Ford V10 Oil Pressure Gauge

oldjohnt · September 25, 2020

So the other day I'm driving my Class C Ford E 450 Super Duty with the V10 towing my Honda CRV 4WD when all of a sudden a red light appears on the dash "check gauges" and the oil pressure gauge has fallen down to dead zero *&^%$#@.. I start to pull over and shut down when all of a sudden light goes off and oil pressure gauge jumps back to normal. There was NO rattling or lifter noises whatsoever. I check under the hood for leaks and check the oil and all is fine and it stayed so another couple hours no problem since. Of course I will inspect the sensor and its electrical connection and hope it isn't any dash circuit board problem grrrrrrrrrrrrr Anyone else experience that on their Ford V 10 ???

I was thinking if the computer got a no or low oil pressure signal why wouldn't it go into the limp home or shut down mode, but it ran perfect all the time, any thoughts from the Ford computer experts ?????

John T I hate intermittent problems especially electrical

Kirk W · September 25, 2020

53 minutes ago, oldjohnt said:

Anyone else experience that on their Ford V 10 ???

I had a similar problem with our F53 chassis motorhome powered by the V10, only our case I started the engine and got no oil pressure. I shut down and called the Ford shop and they assured me that if there truly was no oil pressure it would sound noisy. I then drove to the Ford shop and they found wires to the pressure gauge were chewed by a mouse.

oldjohnt · September 25, 2020

11 hours ago, Kirk W said:

I then drove to the Ford shop and they found wires to the pressure gauge were chewed by a mouse

Thanks Kirk, I do have those pesky critters hanging out grrrrrrrrrrrr. I just returned home for a while and the wiring and connections is the first place I will check. I don't believe there was any actual loss of oil pressure despite the gauge's erratic indication, as I mentioned there were no tell tale sounds whatsoever (typically hydraulic lifters begin to chatter).

PS some gents keep a small light under their RV at night claiming that deters the mice???

PS At one point on that trip I did detect a slight smell of perhaps what I will describe as "hot or burning mice nest" I didn't find anything obvious under the hood and it went away soon hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ???

Hope you didn't get rained out down there the past months, I will be headed your way soon this fall, ending up in Lakeway Texas over Thanksgiving

John T

Edited September 25, 2020 by oldjohnt

beemergary · October 6, 2020

A sure sign you have lost oil pressure is the rocker arms will start ticking. There the last to get oil via the lifters. Shut her down before you destroy the bearings.

mptjelgin · October 6, 2020

26 minutes ago, beemergary said:

A sure sign you have lost oil pressure is the rocker arms will start ticking. There the last to get oil via the lifters. Shut her down before you destroy the bearings.

The Ford V-10 is a SOHC engine, and uses roller followers that "connect" the camshaft(s) directly to the valves. As such there are no lifters, pushrods, rocker arms, etc. as are found in an OHV engine.

However, if you completely lose oil pressure things will get noisy, eventually!

Robby K · July 2, 2021

Hey guys, I am pretty new to the RV game and would love any information please. I purchased an RV (Jayco Greyhawk with E450 Triton V10 ) when Covid started and I was traveling with my wife and kids, 1night the electrical started going crazy and I thought I saw signs we might’ve collected a rodent. I didn’t think about it and we left on our fourth trip since ownership, about 50 miles down the road the oil pressure gauge started acting funny, going to zero and then coming back to normal. I checked the oil and it was clean in full, so I assumed potentially I had a faulty gauge. However about 10 miles down the road the battery and check engine light came on and the RV shut down as if it had stopped getting fuel. It now won’t start. I did find a rat or mouse nest directly behind the alternator. What I’m really wondering is is there some kind of fail safe that shuts down the fuel if the oil pressure sensor or stays low for too long?

