[Will]

Okay guys, I've been having a problem with either the oil pump or the sending unit for the past 8 or 9 months. Basically last winter when it was cold the sending unit would register until the car warmed up. then fall to zero. After the winter it stop registering at all, the hand wouldn't move. Now all of a sudden since yesterday it started rising & falling or basically staying in the normal position (half way between 0 & 90) when I was between a speed of 60 & 65, if I decrease below the speed it would drop, if I accelerated above that speed it would either drop or rise, whatever it felt like doing. I've been taking your advice here on the forum that it was more than likely the sending unit that is located on the bottom side of the block. Well tonight on my way home the thing was working fine (reading normal). I notice somewhat of a difference in the way my z excellerated. It did seem to run smoother. Now this scares me because now I'm thinking could it be the oil pump. I'm getting reading to take it on a 6 hr road trip this weekend. HOwever if it is the oil pump, I will get a rental car instead. Please, Please help me to diagnos this problem. I was thinking it was the sending unit so I've been driving my z for the last few months. I thought that if the oil pump was not functioning, that my car would run hot or hotter than normal. It has never run hot or even close to it. What do you wizards think the problem is? please help.. Thanks

 

[RyanB240z]

Will, from all that I've ever heard, I would bet that your sending unit is toast. Mine always fluctated and went down to almost 0 at idle. If your oil pressure actually dropped to 0 while driving, you wouldn't have much time to register a rise in coolant temp before your motor went south. A new sending unit should do the trick. If that doesn't help, you may want to test the resistance of the sending wire with a multimeter. Also, a dirty connection to the sending unit, or bad gauge could also be culprits. Hope this helps -Ryan

 

[jhemphi]

Never ever take a risk with oil pressure, rent the car. I would pop a $50 oil pump in the thing even on the smalles hint of having any kind of oil pressure problem. And I think you've got at least a medium hint.

 

[slavkos]

come on change the sending unit 25 bucks. previous posts said oil pumps rarely fail if it did your engine would be salvage yard. do it now sam

 

[John Coffey]

Re: Replace the sending unit

I'm with Sam. You've known about the bad sending unit for months and suddenly you think the oil pump is bad? Go spend the money and use 10 minutes of your time to fix the problem.

- John

 

[Al 260Z]

Nissan

has new version of o.p. sending unit. About $25 if I recall. This last one I've had for about 6 months seems to be working much better than prior unit. I have not checked its accuracy against a known-good gauge (I mean to do that sometime).

Beware o.p. sending unit threads are 1/8" British Pipe Thread Tapered (BPTT) not your normal NPT thread (what it looks like).

Al