19762802+2 Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Alright I will try to explain this as well as I can. I got my car almost three years ago, it had sat for 9 years supposedly. If I remember right the gauge didn't always show oil pressure. Anyways Just recently I traded my rims for a Clifford Intake with a Two barrel holly and a 6-2-1 Header, I put all that on and it works fine. I have everything hooked up and also the guy I bought it from said it was a New Oil pump. Anyways to the point. when my car idles the oil pressure gauge doesn't do anything doesn't go up at all, When I rev my car up to 1500 RPMs It moves up to zero slowy then sorta stays there and doesn't do much of anything. I was wondering if this could be my gauge or maybe something else? I took the oil cap off when it was running and you can see oil squirting around and stuff just fine. The pressure sender looks new (maybe PO meant oil sender), but otherwise I don't really have any idea about what it could be. Plus I did search and I didn't find much of anything, I do have a spare Oil pressure gauge out of a 260z which I will put it tomorrow and see if that changes anything. Thanks for your time, if you need anymore information feel free to ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat1 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 I would put another gauge on it and see what pressure you get. These 30+ year old gauges are not reliable. My first z had low oil pressure and it was the pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators BRAAP Posted October 3, 2009 Administrators Share Posted October 3, 2009 Most likely the reason for the 0 indication is the oil pressure sender unit is garbage, especially if it is the gold colored metal version, i.e. not in a protective black rubber sleeve. If you want to the factory gauge to register anything at all, ONLY use the factory Nissan sending unit purchased over the Nissan parts counter. It will be encased in a black rubber protective sleeve, don't get one that is gold metal in color, that is the aftermarket crap, not reliable, 50-50 chance it’ll even work and is susceptible to leaking! Seen it far too many times to count, hence only Nissan oil pressure units for the OE gauge. These links also will help regarding the factory oil gauge pressure readings. 78 280z : 0 PSI Oil at startup and gradually goes up. No Oil Pressure At Idle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19762802+2 Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Most likely the reason for the 0 indication is the oil pressure sender unit is garbage, especially if it is the gold colored metal version, i.e. not in a protective black rubber sleeve. If you want to the factory gauge to register anything at all, ONLY use the factory Nissan sending unit purchased over the Nissan parts counter. It will be encased in a black rubber protective sleeve, don't get one that is gold metal in color, that is the aftermarket crap, not reliable, 50-50 chance it’ll even work and is susceptible to leaking! Seen it far too many times to count, hence only Nissan oil pressure units for the OE gauge. These links also will help regarding the factory oil gauge pressure readings. 78 280z : 0 PSI Oil at startup and gradually goes up. No Oil Pressure At Idle Thanks alot, mine does have the Gold colored Oil pressure sender. Thanks for all the help guys. I was going to try replacing the sender with a one at autozone so I guess that is a no go now haha, Well thanks for the links I guess I should have searched harder but thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 I have a gold pressure sending unit and I'm 99% sure I bought it from the dealer. Were there only certain years or models that came with the black rubber sleeve? I probably specified a 280ZX when I placed my order. Nigel '73 240ZT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woldson Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 encased in a black rubber protective sleeve I have no reason to not believe Braap, I will say this, all mine will become oil soaked and slide off, even so I've never had a failure, knock on wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrustnut Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I had the same exact problem with my Z after the engine rebuild...which is a GREAT time to not be sure of your oil pressure. I took off the valve cover and pulled the spark plugs and spun it through with a remote trigger and checked to make sure I was getting oil at the cam. I replaced the oil pressure sender with new (crappy gold, I didn't know better...thanks BRAAP) and now all systems normal. I think I read a post on here from BRAAP when I was searching for this problem initially and he said to paraphrase a bit...the gauge is for reference only, if you want true oil pressure install an in line gauge and if there is truly no oil pressure, you will know in a hurry! Remember, your cam rides on oil, if there's none there, I don't think it will spin so well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rolling Parts Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 ...when my car idles the oil pressure gauge doesn't do anything doesn't go up at all, When I rev my car up to 1500 RPMs It moves up to zero slowy.. I have a mechanical gauge I put in place of the sender if there is ever a question. Real easy to isolate what's real or not by just swapping in the gauge. As said, most times it's a flaky electrical sender unit that causes no/slow indications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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