oil gauge sticking sometimes

[comanche87]

i got a 87 mj and changed over to full guage cluster. ive recently noticed the guage stays in place sometimes. does that mean i gotto change the guage itself or its normal. thanks. :USAflag:

[BLHTAZ]

Mine does the same thing...it stays at about the 30lb mark. Sometimes it will be at 40, but typically doesn't move from 30. :nuts:

 

I intend to stick a manual guage on it to be sure, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

[comanche87]

odd isnt it?my hangs out around 60 close to 80 the will work fine.

[xjcrazy09]

Yeah I know what both of you are talking about, mine says its above 80 lbs. How is this problem fixed?

[BLHTAZ]

How is this problem fixed?

Not 100% sure, but I would imagine that you could fix it by removing the factory gauge and inserting an aftermarket guage that will fit in the hole. I believe I have seen it done, but don't remember where right now.

[comanche87]

i think theres one on ebay. the same one. if it is ill try to bid on it and replace it. or if anyone here would take aprts there old clusters and sell the guages fom it. i also gotta look for a trip knob. my guages re the black and red in a cable friven cluster.

[Eagle]

How is this problem fixed?

Not 100% sure, but I would imagine that you could fix it by removing the factory gauge and inserting an aftermarket guage that will fit in the hole. I believe I have seen it done, but don't remember where right now.

That won't work. There's no "hole" -- the factory gauge is screwed to a printed circuit board. To mount an aftermarket gauge you'd have to drill a hole through the circuit board. Not a good solution.

 

Test the gauge. Rough test -- turn on ignition, remove wire from oil pressure sender. Gauge should peg (all the way to the right, IIRC). Then ground the wire directly to the block. The gauge should peg to the opposite extreme (all the way to the left, IIRC).

 

If you have access to some sort of low value potentiometer, the sender range is zero through 88 ohms (0 - 104 for the 91+ models). If you have a potentiometer in that range, you can use it to test the movement of the dial. Or if you have a simple fixed resistor rated somewhere around 40 to 50 ohms, stick that between the wire and the block and the gauge should read approximately mid-scale.

[BLHTAZ]

I think the one that I saw done used repalcement guages for all of the guages just in the OEM housing...not just replacing one guage...now that I think about it.

 

I had intended to try the grounding thing on mine when I got around to getting the guage to check the oil pressure too.

[Geonovast]

Yeah I know what both of you are talking about, mine says its above 80 lbs. How is this problem fixed?

 

Is it always above 80, like it's buried? It'll stay like that if you have the sensor for the light.

[jeepthing07]

my sisters YJ's oil PSI was always stuck at 80. i replaced the sending unit and problem fixed.

[JeepcoMJ]

the other thing is, these gauges are 20+ years old and aren't exactly the highest quality available. after so long, they can fail.

 

my oil pressure gauge failed and just bounced erradically. I thought it was the wire at first, so I just replaced it (my wiring is all switched around as is with the motor swap) and the problem wasn't fixed. hooked up a manual gauge, checked. idles at 37PSI (buick 3800 so don't take my #'s as set point for a 4.0). I tried 3 different gauges before I found an accurate one...3000 RPM is 68PSI and it was spot on the whole time with the factory gauge.

 

none of the jeep gauges are perfectly 100% accurate. they're a ballpark and more of a guideline.

 

best bet is to check continuity on the wire first (eagle's method does just this as well), then check the gauge, then the gauge cluster.