I have an 01 Dakota 3.9L V6, and when i am driving i notice that my oil gauge meter fluctuates.
When i give her throttle, it will go up to 3/4 of the gauge but when i stop it will drop to almost 1/4.
My oil lvl is perfectly fine also, check it before every trip.
WHATS GOING ON!?

 

It's normal operation. The oil pump is engine driven and the oil pressure on the gauge will vary with the RPM. It's nothing to worry about. If it ever starts fluctuating a lot no matter what your speed/RPM is, then you might need a new oil pressure sending unit or you might need to clean the electrical wiring connector on the sending unit. If it ever reads steady low oil pressure at high RPM then you might have engine problems and you could check the actual oil pressure with a mechanical gauge to try to see what is going on.

Jimmy

 

I've heard ours isnt exactly accurate but I know on my 318 mine will hold at 3/4's all day long. Once my oil gets older tho it will fall to 1/4 at idle but as soon as I start driving its fine

 

Ya it only goes low during idle. When i gas her at even 1500RPM it moves back up to 3/4.

 

the pumps are rpm dependent as stated above, if you are WOT and its not moving you got issues. ive had that happen a few times. check oil regularly just to be sure you dont run low on oil obviously.