I have a 1997 dodge ram 4WD.. every once in a while when I am driving the truck the oil pressure gauge will drop to 0.. the oil light will come on.. but the truck is still running great.. I was told that the sending unit was bad so I changed it every thing looked good for a couple of days and then all of the sudden the gauge did it again.. It will do it and if you turn the truck off and then start it right back the gauge is good.. I didnt know if this could be something in the wiring or what.. If anyone has any input I would be GLAD to hear it...

 

Have you checked your oil level? Mine does that and the oil is low

 

Sounds like a ground issue to me. I've heard that can happen if you use sealer on the threads of the sensor. An easy way to prove or disprove this is to get a jumper wire with aligator clips on it, and provide a good ground to the casing of the sensor. If the problem stops you have your answer; just be sure to keep the jumper away from moving parts of course.

 

Oil level is good.. I had actually just changed oil right before it started doing this.. thats what kind of has me puzzeled.. Is there anyway maybe something is coming up every so ofter and blocking the end of the sending unit.. I know that sounds crazy..

 

Not so crazy as you would think...... I had someone stuff a rag into my motor..... I still expect to have to drop the oil pan a third time to get the rest of it out..... Also, the end of the pickup tube that is down in the oil, has a 'shroud' around it, so, the actual area that oil can pass thru is rather small, compared to the size of the screen above it... If you have sludge, or other 'stuff' in the bottom of your pan, that might be a contributor to your issue.

 

I have been told that to drop the pan I need to lift the motor up in the engine bay, to be able to remove the pan.. Is this TRUE?? and how much do you need to raise it..

 

Not in the 4 wheel drive trucks. I didn't have to raise my engine at all.

 

yea i have a 4wd also, you dont gotta raise the engine, thats only in 2wd. as for your problem, i had the same prob, and i put a mechanical guage in mine after the sending unit replacement didnt work, mechanical guage reads fine. purrs like a kitten. so i just grounded out the original connector to itself so the dash light would go off, and called it a day. Shortly after this, i noticed my gas gauge kinda freaks sometimes, i have had it drop all the way to empty when it was full. so basically the clusters in these suck ****! so maybe ur cluster is also on its way out.