Oil Pressure Hits Zero And Stays There- JGC '96

thx-

My mechanic sent me to the dealer to have the CPU flashed? He said that only the dealers can reprogram the cars. The dealer told me that the CPU has nothing to do with it. They said it could be wiring, wear or possibly blockage.

I was leery of having the dealership do work, or even the diagnostic this morning because the cost seemed out of hand. I'm leaning towards having my mechanic clean out the returns since I read in another thread that that worked for another guy with the same problem...

thx

my mechanic said he'd run it for me, but he said the engine would've f-d up already if there wasn't any pressure.

You are driving me insane reading this!

Why oh why don't you just get a mechanical oil pressure gauge and put it in there instead of letting those so called 'mechanics' rip you off blind?

None of the bullshit 'fixes' you have posted here has been valid.

Arrgggg!

Or are you one of those 'fools and their money'?

On that note, I am off bush running in my Jeep for the weekend, good luck.

Mike

what if I used Hyperlube, instead of Lucas?

Man, I don't know what the deal is, all I know is that I let the oil go to long in the dead of the summer, when I was doing a ton of stop and go driving, stops, and re-starts. About 4 or 5 a day.

The problem first presented itself after driving 40 minutes or so at

Correct, so therefore there is 'Nothing' wrong with your engine!

'If' the new sender works, then you have a defect in the wire to the dash or a defect in the dash circuit board. A cold solder joint in a circuit board acts just like you describe. The ground for the sender is bolted to the dipstick, look for some small black wires there, maybe one is bad.

For less than 50 bucks you can install a mechanical oil pressure gauge under your dash and forget about the stock one.

For that matter, you don't 'need' a gauge at all. The engine will rattle really good if it actually does lose oil pressure.

Mike

Today it took 15 minutes to bottom out. I'm thinking if I put a higher weight oil in there it might do the trick. I'm also switching out the FRAM filter. I read of another guy who changed out the Fram and the problem went away. I noticed that the Fram Tough Guard has smaller holes than the Pure One.

Is your engine still running?

If yes, then the gauge is just plain lying to you!

If no, then you really do need engine work or oil work.

There is 'no' in-between.

Mike

Engine is running, but doesn't seem to run as strong when the pressure is at zero. What weight oil would you recommend?

Higher weight oils don't lubricate as well as lower weight. Trying to compensate for apparently low oil pressure, with a higher weight oil, may cause problems. Another way to look at it, is that you don't really care how much oil pressure there is at the engine gauge port, or what the gauge is reading. What is of interest, is how much fresh oil flow is reaching your engine bearings, and how well that lubricates them. This factor is going to go down, if you use an oil of excessive weight for the application.

The following information is intended for the air cooled Volkswagen engine, but it is apropos to this case too.

Earle

Mike is right. Without hooking a mechanical pressure guage directly to the block, an accurate diagnosis cannot be made.

Fire this mechanic. Find another who will perform an accurate diagnosis before you open your wallet.

1. Use only the OEM recommended lubricant viscosity.

1. Don't put Fram-anything on any vehicle you own. Fram products are junk. Stick with OEM or direct-replacement OEM-supplier parts.

2. Get a proper diagnosis made and quit worrying about band-aids.

No, you're probably an idiot, and most likely your "mechanic" is too.

You have been told several times what needs to be done. You need a mechanical gauge hooked up to it when the dash gauge is reading zero so you can verify that the engine does, or doesn't have oil pressure. If this wasn't the first thing your "mechanic" did, then you need to drop the asshole like a bad habit. If you're not capable of hooking up a mechanical gauge, then pay somebody who is. My guess is you have a problem with the "pay" word. You whine about the dealer's diagnostic fee, yet you have no problem with your "mechanic's" guessing it has plugged returns, which, if you've been honest and you only went 4,000 miles on one oil change, is impossible.

Either way, get it checked out BEFORE coming back here with more whining and 'what if's.

I'm not trying to be a prick here, but are you actually reading what people are posting here? Several of us have recommended that you install a mechanical gage to verify the pressure, which most of us believe is not the problem. You have made several posts saying this and that about what your crooked or uninformed mechanic is telling you to do. Read this one more time: INSTALL A MECHANICAL GAGE FIRST!

Regarding pulling the valve cover for blockage, it is a waste of money at this point. Also, if the cover is not leaking, then don't f$#% with it. The valve cover has been a leak point for many Jeepers. If the oil drains in the head were in fact plugged, your engine would be letting you know every time the oil pan runs dry by rattling and knocking.

I have seen so many electrical oil pressure gages give false reading, as have many others reading and posting here. Not just on Jeeps either. The gauge should be your first step.

One good way to stop getting good advice is to publicly show that when you do get good advice repeatedly, you still don't follow it. A lot of these guys that post here and own Jeeps know the little quirks they have, and also know the best way to get your Jeep running the way it should be.

Chris

In one of the Spanish newsgroups we were trying to decide whether a particular poster was "tomándonos el pelo" or just "un burro". This should be pretty easy to figure out here.

Earle

It is past the teasing stage.

One thing I learned while I was in Spain. It is "never" past the teasing stage. You should see the letter I recently wrote to the newspaper about the local school system. Here are the good bits

"...I have noticed that many of the local people are exceptionally stupid... ...I used to think that poor upbringing was the cause of this, but now I suspect that education has something to do with it..."

You could have knocked me over with a feather, when the newspaper editor printed it! I will have to revise my opinion of her muy pronto.

Earle

I've been using Fram oil filters since forever, and that's all I ever used on my old Jeep engine, the one that only lasted 300,000.

NJ Painter, Geeze dude, this isn't rocket science, STOP FOOLING AROUND AND FIND OUT WHAT YOUR OIL PRESSURE REALLY IS!!!

Jeff DeWitt

Outatime wrote:

I am starting to zero in on a diagnosis of "Munchhausen's by Automobile", if there is such a thing. ;^)