Help with oil gauge....!!!!
 

Hey guys i just cant figure it out! My truck runs great! but every ones in a while my oil pressure will drop to 0 and then shoot up to like 40. it doesnt drop slow either it does it like instant. and when it goes to 0 my truck still runs great! what do you guys think it can be? just the sending unit maybe its dirty?????


Oh by the way its a 99' DODGE RAM 2500 DIESEL 2ND GEN with 239,230 miles thnc!

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I would try a new sending unit first........

Check oil pressure at filter to assure pressure ok. Probablly sending unit as mentioned earlier.

I dunno about the 99 but lots of oil press gauges are actually fancy looking idiot lights -- they simply trip at a threshold (more or less) and show pressure when you have it, and none when it's below the threshold -- a glorified idiot light. Perhaps someone can confirm whether or not the 99 is a real gauge or an idiot light (yes, they all have sending units).
Dunno if that helps, but...

do you think it could be fix with just changing the sending unit with a new one or do you think i should put in a manual one?

I'd say if you have access to a "manual" guage, use it to check and make sure your getting the correct readings and possibly verify that the sending unit is bad asap! Hopefully it's just the sending unit. I don't know how much they cost, but, replacing it may be the quickest way to verify that it's the problem, especially if you don't have an oil gauge to test it. I'd say just do it quickly. Every time a read a post about oil pressure suddenly dropping to 0 then bouncing back up quickly I get sick. I had a Ram with a 360 gas engine that did that on the way to work one morning. I thought I'd get a sending unit on the way home since I had heard that's a common problem(and it is) and hoped for the best. On the way home, it went to 0 and back to normal once more...very quickly too. I was about 2 miles from home and it dropped to 0 for about 10 seconds. I couldn't get off to the side of the road and shut it down within that 10 seconds. It siezed up. I changed oil and filter every 3000 mi. I was not the original owner, so, I don't know what they did. They must not have done much...there was so much crap in that engine it blocked the oil passages between a couple lifters and ultimately the oil pump. When I took the valve covers off, I couldn't see the head bolts because they were burried in sludge. Outside of the oil gauge bounce like yours those couple times, it showed no signs that something was wrong until it quit. Not a ping, knock, tick, putter, or anything...just siezed up. The only things salvagable where the block, seven of eight rods(which I recon-ed), intake, and crank(which I had to re-grind straight). Everything else got tossed. I do mean everything, even the valve covers tossed because after a week in the hot tank, they still didn't come clean. I never seen anything like it.

I'm not trying to scare you, I just don't want you to have to go through what I experienced.

Hey thnx alot for all the info it really helps!

dodge wants $230 for a new sending unit any ideas of a different place to buy one?

Why not just buy a manual gauge kit for like $30 or less and permanently install it? You have checked the oil on the dip stick I hope?

Go to a cummins dealer. I think there are around 35$ or so.

Mine does that too, but only when I am pulling a load and come to a stop. I am running Delo, and I am thinking that maybe the oil is foaming? I dunno. Kinda wierd that it does it everytime I come to a stop. Its not out for long either. I comes right back on.

My 95 12V just started acting weird like that 2 days ago. New sending units from the local auto parts store was under $25. Have not changed it yet. Did an oil change last night (snow storm- I needed the truck) and it improved but...

My issue is not just dropping to zero, but it drops from 40 to the low line, usually it's engine RPM related- 1000 to 1300 rpm. Applying the throttle causes the needle to dip then recover, sometimes the 3-4 shift causes it to dip and takes a few seconds to recover.

Bought a manual gauge to test with for $17 same store. That's hopefully going in tonight.

any follow up on the OP's results??

This is not an emergency and is being moved from the help section.

I just replaced my sending unit yesterday because of the same symptoms. Sender was $75 through Cummins and life is good now everything works great.