Oil Pressure Sensor
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Joined: May 2015
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My 2011 5.0 had been doing the same thing over the last year. I did the sender replacement last weekend, and everything is fine thus far. There were signs of oil leaking through the sender showing it was failing. I will report back, but everything pointed to that being the issue.
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Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2010
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Oil pressure light still coming on
Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere.
2011 F150 Platinum
87K miles
regular maintenance and oil changes
About a year ago, after oil change, I had the oil pressure sensor come on. The gauge needle toggled between no pressure and regular pressure when this alarm was going off. With any amount of increase in RPM the oil sensor would not come on and pressure seemed to be fine. Of course, I took it back to oil change place, as I figured they didn't tighten something correctly. Everything was fine.
This continued to happened regularly, only while at idle however. I took it in for maintenance. They replaced the oil pressure sensor. This worked for a short while and then the oil pressure light started coming on again. I took it back for maintenance. They replaced the pigtail leading to the oil pressure sensor. Again, this worked for about 1-2 months. Recently after a 2 hour drive the oil pressure sensor light started coming on again. Usually always after it was warm and only at idle. I took it back for maintenance once again. They could get it to duplicate what it was doing and felt that the rpms where falling too low at idle, causing the oil pressure light to come. They did an idle reset. I don't have great feelings that this will cure the issue but was wondering if any of you have had this issue, and if so, what the cure, if anything, was.
2011 F150 Platinum
87K miles
regular maintenance and oil changes
About a year ago, after oil change, I had the oil pressure sensor come on. The gauge needle toggled between no pressure and regular pressure when this alarm was going off. With any amount of increase in RPM the oil sensor would not come on and pressure seemed to be fine. Of course, I took it back to oil change place, as I figured they didn't tighten something correctly. Everything was fine.
This continued to happened regularly, only while at idle however. I took it in for maintenance. They replaced the oil pressure sensor. This worked for a short while and then the oil pressure light started coming on again. I took it back for maintenance. They replaced the pigtail leading to the oil pressure sensor. Again, this worked for about 1-2 months. Recently after a 2 hour drive the oil pressure sensor light started coming on again. Usually always after it was warm and only at idle. I took it back for maintenance once again. They could get it to duplicate what it was doing and felt that the rpms where falling too low at idle, causing the oil pressure light to come. They did an idle reset. I don't have great feelings that this will cure the issue but was wondering if any of you have had this issue, and if so, what the cure, if anything, was.
so far I’ve had the sender replaced (they decided not to do a manual oil pressure check for some reason so I still don’t know what this is), the pig tail wire replaced, idle adjusted, oil and filter changed and still having the same issues with the oil pressure light coming on while idling (but only in gear and never while parked or in N). I’m starting to feel like this 9 year old engine With 88k mikes is done. Any thoughts?
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 192
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I just recently had this problem with a 2012 5.0 engine with 220k miles on it. This happens right after I changed the oil. At this point I went into panic mode & started searching for a similar problem. It seems this happens quite often based on the info I found. I decided to change the oil to a 10w40 to try & get the pressure up, this did not help. I next changed the sensor, the same problem. At this point I hooked up a manual oil pressure gauge to verify the problem, & the oil pressure at a hot temp was 14 psi. This did not really bother me, but the alarm kept going off. I then decided to reset the oil life setting again, & I have not had it happen again. I am not sure why this helped, but it stopped the alarm from going off.
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Joined: Jan 2026
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Signs of engine failure
It can go either way, if changing the oil doesn't help and your oil pressure is just slightly low at idle it's not a huge problem as long as your oil pressure at higher RPMs is ok because you can run a slightly thicker oil (5W30) to bring your oil pressure up. But yes this could be an early sign of an engine that is damaged and may need major repair or replacement.
Last edited by ShieldWallingIt; Jan 22, 2026 at 09:49 AM.
Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 55
Likes: 8
From: Dallas
*Thanks for this information. I am curious, if sensor is replaced, oil pump is good, and oil pickup tube are good, what would be the next sign to look or listen for indicating the engine is failing? I am in a similar boat, here. Not a mechanic and just learning what I can as I go.
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 500
Likes: 127
From: Charleston, SC
I think it was last summer, I had my low oil pressure light go on, on my 14 4.0 after driving in hot weather for a couple of hours. I replaced the sending unit with a Motorcraft part and it happened the second time. Then, I changed the oil with a new Motorcraft filter, replaced the PCV valve, clean, throttlebody, etc.. then it happened the third time.
Finally, I installed a manual sending unit with a digital pressure gauge, and bumped the idle up to about 950 RPMs and have not had a problem. At hot idle, my oil pressure is about 18-20 psi now. At 1500 RPM, it’s about 30 psi.
During these several weeks of the center light coming on, I thought the motor was going to let go, so I bought a Ford reman engine, that’s sitting in the garage. I’ve been debating whether to replace the engine preemptively or wait until it blows up.
My 5.0 had about 240k miles then.
Finally, I installed a manual sending unit with a digital pressure gauge, and bumped the idle up to about 950 RPMs and have not had a problem. At hot idle, my oil pressure is about 18-20 psi now. At 1500 RPM, it’s about 30 psi.
During these several weeks of the center light coming on, I thought the motor was going to let go, so I bought a Ford reman engine, that’s sitting in the garage. I’ve been debating whether to replace the engine preemptively or wait until it blows up.
My 5.0 had about 240k miles then.
Last edited by A930rocket; Jan 25, 2026 at 10:33 PM.
Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 55
Likes: 8
From: Dallas
Did you change the pigtail for the sensor, too? I see in another post where you didn’t, but could be mistaken.