Oil pressure gauge not working on 71 Demon rally guages

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72dart

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I took the Demon out this morning for a spin and noticed the oil pressure guage needle not moving at all. I will tackle this later but need to know what are the logical steps to troubleshoot this problem.Can the sending unit be checked on the engine to see if it is working properly sending signal to gauge? Can the gauge itself be checked without pulling cluster. I want to try to fix this myself to save some bucks and learn more about fixing my car. Thanks for your help.
 
FIRST MOST IMPORTANT SPOT TO LOOK AT IS
The connector atop that sender. I doubt it has an insulator on it today. If it falls on a ground it can kill other components in the panel.
 
The quick check is to ground the sender wire, then turn on the key for NO LONGER than necessary, the gauge should immediately head to "full"

This will at least split the problem
 
If he finds that sender wire laying on a chassis ground he may as well get a meter and check for continuity through the gauge like a pulse voltage coming though it.
Reason being, the oil gauge can and does peg out and die without being noticed.
I had a part project going ( DeMon Centurion ) that would provide warning lamps and/or dingers for these type of fault conditions.
Its installation, adding the LEDs in the gauge screens, etc.., proved far too complicated for the average owner and it really wouldn't benefit the average owner .. so I scraped it.
 
RedFish said:
FIRST MOST IMPORTANT SPOT TO LOOK AT IS
The connector atop that sender. I doubt it has an insulator on it today. If it falls on a ground it can kill other components in the panel.
Click to expand...

This happened all the time on my truck. it'd just fall off. As Redfish said, check that.

Between what Del(67Dart273) and RedFish have said or will say, you are pretty set. They are the resident experts on electrical and dashes.
 
Thanks for the info and I will get started in that direction.
 
RedFish said:
If he finds that sender wire laying on a chassis ground he may as well get a meter and check for continuity through the gauge like a pulse voltage coming though it.
Reason being, the oil gauge can and does peg out and die without being noticed.
I had a part project going ( DeMon Centurion ) that would provide warning lamps and/or dingers for these type of fault conditions.
Its installation, adding the LEDs in the gauge screens, etc.., proved far too complicated for the average owner and it really wouldn't benefit the average owner .. so I scraped it.
Click to expand...

I checked the wire on top of the sensor and it is there not touching ground. I have a multimeter and will check continuity of gauge. To do this do I disconnect the wire on top of sender connecting one lead to the wire and the other lead to ground? Thanks Mike
 
67Dart273 said:
The quick check is to ground the sender wire, then turn on the key for NO LONGER than necessary, the gauge should immediately head to "full"

This will at least split the problem
Click to expand...

I did this and the gauge went to full so I will replace the sending unit. Does anyone have tips on replacing the sending unit? It looks hard to get at so I will remove the air cleaner.
 
72dart said:
I did this and the gauge went to full so I will replace the sending unit. Does anyone have tips on replacing the sending unit? It looks hard to get at so I will remove the air cleaner.
Click to expand...

Remove air cleaner. Remove dizzy. Mark its position on the housing and onto the block so you can drop it in and not have to fuss with it. Remove your coil if its in the back like mine. I believe its a 7/16" wrench to remove it from the block. Id use a lil tiny bit of vinyl tape on the threads of the new one and snug it up. Bam. You are done.
 
DarTT said:
Remove air cleaner. Remove dizzy. Mark its position on the housing and onto the block so you can drop it in and not have to fuss with it. Remove your coil if its in the back like mine. I believe its a 7/16" wrench to remove it from the block. Id use a lil tiny bit of vinyl tape on the threads of the new one and snug it up. Bam. You are done.
Click to expand...

Thanks I will get on that tomorrow. Mike.
 
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