Bad oil pressure switch-RockAuto

dodge123 · April 12, 2012

A couple weeks back I recived the Standard Motor Products oil switch from rockauto.com. Cost about $38. I installed it and pulled the truck outside and parked it for about a week while trying to figure out why the tranny kept leaking after replacing the gasket twice. Well I fixed the tranny leak sort of. (another post to come later)

I let the truck warm up and drove it for 10 minutes but noticed that at stop lights there would be a lot of smoke coming from under the truck which I attributed to tranny fluid burning off the exhaust. Well it got worse and upon shutting the truck off in the parking lot I looked underneath and saw motor oil gushing out from somewhere under the engine.

I know it didnt gush when it was warming up but must have been as soon as there was pressure the threads of the sensor let oil past enough so that when I pulled the dipstick after this event it was bone dry. I ran inside and grabbed my trusty fire extinguisher (ive had to use it twice to put out fuel fires on trucks) before I even opened the hood fearing a fare-up from the manifolds.

I added oil and put the original sensor in and no leaks. The engine doesnt seem to sound damaged from lack of oil as there was still some in the pan when I noticed it was pouring out. I spoke on the phone the next day with a rockauto rep and they immediately sent an email with return instructions and a pre-paid shipping label.

Upon inspecting the threads it looks like the first thread at the bottom of the sensor had stripped off and was stuck up under the crush washer. When I compared the old and new one side by side it looks like the new one has a larger degree chamfered edge where it mates with the inside of the engine. I cant imagine it was my doing as I was careful and used a light and inspection mirror to inspect the installation. Both the STP and original are brass with the red thread sealer.