I read this extremely interesting article over at popular mechanics that i think everybody should see for themselfs.

http://popularmechanics.com/popmech/...AUQAM.html#Oil

BEFORE YOU READ FURTHER BELOW PLEASE READ THIS ARTICLE AT THE LINK ABOVE

After reading this article i was really pissed off. Now knowing the gauges on my truck arent telling me ****. This truly upsets me. Im sure most of you already know this but for those who dont it may be upsetting. Way to go ford!

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97 F150 Longbed V8 4.6
K&N air filter
K&N FIPK tech MOD & removed elbow silencer
Tires: Yokohama 265/75/16 Geolander AT+
Hyper white xenon bulbs
Bedliner and raven shell
6 disc cd changer
Oil & filter used

Gasoline used

My Truck


[This message has been edited by moose-man (edited 04-20-2001).]

 

The question is , has anyone tried the fix in the article?If so what were the part numbers for the senders? If this doesn't get any replys, I'll look into it myself and post.

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2001 F-150 XLT S-CAB 4.6 "Fully equipt, and Superchip'd!"
96 Taurus GL
93 Kenne-Bell Supercharged Mustang
"Injection is nice, but I perfer being blown!"

86 Kawasaki ZG 1000 A-1 Concours

 

I can't believe this crap! I have been
staring at that stupid gauge for 6 years. I
have a habit of checking the gauges, often
frequently, while driving. My Dad started
me on that habit. Now I find out it was for
nothing. Why put this type of guage in a
vehicle? I also just bought a 98 XLT, which
I assume is the same way. There is no way
I can live with these stupid guages. I will
be changing them, SOON!

Un-frickin-believable!

 

My 95 Mercury GM had real gauges, but in 97 Ford put the Idiot sticks in all their models, didn't it seem stange, when you idled your truck, the oil pressure stays the same??
Old News for most, but looks like it caught some of you...
DOGCAM

 

It is NOT industry standard. All General Motors Vehicles with gauges, actualy work and yes, they have real #'s too.

Ford has done this for a long time. Jeep also does this. It is supposed to make you feel warm and fuzzy

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2001 Ford F150 Supercab 4.6L
Airlift Rear Suspention with onboard compressor

 

You are over reacting to a standard practice. I'd bet very automobile manufacturer does this. Even heavy equipment and ag vehicle manufactures do this.
One reason it does not tell you exact data is because nothing stays constant in an engine, your needles would be bouncing all over the place.
The oil pressure gauge is set up to show you when the pressure drops below a safe level. The rest of the time it will show somewhere in the normal range. Though as pressure drops it will move alittle till it drops below a calculated safty factor. Same for the Temp guage. If you want to complain, you can complain that the speedometer doesnt actually show your instananeous speed, it shows an average speed over a certain time. If you have a digital odometer you can check to see how much all the data acutually veries and how it fast it changes.
If your are going to use your vehicle for racing or at other high rpm, high pressure , high temp situations constantly then you might want to change the sending units.

i'll continue this is anyone wants.

 

You know Dogcam, I just guess I never really
thought about it. In hindsight, yes I can't
believe I didn't notice it. I have owned
several other makes of vehicles on which the
oil gauge did work. I can't believe I didn't
notice. What an idiot. Its no use cryin'
about it now, it's just time to fix it. I
checked out the ford-diesel site, but only
found references to fixing the problem on
mustangs and larger ford trucks. How do
those fixes translate to the f150?

 

What the issue is that Ford and other manufacurers got tired of telling there customer that it was OK for their gauges to move around (change readings) depending upon engine RPM and load. General Motors Trucks to my knowledge are the only trucks that still use actual functioning gauges that DO change reading as you drive. Oh yea, and as I said before they have #'s not Low and High or Cold and Hot which tell you nothing anyway. The way I figure it is that if the gauge drops to 0 than I have no Oil Pressure, same as a fully functioning gauge and I am probably hosed by that point anyway.


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2001 Ford F150 Supercab 4.6L
Airlift Rear Suspention with onboard compressor

 

I probably am over-reacting a wee bit. But
I agree with FastDEW, I don't think this is
standard industry practice in the auto world.
I also don't think it's standard practice on
agricultural machinery. I'm curious to see
on both counts. I'll do a little searching
and find out.

 

Gauges: www.stylinconcepts.com has a set of gauges for the F-Series, Expedition, and SuperDuty that mount on the door pillar - a double pod goes for $34.95, the gauges vary - $47.00 >, even have a tach for our tach-less friends.

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Gots: 2000 F-150, 4x4, SCab, XLT, Island Blue, Styleside, 157” Wheelbase, 5.4L EFI, 4-Speed Auto O/D, Class III Towing Package; AM/FM/CD; Dark Graphite 40/60 Cloth Seats (F/R); Rear Slider; 4 Wheel ABS; “Ex-Tang” Snapless Tonneau; Ford “Duraliner” Bedliner; “CDA” Paint Saver Pad; “Lund Runners” Truck Steps; “Husky” Splashguards; “Weather Tech” Floor Mats; “Saddleman” Hood Protector; “WeatherTech” WeatherFlectors; 4th Brake Light (again!); “Pilot” 55 Watt Backup Lights (pair, under hitch).

