Looks like I gotta fess up. I'm getting old blind and senile all at the same time I guess.
I know I need to change the oil in my truck. I'm not gonna do it anymore so I got this place I take it to, but I have been lazy and haven't been there in a while.
So about a month ago I started my truck, and the check gauges light came on. Turns out it was low oil pressure.
So after a few rounds of WTF is this, I pop the hood. Pull the dipstick and damn if it ain't full. Which is a good thing.
Start the truck and the oil psi comes right up to snuff.
So this goes on for about a month. I don't see anything wrong with the oil sending unit, and the dash gauge appears to function correctly.
So yesterday it happened and I decided to check the oil again.
Sonofabitch it was 3 1/2 quarts low. Now I KNOW that damn thing was full. But I put the oil in and lo and behold my oil pressure problem goes away.
And today I smelled hot oil so I gotta crawl under it and look for a leak.
But I guess I have to start paying closer attention to what I'm looking at from now on.
ain't maturity fun?
ReplyDeleteSometimes a dipstick can read false positive, if there is oil on the inside of the tube. Always check it a few times to make sure the correct reading is obtained.
ReplyDeleteI put a big piece of cardboard down, beneath the engine bay. It gives you a starting point so you don't need to get on your hands and knees four times.
ReplyDeleteOn my '02 Ranger, several years ago the needle on the pressure gage would flick from the peg, all the way into the red. finally, it went all the way around and ended up on the wrong side of the peg, and stayed there. The truck runs on 5W20, which I thought was too light given in way South Texas where 100 degree days are very common. It was still under extended wty, and they replaced the gage, and I ran straight 30W in the summer after that. My point being that gages and sending units can be flaky...that's a Dakota right?
ReplyDeleteYep, Dakota. My wifes 99 explorer oil gauge went around past the stop and stayed there. Oil sending unit was leaking into the connector and shorting it. Replaced the sender okay. Found a youtube video that shows how to use a magnet to bring the needle back around, I tried that and dam if it didn't work okay. Now I can read oil psi again on that car.
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