T-Bone98

Brothers,
I got into my baby at lunch today to go to the bank, and about half-way there I looked down at the Oil Guage and it was sitting at 80PSI!!! WTF! Nothing on the DIC, all other guages appeared normal, engine wasn't making any strange sounds, idle was perfectly normal. I pulled over two times and turned the igition off, waited a few minutes and turned it back on. It rolled to 80PSI, back to about 40-45PSI, then went straight back up to 80PSI both times and stayed there. Any ideas what can be causing this? I have at least a twenty mile drive home today, is it safe for me to drive it this way? Thanks for the all the input! Peace. :cool: T-Bone.

vettenuts

Not sure how they run the resistance on the oil pressure sending unit. but it may be reading an open circuit as 80 psi (the wire may be broke or fallen off). Usually when something happens like this it is something simple. I would check for a wire that has fallen off. This was a commom problem with the L-98 temp gage as the sensor was right near plug #8 and was easy to knock off if you worked on the plugs.

T-Bone98

Thanks dude! Good point! I'll check it. Excuse my ignorance, but I forgot, exactly where is plug #8 located? Driver side or passenger side? Until I find this little critter, is it ok for me to drive it, right? Peace. :cool: T-Bone.

Trevor D

If it's not the sender then it's the oil pump. Oil pump problems aren't all that uncommon, unfortunately, and usually it's a problem of losing pressure completely due to a stuck plunger in the pump. Just the opposite can happen, and that's what it sounds like to me. You need to get it to the dealership pretty quick to find out if it's the guage or oil pump.

THRAP 42

Had this happen on mine not to long ago, dealer replaced sending unit and it's been fine ever since.

later,

PeterK

Your oil pressure sensor is a toast.
My went the same way. Gotta see the dealer. I hope you still have your warranty.

T-Bone98

Thanks Peter,

I've got it going in to the dealer on Monday morning, and yes I do have Platinum coverage warranty that should cover this. It covered the Fuel Sensors/Sending units when i got them replaced not all that long ago. Is it ok, for me to drive the car in the mean time or should I just let it sit over the weekend? I've got to drive it home tonight which is about 20 miles away. Peace. :cool: T-Bone.

PeterK

You can drive it. I don't think there is such a thing as "TOO much" oil pressure.
The only risk you have - is developing a huge oil leak and not being able to detect it.

Good thing that you have a warranty. GM paid over $600 for parts and labor on my car.


[Modified by PeterK, 1:09 PM 5/3/2002]

T-Bone98

Peter,
Good point, but as you say if this is just a bad sensor, I really don't have a HIGH oil pressure problem at all, the bad sensor is just indicating that, correct. Just as a note, I don't see any oil leakage at all under the car or in the engine compartment. Peace. :cool: T-Bone.

Fang S-289

I had a similar problem recently, only my analog guage was pegged and the DIC indicated oil pressure of 129 PSI. It proved to be a malfunctioning sensor. The intake manifold had to be removed to replace it. But it was a warranty repair so N/C.

Your problem could be different, but it's likely the sending unit.

Good luck with it.

PeterK

Yeah, what are the chances that you get an oil leak during this weekend.
I think the whole purpose of that sensor is to show you if your oil pump is malfunctioning - e.g. the oil pressure is too low.

T-Bone98

Peter,

Just an update, I took it to the dealer this morning. It was a Oil Pressure sensor after all like you said, but because they have to take the intake manifold off to get to it, I was glad that I had my warranty! The Service Manager did say this is a common problem with C5's. He see's alot of them with this problem and also with the Fuel sensors too. He said it looks more serious than it is, and needs to be corrected, but it does not hurt the car to drive it that way. Thanks dude! Peace. :cool: T-Bone.

PeterK

As I said, the GMPP paid almost $500 in my case.
Corvettes are NOT cheap in service, that is for sure.