2013 F150 4x4 5.0L low oil pressure problem
08-21-2016, 08:09 AM
#1
2013 F150 4x4 5.0L low oil pressure problem
Hi guys. I did a search on my issue before posting, and am having the exact same problem as this guy...http://https://www.f150forum.com/f12...essure-318804/
Problem is, it was a year ago, that was his only posts, no way to contact him via email, and he didn't come back to say what the issue was, so sorry that this has been covered before. Hopefully someone with the same problems who has had it fixed will chime in. Anyway, here is my issue.
2013 F150 4X4 5.0L 82k miles. I've done oil changes myself, and have changed it at the correct time.
Changed oil approximately 2500 miles ago. Oil level is fine. Oil is clean. Think it's a master guard filter. 5w30 penzoil.
Just started day before yesterday out the blue. Drove approximately 35 miles to work on the interstate. Exited interstate and when stopping at red light, low oil pressure light came on. Went right back off, and came on again at next light. Went back off. Got to work. Started it up to go home later and no issues. Made 15 miles drive yesterday morning, same problems when stopping. Parked it for several hours, no issue going home. Coming into work again this morning, same issue stopping at red lights after long drive. Parked at work, and oil pressure dropped out again. Slightly rev engine to 1k RPMs and it would go off. Let idle, and pressure drops out to nothing again. Did this 8-10 times. Killed truck, came inside to throw up thinking my truck is shot.
I was initially thinking it may be sending unit or electrical issue, but after seeing it drop out at idle and go up at rev this morning has me thinking it may be rod bearings. Zero noise when low oil pressure light is on. Let it idle for around 30 seconds to see if valves would start tapping.
Any thoughts?
Problem is, it was a year ago, that was his only posts, no way to contact him via email, and he didn't come back to say what the issue was, so sorry that this has been covered before. Hopefully someone with the same problems who has had it fixed will chime in. Anyway, here is my issue.
2013 F150 4X4 5.0L 82k miles. I've done oil changes myself, and have changed it at the correct time.
Changed oil approximately 2500 miles ago. Oil level is fine. Oil is clean. Think it's a master guard filter. 5w30 penzoil.
Just started day before yesterday out the blue. Drove approximately 35 miles to work on the interstate. Exited interstate and when stopping at red light, low oil pressure light came on. Went right back off, and came on again at next light. Went back off. Got to work. Started it up to go home later and no issues. Made 15 miles drive yesterday morning, same problems when stopping. Parked it for several hours, no issue going home. Coming into work again this morning, same issue stopping at red lights after long drive. Parked at work, and oil pressure dropped out again. Slightly rev engine to 1k RPMs and it would go off. Let idle, and pressure drops out to nothing again. Did this 8-10 times. Killed truck, came inside to throw up thinking my truck is shot.
I was initially thinking it may be sending unit or electrical issue, but after seeing it drop out at idle and go up at rev this morning has me thinking it may be rod bearings. Zero noise when low oil pressure light is on. Let it idle for around 30 seconds to see if valves would start tapping.
Any thoughts?
08-22-2016, 07:41 PM
#2
Update. I drove it home from work today (work 24 hour shifts), and zero problems. Drive it around town today and no problems. Let it sit and idle waiting for daughter to finish volleyball practice for around 30 minutes. No problems with it dropping out even at 500 RPMs. Not really sure what to think now. Anyone have any ideas or similar experiences?
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Joshua Watson (01-17-2020)
08-23-2016, 07:33 AM
#3
Senior Member
I would change the sending unit any way just to eliminate it as the cause.
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Joshua Watson (01-17-2020)
08-25-2016, 09:03 AM
#4
Been extremely busy and today is first day I'm having a chance to work on it. Have read a couple things about the oil filter. Picked up a new wix and will swap it out in a few and report back. This thing is bugging me bad. So intermittent. Probably put 150 miles on truck yesterday and no issues. It sat idling for around an hour yesterday afternoon while my daughter waited on my wife to pick her up from school. Never dropped. This morning it's dropping when it gets to 1k RPMs, which is around 35 mph. Would think if it's the beatings it would be more consistent? Anyway, sending unit on order and will keep informed as I go in case someone can get some help out of this.
