My stock oil pressure gauge has started to fluctuate or 'flutter". It has always sat in one position until yesterday. I now is "fluttering between all the way to the right, even below the "normal" Ok range, (Left is no pressure) and the middle of the Ok range. It usually read all the way to the right of the OK range.

Any thoughts??????

Thanks!!

JEP

92' camaro RS V-6

 

easiest thing to check first is to make sure that it stills has the right amount of oil in it. if it gets low enough to start fluctuating, you're going to have more problems. its possible that the sensor is going bad or a ground wire could be loose for the guage. bearings could be wearing out in the motor allowing the oil to drain out of its passages too quickly and not hold pressure...

 

replace the oil pressure sending unit. it should be screwed in to the same place the oil filter is. do that first, if that doesn't fix it, ask again.

 

Thanks for the replys. The oil level is fine. I have started to notice a few oil drips in the driveway. About 3 dime sized fresh ones a day.

I will try the sending unit first then I should probably have it checked out by my mechanic if that does not work, right?


Thanks,

JEP

 

kinda dependso n what it's doing. you say it's fluctuating, is this at idle? or is it bouncing up and down when you apply the gas? depending on the movement (and if it's not pegging or anything) then it might be normal, as oil pressure increase with throttle movement, and will definatley go up more than it will be at idle. I'd doubt that you're having engine trouble, it's probably a sensor issue.

You said it sat all the way to the right of the ok range ( haven't seen my gauges in a while since i swapped to 4th gens) but the far right was what 80psi? Under normal operation it should sit lower than that, probably around 40 or so, maybe slightly higher, but somewhere close to that. IF it is now sitting in the middle , and when u accelerate it goes towards the right, this sounds normal, and it's possible, if it stayed all the way to the right before hand, w/o any movement at all, that it was "broken" before, and is now, working. lol. IF that's the case , you're sender is probably on it's way out, and becoming tempermental, best bet is to replace it. But remember, they're supposed to move, and ours, unlike some cars (those 96' big ole' impalas for one) give untrue oil press. Infact, they show an always "ok" oil press, which doesn't move or fluctuate, it also doesn't go down if there is none yeh, say hello to guages for appearance only.

 

mine used to do that.

it was the sender.

even though i have a V8 and you have a V6, the senders operate the same.... most likely thats your problem.