car: 1987 Trans AM - 305 TPI
problem: this car has the rare digital dash and the oil pressure doesnt want to stay up causing the gauge to beep. it wont get any higher than 30 psi when cold or 15 psi when hot. i have replaced the sending unit and i know the oil pressure is fine so believe it to be something in the electrical dash. any ideas?

any feedback or help is greatly appreciated. the beeping is driving me crazy and i really do not want to get rid of the car. thanks.

 

How do you know the oil pressure is fine?The oil pressure drops on these things when they have too many miles on them and the bearings are shot.If you have 100+k on the odomater I would think it more likely that the engine has had it.

 

the oil pressure is fine.

there is no 'ticking'. no rocker arm noise. and you can see the oil squirting into the top of the rocker arms so it is getting plenty of oil. there is a little rear main seepage but its not enough to cause the oil pressure to go screwy.

the car has been well-maintained and this was a sudden occurence not a gradual problem.

thanks for your response.

 

why dont you change the oil pressure sensor by the distributor? or the one by the oil filter. the one in my van kept fluctuating i took it out and squirted some carburetor throttle cleaner in it and now its fine go figure..maybe you can do the same...its probably full of gunk

 

I would find a cheap oil pressure guage at an autoparts store and hook it up.
I would think that the digital gauge might have a short or the sensor itself is bad. If its not a wire issue the sender might be sending to low of a resistance thus your problem. Check it out, its one of the 'cheaper' things to monitor yet very valuable.