Oil Pressure Sensor/Screen Replacement

[2006Tahoe2WD]

Lately (along with other issues) I've noticed the oil pressure gauge sometimes reading erratically and yesterday it bounced to 80 and back down a couple of times. I think this is a sign the oil sensor is going out - strange because I replaced it 2? years (10k miles) ago. In any case it seems to have failed again. The pn is 12677836. Does this sensor need to have the screen? I don't have a cylinder delete engine. The filter is to keep the oil cleaner for the cylinder delete system I think.

Related - Are there different sizes of O rings for the oil pickup tube? I'm thinking I need to change that out and see if my oil pressure comes back up to near 60 or so. Right now reading around 40 but as mentioned the sensor could be in error so I'm replacing that first.

Thanks.

 

[dojrs]

Check your pressure with a manual gauge first. That will tell you if it's a pressure problem or a gauge problem. If it's a low pressure problem change the O-ring. The in dash gauges are prone to motor failure.

 

[strutaeng]

2006 SUV, right? No filter screen on the oil pressure sender that I know of.

What is a cylinder delete engine? Are you talking about the delete for AFM/DoD engines? Yeah, GMT 800s don't have that. Those engines are the ones that have the oil pressure sender screen BTW.

Yes, different sizes for pickup tube O-ring. Best is to remove it and look at the pickup tube. 40 psi oil pressure is excellent, but probably a good idea to replace the o-ring. Here's the o-ring from my 06 Suburban LQ4 engine at 262k. Oil pressure was also 40 psi at idle, but the o-ring was definitely on its way out.


I hope this helps.

 

[dojrs]

And apparently there are 3 different size O-rings for the pickup tube. When I ordered mine 2-3 weeks ago I ordered a new pickup tube just to be sure the screen on the old one wasn't clogged with debris. You can order them together from rockauto.com at a very reasonable price.

 

[NardDog]

Lately (along with other issues) I've noticed the oil pressure gauge sometimes reading erratically and yesterday it bounced to 80 and back down a couple of times. I think this is a sign the oil sensor is going out - strange because I replaced it 2? years (10k miles) ago. In any case it seems to have failed again. The pn is 12677836. Does this sensor need to have the screen? I don't have a cylinder delete engine. The filter is to keep the oil cleaner for the cylinder delete system I think.

Related - Are there different sizes of O rings for the oil pickup tube? I'm thinking I need to change that out and see if my oil pressure comes back up to near 60 or so. Right now reading around 40 but as mentioned the sensor could be in error so I'm replacing that first.

Thanks.

These sensors are notorious for going bad rather quickly.

 

[2006Tahoe2WD]

Thanks all. I'm planning to go to the dealer later today and get the pressure sensor. I'll ask re. what PN a new O ring is. I will also need a pan gasket. Are there better than OEM pan gaskets I should look at? I'll report back on how the new sensor worked. Thanks again, all good info.

 

[strutaeng]

Thanks all. I'm planning to go to the dealer later today and get the pressure sensor. I'll ask re. what PN a new O ring is. I will also need a pan gasket. Are there better than OEM pan gaskets I should look at? I'll report back on how the new sensor worked. Thanks again, all good info.

GM Genuine oil pan gasket should be good. I've used Felpro and have good luck. Last one I used was from Summit Racing brand. It was like $22 on sale and looked no different than what I've seen. I should have bought a few as I have a "few" of these engines: I've got a L59 5.3, (2) LQ4 6.0s and a 6.0 L96 in my personal fleet of vehicles.

Remember to add the little dabs of RTV silicone on the corners. I assumed everyone knows this, but recently saw a thread someone didn't know this...My brother also didn't do this once.

 

[2006Tahoe2WD]

GM Genuine oil pan gasket should be good. I've used Felpro and have good luck. Last one I used was from Summit Racing brand. It was like $22 on sale and looked no different than what I've seen. I should have bought a few as I have a "few" of these engines: I've got a L59 5.3, (2) LQ4 6.0s and a 6.0 L96 in my personal fleet of vehicles.

Remember to add the little dabs of RTV silicone on the corners. I assumed everyone knows this, but recently saw a thread someone didn't know this...My brother also didn't do this once.

Good point on the RTV. I know this and the issue is remembering to do it with all the getting up and down.

 

[2006Tahoe2WD]

The oil pressure sensor is not very easy to get to. I had the correct socket from the previous time I replaced the sensor. I got it out and torqued in the new one. There is room to reach in and hand thread it to get it started. The sensor that came out had a lot of oil in the connector - I think the oil was seeping up the pins and flooding the connector possibly causing a bad connection. I blew out the connector with compressed air and put things back together. The readings seem stable with 45psi at freeway speed. I didn't ask about the O ring and/or pan gasket.

 

[JCODOHERTY]

Cleaning out the connector on the oil pressure switch and reusing is good move. Also check the ground back there. It there's oil all over it you'll want to get that clean and squared away as well. At least that's my experience. The switch and the connector should not be failing.. it's the oil and that ground strap. Not a mechanic, just my two cents.