oil pressure spiking - what's up?

[scottw]

Hi all: I did a search on oil pressure and oil pressure gauge but didn't see anything very helpful, so here goes:

My 87 FJ60 sat (in a heated garage) for about 5 weeks while I was on a combo vacation/work trip. When I got home a few days ago I started it up and within a couple of minutes of driving the oil pressure gauge quickly rose to the very top, above the end of the top bar. It looked pretty much pegged. I shut it down and checked the oil level with the dipstick. It was at the full line, but not above. There was a small oil puddle in the parking space when I first pulled out, but I haven't seen any leaking since that day.

After starting back up it rose up again but then over a few minutes dropped down to the mid-level, where it has always been in the past. In the couple of days since then it has done the same thing a couple of times, usually just after starting. It then drops slowly down to the "normal" range."

Any idea what could be causing this? I suppose it could be a gauge issue, though the gauge doesn't move jumpily or quickly, like I assume it would with an electrical issue. It moves slowly and steadily. Is there something besides a bad gauge that could be causing it? Anything I can check easily?

Thanks for any advice.

-Scott

 

[haryv]

scott, mine does to.

I dont know what these gages look like when the truck is new but mine pegs at the top then settles down at the 3/4 mark after it warms up. Anyone care to comment?

 

[scottw]

Thanks Haryv, that's good to know at least I'm not the only one. What's weird is that I've had it 4 years and have put about 25K miles on it and it never did it (or at least I never noticed it) before.

Anyone else?

-Scott

 

[roscoFJ73]

Try a new sender unit,they are cheap and interchangeable with a corrola ,camry and other toyotas of the same vintage.
The sender nearly always packs it in befroe anything else


A worst case scenario is worn main bearings but the oil pressure usually drops away to nothing after it warms up.

 

[PF]

I'm a fj62 owner so I'm probably not qualified to answer the question, but I know when the voltage regulators on the 62s start to go it causes the engine temp and fuel gages to peg and then drop. It does this randomly every once in a while.

Note: I haven't changed the voltage regulator yet so I don't know if this is the problem. Only read about it.

 

[Cruisergreg]

Most likely: electrical problem with the gauge circuit. Clean the contacts at the gauge terminals. Senders don't usually read high when they fail.

Less likely: oil pressure anomolies can be caused by large particles flowing through the oil system and intermittently blocking journals, although this usually is een with oil pressure low readings, not high. But anything's possible.

 

[scottw]

Thanks guys. PF, I've had the fuel guage/temp gauge spiking thing for a while now. Only happens once in a while, and it freaked me out the first time I saw that temp guage peg, but then I did a search here and saw it was a known issue.

This is the first time for the oil pressure, though. I guess I'll just roll with it for now until I get some time to check out the gauge connections and sender. As long as it's not too low...

-Scott

 

[yellow dog 62]

Oil guage

Just got my '88 FJ62. When I bought it all guages were working. Had it shipped from Texas to NC and now the oil pressure guage doesn't work. Checked oil level it is ok, oil sending unit was replaced Jan. '05 per P.O. records. Any suggestions? Thanks