Any ideas why my Oil Pressure light won't go out? I have a gauge and the pressure is good. I unplug the wire from the sensor and it stays on. I assume it is grounding out somewhere. Any ideas on where to check first?
This is tough to get to and since it is on the cluster and tied into the bundle it makes it even worse. Could it be a bad sensor? I don't see how, but I thought I would ask. I am in the process of putting the interior back in but I don't want to do this until I fix the light.
Dummy lights are just either on or off thus controlled via grounding the circuit. I assume your light is staying on all the time when it's connected to the sensor.
First, make sure your instrument panel is grounded. Not sure how 69's are grounded but if it's not obvious then just manual ground with wire clips for testing purposes. If it still stays on then replace sensor. Sensors switches are cheaper than the gauged type.
Most electrical "odd behaviour" is due to bad grounding.
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The instrument panel is definitely grounded. I added an extra wire to the casing itself to make sure. The thing is, when I unplug the sensor the dummy light stays on which leads me to believe it is grounding before the sensor. However, I have a new wiring harness and the wire is bundled up under the dash. Is there anyway to narrow it down to the most likely places it could be grounded?
Do all the other instrument work correctly? The oil pressure wire just runs from the cluster to the sensor and doesn't tie into anything else. You could pull the bulkhead connector apart and see if you still get a light. That would tell you which side of the firewall your problem is on.
-=>Lee<=- Due to budget constraints the "light at the end of the tunnel" has been turned off!
Alright, so I go back out and start tracking things down. But before I remove the dash I think, okay, one more time lets try to start the car without the oil light connected. Low and behold the light never comes on. It seems like the last time I tried this it stayed on leading me to believe the wire was grounded somewhere. Now I am thinking that the new sensor is bad.
Any thoughts on this? I don't think there is anyway to put it on wrong but could I have put it on wrong and mistakenly grounded it out. For example leaving a washer off or something crazy like that where the sensor grounds itself to the block?
The sensor is just a grounding switch. for a light. If the wire is disconnected from the sensor the light should be off (it should come on with the key on and the engine not running, as a test.) You could stick something in the end of the wire and ground it out to the block or frame and see if the light comes on. (Remember, no Teflon tape on the sensor threads. You can use some other thread/gasket sealant.) You could have a bad sensor, or one for a gauge.
-=>Lee<=- Due to budget constraints the "light at the end of the tunnel" has been turned off!
Right, as it is now. When it is connected the light comes on when the key is turned on. Then after start it will stay on and maybe flash off for a second then re-illuminate. It is for a dummy light. My pressure gauge reads normally so I feel it must be the sensor. It is a cheap fix/try to swap out the sensor.
Yes, wire grounding some where. I was driving my goat and the oil light started going on and off and I was amazed because I don't even have an idiot light sender. Turns out the blue wire was flying around loose and was melting onto the exhaust manifold.
