Low Oil Pressure Light

[Jozef Zoldos]

Got a 2011 Expedtion EL Limited. Put in new cam phasers last year and put in an upgraded oil pump (Melling). Over a year later, oil pressure light comes on at stop light and pressure guage on dash falls. This happened about 2-3 weeks ago during a simple commute then stopped spontaneously. Symptoms just recurred and stopped again (about 2-3 weeks later). Car runs perfectly without a hiccup. Did an oil change 1 week prior ot all of this and oil levels are OK. I realize that the oil pressure sending unit is an idiot switch and they are known to go bad. What are the chances that it is a bad oil pump? What would you all recommend? Should I test the oil pressure with a guage or should I just try to change the sending unit?

 

[07navi]

You need to put a real gauge in it, I did a thread on it in here.

 

[JExpedition07]

Did you have any chunks of plastic on the guides missing? Also could be the O-ring on the pickup tube. Or a bad sender.

 

[mnachreiner86]

Did you have any chunks of plastic on the guides missing? Also could be the O-ring on the pickup tube. Or a bad sender.

Agree with this. Sounds like something is getting picked up intermittently like a piece of a broken guide.


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[Jozef Zoldos]

No broken parts when I did the cam phasers. I put in new OEM guides and tensioners when I did the timing. I did not notice any broken parts with the last oil change.

 

[Jozef Zoldos]

Oh....When the issue happened, it was only at stoplights at idle and it only occurred for for about a 5-10 minute duration when it happened. i.e... It would work normally until the vehicle stopped at a red light and then the light would go off and the pressure switch would drop. When I pulled away from the light, all of the warnings would go away until the next light. Also, no codes poped up on the scanner when all of this happened.

 

[07navi]

The oil light comes on at a very low pressure, you really need to put a gauge in it, it's not much harder than replacing the oil switch or even checking it.

 

[Jozef Zoldos]

Gotcha. Thanks for the advice. I will see if I can take care of that tomorrow before I drive it again.

 

[Jozef Zoldos]

Also, I like the specific pressure guage setup that you did. I could not find the thread about that one but I am still looking.

 

[07navi]

https://www.expeditionforum.com/thr...-pressure-gauge-in-a-5-4-with-pictures.44836/

Since then I have moved it 2" over to the right so I could see it better while driving. I had to cut the plastic mount from the panel out but you don't need it. Get the sandwich with the 1/8" npt holes and not the multi hook-up oil cooler one. Any 5.4 one will fit. Hooking directly to the sender hole would be a tough job and so would just checking the pressure there. This way you will still have your original gauge pressure showing also.