I have a 1996 Jeep Cherokeee XJ (SE model) that I've owned since 2014. Overall I've had very little issues with the thing other than some pretty usual parts needing to be replaced (Radiator, Oxygen Sensors, cabin fan, etc.).

When taking it camping this weekend deeper in the national forest, while going downhill (so doing a lot of breaking and no throttling) the oil pressure gage came on (which immediately caused the engine to cut off and power steering/brakes to stop). I was able to get it to the side of the road safely. I checked under the hood and there was plenty of oil in the engine (which is consistent with the fact that over the last 7 years it has never drank/leaked oil. 30 minutes later the thing cranked up again with the oil light off. I had a similar issue about a year ago in a situation where the vehicle needed to idle a bit too much in traffic (which I chalked up to being an oddball situation at the time -- It also started up with no light after being turned off for a half hour or so). I was able to drive out of there today (I gave it gas in neutral a good bit while going downhill just to make it out of there -- obviously not a long term solution but sometimes you need to get back to civilization and regroup).

Is it likely that I have a bad oil pressure gage or is there another part that could be the culprit? I love my XJ but definitely want to have confidence that I'm not going to get stuck in the middle of nowhere with the thing. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

The oil pressure light coming on shouldn't kill the engine. You sure it didn't come on after the engine stalled?

 

It's certainly possible but I feel like its less likely due to it 1) being an automatic and 2) I drove it home over 100 miles with no issues. Not that I'm a mechanic by any means but I feel like a stalled automatic usually has more pervasive issues that would keep popping up more frequently.

 

Dont drive down hill in neutral, stupid thing to do frankly. use the gears, down shift to the point that the engine offers braking. Learn to drive before going off road, you dont want to get killed do you?

 

i would say 25 year old cars don't always follow common logic, especially jeeps 😂. My pressure sensor does funny things in cold and hot weather, reads 80 when cold but with recent hot weather over the weekend it eventually starts reading a little low then go back to reading normal. When it starts reading low it'll 0 out at a stop light/sign and return to semi normal readings when driving again.

Long story short, when it bottoms out I've never had the engine cut off. Could be some other electrical gremlin and that could explain the intermittent nature?

I once had a napa clerk tell me there's no way their 2 month old replacement alternator was giving me the symptoms i had and i convinced him to warranty it and give me another, haven't had any problems since lol.

 

To extricate the RED Securing TAB in the Electrical Connector, I splashed it with a great deal of WINDEX, which eliminated the soil and oil. WD-40 (In a real sense represents Water Dislodging) would have taken out the water and evaporated the Electrical Connector, making it powerless to breaks.