check gauge light

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I split this off a 6 year old post. Here is your own thread. way2old

2000 Explorer, In the morning, after startup, the check gauge light comes on, and the oil pressure gauge is well below the "L". After a
few minutes the gauge pops up to mid-level and the light goes out. Any ideas what might be causing this? It doesn't happen everyday, only occasionly. Possible solutions would be appreciated. Thanks

We're having the same exact problem with our 2000 Explorer. Just had a used engine put in a month or two ago and it is running great, but we've had 3 or 4 instances where we'll start it, the check gauge light comes on and the oil pressure gauge stays stuck on L.....goes away after a minute, or if I shut it off and start it again. Happened so rarely and didn't seem to show any other symptoms so we have taken the "wait and see" approach. This morning, it did it for probably the 4th time...shut it off, but when I went to start it again it was turning over but wouldn't start. Gave it a couple minutes and it finally started and seems to be running normally. But now I'm worried the oil pressure gauge might be correct and there's a bigger issue.

If you have access to a mechanical oil pressure gauge, you should connect it in place of the oil pressure switch to see if you have good pressure. Or, after making sure your oil level is correct, replace the oil pressure sending unit. The gauge really isn't a gauge, it's either on L or in the mid point by design, unfortunately.

-Rod

The gauge really isn't a gauge, it's either on L or in the mid point by design, unfortunately.

-Rod

Really? That's not nice. Good thing to know.:disappoin