Pat & Pete · July 2, 2021

7 minutes ago, Robby K said:

Hey guys, I am pretty new to the RV game and would love any information please. I purchased an RV (Jayco Greyhawk with E450 Triton V10 ) when Covid started and I was traveling with my wife and kids, 1night the electrical started going crazy and I thought I saw signs we might’ve collected a rodent. I didn’t think about it and we left on our fourth trip since ownership, about 50 miles down the road the oil pressure gauge started acting funny, going to zero and then coming back to normal. I checked the oil and it was clean in full, so I assumed potentially I had a faulty gauge. However about 10 miles down the road the battery and check engine light came on and the RV shut down as if it had stopped getting fuel. It now won’t start. I did find a rat or mouse nest directly behind the alternator. What I’m really wondering is is there some kind of fail safe that shuts down the fuel if the oil pressure sensor or stays low for too long?

Our Monaco has a V10 / Ford chassis . There's a switch located under dash near the steering column .

I'm wondering if an electrical ground became undone or corroded , which could easily have a similar result .

I had to redo a ground wire , also close to the steering column . That ground had to do with transmission control .

Robby K · July 2, 2021

2 hours ago, Pat & Pete said:

Our Monaco has a V10 / Ford chassis . There's a switch located under dash near the steering column .

There is a switch under the drivers column, more like a button. And it does look like it’s become disconnected. But I have not known what it has done since the beginning. Maybe I should add that it did run on starter fluid.

Kirk W · July 3, 2021

6 hours ago, Robby K said:

However about 10 miles down the road the battery and check engine light came on and the RV shut down as if it had stopped getting fuel. It now won’t start.

3 hours ago, Robby K said:

Maybe I should add that it did run on starter fluid

You have an electric fuel pump that is located in the gas tank. If it loses power and doesn't run the engine will not fire at all because fuel injected engines must have fuel pressure for the injectors to put any fuel into the engine. I have not tried it, but I suspect that if you were to spray starting fluid into the air intake it would run briefly on that fluid.

I had a case where a packrat moved in above my gas tank and chewed through the wires to the fuel pump and the engine would crank but no fuel so no ignition at all. I had to be towed to the shop and the fuel tank lowered to repair the harness.

oldjohnt · July 3, 2021

Fortunate for me (who started this darn thread lol) my oil pressure gauge hasn't ever suddenly dropped nor have any warning lights came on yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. I have no idea on yours (I don't think so but cant say ??) but some of my older Fords had a "crash tumbler" switch that turned off the electric fuel pump in case of accident/crash. A common problem Ive had or seen/heard was an electric in tank fuel pump failed causing an obvious shut down and no restart. Sure it might run on starting fluid to a limited extent and if so the ignition must be okay (leaves fuel problem). While maybe possible ??? if your'e at the rear of RV when ignition is turned on you can hear the in tank elec pump run then shut off upon pressure. Of course check easy obvious things like fuses/breakers/relays but its often the darn pump grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

John T

Edited July 3, 2021 by oldjohnt

Robby K · July 3, 2021

Yeah the next thing I’m gonna do is listen for the in tank pump to come on. If it doesn’t then I’ll syphon the gas and drop the tank and replace it. The reason I didn’t immediately suspect it was because the oil pressure light was already acting funny. It just seemed strange to me that the fuel pump would just happen to fail on the same day that the oil pressure sensor did.

Kirk W · July 3, 2021

43 minutes ago, Robby K said:

It just seemed strange to me that the fuel pump would just happen to fail on the same day that the oil pressure sensor did.

For that reason I would check for power to the pump before buying a replacement. If for some reason it may have lost power like the oil pressure.

oldjohnt · July 4, 2021

While sure an in tank electric fuel pump can fail solely on its own (had it happen more then once) BEFORE I dropped the tank I would insure the fuel pump relay (if so equipped) and any fuses or breakers or any other wiring or connection problems not allowing power to the pump are not the cause !!!!!!!!!!!!! Thats so much easier n cheaper !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pray its a bad relay or fuse or breaker or wiring or connection or ground problem .........

John T