I was driving home form work yesterday. Nice weather...normal driving conditions. Not driving fast...not high revving..just easy going. All of a sudden my oil pressure drops to nothing..I mean flatlines. My warning message comes up. so I start to pull over thinking ..ok here it goes. I'm gonna need help. All of a sudden the pressure goes back to normal...warning message goes away. I have driven the car again today...no problem...so what do you think???
Fluke? Gauge problem or should I have the dealer take a look?
JB

 

Definitely a gauge problem. I have replaced/repaired my oil pressure gauge three times. It is a common problem.

Craig

 

+1, I had to do it twice ...tom

 

I had the same thing happen to me a month ago. a message came up on the dash said "failior indicator" I quickly glance at my gauges and for a split second noticed oil pressure had flatlined and them bounced back up to normal. I pulled over and checked everything (oil, hoses, any leaks) found nothing wrong. restarted the car a no more light. I drove it a few more times and everything seems ok. I brought the car to dealer for regular service and told them about what had happen and they will let me know if they find anything?

 

Thats what I thought it was. Thank you guys for filling me in.
JB

 

I have the same problem, how much did they charge to fix/replace the gauge?

 

If you only had the gauge go down and the idiot oil light that is on the bottom row with the CEL didn't come on it is the gauge or sender.

If any engine work has been done you might have the line off. Look at the oil filter housing in the motor. Behind it is a shiny gold dome. This is the sender for the pressure light and gauge. It is a two circuit setup. Look to make sure the spade connector is solid. They wiggle out causing the gauge to drop to zero and the warning to trip on. I have seen this more so than an issue with the cluster.

 

Thanks, I'll check. and yes it is only the gauge and it does it a couple of times a day when driving, also the "indicator fail" message comes on....maybe just a loose wire?

thanks again

 

happened to me once long time ago. THen never again. I say dont worry bout it till it happens again.

Suman

 

with regards to gauge problems one has to be careful.. I always assume something is wrong and make sure it is not. Usually if something is wrong by the gauge and it is real another idiot light will come on but NOT always.
I say dont take chances the gauges are there for a reason.
Sure I see a flat line on an ECG monitor and the patient is talking to me I think its the monitor but I damn well make sure!

My gauge experience was with the volt meter. It read low and no lights. THE DEALER told me not to worry. Went to the track and the alternator died. The gauge was right the dealer was wrong.

If the same thing happens with the oil it could be a horrible result. So check everything then check it again is my plan with a car this expensive!

Again, my 2 cents. tom

 

Well two things. The oil pressure gauge is on two circuits. It is redundant for this reason. No idiot light with a dead pressure gauge then no real loss of pressure.

HOWEVER if you had a total failure you would loose the tappets at once. Like the 993 they would drop in a second. I have seen this happen many times. You get about 15 seconds before they drop out.

 

Do you mean the lifters quickly start clacking if the oil pressure is zero?

 

I had the same thing. I believe the dealer said they had to replace the oil pressure sensor.

 

+1....seen my oil pressure gauge flatline then come back to life in a period of 5 seconds....going to check the connections on the VDO sender.

 

I had this problem. It turned out to be a bad oil pressure sender unit. It's located behind the oil filter housing