What causes the oil pressure switch to go bad I just bought a new one and put it on and now its just back to goin up and down on the meter like it was when I changed it in the first place

 

Fist off, the oil pressure is supposed to fluctuate on the gauge. That is the nature of the internal combustion engine. Should not be less than 13 psi at a hot idle and between 37-75 over 1600 rpms.

Describe EXACTLY what you see.

If it is not acting normally, where did you buy this part?

There have been a lot of threads with people having trouble with aftermarket oil pressure sending units.

I have had mixed (poor) luck with aftermarket sending units. I buy plenty of aftermarket parts, but the crank sensor and the oil pressure sending unit should come from JEEP for best reliability.

I worked in Engineering for 23 years for Honeywell, where we supplied OEM sensors to the automotive industry. There is a HUGE difference in reliability/longevity of sensor brands.

 

I bought it from autozone and this is the second time I bought it the ARM on the meter is completely off the cart it will go to the middle of the cart and then completely drop off like its not reading right

 

Buy a sending unit from Jeep. Take the Autozone one back.

Good chance that a quality unit will take care of this.

 

Thank you very much for all of your help

 

FYI, autozone sells you the switch for the dummy light, not the actual sending unit that screws in above your oil filter. Not sure if every autozone stock is the same, but where I live, they do not stock the sending unit. They will sell you the switch and it looks identical and even fits. Mine pegged at >80 when i put it in though, didnt move much at all lol

 

If my gauge is showing at the 37 to 45 range what does that tell you about my motor. I know you said that 37 - 75 is the range but being in the lower end of the range what does that mean compared to being in the upper end.

 

I got one from autozone and it worked fine. Take a cotton swab and clean the area where the sensor screws in. Sometimes this gets clogged causing a false reading

 

I had bought one from autozone also and I believe that it is the one that goes over the oil filter because it was the same one that I unscrewed and it fit right in. Dd I still buy the wrong part? But however I do still see the same reading... My gauge is off the charts at all times. It never moves, except when I turn the jeep on ( I believe). Any clues on this one? Hate to steal your thread here.

 

Your fine. I just changed out my sending unit cuz it would read below 10 psi at idle, and now im getting between 35 and 45

 

you can buy a manual oil pressure reader (if im not mistaken) that screws into where the sending unit goes and that will tell you what your real psi is.

 

It looks identical, and screws in perfect. the plug even fits into it. the only difference was one had 2 pins, the other only had 1. I think the switch had two pin, and the sending unit had 1. It may be the other way around. Either way autozone sold me the wrong one, and when i told them the mistake, they said they did not have what I needed, and could not order it. It pegged my gauge with the switch in there. Bought the sending unit from another store, and it works perfect.

 

Autozone sells two different types of oil pressure sending units, one is for gauges and ones for dummy lights. If they don't know what there talking about and only have dummy light units that's what there going to sell you. The dummy gauge sensors will peg the gauge as many people have already found out. Ive had mine from AZ for awhile and it seems to work fine, but if you always want to be sure, buy from Jeep as other members stated.+

 

I'll have to pull it out and take a snap shot of it tomorrow and have some one clarify. When you say two pins what do you mean by that? I'm a bit confused. And what store did you pick yours up from?

 

by pins he means the male terminals on the electrical connector, I know gauge sensors only have one pin cant speak for dummy lights