Oil pressure drop to zero!

[Yap]

few days ago, i was driving my car toward airport, when about arrived the airport, i notice the oil pressure drop to zero when i stoped at the traffic light, few traffic passed and the situation remain the same, so i pull over my car, and check the engine oil level, and it was fine, so i start my car again(few mins later) and the car seem go back to normal as before( point to 2 on the meter) til now. So, bros, got any idea whats going on with my car on that day?

[4door_Sleeper]

Take it to a mechanic straight away. This will kill your engine in no time.

You may be lucky and they find the fault in the guage, but if its the pump or a problem with the oil your motor wont have long to live.

[d00dz]

could also be the sender or the sensor...

mine says 0 too.. talking it to BD4's on Monday

[superspit]

Take it to a mechanic straight away. This will kill your engine in no time.

You may be lucky and they find the fault in the guage, but if its the pump or a problem with the oil your motor wont have long to live.

All potentially valid points here.

But rather than scaring the Bejesus out of this poor guy, let's analyse what you have at the moment.

Was (is) the engine oil abnormally hot and smelly (check via dipstick or oil filler cap??).

Has the oil got any traces of 'darkness', compared to say...when you checked it last week for example.

Is the engine temp also showing hotter than normal.

Noises, do you hear noises from the engine itself? (clanking or 'tappetty' type noises).

Does the interior of the car smell odd (fumey?) other than the normal petrol smell?

I guess what we are trying to ascertain here is if there are any other 'changes' that would back up an actual and not 'indicated' fault.(??).

After all, you could simply have a bad 'sender' unit going to the oil pressure guage,

and that's it. (Indication of a fault rather than an actual fault??).

Idle your car to perform these basic tests, or do small road trips up and down your street (safely) to simulate correct operating temps.

Look for these things, drive cautiously, if you have to at all, and get back to us!!

Superspit Mark.

PS. '4D_Sleeper' could well be spot on the money here, keep that in mind too!!

[Cubes]

I've got a dodgy sender that some times does this.

Your description of how it reads zero then after a few minutes it reads normal again is similiar to what mine does. "Occasionally"

Mine doesn't actually read 'zero' as reading zer has the red warning light come on. It reads around .5 which is a 1/4 away from the first line (2) but may look very close to zero.

I thought it may have been the rb20det motor was a little buggered as it had done a shiet load of kays.

The new motor also randomly does this.

I've had mine tested on the dyno as it appears to do it when underbonnet temps get high. Perfect oil pressure.

The std pressure senders are dodgy. Especially when their 12-13years old.

Does any one know of an aftermarket 'performance' sender?

I've heard of people who change their sender than 25,000km's later it buggers up again. It appears the replacement jobs are not of the same quality as the origionals and don't last as long.

[superspit]

Ther u go !!

Cube and d00dz have similar thoughts!!!

Check it!

[Bobby^]

Mine randomally drops sometimes. First few times i freaked out, but now when it does it, i just ignore it :S. I figure if i blow it up, ill have to rebuild with forgies. Oh no!

[Ants]

Ok, how long has it since you have changed the oil and oil filter? Sometimes the oil could be just too dirty and effect the oil pressure i.e. get all boged up.

Make sure you keep your engine with good oil at all times. I change my oil every 3 months.

[Morgs]

If the red 'idiot' oil pressure light comes on, your engine is cactus.

Take it to your mech or someone with an aftermarket gauge etc, he can tell if pressure is ok.

[superspit]

mmmm......I wonder if people are helping sometimes, or just accelerating the ageing process of humans. Read the forum threads so far?

[4door_Sleeper]

I agree with the comments made above, BUT until I knew it was the sender I would be VERY careful and get it to a mechanic to check it out. It wont take very long to destroy your engine IF the pressure is failing, so IMHO its not worth the risk, and I would get it checked out ASAP (I may even consider getting a tow to the workshop rather than continuing to drive it)

My intention wasn’t to scare the Bejesus out of Yap, but it is a potentially very serious situation.

[superspit]

Yap....do a little homework, check the 'logical and simple' things as above, and if in any doubt or if you do indeed find something that might backup you have a 'hurt engine', then call for the T-Truck.

But generally, Electronics are almost always prone to bursting before an engine does.

PS. I take it that you actually do check/service your oil regularly, I may have taken this for granted that you did!!

PPS. You're pobably out cruising as we type this 5hit out!!!

In that case.....Good Luck!!

[voona]

Mine has also dropped to 0 on one occasion. I freaked out as well. I tried to not drive mine for a while as im waiting for new turbos and such from japan. 2-3 months later its almost ready to come alive again hopefully.

[voona]

Further to this does anyone know the nissan part number for these dodgy senders ?

[Morgs]

mmmm......I wonder if people are helping sometimes, or just accelerating the ageing process of humans. Read the forum threads so far?

Got something to say champ?

[Yap]

thanks guys!~ apart from the zero oil pressure, other things seem normal, i have check the dipstick and its H, oil temp is normal too, around 85-90. and i have change the engine oil quite often, around in every 3 months within 5000km, and change the oil filter once in every 6 months, someone told me i might me the oil sensor, or sender ?? in other forum too, so.. can anyone tell me how to find out whether it is the sensor failure or other thing else??coz i dun want to buy a new sensor and end up it wasn't the sensor failure...also, how much does the sensor cost??many thanks!!!~

[superspit]

All seems normal?.....then chances are, if you know your car (sounds like you do), it is normal...minus your crummy gauge!! Keep 'bumping' your post 'till you find the answer on a price for your sender/gauge!!! You'll get it !!

PS. Keep monitoring the situation, just to be safe...and ...goodonya!!

[superspit]

Got something to say champ?

Yes Morgs...and I reckon, going back through these posts, that I have already.

Thankyou, champ!!

[flagger]

holy crap, the same thing happened to me today...was heading down to the gold coast, going up a hill just before the freeway entrance, and i looked at the oil guage. was at the bottom but no red light...freaked me out

so i pulled into a side street, let it idle 30 seconds, and pressure came back to normal (3kg/cm2) and on the freeway cruising in 5th at 2900rpm was reading 5kg/cm2. temps were normal, no fumes, nothign else.

however on the gold coast a few hours later after i put some petrol in, i boosted it a lil (still under the speed limit) and oil pressure dropped again, 1 min later back to normal.

mine is prob more related to old oil, as im due for my 100K service (im actually 2K over...got the car at 101K and previous owner hasnt done major service). Im getting that done next weekend by hardcore racing in slacks creek so ill see how it ends up.

[Ronin 09]

If the red 'idiot' oil pressure light comes on, your engine is cactus.

FYI people, that red light on a GTR also comes on when the oil temp reaches a preset limit ~130 degrees...