Sudden Loss of Oil Pressure?

[GreatBigTuna]

I was driving down the highway last night in my '99 2500 Cummins Ram, going about 60MPH when my "Check Guages" light came on and the oil pressure guage was sitting 0. I always scan my guages, so I know that my pressure was sitting right around 40 just seconds before.

I immediately pulled over and cut her off, and after cleaning out my underwear :) I popped the hood to check her out. She's full of oil and there is no leaking. I hopped back in and started her up hoping that there was just a hicup somewhere, but the gauge never moved. I was less than 2 miles from home and the truck never acted like something was wrong (just the warning light and guage), so I babied her back to the driveway rather than calling a tow truck and having to leave my plow on the side of the road.

During my trip home I noticed that the engine was running very smoothly and the temp was normal and sitting steady. I would think if I had no lube in the motor it would have heated up a little during my trek home, but everything seemed normal. I'm suspecting that there is something wrong with the guage or sensor rather than the lube system itself, but I'm really afraid to run her at all now that she's been sitting and the oil has all drained back into the pan. Is there any way that I can tell if I'm really getting pressure or not. I'd hate to have her towed to the dealer just to have a stupid sensor replaced that I could just as easily replace in my driveway. Thanks!

[BWhite]

You need to pull the sender and hook up a mechanical oil pressure gauge . You can also install a mechanical gauge in the Cab as backup .

[wyldman]

Change the sending unit,very common problem.You may find it may come back for a while and work,but it will act up again.

Use OEM parts only,the aftermarket stuff doesn't hold up very well.

[GreatBigTuna]

Chris,

Thanks, that makes me feel much better. I was having a serious case of guilt about driving her home!

Bill,

I like the idea of a backup guage in the cab. Thanks. I was returning home from salting and if I wasn't already finished, I really would have been stuck. A mechanical backup would sure come in handy in a situation like that.

[POCONO SNOW]

I have a 2001 with cummins and had same thing happen in september. Sending unit costs $180.00 at dealer but was covered under warranty because it is considered part of the emmisions control. Dodge also has a new program for the computer that had to be installed also no charge or the sending unit would not have made any difference.

[wyldman]

Don't let them reflash it for the oil pressure problem.All it does is kill the sensitivity of the gauge.Makes the gauge more like an idiot light than a pressure gauge.