Oil pressure sensor failed shortly after installing it

Amberfire01Tj

Amberfire01Tj

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Joined
Jan 21, 2023
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63
Location
Yuma, AZ
So I replaced my oil pressure sensor with the proper Mopar sensor and afterwards my gauge on dash had movement but seemed to fluxuate and then within a week of very little driving it pegged out on the gauge. When ignition is off the gauge reads zero, when I turn the ignition on but not started it pegs out and stays there until turned off. Jeep runs pretty good and no check engine light
Should I bother replacing again or check something els?
TIA
 
The usual problem is that it artificially reads 0, if it pegs out I would be wondering if the sensor was bad, or possibly if you got one for 05 or 06, where the wiring tends to change although I would need to actually check the wiring diagrams to see if the connectors would even allow for such a thing.
 
In our resources section we have the parts catalog for every year. Although depending on where you got your sensor from, it wouldn't be out of the question for the wrong one to be in the box. I have a handy reference for the wiring on this sensor, gimme a few to dig it up while I'm on this customer call.
 
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hear said:
In our resources section we have the parts catalog for every year. Although depending on where you got your sensor from, it wouldn't be out of the question for the wrong one to be in the box. I have a handy reference for the wiring on this sensor, gimme a few to dig it up while I'm on this customer call.
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Well crap, I don't have this done for the oil pressure sensor. For most of the engine related sensors I have a cross reference of the connector & pinout across all years of TJ & XJ, so I can see how a 98 compares to an 03 or whatever. Plus It beats wading through the entire FSM for one small thing that I seem to need all the time. I guess I have an action item for adding oil pressure to my doc.
 
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If anyone is still on the thready, can you reply or message me? I've got multiple questions and would rather not keep going back and forth on the thread! TIA
 
hear said:
Back and forth on the thread or back & forth via DMs, it's the same difference. If the conversation stays on the thread everybody gets to benefit.
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Fair enough! My issue my gauge is staying at 0 once I start moving. Otherwise its normal. It doesn't matter whether or not I'm on the gas or not. I put it in gear and it drops. I have an actual gauge and I have oil pressure and it's not running/sounding bad. I've tried multiple sensors including a couple of mopar sensors and it's the same thing. I just don't know why it's happening still. Even after checking with a gauge and new sensors.
 
Ok, you mentioned that it changes at idle, but also when you put it into gear. It changes when you hit the gas vs when you put it into gear may be an important distinction, idk yet. What does it read at idle?

Have you checked it with a mechanical gauge? That is, you unscrewed the sensor and connected a mechanical gauge to get the true reading?
 
hear said:
Ok, you mentioned that it changes at idle, but also when you put it into gear. It changes when you hit the gas vs when you put it into gear may be an important distinction, idk yet. What does it read at idle?

Have you checked it with a mechanical gauge? That is, you unscrewed the sensor and connected a mechanical gauge to get the true reading?
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I have checked it with a mechanical gauge and it reads perfect. But when I first start it after a few hours of it being off, it reads normal. But once I put it in gear, it drops to 0 whether I'm on the throttle or not. Even at idle at lights or signs, it just stays at 0. When i unscrewed it to use the mechanical gauge, it still read oil pressure at the cluster with no signal. I'm beginning to think it's an issue with my cluster. Or a short somewhere else in the line. Maybe the connector itself?
 
If it's reading w/o the gauge being screwed in, that feels like a problem. I've heard about gunk being in the port that can screw up the readings, but I'm not convinced that's your problem.
 
My thought exactly. I took out the sensor and very lightly tried to dig out anything with a pick and blow it out (lightly) but nothing came out of the port. I also used a small bore camera to see if there's any build up around the opening, and it was also clear. Just for safe measures, I ran some seafoam in it too, and changed the oil, but nothing still. I'm thinking there's a short somewhere just because I'm reading normal pressure on a mechanical gauge and the cluster still getting a signal at the same time. Not sure how I'm going to find the problem without pulling the engine to access the harness. If anyone has decent wiring knowledge, please advise me on how to go about this without pulling the harness. My next step is a multi-meter to see if there's a hot where there shouldn't be, grounded, or just too much resistance.
 
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Well I mean, even unthreaded from the block the sensor is going to detect atmospheric pressure I suppose, which is around 14psi. And on your 05 I think anything over 6psi is going to register "in the middle" of the gauge, so maybe it's not surprising that you're seeing a normal reading. That's among the reasons why we advise testing with a mechanical gauge, because the instrument cluster is a dummy gauge.

The 0 is the problem, however.
 
hear said:
Well I mean, even unthreaded from the block the sensor is going to detect atmospheric pressure I suppose, which is around 14psi. And on your 05 I think anything over 6psi is going to register "in the middle" of the gauge, so maybe it's not surprising that you're seeing a normal reading. That's among the reasons why we advise testing with a mechanical gauge, because the instrument cluster is a dummy gauge.

The 0 is the problem, however.
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It was fluctuating when it was unscrewed, but that does make sense that it would pick up any psi! And the 0... you think a multimeter would suffice to see if there's any hots, grounds, or ohms where there shouldn't be..? From my previous career, I do know that if there's too much resistance from a corroded wire, it can throw readings off when it comes to pressure gauges.
 
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