jonnyb78

hi yall, my heep just started running at 80 psi oil pressure constantly. cold or hot. idle or on the throttle. i heard the sending unit but symptoms were different. how would one test ths sending unit. what else might be the prolem? thanks in advance

Fsher21

It is your sending unit, right above your oil filter. I had the exact same issue, oil gauge was pegged no matter what. replaced it and i was good to go. you can rent a mechanical tester or something like that to screw into the sending unit area to test if you want to be really sure.

jonnyb78

thanks for the quick reply. think it will be ok to drive for a day or 2 til i can get the part?

Fsher21

yeah just dont drive it hard, and if you had issues with oil pressure already, do not let it go for long.

Make sure you get the right unit, I know auto zone doesn't carry it at all, and will try to sell you a switch (i think) instead of what you need. Will fit and everything, but won't work lol

jonnyb78

no i havent had any oil issues before. i have been a little hard on it. been playing in the snow

Fsher21

Yeah it just is not fun driving on it not knowing if your oil pressure is ok or not. really easy to replace, just unhook the wire, unscrew the old unit, and screw the new on back on and reattach the wire.

jonnyb78

yea a little sketchy wondering if my motors about to blow up. thanks for the help

HCCAFan

Dude ... This just happened to me a couple days ago. I would not drive it. Mine blew the oil filter off because the release valve in the oil pump failed. This caused ridiculous pressure. When you blow your oil filter off, 6 quarts of oil come out of your jeep in about 10 seconds.

I replaced my oil pump and my pressure is under control but I am still chasing seals that it blew out. See my thread.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/xj-...d-start-69398/

HCCAFan

PS. In my research about this, I have found a ton of oil pump failures around 150,000 miles. How many do you have?

Fsher21

I dont think he will have to worry about anything more than a $20 sending unit. until he blows an oil filter...not likely his issue.

HCCAFan

Kind of a big gamble eh? Not worth it to me. I found three other people through friends of friends that this happened to. Not blowing the oil filter off, but extreme pressure due to the oil pump failing.

tjwalker

Want to know for sure?

Rent or buy a "mechanical" oil pressure gauge. Temporarily install it where the oil pressure sending unit resides. Compare your readings to what you see on the dash. Then you'll know for SURE.