Craby, thanks for the suggestion. I did check it but did not replace it. I would imagine that it would chatter had no oil be getting up there. I will replace it before I begin. Needless to say, the put this thing in the worst place possible :-)

 

Thanks craby, I didnt know that.

 

Well, thanks all for the suggestions. I went and tried to check the sending unit and to my surprise it was barely hanging on something, below are some pictures of it. Needless to say, I purchased one at Advanced Auto but could not find the tool to remove and install it. The one they had that would fit the size was not deep enough for it. Does anyone know the right tool number? It would be so sweet if this was the real problem.

Thanks in advance
jim

 

gona have to use a wrench. in the case of removal vise grips or channel locks will work if you can get them back there. may be a good time to replace the intake gaskets and end seals. lol. are you seeing any leakage at the front or back of the intake, very common for these motors to blow that end seal on it. anyways the sensor should not be in there that tight so it should,,, repeat should come right lose. new sensor should have sealant on the threads already if its needed.

 

Hello Craby, Im a big man with big hands and that is a tight fit lol

I would hate to remove the intake since the car is running but I hear what youre saying. I will stop at Sears tomorrow to see if I find a deep enough socket to try out. I really hope that this is the problem, its hard to think a car would have bad bearings at this mileage (160K), I have a (ahem, ford mustang gt 95) with 156k miles that has the pressure nice and in the middle of the gage. As mentioned, there is no chatter on this engine so this is worth a nice try.
thanks for the help.

jim

 

Well yeah, broken and barely hanging on most likely isn't going to give you an accurate reading at all. I have a deep well oil sending unit socket (AutoZone has it). It's a dual size 1" and 1-1/16", so yours should be one or the other. I remember when I replaced the unit on my old 3rd gen, the old one was bigger than the new one. I also have separate deep well sockets in those sizes. You're welcome to borrow the socket, but travel could be a ***** if you're far away!

 

Hey thanks 69, I will check the Zone and Sears tomorrow. Travel to Boston would suck lol.

I will keep all posted, it would be great that this fixes it, that would only leave the broken exhaust manifold bolt :-( to deal with.

jim

 

Update!!
I got home after work with a large enough socket to remove what remained of the old pressure sender and was able to do so. I did t have a socket deep enough to install the new sender but was able to put it in by hand and tightened it enough to give it a test .
When I started the car, the pressure went all the way up to to slightly above mid gage. I figured I was out of the woods until the car reached operating themp and the oil pressure gage indicated pressure midway from the bottom to the first line (1/4). Since the only number on the scale is 80 and the gage is split into 4 equal sections, I assume each line indicates an increment of 20psi, if this is the case, I would say I am at or around 10psi on idle.
When accelerating the car, the pressure would shoot up to about half the scale at about 2k rpm.
I figure I have some time so on to find a nice lt1 that I can build up and swap at some point.
thanks all for the help.

jim