Bad oil guage

z28 justin · #1 (**permalink**) 06-02-2006, 02:38 PM

The oil pressure on my 95 Z dropped to nothing the other day. Had it checked with a mechanical guage and it's ok. The shop said this was a fairly common problem and that some of the wiring wasn't the best on some of these cars. Before I get a mechanical guage installed, have any of you had this problem before? Was there some sort of fix for it? I'm ok with wiring so I was just wondering if you guys could give me input before I tear up the dash. Thanks

Rare4thgens · #2 (**permalink**) 06-03-2006, 12:56 AM

No, this is not common. Were you coming to a stop when it went to zero? I hope it is just the gauge. :smt045

z28 justin · #3 (**permalink**) 06-04-2006, 01:23 PM

Yes, I was coming to a stop. I think a loose plug wire might have arched and shorted something. They checked it with a mechanical gauge so I know it's something electrical.

Do these cars need to read oil pressure in the computer to run correctly?

Rare4thgens · #4 (**permalink**) 06-04-2006, 01:45 PM

What's happening is most likely the windage tray has come loose which lets the oil move forward very quickly which drops pressure because it is moving away from the pick up. I had this happen on my 96 Z-SS. This will only happen on medium to hard stops though. If you are easy on it you might not hurt anything until you get it fixed but I still don't recomend driving it until you at least find out.

Does the car not start at all now? Or is it trying to turn over? This is important when you have a pressure prob.

z28 justin · #5 (**permalink**) 06-05-2006, 01:05 PM

I replaced the plugs and wires and the car fired right up and the pressure gauge worked as well. This has me stumped. I'll drive it around and see if it drops when stopping again. If it is the tray you said it may be, is it a hard fix? Is the tray built onto the oil pan, or somewhere else?

Rare4thgens · #6 (**permalink**) 06-05-2006, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by z28 justin

I replaced the plugs and wires and the car fired right up and the pressure gauge worked as well. This has me stumped. I'll drive it around and see if it drops when stopping again. If it is the tray you said it may be, is it a hard fix? Is the tray built onto the oil pan, or somewhere else?

It is part of the oil pan which is pretty difficult to get to on our cars unless you can lift the engine a bit and this is assuming you know how to get to a timing cover and what not. If the car drops pressure at all when you are stopping, that is what it is.