Oil Pressure Flucuating

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grandpajohnson

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Hi,
My first post on the site.
I have an 85 Dodge D150 with a 360 engine. I noticed about a week ago that my oil pressure gauge on my dash was reading high, a couple dashes below all the way to the top. Usually, it sits right in the middle. I checked the pressure using a pressure kit and it read between 45-55, is that a normal range? It doesn't seem high to me.
What I'm curious about is the pressure level was fluctuating really fast between 45-55 range? What's the reason for a the pressure not stabilizing? Is my oil pump going out?
 

ThunderMug95

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Dont know if this will help or not, but I had a similar fluctuation on another Chrysler product. Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0. The oil pressure guage started doing exactly what your describing. Then a day later the little sending unit catastrophically failed blowing oil out of it...I limped it in immediately to parts store and swapped the part in the lot. The oil sending unit was around $40 and easy to get to on my motor, not sure about the the ol 360! Point of the story, Id replace the unit first off.
For me, pressures read perfect afterward, faulty lil unit. Good Luck!
 
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grandpajohnson

grandpajohnson

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Thanks for the reply. I'll likely replace the sending unit since it's cheap and an easy fix, but I'm curious about that being the issues because when I installed the oil pressure kit I removed the sending unit and installed the kit in it's place. So when I was ready the rapidly fluctuating oil pressure the sending unit wasn't even installed. Could the fluctuating pressure be caused because I bypassed the sending unit?
 

crazzywolfie

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are you sure you removed the sending unit for the oil pressure gauge and not the oil pressure switch that is suppose to control the electric choke? just make sure you get one for the gauge and not the dummy light when ordering a new one. the oil pressure readings are pretty good for a la engine.
 
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grandpajohnson

grandpajohnson

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No, I'm not sure. I'm going to take a picture and post it.
 

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