Got another question regarding my recently purchased 89 4runner. Its got a 22re/5sp for reference.

When i bought it, it only had a simple spedo guage cluster with some idiot lights. the seller also gave me a full spedo/tach cluster out of an 88 truck. It plugged right in and everything seems to work, but the oil presure guage is acting funny. when you first turn the key on the guage goes up to normal operating presure...strange since its not running. Once you crank it up it slowly drops to nothing. Its making me think that the guage is reading in reverse. My questions are:

where is the oil presure sensor on the engine?

Is it a 2 wire sensor that could be reversed?

or is it possible that the guages i'm running are desined to have different signals sent to them?

I'm sure the motor has sufficient oil presure just because the way it runs and sounds but the guage thing is throwing me off. I just havn't had a chance to crawl up under it and look for the sensor.


Thanks in advance from a newbie toy owner.

 

does the gauge react when you run the engine at higher rpms? does it move at all?

 

no, it stayes bottomed out once its running at any rpm.

 

Well, I have no idea. However, the oil sender is on the passenger side of the motor just aft of the motor mount but forward of the starter and below and forward of the fuel filter and directly underneath the lower intake plenum...got it? Do you have A/C? If so, it's aft of that.

 

I'm pretty sure the gauge will climb when you turn the key to accessories as a test, kind of like how your CEL, P-brake, Seat Belt, etc. lights come on during that time as well, and at initial start up. I would say you didn't hook something up right, or the wire to/from the sensor is bad or the sensor itself. Did the previous cluster have the oil pressure gauge?

 

My oil guage doesn't "test" itself on startup...a little old for that I think.

 

you need to change the sensor, its different for a light or guage.

 

what's the sender look like? If its a big "bell" looking thing it's for an SR5 cluster, if it's a little tiny thing, then it's the old dummy light sender and that's your problem.

 

thanks, i'll look at it tomorow and see what the sensor looks like. I didn't do the engine swap in it so i'm not sure if its even hooked up at all.

 

No biggy, I'm thinking the wrong sender is there. Besides, it wouldn't do anything if it wasn't hooked up.

 

i did the same swap, the senders looked simuler. they are NOT the same. if you have the right sender, just make sure the connection is good.

 

The little one is for a cluster that only has an idiot light. The big one is for when you have a gauge.

 

so if i go to autozone or where ever, what do i ask for? If i tell them 89 4runner with 22re won't they just try to get me the same on i have now? Should i ask for one for a tacoma or something?

 

Tell them it is for an SR5 model of a similar model and engine. The SR5 models are the ones that came with the full gauge cluster.

 

Are you sure your head gasket and other places oil could leak are fine?
Mine did the same thing, start at the middle and once it warmed up drop to nothing and pretty much sit there, well sometimes it would read very little.
Mine was because of my head gasket leak, replaced the HG and now my gauge reads more oil pressure but I still have something going on with my rings...I think it will read normal once I tackle that.

 

Look up your vehicle here. http://www.partsamerica.com/Default.aspx

Then search for oil pressure switch. You want the version for a gauge, not a light.