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Please don't tell me to do a search. I did and found nothing like this...

First off, I'm sorry for the long post....

...and I already checked the Oil Pressure gauge sending unit wire.

Ok, I'm trying to figure out what I broke last night. First off, the car is a 1988 Convert. It only has about 90K mi. on it and it is a 5 speed. I was driving home on the interstate late last night and came up on two slow moving cars blocking traffic. Long story short I got hot under the collar after a while and went to pass them on an exit ramp(I know, bad idea). Well the synchros in the tranny are not sounding that good anymore, so I tend to double clutch to down shift. When I went to down shift, I accidently over-revved the engine(to 8,500 RPM) the transmissoin was in neutral at the time. I heard a slight grinding noise come from under the front of the car, but it sounded like the transmission(which does that a lot), so I didn't think much about it. About 2 miles down the road, I happen to look at my oil pressure guage and it was reading 0 PSI. I pulled over to the shoulder. The engine was idling perfectly, the temp was normal(1/3 over C) and the engine revved normally. There was NO unusual noises or anything. So, I revved it up a couple of times, and the oil guage started to move again. At 3,000 RPM, it was holding 55 PSI. But below 2,000 RPM, it registered nothing.

I carefully drove the car home, trying to keep it above 3,000 RPM. Aside from that, the car seemed normal. Drove fine, sounded fine, normal engine temp etc. As I pull into my driveway, the guage started to swing all over the place from 0-60 PSI. I didn't feel like dealing with it at 1:00 A.M. so I left it till this morning.

I went out to start it this morning(to see if I needed a ride to work) and it was acting normal again. So I drove to work(15 miles 1/2 interstate) and it was fine on the interstate. When I got off the interstate, the guage started to drop again and wouldn't come back up at any engine speed. The guage is now dead at 0 PSI all the time. The engine still seems fine, runs cool, quiet, revs fine. The engine seems to be getting oil.

I'm thinking that either I blew the oil pressure sending unit, the oil pressure control unit or the oil pressure regulator. I can't find any oil leaks anywhere to point to problem area.

Help!!! I don't want to drive the car and risk seizing the engine. It's my only car right now, so any and all input will be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!

By-the-way, the engine has the following mods(I don't think there is a connection)RB Header, RB Presilencer, RB Flywheel, ACT Clutch, Pineapple Racing Sleeves, HKS Intake, no Air pump etc. The engine is stock, never opened or out of the car since new.

P.S. I just dove the car again, and the guage came back to life briefly(about 30 seconds) then died again. No the engine seems to be slightly down on power, so maybe I did something expensive???

Fingers

check to see that the capacitor is attached. It connects to the bell housing.

OptimusPrime

iTrader: (1)

mine does that from time to time i dun know what does it either ( it happend after i was taking a turn hard and it wuld get in gear so i over reved it in neutral as well)

Zach McAfee

With that kind of erratic behavior I wouldn't worry about damaging the engine. It's a sending unit or gauge problem.

Drop Top 13B

Huh? Please explain. What capacitor on the bell housing? What does it do, control, connect to?

Black13B

iTrader: (1)

Sounds to me like the pressure sender has died..

Fingers

the capacitor is connected to a ground wire, connected to the bell housing. What it does is filter any interference and power spikes/surges, so the gauges can perform properly. Just make sure it's connected. You'll see it.

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I'm thinking (AND PRAYING) that it is only the sending unit. I'll get a mechanical guage on it later today and see what's what. I'll check that capacitor too. My only thing is, if the capacitor was bad or disconnected, would any of the guages operate properly?

I let the car sit and idle with the AC on for 20 minutes in the 90 degree heat, adn it never got hot, or faltered in any way. By reasonable deduction, I believe that hte oil pump is functionin properly. The evidence: THe engine seems run ok, it isn't getting hot, and the oil is being splashed up onto the dipstick when you rev it up. So therefore I "assume" the oil pump is working.

Drop Top 13B

bizump