oil gauge fluttering

here I go again. Wife used the 99 explorer today and called me from the highway. She said she pulled over cuz the oil gauge all of a sudden went to low. the "check gauges" light also came on. She drove about 2 miles and pulled into a gas station to check the oil. She couldnt find the dip stick. (now I know why they call it that) So, she proceded to add 2 quarts of 5w30. When she got it home I checked it out. The oil seems to be a little high and when you rev the engine up the lifters ping like a mother. Also while reving the engine the oil gauge flutters back and forth real fast sometime going down to the low position and sticking there. After turning off the engine and restarting it it pop back to normal spot. Anyone know what could of caused this to freak out the wife and why the fluttering of the oil gauge and sudden pinging prob.

I'd suggest draining the oil to the proper level and checking the oil pressure with a mechanical gauge. If you don't have a mechanical gauge, replace the oil sending unit.

A friend brought her 2002 Aurora over due to the information center saying her oil pressure was low sporatically. This indication comes on when the pressure is below 4psi. I noticed the oil was overfilled, so I suggested they start there. She had her husband drain 1.5 quarts which got it to the proper level, and all of a sudden her oil pressure was back where it should be. That was 3 months ago and no issue since.

Her Aurora didn't have any noticeable tapping, but if the pressure is low due to being overfilled, noises wouldn't surprise me.

I suspect on your Explorer the sending unit started to fail, causing the gauge to bounce around. Your wife overfilled thinking it better to be on the safe side. This lead to the noise (hopefully not because of low oil pressure), but the gauge continued to bounce around since the sending unit is likely faulty.

-Rod

is this a do it yourself issue or does it need to be taken in. If a diy where would the sending unit be?

well i got up the next day and drove it to work... When I started it up the pinging was still there and the gauge seemed to be fine. once I started driving the pinging stopped after about a 1/2 mile and hasnt made a sound since. I will talk to the mechanic about the sensor because that thing bouncing around like it was, was like something out of the bermuda triangle with the gauges going hay-wire. thanks or all the info
this site is a great help... keep it up all