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Cjdauthier (08-25-2016)
08-25-2016, 11:04 AM
#6
Welp, I changed the oil filter and no change. Except it won't go to zero at 1000rpms this time. It's back to doing it at an idle. Still no noise whatsoever under the hood with it reading low oil pressure. Oil sending unit will be changed next, and if no change after that, I'll be dropping the pan and checking the screen on the oil pump. Have no idea why it would be clogged, but who knows?
08-25-2016, 10:20 PM
#7
Alrighty. Truck was dropping pressure out all day today every time I stopped. I drove it around a good bit too here and there. Finally got a chance to change the sending unit tonight. Got it changed, drove it around 20 minutes or so, and as of now, all is good. No dropping out at stop. But being as it has been intermittent the whole time, I'm not claiming success yet. I won't know for a couple days I think. But for now, I'm happily having a nice mixed drink.
Couple notes for those who may find this on a search....
Sensor, which is well away enough from oil fill or filter has oil on it. This tells me it may have been bypassing and probably my problem. Had I known where it was from the get go, I could have just passed my hand on it and found this and started there.
Sending unit is located behind the alternator. Like behind it. Not an easy place to get to. But if you dig around behind it, you find the thing sticking out with one wire going into the connector.
I had read earlier (took a lot of looking and found one thread on it total) where the location of it was. It also said that removal of the alternator was required. Not the case. It wasn't easy, and I don't have small hands. Thread said it was a 3-4 hour job. I did it tonight in about 45 minutes only because I dropped the new sending unit while reinstalling and had to climb under the truck and find it. Here what you'll have to do....have a helper with a light. You may can get by without this, but man I just don't see how. I had to remove the bundle of wires on the alternator nearest the air filter (if you have to do this, you'll know which ones). The connector on the sending unit was connected in just the right way where it was facing the engine and made it impossible to both squeeze it and pull it off. I had to put an open end wrench on the sending unit (with wife watching with light and directing me to know when I was on it), and turn it so that connector was in a position I could squeeze it with my thumb to hold down tab and pull it off. From there, I was able to put a deep socket on it and unscrew it until I had to get it the rest of the way by finger. Be forewarned that you'll only get a fraction of a turn each time. It'll take a while, and if you're like me, you'll cuss a little bit. Putting it back in will require that the person with the light direct you to the hole. You will not be able to see anything you are working on here. You'll be doing everything off of feel. Snap everything back on, and you are good.
Oh yeah, I also had to take the air filter top off and fold it out of the way. It was right in the way. I had to stand at the front by the air filter to access everything. And just in case anyone was wondering, if you for get to plug the wires back into the air filter tube, you'll get all sorts of crazy alarms, one of which tells you that you have a hill descent system fault. Have no idea why that is tied into the air filter, but it is.
Anyway, I'm keeping my finger crossed that this fixes my problem. I will update in a couple days, or as soon as I run into issues again. Hopefully someone finds this thread if they are having the same issue and is able to get some good use out of it. Nothing I hate more than trying to research problems online, only to find threads that have no conclusion.
Couple notes for those who may find this on a search....
Sensor, which is well away enough from oil fill or filter has oil on it. This tells me it may have been bypassing and probably my problem. Had I known where it was from the get go, I could have just passed my hand on it and found this and started there.
Sending unit is located behind the alternator. Like behind it. Not an easy place to get to. But if you dig around behind it, you find the thing sticking out with one wire going into the connector.
I had read earlier (took a lot of looking and found one thread on it total) where the location of it was. It also said that removal of the alternator was required. Not the case. It wasn't easy, and I don't have small hands. Thread said it was a 3-4 hour job. I did it tonight in about 45 minutes only because I dropped the new sending unit while reinstalling and had to climb under the truck and find it. Here what you'll have to do....have a helper with a light. You may can get by without this, but man I just don't see how. I had to remove the bundle of wires on the alternator nearest the air filter (if you have to do this, you'll know which ones). The connector on the sending unit was connected in just the right way where it was facing the engine and made it impossible to both squeeze it and pull it off. I had to put an open end wrench on the sending unit (with wife watching with light and directing me to know when I was on it), and turn it so that connector was in a position I could squeeze it with my thumb to hold down tab and pull it off. From there, I was able to put a deep socket on it and unscrew it until I had to get it the rest of the way by finger. Be forewarned that you'll only get a fraction of a turn each time. It'll take a while, and if you're like me, you'll cuss a little bit. Putting it back in will require that the person with the light direct you to the hole. You will not be able to see anything you are working on here. You'll be doing everything off of feel. Snap everything back on, and you are good.
