number to go along with it. That's precisely how these digital gauges work.

Now as you drive your car, your gauges usually fall into a certain range that, for all intents and purposes, we will call "normal". Any variation from that range--up or down--indicates...well...something. Bad sending unit? Bad gauge? Or actual problem? You won't know until you investigate further.

It's not like the buttstuffog gauges were that much better. The AMP gauge is virtually useless. The TEMP gauge fluctuates sometimes on its own. But at least if the FUEL gauge quits, you know it's either a bad gauge or sending unit in the tank. The buttstuffog gauges, at the very least, provide a more measurable amount of accuracy than the digital gauges ever did.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't fully trust your factory digital gauges to be accurate as you think they should be. But don't ignore them either. If one of them starts acting strangely then chances are something has gone wrong. Could be simple, could be a nightmare. Hope for the former...but prepare for the latter.

Oil pressure gauge? (digital)

Reply #12 –
Quote from: Keltel;101314
Oil pressure gauge has been strange since I got my 87 Tbird.
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Been doing this ^ number while running. Will only have 1 bar when not running. I replaced the switch. Something the cluster maybe?

 
So what does it mean when the bars are like that?
Old Grey Cat to this.88 Cat, 5.0 HO, CW mounts, mass air, CI custom cam, afr165's, Tmoss worked cobra intake, BBK shorty's,off road h pipe, magnaflow ex. T-5,spec stage 2 clutch, 8.8 373 TC trac loc, che ajustables with bullits on the rear. 11" brakes up front. +