99 & up 7.3L Power Stroke Engine and DrivetrainDiscussion of the 99 & up 7.3L Power Stroke diesel engine and drivetrain in the 1999-Up Super Duty trucks and Excursions. No gas engine discussion allowed except on transmissions and drivetrain that pertain to all models. Please confine discussion of topics in this forum to those items that are specific to the 7.3L Power Stroke engine.
Hey everyone,
When I fire up my 2000 excursion the oil level will show just fine, with the oil light off. After I have been driving for a little while, the gauge with drop to 0 and the oil light will come on.
I have been having electrical issues and was thinking it might be related to that, or maybe the sensor itself is going bad.
My brother in law was thinking that the gauge measures oil pressure and not level, and that it might be my oil pump is not working.
Anyone gone through this before? Any thoughts?
If your oil pump failed I believe that HPOP would run out of oil. I would lean towards a bad sending unit for your oil pressure.
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When you say bad sending unit, What do you mean?
FYI everytime I have watched it, it is just fine at starting, then while driving it will drop.
Because it is happening everytime, rather than randomly I have a hard time thinking it is just a sensor or wiring problem.
I don't know of any oil level sensor on a 7.3L, and I don't think they installed one specially for the Excursion.
The oil PRESSURE sensor is on top of the HPOP reservoir (front top of the engine) and is actually just a switch that indicates whether the oil pressure is above 7 psi, I believe. The oil pressure gauge isn't really a gauge, but an indicator, moving to the same position when the switch closes.
I'd think it may be a sensor issue, unless your oil level is way low and the pump is starting to suck air. You'd probably notice that when the engine starts running crappy.
OK, a little update.
Today it did the same thing, then I left the excursion idling for a while, and the oil pressure came back up.
So I drove around watching it. When I hit the road and started speeding up, the gauge would start to drop slowly, then I would take my foot off the pedal and the gauge would go back up. I drove around for a little bit and it kept repeating this. The truck drives great. I am thinking the oil pump is starting to go. Does that happen?
Pump problems would show up at idle, not going down the road. You need to get a mechancal guage on it to see what is happening. Anythng else is guessing. (though you probably have a sender issue)
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Dad always said,"Knowledge is limited but stupidity knows no bounds."
Here is another thought, but you really don't want this one to be true. Broken baffle in oil pan. A section of the baffle breaks off & works it way under the oil pump pick up tube. As engine speed picks up, oil flow through the pick up tube increases, ulitmately lifting the broken baffle up to the tube screen, blocking the flow. Oil pressure begins to drop. As the engine slows down, the baffle drops away from the pick up screen. Let's hope this is not your problem. Like the man said, check your oil pressure with a mechanical gauge. Probably the oil sending unit or its electrical connection is bad. In the broken baffle scenario I described, usually the engine dies out because there is no oil pressure to operate the injectors.
So can I see an oil pressure sender that will actually indicate the oil pressure and connect it to the vehicle gauge? Rather than just an oil pressure switch.
Is there any benefit to this?
Is this what I would be looking for? http://shop.oreillyauto.com/ProductD...goryCode=3342C
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