What did you do to your Ranger today? (Part Deux!)

[lil_Blue_Ford]

If you bathe your self and gasoline, it kills the Covid virus. I’m not sure if there’s other bad affects though.

Been known to cause cancer in laboratory rats, or so I’ve heard.

I do know the smell of gasoline on a man seems to bother women substantially, and usually not in a good way. If you’re not sure what I mean, wash you hands in gasoline before you go see Sweet Pea next time, I’m sure she will explain the problem, lol

 

[Rick W]

Been known to cause cancer in laboratory rats, or so I’ve heard.

I do know the smell of gasoline on a man seems to bother women substantially, and usually not in a good way. If you’re not sure what I mean, wash you hands in gasoline before you go see Sweet Pea next time, I’m sure she will explain the problem, lol

I’m sure she would, on the return visit after I got thrown out!

 

[scotts90ranger]

If you bathe your self in gasoline, it kills the Covid virus. I’m not sure if there’s other bad affects though.

If you light up a smoke (cigar, what have you...) afterward on the plus side you won't have to shave for a couple years, but there's some other lasting effects in that same time period...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

If you light up a smoke (cigar, what have you...) afterward on the plus side you won't have to shave for a couple years, but there's some other lasting effects in that same time period...

Ehh, it’s easier to find ones that tolerate cigars. Gasoline, not so much.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Very true

 

[97ranger22bronco]

Also switched out the coolant overflow/wiper fluid tank; minor thing but it bothered me so much to have that old dirty one there.

 

[97ranger22bronco]

If you bathe your self in gasoline, it kills the Covid virus. I’m not sure if there’s other bad affects though.

My wife was not thrilled (at all, may I add) when I came into the house smelling of old gasoline...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Well I went to wash off the mud and sand mix from my desert adventures a couple weeks ago on the '90 but some dumbass decided to pre rinse it in my pond and got algae and grass wrapped around the axles which is what I want to work on so I'll have to pressure wash it tomorrow...

On that note I found my extended radius arm materials so that's going to happen soon...

 

[JoshT]

Just purchased a replacement for my broken instrument cluster bezel on eBay. Mine wasn't bad broken, but the locations for mounting up into the dash above the cluster had all cracked and broken out. Likely from my over tightening it in the past. Nothing that stopped it from working, but I know its broken and it annoys me. I'll have to be a bit more gentle when installing this one.

Tomorrow (later today) I'll be installing a digital oil pressure gauge and a new sender for the dash gauge, to see if actually have an oil pressure issue or just the gauge acting up.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Just purchased a replacement for my broken instrument cluster bezel on eBay. Mine wasn't bad broken, but the locations for mounting up into the dash above the cluster had all cracked and broken out. Likely from my over tightening it in the past. Nothing that stopped it from working, but I know its broken and it annoys me. I'll have to be a bit more gentle when installing this one.

Tomorrow (later today) I'll be installing a digital oil pressure gauge and a new sender for the dash gauge, to see if actually have an oil pressure issue or just the gauge acting up.

For screws going into plastic parts "snug" is usually tight enough.

 

[JoshT]

Tomorrow (later today) I'll be installing a digital oil pressure gauge and a new sender for the dash gauge, to see if actually have an oil pressure issue or just the gauge acting up.

Well that was a bust. Installed both of those and now don't know if I've got a bad gauge, bad sender, or a bad engine.

To start with I drove it over to the parents house to do the wrenching. Was able to catch a video of what the pressure gauge was doing. This was after about 25 minutes of driving. Not really sure how to post a video, so here's the imgur link.

http://imgur.com/a/CNjb0r0

When I started truck after installing, engine had been sitting for a few hours after a 30 minute drive. Not hot, but didn't take long to warm back up to operating temperature. The new gauge started out showing 44 psi and slowly dropped down to 0 at idle. I creasing rpm brought brought the gauge back up into at least the 30s, if not 40s. No engine noises that would make one suspect loss of oil pressure.

