My 97 Aerostar oil pressure gauge shows about 3/4 of full scale. I'm used to seeing other Aerostars register around mid-scale. I've never seen oil pressure go high before. Is 3/4 too high? Any idea on what causes a higher than normal oil pressure?
Aerostar Oil Pressure Indicator
Nov 15, 2005
10 Replies
Nothing to worry about, since the gauge is almost certainly a fake, being driven by a snap switch, same as a red idiot light. If you're truly concerned about engine oil pressure, install an aftermarket gauge.
if you do want to see relative pressure, the usual fix on earlier 90's model fords was to pull cluster, solder a wire across the 20 ohm resistor near oil gauge terminals and replace the switch sender with a variable resistor version.
Both of my 3.0 Aerostars ran well above half at cruise - where I like to see it. I ran 10W40 in the winter and 20W50 in summer.
Thanks fellers!! I did pay more attention to the gauge today and it stayed right on the same spot, no matter what the RPM was.
"Backyard Mechanic" wrote
Sounds like a good idea. Reckon this would work on a 97?
pull the cluster and see if there's a resistor
See this write-up:
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