Issues after Lower Harness Replacement

[mnessari]

Before I begin I’d like to again thank this community for the DIY section, I was able to do my lower harness on my own in about 4 hours.

The reason I wanted to replace it was due to visible bare wire near the oil pressure sensor, level sensor, alternator etc. Before harness replacement, I was receiving an oil light on dash after 30 seconds of starting and was dealing with an erratic oil pressure gauge that would have a seizures and start tweaking out. So I finally got around to replacing lower harness, now as soon as the ignition is on the on position, my oil pressure is at 3 and the oil light comes on immediately.

Could Having the bare wires in the harness for a while have fried the oil level and pressure sensors?

Please advise!

 

[gsxr]

The oil level & pressure sensors should not be affected by wiring issues.

However, the pressure sensor is often inaccurate after 3 decades, and if original should be replaced with new OE/OEM (Hella/VDO) if you want an accurate reading. Old ones read lower than actual.

The level sender often has a leaking O-ring, and since you have to drop the pan to replace it, installing a new one (~$50 or so for OE) might be prudent given the effort involved.

 

[mnessari]

The oil level & pressure sensors should not be affected by wiring issues.

However, the pressure sensor is often inaccurate after 3 decades, and if original should be replaced with new OE/OEM (Hella/VDO) if you want an accurate reading. Old ones read lower than actual.

The level sender often has a leaking O-ring, and since you have to drop the pan to replace it, installing a new one (~$50 or so for OE) might be prudent given the effort involved.

Ok! Finally got some miles on the car today. Oil pressure still pins to 3 bars, but after about 15 mins of driving the needle came down! I came to a stop and needle dropped down to just below 2 bars. Stayed idling in the car for another 10 mins and did not go lower then that 1.9 mark.

 

[gsxr]

Ok! Finally got some miles on the car today. Oil pressure still pins to 3 bars, but after about 15 mins of driving the needle came down! I came to a stop and needle dropped down to just below 2 bars. Stayed idling in the car for another 10 mins and did not go lower then that 1.9 mark.

Perfect! That sounds 100% normal.

In summer temps at hot idle the pressure may be around 1.2-1.5 or so, as the oil will be hotter/thinner in high ambient temps. If the gauge reads 1.0 or less and you have xW-40 oil or thicker, the pressure sensor may be reading lower than actual, a new sensor may read higher.