Oil pressure sender stuck.

[87SQRBDY]

Has anyone ever had there oil pressure sender get stuck? On my 87R10 it will not come off, even a chevrolet mechanic couldn't remove it because he was worried about snapping the brass part off. Any suggestions, other than taking the engine out. Thanks

 

[Sad Sack]

Have you received any advice on heating it with a mini torch first?

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Heat. Heat is always the answer. Careful of wires and distributor.

Some may argue it would be easier to extract the broken piece out since it would be almost a straight shot. Can't remember if the distributor is directly over head or not.

 

[87SQRBDY]

Apologies for the late reply, work and school has been crazy. I'll try the heat thing. I would have thought the master mechanic at the chevy dealer would have tried that, but he didn't. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[87SQRBDY]

Heat. Heat is always the answer. Careful of wires and distributor.

Some may argue it would be easier to extract the broken piece out since it would be almost a straight shot. Can't remember if the distributor is directly over head or not.

The sender is towards the bottom near the filter. It's screwed into a brass fitting that myself and the mechanic were worried about snapping off.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

The sender is towards the bottom near the filter. It's screwed into a brass fitting that myself and the mechanic were worried about snapping off.

Should be even easier down there as long as the exhaust isn't in the way. They haven't invented the doesall remover tool yet. So heat and if it breaks it breaks. Your "mechanic" sounds like a parts swapper.

 

[Ricko1966]

Hold the brass with one hand with a wrench or vice grips to give it support,use a socket for a switch and appropraite ratchet or wrench for a sender. Why are you replacing the sender? And does your truck have a light or a gauge? I'd love a pic of this,because usually the sender for the gauge I'd by the distributor,and there is a switch not a sender by the oil filter. If it is a switch,it is redundant even if it's bad it won't hurt anything unless there is a problem with the fuel pumpnrelay circuit.

 

[Ricko1966]

Should be even easier down there as long as the exhaust isn't in the way. They haven't invented the doesall remover tool yet. So heat and if it breaks it breaks. Your "mechanic" sounds like a parts swapper.

Or maybe he's a good tech that doesn't want to risk having to work on it who knows how long for no pay. And people like @Edelbrock saying he probably did it on purpose to try to get more money. Sometimes the smart bet is to walk away. You won't believe some of the ridiculous claims I've seen or had to do. Free, no pay,while others techs were making money because companies side with customer is always right to make them happy.So the last man that touched it works for free until everyone( except him) is happy.

 

[Chevy 88]

How about this:

Do nothing.

Have you ever seen an engine drop to zero oil pressure while driving down the road? It doesn't happen very often.

As long as you check your oil regularly and you don't smash your oil pan on a rock, your oil pressure should always be fine.

Live without the gauge - Live on the edge man!

Even if someone's oil gauge dropped to zero - they would not notice it before they heard it. Once they heard the engine eating itself, they would look down at the gauges and say - oh, ****! I'm going 43 MPH over the speed limit!


Roughly 104% of the human population would have no idea that a gauge was even there. And even if they happen to spot it, they would not know what it was, why its there, what the gauge numbers mean, or even have any idea why they should know these things.

Thus: The idiot light was invented. Also not effective at all.

Mechanic: How long has the oil light been on?
Customer: What's an oil light?


So if modern humans can get by without any knowledge of oil pressure, then you should be alright. Just ignore it, and remember - the further you press that gas peddle down, the higher the oil pressure goes.

 

[YakkoWarner]

How about this:

Do nothing.

Have you ever seen an engine drop to zero oil pressure while driving down the road? It doesn't happen very often.

As long as you check your oil regularly and you don't smash your oil pan on a rock, your oil pressure should always be fine.

Live without the gauge - Live on the edge man!

Even if someone's oil gauge dropped to zero - they would not notice it before they heard it. Once they heard the engine eating itself, they would look down at the gauges and say - oh, ****! I'm going 43 MPH over the speed limit!


Roughly 104% of the human population would have no idea that a gauge was even there. And even if they happen to spot it, they would not know what it was, why its there, what the gauge numbers mean, or even have any idea why they should know these things.

Thus: The idiot light was invented. Also not effective at all.

Mechanic: How long has the oil light been on?
Customer: What's an oil light?


So if modern humans can get by without any knowledge of oil pressure, then you should be alright. Just ignore it, and remember - the further you press that gas peddle down, the higher the oil pressure goes.

Actually.....I HAVE had a sudden oil pressure loss while driving. Burst one of the oil cooler lines in an MGB - immediately threw the shifter to neutral and killed the key to avoid eating the engine. Jury rigged the other intact cooler line to loop from the inlet to the outlet, threw more oil at it and got it back home to fix properly. MG put the oil pressure gauge dead center on the panel which makes it hard to ignore.

In my squarebody I'm always having to keep telling myself "30-40 PSI is normal for a Chevrolet" because in the MG you started asking questions if it got below 40-50.....I still get nervous if the pressure goes down below 30 when idling.

 

[Sad Sack]

Has anyone ever had there oil pressure sender get stuck? On my 87R10 it will not come off, even a chevrolet mechanic couldn't remove it because he was worried about snapping the brass part off. Any suggestions, other than taking the engine out. Thanks

Gauge or light? If gauge - what pressure are you showing, the one by the oil filter is not the sender as Ricko1966 stated.

 

[fast 99]

There's been lots of times I have walked away from repairing a vehicle for various reasons. Mostly because I could do more damage and it's better to leave a sleeping dog alone. More often today with those "learning experiences" hammered into my brain.

This job would be one unless it's possible to remove the broken part without yanking the engine.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Why not just use an alternative location to mount the same thing
If its a 1987 with the tbi, the switch part of that assembly is designed to provide an alternative ground to the fuel pump relay im pretty sure, which even chevy deleted in the 1990s probably realizing they had reliable enough computer grounding

Then the gauge on the dash can be run off the port by the distributor. leave the original alone if it wont budge. is the one by the oil filter using an adapter that comes out of the block that the switch/sensor screw into ?

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

it looks something like this , right? show us what you meant if you still need to use this location

You must be registered for see images attach

This is an example of where the location im telling you to use is, its by the distributor toward the firewall on the little landing the distributor opening is at. that supports my gauge sender , and it can probably support the switch for the fuel pump too but it would probably take a second or so more cranking to get it to do its thing just because its higher in the oil feed circuit i presume

 

[SquareRoot]

And people like @Edelbrock saying he probably did it on purpose to try to get more money.

^^

 

[SquareRoot]

Thus: The idiot light was invented. Also not effective at all.

As proven by your profile pic.