Ford Ranger Oil Pressure Gauge - Sludge?

jeffcoslacker wrote:
> Sharon K. Cooke Wrote:
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > I've recently been driving an old reengined 1986 Ford Ranger, I have
> > no
> > > idea what the engine is, the truck says electronic ignition, but this
> > > looks conventional, 2.0 l or 2.3 l. The problem is the oil pressure
> > > gauge (it's the dummy variety - I tested it by grounding the sender
> > > wire - it reads slightly about half), goes straight up to good oil
> > > pressure, but then falls to zero after a few minutes, and stays
> > pegged
> > > at zero, although the engines runs fine, although a little hot.
> > >
> > > Is this an indication that I'm sludging at the oil pump intake port,
> > or
> > > is it indicative of a stripped oil pump drive gear, or is the sender
> > > just bad. I don't want to put a new sender in, I don't even want to
> > > invest in a set of good gauges, but I don't want to blow the engine,
> > > and the alternative of dropping the oil pan and desludging it almost
> > > calls for basically removing the engine.
> > >
> > > Anyone ever seen a sender unit fail like this, or do I have a deeper
> > > problem here.
> > >
> > > Thanks!
> >
> > You obviously know it's just an idiot light disguised as a gauge, so
> > you've got two states; on or off. If you think it's the sender (snap
> > switch), just replace it. If it still does what you described, there's
> > a
> > real oil pressure problem.
>
> The shop where I worked we had several Fords (Rangers, E-350's,
> F-150...delivery trucks as well) that acted exactly like that as they
> got old, showing good pressure when you first started them in the
> morning, and falling off to nothing as the engine warmed up....those
> trucks ran for years that way....it's a bad sender or guage fault...If
> you take the oil cap off with the motor running warm and see oil
> slinging off the rockers, don't worry about it...if it had oil pressure
> that low in the bottom, nothing would be making it to the top.

That's what I thought at first, that's good to know. If I had found a
single instance of someone discussing that particular gauge behavior, I
probable wouldn't even have posted.

Thanks!

F. H. wrote:
> wrote:
> > Backyard Mechanic wrote:
> >
> >>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Anyone ever seen a sender unit fail like this, or do I have a deeper
> >>>> problem here.
> >>> I think you have to find out if you have an "idiot light" type of
> >>> sender or a sender that is built for a gauge.
> >> He did find out and described how he did it. It's obviously a 'fooler'.
> >>
> >> BUT if the sender is as big around as a small tomato paste can, it will
> >> send an erroneous LOW reading.. because of the dropping resistor in the
> >> gauge wiring.
> >> I assume that's not the case, because he gets NO reading... bet the sender
> >> is smaller than a half-dollar which means it's a switch.
> >
> > No, it's definitely an idiot sender. I haven't got an actual pressure
> > gauge onto it yet, but I flushed the old synthetic out, and put in new
> > conventional 5W-30 and drained it through, to try to flush anything
> > out, and then put a new oil filter on, and now at least I have idiot
> > pressure. I really don't think the sender is bad, and working under
> > there, I noticed a ton of permatex or form-a-gasket or whatever,
> > hanging down everywhere, the transmission pan, everything, and that has
> > me very worried, if the mechanic who reengined it just slapped
> > everything together, there may actually be some of that crap floating
> > around in there. It's probably worth my while to rig up the most
> > accurate under dash gauge that I can find, to keep an eye on it. I just
> > don't want to blow $20 bucks on an idiot sender, but I suppose
> > eventually I'm going to have to learn how to lift the engine and drop
> > the pan. Possibly the engine and the frame aren't worth it, though.
> >
> > I'm more interested in practicing a rational diagnosis, so I researched
> > it all first, and then I thought I would bring it up here, since oil
> > pressure is crucial. Thanks everybody!
>
> If I was concerned about possible bearing clearance I would lean toward
> heavier oil than 5-30.

That's good to know, thanks! At first I thought maybe the Castrol
Syntec oil had perhaps desludged it out, knocking all the crap into the
pan and fouling the screen, and I don't want to do a full blown engine
flush on an old engine. That's a whole other discussion.

What I'm going to do is run this thin oil for a while, and I'm looking
at a gauge set instead of a new sender. I really do think something is
sticking onto the oil screen, but it could very well be a flaky sender.
Then I'll get it hot and flush that oil out, and put in something
heavier, certainly the engine could use it.