At the same time the new oil pressure sender for the dash was installed. The entire time it was running the needle stayed solid in the normal range. I know it's a dummy gauge, but with the other dropping to 0 I would have expected something to happen on the dash gauge. Even just a little flickering. Sender is not shorted to ground, I checked for that, doesn't mean it's accurate either.

So now I don't know if I have one or two inaccurate gauges and/or an engine that's about to bite the dust.

I could try a third mechanical gauge, that might tell me which gauge is more correct. I don't want a permanent install and have no idea how to route tubing without going through the firewall. That's one reason why I went electrical gauge, was easy enough to just route the wires through the door jamb.

So not really sure how to progress right now.

For screws going into plastic parts "snug" is usually tight enough.

I know that. Knowing and doing are different things. Very easy to unintentionally use too much force with the 1/4 drive ratchet. A nut driver would be a much better tool for the job, but I'm not bullying a set of them. I need to get another 1/4 drive spinner handle, I've got every 1/4 socket I could need, except in 10mm. Used to have one, but haven't seen it in years.

 

[Roert42]

I would grab one of those oil pressure gauges that screw into the sender port and do the same test again but using that gauge.
At the very least, that will tell you if the new electrical gauge is trash.

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

Well that was a bust. Installed both of those and now don't know if I've got a bad gauge, bad sender, or a bad engine.

To start with I drove it over to the parents house to do the wrenching. Was able to catch a video of what the pressure gauge was doing. This was after about 25 minutes of driving. Not really sure how to post a video, so here's the imgur link.

http://imgur.com/a/CNjb0r0

When I started truck after installing, engine had been sitting for a few hours after a 30 minute drive. Not hot, but didn't take long to warm back up to operating temperature. The new gauge started out showing 44 psi and slowly dropped down to 0 at idle. I creasing rpm brought brought the gauge back up into at least the 30s, if not 40s. No engine noises that would make one suspect loss of oil pressure.

At the same time the new oil pressure sender for the dash was installed. The entire time it was running the needle stayed solid in the normal range. I know it's a dummy gauge, but with the other dropping to 0 I would have expected something to happen on the dash gauge. Even just a little flickering. Sender is not shorted to ground, I checked for that, doesn't mean it's accurate either.

So now I don't know if I have one or two inaccurate gauges and/or an engine that's about to bite the dust.

I could try a third mechanical gauge, that might tell me which gauge is more correct. I don't want a permanent install and have no idea how to route tubing without going through the firewall. That's one reason why I went electrical gauge, was easy enough to just route the wires through the door jamb.

So not really sure how to progress right now.


I know that. Knowing and doing are different things. Very easy to unintentionally use too much force with the 1/4 drive ratchet. A nut driver would be a much better tool for the job, but I'm not bullying a set of them. I need to get another 1/4 drive spinner handle, I've got every 1/4 socket I could need, except in 10mm. Used to have one, but haven't seen it in years.

+1 on @Roert42 's post.

Is the aftermarket pressure gauge wired into the same sending unit as the factory one, or does it have its own sending unit? From what I understand, the factory sending units are more of a switch than anything.

 

[Rick W]

What I know about the Ranger truck specifics will fit in a thimble. But what I know from my chemical engineering is that a gauge that is fed with an oil line that has a pressure diaphragm in it is going to tell you a whole lot more than an electrical gauge feeding off a sender/sensor (at least the variety you can buy for your vehicle).

There are many things that could be off with the electrical gauge and you could swap parts forever. If you T into the oil pressure line, you may be able to temp mount a diaphragm gauge in between the hood and the front cowl outside. You could bend up a little sheet of whatever metal and mount the gauge on it and feed the little oil line down around the hood somewhere. That’s so you could see it while you’re driving. That will definitely tell you if your engine is making pressure, and if the pressure is going up and down with RPM, and if it is going up or down from cold to hot

Another thought, you could T into the line and just rev the engine when you’re sitting in the driveway and see what the diaphragm gauge does just hanging loose under the hood. Even if it is inaccurate, it should go up and down with the oil pressure in the truck.