Oh yeah, I also had to take the air filter top off and fold it out of the way. It was right in the way. I had to stand at the front by the air filter to access everything. And just in case anyone was wondering, if you for get to plug the wires back into the air filter tube, you'll get all sorts of crazy alarms, one of which tells you that you have a hill descent system fault. Have no idea why that is tied into the air filter, but it is.
Anyway, I'm keeping my finger crossed that this fixes my problem. I will update in a couple days, or as soon as I run into issues again. Hopefully someone finds this thread if they are having the same issue and is able to get some good use out of it. Nothing I hate more than trying to research problems online, only to find threads that have no conclusion.
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08-28-2016, 01:40 PM
#8
3 days later, and all is still good. I'm assuming the entirety of my problem was the sending unit. Should some other issue arise, I will come back and update this post. Good luck to anyone having similar issues! I hope it ends up being as simple as mine!
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09-04-2016, 12:18 PM
#9
Senior Member
The gauges in our trucks are idiot gauges.
The oil pressure gauge uses a simple switch, just like an idiot light. The gauge circuit has a resistance that gives a center scale indication on the gauge. You will either have a mid scale indication, or nothing.
The coolant and trans temp gauges are what I would call semi-idiot gauges.
They use an electronic interface that let the gauge work normally until the temperature rises to the normal range. One above the lower limit of the normal range (about 180 for coolant and around 150 for trans) the gauge stays centered until the temp rises above a preset limit.
I have never had an overheat condition on my vehicles, so I assume that the gauge would just go to full hot once the limit is reached.
On the 97 I had, I used a scangauge II and monitored trans temp and coolant temp. The coolant temp on the scangauge on a cool day would go to about 200, then drop quickly to about 185 when the thermostat would open, and the dash gauge would not move.
On the 2014 I now have, the trans temp gauge goes to center at about 150, and I have seen as high as 201 towing the boat and the gauge never moves from that center point after 150 is reached.
All because the average consumer who has little understanding of how a vehicle operates beyond turn the key and go, would complain about the gauges moving during normal operation.
With all the electronics on our trucks today, it would be a relatively simple programming task to have a menu selection available to allow the gauges to read in "consumer" mode vs actual mode.
The oil pressure gauge uses a simple switch, just like an idiot light. The gauge circuit has a resistance that gives a center scale indication on the gauge. You will either have a mid scale indication, or nothing.
The coolant and trans temp gauges are what I would call semi-idiot gauges.
They use an electronic interface that let the gauge work normally until the temperature rises to the normal range. One above the lower limit of the normal range (about 180 for coolant and around 150 for trans) the gauge stays centered until the temp rises above a preset limit.
I have never had an overheat condition on my vehicles, so I assume that the gauge would just go to full hot once the limit is reached.
On the 97 I had, I used a scangauge II and monitored trans temp and coolant temp. The coolant temp on the scangauge on a cool day would go to about 200, then drop quickly to about 185 when the thermostat would open, and the dash gauge would not move.
On the 2014 I now have, the trans temp gauge goes to center at about 150, and I have seen as high as 201 towing the boat and the gauge never moves from that center point after 150 is reached.
All because the average consumer who has little understanding of how a vehicle operates beyond turn the key and go, would complain about the gauges moving during normal operation.
With all the electronics on our trucks today, it would be a relatively simple programming task to have a menu selection available to allow the gauges to read in "consumer" mode vs actual mode.
Last edited by N3UP; 09-04-2016 at 12:20 PM.
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Cjdauthier (09-07-2016)
09-06-2016, 07:27 PM
#10
LightningRod
...
All because the average consumer who has little understanding of how a vehicle operates beyond turn the key and go, would complain about the gauges moving during normal operation.
With all the electronics on our trucks today, it would be a relatively simple programming task to have a menu selection available to allow the gauges to read in "consumer" mode vs actual mode.
All because the average consumer who has little understanding of how a vehicle operates beyond turn the key and go, would complain about the gauges moving during normal operation.
With all the electronics on our trucks today, it would be a relatively simple programming task to have a menu selection available to allow the gauges to read in "consumer" mode vs actual mode.
BTW. Many thanks to the OP in doing an excellent job communicating the FIX to the problem.
Cheers!!!
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Cjdauthier (09-07-2016)
