oil pressure sending unit

[element4life788]

I have been noticing my oil pressure gauge has been jumping around alot on my 1979 f26 Chrysler 318. Suspecting it's the sending unit but not sure of its location or if I could use one from the auto parts store.any help would be great!thanks

[The Dog House]

The oil pressure sending unit is to the left of the distributor (looking from the front of the engine). The brass colored object with the wire attached to it in the picture below is the oil pressure sending unit on my Chrysler 318.



Make sure that your sending unit resistance range matches the resistance range of your gauge. Faria has good information on this at http://faria-instruments.com/site_manuals/IS0085E.pdf .

You might also want to make sure that your connection is secure and that there is no corrosion at the connection. A loose connection could result in the needle jumping around. Good luck!

[element4life788]

Thanks I'll check it out soon as I get home....the loose wire idea makes sense.

[element4life788]

Well I checked it out and mine is different....I have the electronic ignition. Seems there are two sensors that are connected but not sure if they are it.I had my ignition on and when I unplugged one the buzzer stopped alarming and the other sensor did nothing when I unplugged it.???

[bjanakos]

Well I checked it out and mine is different....I have the electronic ignition. Seems there are two sensors that are connected but not sure if they are it.I had my ignition on and when I unplugged one the buzzer stopped alarming and the other sensor did nothing when I unplugged it.???

Did you have the motor running? You will not see any oil pressure with the motor off. The ignition buzzer will eventually stop after a period of time if I recall.

[mikeandanne]

Well I checked it out and mine is different....I have the electronic ignition. Seems there are two sensors that are connected but not sure if they are it.I had my ignition on and when I unplugged one the buzzer stopped alarming and the other sensor did nothing when I unplugged it.???

Hi there welcome to the forum.....sounds like you have the same setup as me . the small sensor is a pressure switch which controls the alt feed and alarms ..... the much larger one that will look like the one in the pic above is the oil pressure sending unit, signal to oil pressure gauge.....they will probably both be connected to the same source....Mike

[element4life788]

No the motor wasn't running...the tide was too low. I didn't see one as big as the one in the photo,just two smaller ones that were hooked up together and one wire going to another sensor ontop the intake manifold

[The Dog House]

No the motor wasn't running...the tide was too low. I didn't see one as big as the one in the photo,just two smaller ones that were hooked up together and one wire going to another sensor ontop the intake manifold

Can you post a picture of the two smaller senders that you are seeing as well as the sensor on top of the intake manifold? That would probably help us help you.

[element4life788]

Ok so I found the sending unit....it was some what barried in that electronic control box....that unit has a different post on it then the one from the auto parts store.now I have to find one with a threaded post.after messing around with that I started the motor up,I noticed the voltmeter was only reading about 11.5 volts......so I turned the ignition off and pulled the key out and the engine stayed running.....any ideas?im hoping I just knocked a wire loose or something.