Duramax Oil Pressure

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
So after I had the injectors installed in the spring, the tech asked if I had checked my oil pressure often. Not sure where he was going with this, I said, sure, all the time. he then mentions the oil pressure gauge wasn't working. The scan showed everything was OK and there was in fact oil pressure so he suggested the gauge cluster.
There was a bulletin a while back about the cluster and I thought I had it taken care of. So I sent the cluster to an e-bay guy for a rebuild of the stepper motors and put it back in the truck. Still no OP. What the...
After some more research I replaced the OP sensor. Started the engine and still no OP. Now what???
I hadn't driven the truck until today. All of a sudden, I have OP! The gallery where the sensor is must take some time to fill or something but I'm very relieved I don't have to make the dreaded trip to the dealer.
BART is all cleaned up and under cover waiting to head south.:cool:
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
The original gauge showed 0 psi?


Steve
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes.
Initially we thought it was the gauge because the scan tool said the OP was good. I was also told the engine would shut down if it detected a loss in OP. All that said, I assumed the sensor was OK too. After rebuilding the cluster, I still had no OP at the gauge. The cheaper route was to go with a new sensor. Finally after driving a few miles, it started to register OP. At first,after installing the new sensor, the gauge still showed zero but I initially only ran it for about 30 seconds. Apparently more run time was needed to fill the oil that drained out when replacing the sensor. Maybe there was an "air bubble"?
 

porthole

Retired
Hey Ray get a new Ford and you won't have that problem - we don't have an oil pressure gauge.

Seriously though, the only way to verify is with a manual gauge piped into the oil galley lines. Some vehicle have a port just for that purpose, others have a "preferred are for testing, right after or right before before the last pressure galley dumps back into the pan.

I'd loan ya one if we were nearby..........................
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Hey Ray get a new Ford and you won't have that problem - we don't have an oil pressure gauge.

Seriously though, the only way to verify is with a manual gauge piped into the oil galley lines. Some vehicle have a port just for that purpose, others have a "preferred are for testing, right after or right before before the last pressure galley dumps back into the pan.

I'd loan ya one if we were nearby..........................
I looked at that option. Unless I add a pillar mount for the gauge, I couldn't find a good spot to put one otherwise. There's a port on the oil filter housing for a fitting and tubing. Routing wouldn't be bad straight up into the center console. Might be a project while down south this winter.
 

mrcomer

Past Ohio Chapter Leaders (Founding)
Ray,
Not sure if this is the same thing but on my way to Elkhart all the sudden all of my gages stopped working. No rpm, no speed, no fuel etc.. I pulled into a Chevy dealership a little freaked out and they said it was my instrument cluster and there have been know issues. He also said that I could drive it since all the cluster does is "report" values and it does not have any affect on the safety of driving the vehicle. Since I was planning on leaving the next day I opted to wait till I got home to have my local dealer take care of it. As it happened, it was under warranty and they replaced it for free. One week later I was right back at the dealer with the same problem. They ordered another cluster and it has worked flawlessly ever since. Mine is a 2003 Chevy Duramax.

Good luck,
Mark
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
Ray,
Not sure if this is the same thing but on my way to Elkhart all the sudden all of my gages stopped working. No rpm, no speed, no fuel etc.. I pulled into a Chevy dealership a little freaked out and they said it was my instrument cluster and there have been know issues. He also said that I could drive it since all the cluster does is "report" values and it does not have any affect on the safety of driving the vehicle. Since I was planning on leaving the next day I opted to wait till I got home to have my local dealer take care of it. As it happened, it was under warranty and they replaced it for free. One week later I was right back at the dealer with the same problem. They ordered another cluster and it has worked flawlessly ever since. Mine is a 2003 Chevy Duramax.

Good luck,
Mark
Thanks Mark, Our cluster was replaced back in 09. I finally checked my records. Anyway, I had heard that the replacements have been failing as well so I sent mine out for the newer stepper motors that are the problem. After it was returned, I still had no OP. All is good now though. The new sensor solved the problem.
 
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