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Thread: oil pressure drop

  1. #1

    Default oil pressure drop

    Was driving home from work and the oil pressure just suddenly dropped to zero, while going 70 down the hwy . Then all the way home it would jump back up to normal then back to zero but once i got home and checked the oil level it was fine let it run for about 10 min or so then around the block and nothing, any ideas on what would cause this to happen?

  2. #2

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    what type of oil filter do you have?
    Blah blah blah!

  3. #3
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    Flakey gauge or sending unit?

  4. #4
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    The wire to the sending unit is loose.
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  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by MiataMike View Post
    what type of oil filter do you have?
    Mobile one

  6. #6

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    Yea everything thats in there is the orginal put in in 92 im sure its probably a combination of both, I guess its finally time to get the book on the car.

  7. #7
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    I've experienced the same situation. A wire was loose between the sending unit and the gauge.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by shortshift View Post
    I've experienced the same situation. A wire was loose between the sending unit and the gauge.
    Easy fix?

  9. #9
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    It took about 20 minutes to splice a better wire between the wire loom and the sending unit. It helps to work on a cold engine.
    Last edited by shortshift; 03-10-2010 at 12:01 PM. Reason: Mis-spelling

  10. #10

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    Is ther a way it could be losing oil pressure but not leaking it visibly? I have been hearing the sticky lifter sound get worse and worse in just a few days any suggestions?

  11. #11

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    Have you checked the oil? Anything is possible.

  12. #12

    Default

    yeah he said he checked the oil. I would check/repair the wiring cause that's what it sounds like to me before panicking over some kind of internal problem in the engine. it would suck to freak out pull the engine for a rebuild and just have some bum wiring.
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  13. #13

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    He says he checked the oil on a post from the 8th of March that was 10 days ago.

    I agree with the wiring guesses.

    Let us know what you find!

  14. #14
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    If this were my machine, at this point I would remove the sending unit and screw in a simple, direct-read mechanical gauge just to test the oil pressure while the car was in the repair bay. Then decide the next move.

  15. #15
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    Not on a Miata, but on an MGB-GT - I bought it used, and after the engine warmed up, the oil pressure gauge seemed to stop working. I had the car for quite a while (Jan-Aug) before I realized that the oil pressure gauge worked, but the pump quit when the engine got warm. I finally figured it out when I spun a bearing.

    The above probably doesn't apply in your case, and I hope it doesn't, but I figured I should throw it out there so others can explain why it can't happen in a Miata that way, or tell you to get your oil pump checked.
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  16. #16

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    Well this is gonna make seem dumb but...it was low on oil....but its losing oil somehow not from anywhere thats visible...not the oil filter, or the head gasket, or the oil pan...kinda at a loss when i put enough oil in itll run fine...start up oil pressure spikes when its cools then slowly goes down to normal, but then when driving down the road the pressure goes up like normal but after a while of driving it goes down to under 30psi lb/2 when going down highway and it only take 30 min to do it. Any suggestions?

  17. #17
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    Is there oil underneath the car, to the rear of the engine? A common problem is the rear-main seal leaking.

  18. #18

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    thats the thing nothing i mean ive sat there reving the engine to build pressure and nothing leaks

  19. #19
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    Have you crawled under the car and looked, or are you guessing?


    You might want to get it checked out by a pro. If it's really starving for oil, you could do a lot of damage.

    Check with Rogue here on the forum. He's the man.

  20. #20

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    Well i put cardboard and paper towels all under the car and sat there reving it off and on for about 15 min and the paper towels had nothing on them lol so im just guessing

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