- 2,799
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- Location
- Mesquite, NV
We were heading north on a packed I15 freeway out of San Diego on Veterans' Day after I had hosted the San Diego Department of Veterans Affairs and their families like I have for the past several years. About 25 miles into the return trip with 50 miles to go the oil pressure gauge dropped to zero and the floated between 0 and 20 psi. There was no shoulder and the exit was crowded. The truck was not making any odd noises so to avoid blocking a major exit I waited my turn at the light while I sweated bullets. After what seemed like hours I had it in a parking lot shut down.
There were no leaks, no oil in the water or water in the oil. Everything looked okay at the sending unit, as far as I could tell and no wires seemed loose behind the dash. I put in a tech support call to Gimp who suggested I restart it and open the sample port on the oil cooler. I did and black gold sprayed out under pressure. Given all the information I had gathered I decided to get back on the road. It was tense the 50 miles home because every bump or rattle made me think the motor might be coming apart. During those 50 miles the gauge would work and then quit and then dance around some. We made it home with no troubles though.
Today we went out to fix it to make sure she was ready for the Christmas parade on the 5th. I decided to replace the sending unit mainly because I had one. If that failed I could order a gauge from Erik's in time for the parade. While removing the sending unit wire I discovered a piss poor splice job. While my son gathered tools to fix that the wire broke in two six inches away from the splice where it had been too close to the exhaust.
My brother - RAT4SPD - told me about something called Occam's Razor, which in simple terms, means it's usually the simplest solution when something is broke. Not the gauge, not the sending unit. Duh.
The wiring in the entire truck is brittle in spots so I have started collecting parts to replace all of it after the next parade. That should last until I'm dead or too old to drive.
Thanks again to Gimp, who always has good advice when I'm alongside the road or in a tight spot. All I've ever done for him was break into a gated housing community to pick up a part he needed.
There were no leaks, no oil in the water or water in the oil. Everything looked okay at the sending unit, as far as I could tell and no wires seemed loose behind the dash. I put in a tech support call to Gimp who suggested I restart it and open the sample port on the oil cooler. I did and black gold sprayed out under pressure. Given all the information I had gathered I decided to get back on the road. It was tense the 50 miles home because every bump or rattle made me think the motor might be coming apart. During those 50 miles the gauge would work and then quit and then dance around some. We made it home with no troubles though.
Today we went out to fix it to make sure she was ready for the Christmas parade on the 5th. I decided to replace the sending unit mainly because I had one. If that failed I could order a gauge from Erik's in time for the parade. While removing the sending unit wire I discovered a piss poor splice job. While my son gathered tools to fix that the wire broke in two six inches away from the splice where it had been too close to the exhaust.
My brother - RAT4SPD - told me about something called Occam's Razor, which in simple terms, means it's usually the simplest solution when something is broke. Not the gauge, not the sending unit. Duh.
The wiring in the entire truck is brittle in spots so I have started collecting parts to replace all of it after the next parade. That should last until I'm dead or too old to drive.
Thanks again to Gimp, who always has good advice when I'm alongside the road or in a tight spot. All I've ever done for him was break into a gated housing community to pick up a part he needed.
