Driving my 2001, moderately modded L home this afternoon when after getting off of I-75, I went WOT at about 30 mph. My L responded as I expected it to and took off, leaving a new F250 Diesal 'in the dust' that had been belching dark, sooty exhaust smoke all over the L. I'm now at 70 mph when I glance at the dash cluster and the "Low Oil Warning" red light is 'on'--the icon that comes up just to the left of the oil pressure gauge. Then I noticed the o/p gauge was all the way down to zero! I thought I might have a heart attack. I took my foot off of the gas, shifted it into Neutral and listened for engine noise. I heard none and in a minute or two, I was able to pull over to the side.

I shut it down, still having heard nothing unusual. I took a shop rag and checked the oil level which was a little on the over-filled side but of course, the oil was hot so that was normal. I could see no oil dripping off of the engine and none puddled on top.

I started it back up and the oil warning light was out and the oil pressure needle was back where it normally stays. I got home in about 5 minutes from stopping and then noticed the light back on and the o/p gauge down to zero. I shut it down again, got out to open the garage door and when I restarted it, it was back to normal again.

I'm letting it cool off now so I can do correct check on the oil level plus, to see if it starts dripping but again, no grinding or unusual noises from it.

Could it be just an intermmentant electrical connection or a bad oil pressure sender? Hope y'all can help me out as this L has never been in a service shop except for brakes and tires. It has 91,180 miles on it.

Dan

 

Dan, if you are not hearing any engine knocking, than I doubt you've lost oil pressure. I'd bet that the pressure sender has gone bad. Easy fix.

 

Yes it can be electrical and or oil sendor related
Don Bolts just had his go and he was also seeing no oil pressure.
(not sure if his Low Oil Light came on too, but it did end up being the oil sendor).

GOOD LUCK Bro

 

Thank's Sal and Rob. Still no oil leaking in the garage so I'm hopeful we're correct.

Any guidance as to where the oil pressure sender is located?

Dan

 

front lower driver's side of the block. just below the front of the exhaust manifold. jack up the front end and take ofd the dirver's side wheel, and you will be looking right at it.

 

We have three 2001 Fords in the family two of the three have had the oil pressure sending unit fail doing the same thing as you describe, the third one only has 12,000 mile on it so i guess it will be next. Replace the sending unit and it will be fine, Good luck!

 

Allright 'den', y'all are the best!

Oh, and can I remove it before I get the new one or will the oil drain out?

Dan

 

Dan,

I had the same problem before. It was the oil pressure sending unit. It scares the ***** out of you doesn't it.

Here are the part numbers and location on the front driver's side of the engine.

 

Gotta love this site when its not a
**** contest

**THANKS CHUCK**

Get-R-Done Dan

LMAO

 

Replace the sending unit but keep an eye on it for a while. I had the same thing happen the begining of this race season and my engine locked up.

Peace,

Suavy

 

I got the sender(Sorenson) from Advanced APs and changed it out. Tough to get the connector loose but I finally managed it. Turned the eng. on and got good pressue on the gauge with no light. Checked and found no oil leaking from the new sender. Of course, I won't know if it was the answer until I drive it Mon. to work but thank's again for all the help.

Dan

 

Hey Dan, its OK to drive the truck on weekends

 

All went well on the 35 miles to work this AM. Thank's again for the concern and help y'all.

Dan

 

Everything was OK for two days but when I got home today, the same problem came back .

What should I do now??? Bad replacement sender???

Dan

 

Any part can fail just because it is new doesn't mean that it's good. That being said it can also be a wiring problem, The wire can be brocken near the pin of the conector and loosing contact from movement, heat or both. On the negative side it could be an engine problem (doubtfull). You may want to try wigeling the wiring conecter at the sending unit, and other two conectors being carefull of moving parts, or better install a jumper in place of the switch and turn the key to the run position, while someone watches for the light to come on or the guage to drop. There is also a concter at the back pasenger side of the engine that conects the engine wiring to the main harness and then one that goes through the drivers side fire wall. Also there is a processor built in to the instrament cluster that can be having a problem. There is a way to go into diagnosis on the cluster You hold in the select reset button with the key of and while holding the button in turn the key on then continue pushing the button every 5 seconds untill you get to the displat dtc if there are any stored codes they should show up. I don't think this will be a lot of help because it will probly send a code for the sending unit (c1284) although this could be eletrical or manual. the wire that runs from the sending unit to the cluster should be a white wire with a red stripe or tracer. If you can't find anything this way to be safe you can buy an inexpensive oil pressure guage (mecahanical type) and T it in at the sending unit, due a temporary install and see if it drops the next time the light/guage acts up, if it stays up it will iliminate the dreaded engine problem. Hope I was able to help in some way and the best of luck yo you.