my oil gauge will start shaking around sometimes when i'm driving, and sometimes it goes from 30 up to 60, stays there a little, then shoots way past 60.. then moves around from anywhere in between 30 to the needle on the other side..

it dosen't do it all the time, seems to come and go when it wants to.. never hear any odd noises from the engine when it does it though, and it last 20 minutes sometimes.. so i figure if it was the oil pump the engine would have seized in that amount of time..

any ideas what this is? i thought it might be a bad gauge or something..

and what would be involved in changing out the gauges to the ones with a 145 mph speedo? and would the same odometer stay in the car?

 

I had your symptoms. After awhile my guage just died and i **** my pants cause i thought i had no oil pressure But my engine didn't seize. so i replaced teh sending unit which cost me 17 bones at a high priced retailer My guage is still doing the same thing. I think my guage is broken, did you try looking at the guage itself to check it?

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87Camaro RS
305 carb.
K&N air filter
HyperTech Stage II chip
160 Thermostat
Autolite wires and NGK plugs

 

My car has been playing that trick for the last couple of years i think the gauge is just shot.

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Light em up!

 

I just put a 6000 redline tach in and ever since then the gauge has been "smoking crack"

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I WOULD RATHER PUSH A CAMARO THAN DRIVE AN IMPORT

1983Z28 350w/ edelbrock performer RPM power package , dynomax shorty headers, 700R-4 with shift kit, 750cfm carb, edelbrock 3" exhaust system, ASCD SS hood, 16" IROC rims.

future mods:
completely done over suspension, black paint with flames, Hurst shifter, dakota digital gauge package, procharger supercharger.

 

what SHOULD the oil pressure be? (305TBI)

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1992 Pontiac Firebird
- 305ci V8 TBI / Automatic Trans / Loaded
- MODS: Edelbrock 14x3 Open Element Air Cleaner, Dual outlet exhaust

 

You should have at least 20 lb. pressure at idle to a max of about 50 or 60 lb. The old rule of thumb is to have 10 lb. of oil pressure for every 1000 RPM. And my oil pressure gauge has been doing about the same thing for 4 years, it reads normal till the tach gets to about 1800 RPM then it starts bouncing wildly, then anything over 2500 RPM it pegs out. I hooked up a mechanical gauge to it and it read ok.

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92 Camaro RS 5.0 5-Speed(Quasar Blue)
14" Open Air Cleaner
3.08 Posi-trac
Edelbrock TBI Intake
Crane cam
Ported & polished stock heads 3 angle valve job
HyperTech Chip
SLP Headers (Ceramic Coated)
UltraFlo cat-back exhaust

74 Dodge Dart Sport 360 (11.2 1/4 mile)

2000 Dodge 1500 Ram Sport

[This message has been edited by DartByU (edited July 06, 2001).]

 

According to the book a fully warmed up 305 should have 40psi@ 3000rpm.
SSC

 

I'd say, **** it, replace the sender (it is, afterall, around 15 years old), clean the contacts, and replace the gage. My friend's '89 IROC has a long sender coming out the side of the block above the oil filter. Oil was leaking though the wiring terminal into the hot wire! There was actually oil bubbled up IN the wire, looked like a swollen wire. squeeze it and oil came out. Odd, just something to check for (I guess).

 

IIRC the guage sender is on the back intake rail toward the passenger side. The sender by the filter is for the fuel pump..