low oil pressure in 1988 7.3l?

[RMCFarm]

i just bought (on ebay!) a 1988 with a 7.3l

it sounds good, doesn't smoke much even starting up, has (according to odometer) under 100kmiles but there is very little oil pressure according to the oil gauge

i am trying to research the following:

1) how to diagnose if it is actually low pressure, or just the sending unit or gauge

2) if it is low pressure, what are the possible causes: oil pump, filter, oil cooler?, some other clog or just bad engine

i know these may be neophyte questions, but i could use the help (i am new to fords, tho am familiar w/mercedes, VW engines running on vegetable oil)

thanks!

 

[94f450sd]

you can go to autozone,walmart or the like and buy a cheapy manual oil pressure gauge.there is a small brass pipe plug on the oil filter header of the oil cooler.you can tap into there for the gauge.

i dont like sending people off this site but its OK for this one.go to www.oilburners.net that is our sister site.you will fing a ton of IDI nuts over there that know everything there is to know about the IDI engines and then some

 

[DaveBen]

Welcome RMCFarm, I would also recommend getting another guage. It is the easiest and cheapest thing to do.

Dave

 

[k_williams1982]

My dad is a Ford guru, and according to him, for some weird reason the stock Ford oil gauges always end up messing up and not reading accurately. Try an aftermarket gauge if you think it's in the gauge. His girlfriend just had him rebuild her 6.9L diesel in her truck and he replaced everything --- Oil pump, sending unit, seals, gaskets, I mean everything. Her gauge still rides on the low side. He put an aftermarket gauge in it and the pressure registered fine.