And another last thought, if you’re going to run a temp line, copper, aluminum or steel is always best, but you can actually use a plastic line. If you use a plastic line, it has to be a very small diameter, like the cartridge of a ballpoint pen. If you use something much bigger, the wall of the tube can expand and contract and defeat the diaphragm in the gauge. The “spring rate” of the plastic wall might be lower than the “spring rate” of the diaphragm. If so, the diaphragm could just act like a plug, and the gauge wouldn’t move. Obviously just make sure it’s not laying on the manifold anywhere.

A couple more last thoughts. Whether it’s a direct line or a sensor, a gauge flickering like that on a liquid line, could be an indication that the line is drawing in the air on the suction side of the pump. Now again, I don’t really know how the pump is configured on the truck. But air may be coming in the suction pick up side of the pump, like on the tube that hangs in the oil pan. While the oil is cold and thick, it could be minimal, but then draw a lot of air once the oil thins out.

And my final (for now) thought is that there may be a loose or worn electrical connector that is vibrating somewhere once the engine heats up and the wiring softens up from the heat of the engine. With the engine hot when the gauge is flickering, you could just take a stick and wiggle around the wires under the hood that feed the gauge and see if that levels it out or if the gauge just goes dead. Obviously wherever you’re poking the stick or pulling on the wires is where you want to look for a problem.

Hope it helps. I’ll probably think of some more last things before I’m done.

 

[CamTheHedgehog]

What I know about the Ranger truck specifics will fit in a thimble. But what I know from my chemical engineering is that a gauge that is fed with an oil line that has a pressure diaphragm in it is going to tell you a whole lot more than an electrical gauge feeding off a sender/sensor (at least the variety you can buy for your vehicle).

There are many things that could be off with the electrical gauge and you could swap parts forever. If you T into the oil pressure line, you may be able to temp mount a diaphragm gauge in between the hood and the front cowl outside. You could bend up a little sheet of whatever metal and mount the gauge on it and feed the little oil line down around the hood somewhere. That’s so you could see it while you’re driving. That will definitely tell you if your engine is making pressure, and if the pressure is going up and down with RPM, and if it is going up or down from cold to hot

Another thought, you could T into the line and just rev the engine when you’re sitting in the driveway and see what the diaphragm gauge does just hanging loose under the hood. Even if it is inaccurate, it should go up and down with the oil pressure in the truck.

And another last thought, if you’re going to run a temp line, copper, aluminum or steel is always best, but you can actually use a plastic line. If you use a plastic line, it has to be a very small diameter, like the cartridge of a ballpoint pen. If you use something much bigger, the wall of the tube can expand and contract and defeat the diaphragm in the gauge. The “spring rate” of the plastic wall might be lower than the “spring rate” of the diaphragm. If so, the diaphragm could just act like a plug, and the gauge wouldn’t move. Obviously just make sure it’s not laying on the manifold anywhere.

A couple more last thoughts. Whether it’s a direct line or a sensor, a gauge flickering like that on a liquid line, could be an indication that the line is drawing in the air on the suction side of the pump. Now again, I don’t really know how the pump is configured on the truck. But air may be coming in the suction pick up side of the pump, like on the tube that hangs in the oil pan. While the oil is cold and thick, it could be minimal, but then draw a lot of air once the oil thins out.

And my final (for now) thought is that there may be a loose or worn electrical connector that is vibrating somewhere once the engine heats up and the wiring softens up from the heat of the engine. With the engine hot when the gauge is flickering, you could just take a stick and wiggle around the wires under the hood that feed the gauge and see if that levels it out or if the gauge just goes dead. Obviously wherever you’re poking the stick or pulling on the wires is where you want to look for a problem.

Hope it helps. I’ll probably think of some more last things before I’m done.

I agree that a mechanical gauge is best. However for me, with my (soon to be installed) aftermarket gauge, I don't want a pressurized oil line running all the way up to the cab.... That's asking for failure. So i instead ordered a decent quality GlowShift electronic gauge, and will test its accuracy against my mechanical test gauge (the kind that looks like a compression tester). It runs a seperate sensor, one that isn't a glorified on-off switch like the Rangers have from factory.