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JimNNN · 12-23-2019, 06:53 PM

I got my oil pressure warning light and mechanical oil pressure gauge installed and working today, and it was more of a procedure than usual. Spent a fair amount of time wondering where and how to mount them. The mid 60's Thunderbird is unique enough in the dashboard to make aftermarket gauges and stuff less than practical to mount under dash, at least for tall people like me. I decided to mount in dash, and it looks ok, though I'm never thrilled to modify existing dashboards. My dash isn't in great shape, however, so it wasn't that big a deal.

Talk about a different reading from the original factory gauge! I was worried that my pressure was going to be on the marginally low side since the original gauge would show pressure slowly creeping up to it's highest point - about mid range - then just barely hover around what the owner's manual called minimum acceptable range at speed.

The new gauge immediately pegged the needle at 100 plus psi at idle. I was actually alarmed. I did the work in my garage which was close to 60 degrees today, so not real cold. I had changed the oil and filter, so I thought maybe the filter was creating a problem and I changed it, again. Still the same. Because of circumstances I actually had two of these gauges, so I changed the gauge - still 100 + psi.

Then I drove the car around because the pressure always comes down with use and heat. After a good while I was getting 60 - 70 psi on the highway. Hovering around 20 at idle in gear and about 30 with slightly high idle out of gear. Oil pressure warning light working good, glowing brightly at about 16 or 17 psi and below.

I never would've guessed I would get these readings. My original gauge gave the impression I'd be lucky to be at around 55 psi cold start, and 10 or 12 psi at hot idle. This is why I wanted to replace it with something more informative. My impression of these old original Ford gauges is that they can't really be relied upon for accuracy. The sender was old, too, however, so that could've been the culprit. Anyway I'm glad I opted for doing this.

12-23-2019, 06:53 PM	#24
JimNNN Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 522	Re: FE 390 oil related questions I got my oil pressure warning light and mechanical oil pressure gauge installed and working today, and it was more of a procedure than usual. Spent a fair amount of time wondering where and how to mount them. The mid 60's Thunderbird is unique enough in the dashboard to make aftermarket gauges and stuff less than practical to mount under dash, at least for tall people like me. I decided to mount in dash, and it looks ok, though I'm never thrilled to modify existing dashboards. My dash isn't in great shape, however, so it wasn't that big a deal. Talk about a different reading from the original factory gauge! I was worried that my pressure was going to be on the marginally low side since the original gauge would show pressure slowly creeping up to it's highest point - about mid range - then just barely hover around what the owner's manual called minimum acceptable range at speed. The new gauge immediately pegged the needle at 100 plus psi at idle. I was actually alarmed. I did the work in my garage which was close to 60 degrees today, so not real cold. I had changed the oil and filter, so I thought maybe the filter was creating a problem and I changed it, again. Still the same. Because of circumstances I actually had two of these gauges, so I changed the gauge - still 100 + psi. Then I drove the car around because the pressure always comes down with use and heat. After a good while I was getting 60 - 70 psi on the highway. Hovering around 20 at idle in gear and about 30 with slightly high idle out of gear. Oil pressure warning light working good, glowing brightly at about 16 or 17 psi and below. I never would've guessed I would get these readings. My original gauge gave the impression I'd be lucky to be at around 55 psi cold start, and 10 or 12 psi at hot idle. This is why I wanted to replace it with something more informative. My impression of these old original Ford gauges is that they can't really be relied upon for accuracy. The sender was old, too, however, so that could've been the culprit. Anyway I'm glad I opted for doing this. Last edited by JimNNN; 12-23-2019 at 06:58 PM.