Thanks again!

wrote:

>

>
> That's good to know, thanks! At first I thought maybe the Castrol
> Syntec oil had perhaps desludged it out, knocking all the crap into
> the pan and fouling the screen, and I don't want to do a full blown
> engine flush on an old engine. That's a whole other discussion.
>
> What I'm going to do is run this thin oil for a while, and I'm looking
> at a gauge set instead of a new sender. I really do think something is
> sticking onto the oil screen, but it could very well be a flaky
> sender. Then I'll get it hot and flush that oil out, and put in
> something heavier, certainly the engine could use it.
>
> Thanks again!
>
>

It may have been a sludging problem. I've used Mobil 1 mixed weights
(w30 and w50) successfully in several cars including one with damaged
mains.
And if you dont hear thunking or tapping at a cold startup, you're
probably okay.

I'd use Mobil 1, if oil use is low, rather than what you were using.. it
will slowly eat all the sludge out and it's a pure synthetic, not just
petroleum derived.


--
Yeh, I'm a Krusty old Geezer, putting up with my 'smartass' is the price
you pay..DEAL with it!

Backyard Mechanic Wrote:
> wrote:
>
> >
>
> >
> > That's good to know, thanks! At first I thought maybe the Castrol
> > Syntec oil had perhaps desludged it out, knocking all the crap into
> > the pan and fouling the screen, and I don't want to do a full blown
> > engine flush on an old engine. That's a whole other discussion.
> >
> > What I'm going to do is run this thin oil for a while, and I'm
> looking
> > at a gauge set instead of a new sender. I really do think something
> is
> > sticking onto the oil screen, but it could very well be a flaky
> > sender. Then I'll get it hot and flush that oil out, and put in
> > something heavier, certainly the engine could use it.
> >
> > Thanks again!
> >
> >
>
> It may have been a sludging problem. I've used Mobil 1 mixed weights
> (w30 and w50) successfully in several cars including one with damaged
> mains.
> And if you dont hear thunking or tapping at a cold startup, you're
> probably okay.
>
> I'd use Mobil 1, if oil use is low, rather than what you were using..
> it
> will slowly eat all the sludge out and it's a pure synthetic, not just
> petroleum derived.
>
>
> --
> Yeh, I'm a Krusty old Geezer, putting up with my 'smartass' is the
> price
> you pay..DEAL with it!

It's really not that alarming to hear an old Ford engine with a lotta
miles have a loud rattle in the bottom end for a few seconds at cold
start...the thrust bearing on the crank tends to wear and loose drift
control of the crank long before the main's surfaces are badly
worn...so what sounds like a knocking is actually the crank moving fore
and aft as the rods act on it, before the oil pressure comes up and
floats everything better...


--
jeffcoslacker
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Backyard Mechanic wrote:
> wrote:
>
>
>> That's good to know, thanks! At first I thought maybe the Castrol
>> Syntec oil had perhaps desludged it out, knocking all the crap into
>> the pan and fouling the screen, and I don't want to do a full blown
>> engine flush on an old engine. That's a whole other discussion.
>>
>> What I'm going to do is run this thin oil for a while, and I'm looking
>> at a gauge set instead of a new sender. I really do think something is
>> sticking onto the oil screen, but it could very well be a flaky
>> sender. Then I'll get it hot and flush that oil out, and put in
>> something heavier, certainly the engine could use it.
>>
>> Thanks again!
>>
>>
>
> It may have been a sludging problem. I've used Mobil 1 mixed weights
> (w30 and w50) successfully in several cars including one with damaged
> mains.
> And if you dont hear thunking or tapping at a cold startup, you're
> probably okay.
>
> I'd use Mobil 1, if oil use is low, rather than what you were using.. it
> will slowly eat all the sludge out and it's a pure synthetic, not just
> petroleum derived.

What would be your take overall on changing (4.6 140K in excellent
shape) that's been run on quality oil to something like Mobil 1? If you
favor, what sequence would you follow? Filter changes etc.

David M wrote:

> You might consider dropping the pan and checking the screen.

As in : i.e. - remove the engine. No thanks. That's too obvious.

