I noticed today my oil pressure switch had oil on the inside of the connector. I sprayed contact cleaner and cleaned it with a toothbrush and plugged it back in. I've noticed for 3 days the oil gauge would go up and down that's why I cleaned the switch. Now, my gauge doesn't read at all. I know the switch is bad because the oil appeared back on the inside of the connector and oil was coming out of it and burning off. My question is, will it hurt to run the car with a bad pressure switch? It's been 3 days so far like this. I didn't want to screw up the new fuel pump.

Ken

 

The fuel pump normally runs off of the relay. The OPS is just a backup in case something in the relay circuit (ECM, bad wire, relay) fails. However, if something happens to the relay circuit and you don't have the OPS, your car isn't going anywhere. And, the worst part is that the OPS isn't as cheap as it used to be, either...

Are you absolutely sure that the whole thing is bad? It IS possible for the sender side to be bad while the switch still works (as in my case, where it has been that way for 2 months now). To make sure, all you have to do is listen for the fuel pump when you turn the car off (it will keep running until the oil pressure drops below 5 PSI), or try to start the engine with the fuel pump relay disconnected.