Questionable oil pressure

[bgoins]

My almost totally stock 93 LX 5 speed has oil pressure that never quite makes it to the middle mark while driving. Also, at stop lights, the needle will fall to the mark below middle, which if ur looking at the gauge, looks pretty low. Is this normal? The engine runs strong, no weird noises, no smoke. I use brand name 5W30 full synthetic every 3 thousand miles and i've only driven it about 6k since I bought it last summer. I'm not sure if this is a new thing or if I just never noticed this before. The car has 123k miles on it. Any thoughts?

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

10W30 is recommended by Ford, but I don't think it would make that much of a difference. If you're overly concerned, try tossing a mechanical gauge on to verify your oil pressure is sufficient. For what it's worth, my 95's gauge has done pretty much the same on three different engines now (stock, JY replacement when the stocker died, and now on an '00 Explorer engine).

 

[Wart]

Get a real gage, preferably mechanical. No need to install it permanently.

I'm not sure how 'accurate' (LMAO) or consistent factory gages were, or are after 16 years of use.

 

[rwood126]

I think they all bounce around. I just put a new sending unit on mine and doesn't move as much.

 

[LiquidGT]

I think everyone's OP gauge does this, even mine. I'm not too concerned with it, just as long as it stays in its everyday range of "non-consistency" I'm fine with it... since the 5.0 isnt known for having OP problems. I've been through two engines (stock and Explorer) and it does the same thing. A new sending unit made it a little better, but I'll eventually get a real gauge on there.

I'd be way more concerned about the stupid water temp gauge, that's what caused me to blow my stock motor. I'll never own a 5.0 again or drive it five feet without putting a temp gauge in it.

 

[mob]

Whenever someone on here says there having over heating problems or oil pressure problems, or any kind of problem brought to their attention from their gauges, theres always atleast one comment to get another gauge because the stock ones are not accurate, and I never listened to them, not because I thought they were accurate, but because I thought they may not give me an exact number but they gotta be close.

The oil pressure gauge though, does not fall into that category. It really is worth it to get another oil pressure gauge. And though it may seem like a lot of work, or just a hassle, if you really care about your motor, you will want to monitor it with a real gauge. The stock oil pressure unit on our cars, is not real a sending unit, its more of a switch. For months I thought I was going to have to take out my motor an rebuild everything, because my oil pressure would drop to zero when I came to a stoplight. I installed an autometer electric oil pressure gauge I got from my work, and a crappy universal a-pillar holder, and I found out my oil pressure was fine after all. They are very simple to install, even for me, a person who HATES wiring.

I am not saying your oil pressure is fine and its just your gauge, but you really do need a new gauge, even if your oil pressure is fine, our cars are getting old, and you need to be able to accurately monitor it. As for the temp gauge, and volt gauge, I wouldnt worry about its accuracy as much as the op gauge.