I know it's probably the oil pressure sender switch but I won't get to it for a while until my next oil change so just for peace of mind what are the chances that after 2 weeks of 0 - 8 psi of pressure with no noises, rough running or temperature increases that something is actually wrong other than the sender? Logic tells me I could not sit in traffic with 0 psi oil pressure and make it home 30 miles but I thought I'd ask anyway. I replaced the filter thinking it was a possibility but that did not fix it so I assume it's the sender unit. Thanks for your input.

 

how many miles?

 

165,000

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...sure-gage.html

a thread started a couple days back for basically same reason

 

Thanks. I had read that thread beforehand but the answers didn't seem definitive at the time. How about the answer to this question for every other oil pressure thread in the future: How long (range) will the average 100k+ engine run with 0 oil pressure before doing "something" and then finally doing "nothing"? Thanks again.

 

the real question is how many miles on your oil? viscosity breakdown creates a low pressure reading. a oil pressure sending unit costs about 10 bucks and about 10 minutes to install. if you cant afford an oil change and suspect viscosity breakdown id reccomend a bottle of stp oil stabilizer to get you thru.

 

I have about 200 miles on the current oil. I never let it go so viscosity breakdown wouldn't be the issue. The switch at my Autozone and O'Reilly is just under $30. So the real question still is how long an idling engine will run on 0 psi oil pressure.

 

dont ask me why, but ive ran engines with no oil at 1500 rpm for like 15 minutes without so much as a tick.. depends man.. why is that gauge so high? christ i must be getting old. you looking at the right one? you know there is 2 right? the one by the distributor that looks like a bell with a single wire, is for you gauge, there is another that looks like a beer bottle cap and that is for your dummy light.. here is one you make work for you part #PS4 on the autozone website. its listed for 9.99 or if your not a fab guy you can do this Part Number ps140 which will plug right in. its listed for 19.99

 

The PS4 Autozone part you listed is not a 92 Camaro part. It was my understanding that the switch that was the "common" problem was the $27.99 Oil Pressure Switch at O'Reilly from BWD part # S4086 and at Autozone $35.99 # PS207 that screws above the oil filter. http://images.oreillyauto.com/parts/...s4086_full.jpg So not super expensive but not something I'd get just to try.

 

ps207 is a switch. It has 2 fucntions, closed circuit and open circuit which translates into on/off or "dummy light" now the part numbers i gave you have a variable resistance that measures voltage. in other words it gives your "GAUGE" a reading to tell the pointer where to point. your talking about apples and im talking about oranges. check the driver side of you distrubuiter and youll see the sending unit im trying to show you. its attached directly to the engine block via a small copper or aluminum tube with pipe thread. if your concerend about your "oil pressure gauge" than this is the device that measures that. if your concerned about a "oil warning light" than go with what your talking about

 

I believe you but I don't have an oil warning light or I should say if I do it has never come on in 18 years. If I go to Autozone or Oreilly's website and type "oil pressure" I have only that switch I posted to choose from or a gauge. Why would there be other parts not listed? I don't mean to be a wise guy but both of the part #'s you listed are also called "oil pressure switch" on the website so why would it not come up for my car and why do they look like they belong on my old '82 Camaro instead of my '92?

 

With further research the part you listed is for '83-'87 5.0 F-bodys.

 

dude.. trust me. Ive worked parts counters, i hate the zone and any other guy trying to sell me parts and trying to tell me what i should get when in fact ive been turnign wrenches longer than these kids were able to reproduce. but dont take my word for it, do your research. ive done resto mods where a engine was replced and it was equipped with a switch. it took some figuring but i realized the shape of the part you need. now pop your hood and find that part i was telling you about. look at the wire coming off of it and note color, then thumb thru a haynes manual and find the electrical schematics and see where it goes.. my fire bird was equipped with both gauge and light. I delete the light and kept the gauge. trust me, autozone is not the experts.. can i get a hell ya on that from some veterans out there.

alomost forgot. part is listed as a switch, even though it works more like a fuel level sending unit

 

I looked and there was nothing on my driver's size by the distributor except the throttle bracket. I looked on the passenger side and also saw nothing. I found the part you mentioned on a thirdgen thread for an '87 and I promise this thing is not on my car. https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...nual-says.html

 

I'm only keeping this going for other people reading this in the future so I hope you understand I'm not trying to be annoying. If you go to Autozone and make your car an 87 5.0 camaro and search for "oil pressure switch" you get 2 parts. The one you said says in the notes "for gauge" and the other part says "for light". If you make your car a 92 camaro you get 1 part. One switch that says in the notes "with gauge 3 terminal". That tells me that this switch is not the on/off switch from the 83-88 cars and is in fact transmitting more data, most likely the gauge data since as I said my car does not have a dummy light as the older cars did. I know Autozone and O'Reilly aren't amazing at all times but if both sites say I have 1 part measuring oil pressure then I would generally tend to believe it. I hope you understand I'm only posting so much so that future Thirdgen readers won't have to read every thread they can find to compile information on 1 problem. I'll definitely post my results when I do end up replacing the switch.

 

ok i hear ya. i have an 86 and it bolted up on the 305 and later bolted up to the 350 i put in. maybe im a little oldschool and im used to these things being two different devices. you know, its always different when your actually there to look for yourself. thanks for the knowlede, i will defently put that in my toolbox

 

Yeah true. I've had 2 82's and 1 92 and nothing in between so I usually don't know what was done before they got to mine. To be honest I would prefer that device to using 2 jacks and jackstands to get to mine. Thanks again. I forgot to mention how strange running 15 minutes at 1500rpm with 0 oil pressure was without a tick. I assumed an engine couldn't last more than a few minutes with no oil circulating while explosions occurred every millisecond.

 

hahah.. well... it was a fluke to say the least. it was a honda. not a vtec but a late 90's model 4 cylinder. buddy if i wasnt there to see it myself i wouldnt belive it either. on the other hand ive had v6's lock up on me with low oil conditions, it just deoppends on engine conditions i suppose

 

for what its worth im trying to post a pic of my oil pressure sending unit , forgive me im not computer savy

 

ok im trying again to post this pic. forgive my ignorance with computer stuff hope this works.

But here you can see my oil sending unit located next to tthe distrubitor on the driver side rear of the motor. you can also note the brass colored linkage for the accelarter cable and tv. I didnt bother with snapping a shot of the plug i put in for the the switch, sorry its late and i already showerd fro the night lol, but this is just fyi stuff and of no consquence

 

Just updating this thread...I finally got around to replacing the oil pressure switch/sending unit and that's what it was! Cold was around 30 psi, driving was about 15 and idle was 0-8ish. I replaced it and suddenly everything is +15 or so. I changed mine with a medium size pair of channel lock pliers since the only tool that fit the stock nut size was my medium crescent wrench and there was no room for it under there. FYI the Master Pro replacement part's nut was considerably smaller.