Converting Dummy Oil Pressure Gauge to fully functional

[94CutlassSLCoupe]

Is it possible to make the Dummy oil pressure gauge found on '93 & '94 Cutlass Supremes move like a normal gauge?

 

Right now i start the car up and it always is in the same spot, instead of fluxuating like its supposed to. Is it just as simple as removing the pressure switch and installing a sending unit in its place??

 

Thanks!

[Supreme Cutlass]

I put a sender to replace my switch and it moves like it should, but I'm not exactly sure what you mean.

[1990lumina]

Oil pressure shouldn't really flucuate muchafter the engine in warmed up...or do you mean like idle speed...and then 1500rpm the guage goes up??

[94CutlassSLCoupe]

yeah it should be lower at idle than at crusing speed...this literally just goes to one spot and stays there...warm or cold

[19Cutlass94]

Mine does that too. I just always though thats it stayed at the same pressure, but its really just the gauge

[1990lumina]

I know the newer pumps had some type of thingy that helped keep pressure the same at idle....the older ones like in my 90 Lumina w/ 3.1 doesn't have this and it can go quite low at idle, then up right away....even at 1100rpm or so

[skiiirt]

Thats odd. I always thought mine worked perfectly?

 

The guage fluctuates during the course of a trip and usually lowers in pressure when i near oil change time

 

So what your saying is in my '92 its all bullshit?

[93CutlassSupreme]

oil pressure increases with rpm in any engine.

 

 

my '93 pressure gauge never moves. they're basically an idiot light in a gauge form.

 

BrianP said he was going to have a write up on converting it into a true gauge, but he never posted it

 

 

it wouldn't be useful anyways, because the gauge is just Low and High. no pressure numbers.

 

i don't understand that....if you're gonna have a gauge, might as well label it properly

[Supreme Cutlass]

well, look at the sender/switch next to the oil filter, is it short or long? Switches are about two inches long where the sender is about double that.

[94CutlassSLCoupe]

its short...its definately a swtich...'92's have a real gauge, '93-'94 don't.

 

Well it would be a little more useful because by the time the gauge goes into the red, you're engine is toast already

[5speedz34]

You can't just get the sender and convert to a '92 gauge cluster?

[94CutlassSLCoupe]

i can't imagine why i would need a new cluster...i couldn't give two shits about the actual value, i just want a generality

 

If swapping the sender is all i have to do, then sweet

[Crazy K]

The 93 and 94 CS cluster has an oil gauge, and it works, exactly like the digital one in my 91 CS convertible. See the upper left guage? (PS the 93 and 94 are different and won't interchange due to a circuit change to add air-bag light)

ASSUMING that you aren't running on superthick oil, your gauge should show a mid line reading when warm and drop to around 1/4 when hot idling.

(the oil guage has even made me decide that 10w30 was too thick for a 185,000 mile car! the oil guage remained pegged when started and creeped to normal as car warmed up... rev the engine cold and risk blowing a seal or something!)

Check that you have the correct switch, this link shows you where it is and you should know that the long switch is for the guage and the short switch is for the schmuck light. If your guage doesn't work or remains pegged, just go to autozone and buy a new one! say about $16 (I removed the oil filter and removed and installed several with a vice-grip)

http://www.w-body.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35754

please note on two of the three that I changed, the car has had the wrong sensor and I was the first to discover it.

[1990lumina]

At start up my guage is pinned to 550kPa

at normal temp it shows 3/4 on the guage...

 

on the odd time the car actually warms up the guage will go to a quarter at idle..and go back up to 3/4 once the rpm goes up a couple hundred

[94CutlassSLCoupe]

its always a little bit above center...same exact gauge cluster as the one pictured...doesn't fluxuate at all...I guess i'll just try a sending unit in there instead of the switch...that is if the car wasn't buried under a foot+ of snow