The oil sending unit on my 94 shorted out and it took my gauge with it. Now the gauge maxes out at about 1/8th of the way up. Im about to do a 3.4 swap and would like to get it fixed for that and at the same time I mod the tach. Does anybody know if I can get just a new gauge or do I need to buy a whole new cluster. Id like to steer away from needing to buy a whole cluster if possible. If so anybody got a link to a gauge for sale. I'd check a dealer if I had one locally.

Also I have the sr5 cluster with the horizontal moving needles.
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Find a used cluster or go with a mechanical gauge.

Just how does a sending unit short I am curious to learn

Caused the 10 amp gauge fuse to open ??

If your gauge is not working did you get the wrong sending unit or do something during the install to prevent a good ground.

As most sending units ground via the threads The fact it works at all makes me think it is not getting the correct signal for your gauge

Oil pressure should always be verified with a mechanical gauge

 

By short I mean the sender went bad and provides a direct connection to ground rather a resistance like it should. When this happens the gauge gets too much current pulled through it. In the gauge there is a coil off wire that heats up and bends a rod to move the gauge. When the signal is connected straight to ground with out something to regulate the load the coil will usually over heat and burn out or permanently bend the rod. At that point the gauge is no good

 

So it then did open the gauge fuse

Which should have opened before any damage was done

 

Well no the fuse didn't blow. Yes its still a 10 amp. If you search for the problem you'll find its pretty common for these trucks to kill oil gauges with bad senders and more commonly from incorrect replacement senders. The gauge itself is a resistor. When the signal side is shorted to ground the gauge will try to function but due to its own resistance it will pull much less than 10 amps before damage occurs. Therefore the fuse wont blow in this case.

Unfortunately, I cant find just a replacement gauge.