Wants: “K&N” FIPK; “Gibson” Dual Sport Truck Cat-Back Exhaust System; “Exotic Wood” Steering Wheel & Dash Kit; “RoadMaster” Active Suspension; Lighted “Blue Oval” Logos – grill and tailgate; Remote Starter; Pilot Driving Lights; “Lund” Backdraft Tailgate Spoiler;

 

I jsut bought an '96 F-150 and own an '87 Chevy. The Chevy has working guages, the best part about the guages is, if you make a habit of wathing them you can normally tell if something is wearing out long before it goes kaput (time to save for a repair). With idiot lights or Ford guages they just go out and leave you with a bill, inevitably at the worst possible time.

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1996 F-150 XL, 2WD short bed and cab, 4.9 I-6
Bed Liner
Tonneau Top
Bug Deflector
31/10.5R15 Generic
Pioneer AM/FM CD player
35% Tint

 

Super Chip & Overheating?

I just finished reading about how ford gauges are not accurate, and that due to this it is not possible to get any kind of readings other than extreme.

If you can’t tell what you motor is “really doing” then how do you know that a performance chip is not making you motor run hotter.

In the past I had heard that performance chips made the old 5.0 mustangs run hot and a bigger radiator was needed.

If the ford gauges don’t show changes that what the *******, how do you guys who have performance chips know that it isn’t hurting you engine?

Does any owner know for a fact that their engine is not running hotter?

Would this also apply to oil pressure?

 

I never really noticed, and I do quite often look at the guage as do I look at my Autometer oil pressure guage on my 71 F-100, ever since I had my oil pump caved, it saved my motor! I wonder if it's the same on the Lightning? It better not be. It's just another way of cutting corners for production costs. Cudos to GM/Chevy for having real oil pressure guages.

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~'98 F-150 XLT Reg. Cab Flareside 4x4, Black, 5.4L, 3.55LS, tow package, 285/75/r16 Mud Terrain BFG's,K&N,WMS Velocity Tube, GTS headlight covers, Alpine changer w/FM mod, Clifford alarm system w/keyless entry & starter disable // Future considerations: Bed mat, tonneau cover, 4" suspension lift or 3" body lift.

~'71 F-100 Sport Custom Reg.Cab
-390FE w/Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, 780cfm Holley, ported & polished cylinder heads,
Hydraulic Crane Cam, 10.5:1 CR, Black Jack headers, true double roller timing chain, and high volume oil pump
-C6 transmision w/B&M 2600rpm stall
-9" Ford Rearend w/4.10 Richmond Gears & 31 spline axles
-215/65/r15 Yokohama's for the front & 28"x13.5"x15" Mickey Thompson ET Street slicks for the back
Best 1/4 mile time @ 3500ft altitude 14.69secs @ 92mph

~2000 Suzuki RM125 Dirt Bike
-no need for any modifications! (yet)

~2001 Traxxas T-Maxx Nitro Monster Truck
Modifications: -180degree carb flip w/return spring installed

 

Hi MechE

I followed your reasoning on fluctuating guages. My 88 F250HD 460 etc, oil pressure guage was irratic. Was replaced (sending unit)under warranty. After that, it showed pressure, depending on rpm's. That appeared to be more realistic. It only bounced all over because sending unit bad!

I have 99SC with guages. I tow a TT, mostly during the spring & hot summers. Im not overloaded, within factory tow specs, etc. Yep, been doing this along time with present & others trucks.

BINGO--it just hit me after reading these posts, i remember it kind of odd that the guages in my truck-oil & water temp. never moved, especially driving in 90+degree & over 8000ft.elevation.

My question for you, if these new quages work as mentioned here,( analog, switch or "idiot"guage,) then in your opinion,
should I change sending unit??

When towing, its high rpms & temps, Even my old 88 water temp.guage moved upscale when it got hot, this 99SC dont do that. At the time i thought man this engine etc. running cool, now im not so sure.

These trucks are designed to haul or tow loads, some more than others, shouldn't the guage be reasonable accurate;

I believe the concerns here are genuine.

Just for into (i know) Had 93 Saturn, drove 250 miles with only 2 quarts of oil in engine, i think it had 4qt, capacity, maybe less. (my fault, really dumb) So called "pressure guage" (not idiot light) didnt move, wouldnt you think that needle would move when that low on oil???

Is it cheaper to do it this way. I still like FORD, but have to say they have really made changes since 1988, NOT a better idea by FORD.

Thanks for any replies. Have a good one. OT

 

2001-

I have an autometer water temp gauge, and have a superchip. IF there is a differance, (which I cant tell) its only a few degrees, which you cant see even on a real gauge anyway.

If the superchip does anything, it makes the gas gauge work harder!!!

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2000 XLT Silver 5.4L SC 4X4 ORP 157"wb Ford Floormats, MudFlaps,Cabin Air Filter, lighted emblems, lighted interior door handles(all 4) Chrome Grill (4x2 style), Diamondplate bed caps, Pro-Tech tool box, Air Box mod, Muth Heated Signal Mirrors, Custom Gauge Pod-(water temp, trans temp)
Perma-cool 8" Electric Trans Cooler Fan, (2) Perma-cool 14" electrics, Superchip (flipchip), Map lights in overhead-rear pass, tinted windows, back up lights.