Oil Pressure Gauge/Sensor issue?
 

I just bought a 2001 Ranger with a 2.5L engine. It seems very sound mechanically, the only issue is the oil pressure gauge/sensor.

It doesn't seem like the vehicle is running poorly, but according to the gauge there is sometimes a major issue with the oil pressure. A lot of times the gauge will either sit at the lowest point or bounce from the lowest point to the middle, then after the vehicle has been running a little while, it will sit right in the middle where it should be.

I am just wondering if anyone else has had this problem or what your thoughts are on my problem. Is it just a bad sensor or gauge, or is something seriously wrong with my oil pump/delivery system?

I have been having the same problem. I think it is common and is the oil pressure sensor. ( or sending unit i think its called)

I had that issue on my 98 explorer and it was the oil pressure sending unit.

Ya, my dad thinks its probably the sending unit, I just wanted to see if anybody else had/has the same problem, and it looks like a few people do, so thats a bit of a relief.

The offending part is actually called the Oil Pressure Sending Switch. Your oil pressure gauge has two possible needle positions: no oil pressure or somewhere around 40~50% of full scale. It is controlled by an on/off pressure switch that is supposed to trigger at some minimal oil pressure around 6 PSI. So, in effect, your "gauge" is just an idiot light with a sweep hand.

There are a lot of bad sending switches out there that trigger at too high a pressure and erroneously report zero pressure when there is no problem. This can cause the gauge to hang at zero or jump between zero and midscale, especially after a cold start or at idle. Chances are that your switch is bad.

It would be a good idea to get it replaced ASAP to get your OP gauge working properly. You never know when you might have a REAL oil pressure problem.

yea mine does that at idle here and ther.. it will get real low rpm for a bit and kinda get ruff and the needle will bounce.. it only does it once in a blue moon but it does

rwenzing...thanks a lot for the response. Now I know exactly what I am talking about. I will definitely have it replaced before I go back to school, so, sometime in the next 3-4 weeks.

I just replaced mine. It took about 10 minutes. I no longer have the problem. Thanks for the info. Mine is a 2000 wit a 3.0