So who designs these things where one critical failure path is
inaccessible?

http://cosmic.lifeform.org

David M wrote:
>
> I guess I missed the part where you had to remove the engine to
> take the oil pan off. That's not the case MOST of the time,
> but I'm not familiar with your particular setup.
>
I had an 88 Ranger with the 4 cyl engine (2.3l, IIRC) that I bought real
cheap from a friend because it had no oil pressure and he didn't want to
fool with it. The gauge read 0 and it was real noisy so it was pretty
obvious that there was no oil pressure. According to the book, you could
remove the pan by lifting the engine a little. I fought with it for a
couple weeks trying to drop the pan then decided to hell with it and
pulled the engine. It was actually fairly easy, took a lot less time than
I had already ****ed away trying to get the pan off. I removed the pan
and found the pickup screen totally plugged with what looked like
deteriorated gasket material. There was no sludge and it didn't look like
there was any damage so I cleaned it up (that stuff was really packed in
there), put it back together, re-installed the engine and it ran just
fine...well, as well as an old Ranger with 140K miles could run. A couple
weeks later, a guy saw it in the driveway and knocked on the door wanting
to buy it...sold it for a tidy profit.

Anyway, sometimes pulling the engine is quicker than farting around
trying to get to what you need to fix with the engine in...

ZZ wrote:

> Anyway, sometimes pulling the engine is quicker than farting around
> trying to get to what you need to fix with the engine in...

Ok everybody listen up, this is post diagnosis, fortunately not post
mortem. I just couldn't stand it anymore, that engine is making a lot
of noises anyways, which are hard to distinguish from all the other
frame vibrations and rattling I'm hearing in there, so I went out
looking for a professional gauge set, but what I settled on was a
SunPro $15.00 custom special. The full dial oil pressure gauge that I
would have preferred, was in the three gauge set for about $35.00, but
what the hell, the single gauge went in easy, although I had to run the
nylon line out the full length to get it into easy view. All the little
fittings worked fine. You can even tee it into a regular sender switch,
or a variable resistance sender too, for a bit of sensor redundancy.

The good news is the cold start oil pressure went right up to 75 psi or
so, and then slowly fell to around 50-55 psi, with revving
fluctuations. The bad news is it's still a beat up old truck, with an
engine on the way out, but oil pressure is not my problem so far. With
the old mucked up sender and the idiot gauge I could get a reading on
start, and then as it fell to zero I could bump it back up a bit for a
while, but eventually when the engine was warm it just read zero.

I think that sythnetic oil cleaned out the engine good, too good maybe.
Probably some heavier oil will do it good for the rest of the summer. I
can also highly recommend those little gauges. Anything is better than
an idiot gauge, but eventually I'll probably tee one back in. I figure
if the truck dies at least I could get the gauge out of it. They also
have a spare nylon tube kit with all the little fittings sold
seperately for $4.00, and it looked like a full copper line kit for
somewhat more.

I'll pull the engine when it croaks. At least now I'll be able to
monitor it as it passes away, not too soon I hope. Thanks for all the
good tips everybody. I'm gone.

, Autozone Duralast PS103 oil sender, $4.99 or PS222 for $6.99. Cheap
mechanical gauge kit, $15.

If its running and not knocking, its probably a bad sender. 4 quarts of 30
weight oil., and a quart of marvel mystry oil, run for 15 - 20 minutes and
oil change with 10-30 or 20-50 motor oil. Marvel is lot more gentle on
seals then engine flushes. If you got a wrecking yard you can pull parts
at, you might be able to find a gauge and plumbing for under $5.

The 2.0 had a carb, the 2.3 was fuel injected.

Whitelightning

Whitelightning wrote:

> , Autozone Duralast PS103 oil sender, $4.99 or PS222 for $6.99. Cheap
> mechanical gauge kit, $15.

Now you tell me. Thanks! My Autozone had kids working there, so I'll
have to interrogate them now, I suppose.

> If its running and not knocking, its probably a bad sender. 4 quarts of 30
> weight oil., and a quart of marvel mystry oil, run for 15 - 20 minutes and
> oil change with 10-30 or 20-50 motor oil. Marvel is lot more gentle on
> seals then engine flushes.

It's making plenty of noises, but when you rev it up, it's fairly
smooth.

I also hit a local Farm and Fleet too, and saw the Marvel stuff. I hear
it's good for outboards too. The truck owner already got a bottle of
Gunk, but that stuff scares me. When I'm ready for the heavy oil I'll
definitely do a light flush. I know I basically ruined an old Ford
Fairmont doing a full on engine flush once. I've always been stuck with
20 year old Fords. I remember an old Ford engineer used to say to me,
for god's sake, don't change the oil! In those days, it seemed like
that crap was the only thing holding the engine together. I want
cryogenic fuel cells, but for now all I've got is old Fords.

> If you got a wrecking yard you can pull parts
> at, you might be able to find a gauge and plumbing for under $5.

> The 2.0 had a carb, the 2.3 was fuel injected.

Thanks!

> Whitelightning