[Rodrigo Cidad]

Hello, I have an 05 Xterra for almost a month now, and I'm loving it.

Since I bought it it has show me low oil pressure in low revs which I thought normal.

Today I drove around 600 miles and parked it for 2 hours, when I turned back on. It had no oil pressure at all.

The needle doesn't even move. It does has enough oil and I change it 3 weeks ago. The temperature is perfect and It doesn't present any wired sound.

I was afraid to run it but because the temperature was perfect I drove it the last 10 miles of the trip to make it home and it still working perfect.

I've read a lot of post similar to this but none that explain this particular case.

Could anybody give me a hand of what's going on? does the pressure sending unit fails and this is just a sensor issue? what would you guys recommend to find the problem

thank you

 

[dejablue]

Change the sensor before you drive anymore.

 

[tbattle]

Seeing same symptoms. Is this a common failure more of sensor? More results seem to be about gauge going to the top rather than to the bottom.

 

[Rmwheeler300zx]

If you want to be sure, hook up a mechanical pressure gauge in place of the sender and check.

If there's no noses or drivability issues then it's more likely an issue with the sender or gauge. I say drivability issues because most variable valve timing systems utilize oil pressure to adjust the valve timing. I believe the VQ40 utilizes adjustable intake timing at least.

 

[tbattle]

To follow up in case anyone finds this thread, it was just the sender. Easy fix. Thank you.

 

[Omac]

Just replaced my oil sender. Gauge back to normal. Very common issue.

 

[kms1990]

If you want to be sure, hook up a mechanical pressure gauge in place of the sender and check.

If there's no noses or drivability issues then it's more likely an issue with the sender or gauge. I say drivability issues because most variable valve timing systems utilize oil pressure to adjust the valve timing. I believe the VQ40 utilizes adjustable intake timing at least.

the vq40 has variable timing on both ends and yes uses oil pressure to adjust so you would notice tons of noise and power loss if you had low oil pressure

 

[Jennifer1980]

I've had the same issue with my 05 Xterra. Once the car heats up and I come to a stop, my oil pressure drops very low to where the oil icon comes on. Once I start to accelerate, the pressure goes back up. But if I am at a stopped at a red light in traffic, not only does my oil pressure drop but my Xterra starts to over heat. I've had the sensor, oil pump, oil pan changed and still can't figure out the problem. Any advice on what to do??

 

[kms1990]

I've had the same issue with my 05 Xterra. Once the car heats up and I come to a stop, my oil pressure drops very low to where the oil icon comes on. Once I start to accelerate, the pressure goes back up. But if I am at a stopped at a red light in traffic, not only does my oil pressure drop but my Xterra starts to over heat. I've had the sensor, oil pump, oil pan changed and still can't figure out the problem. Any advice on what to do??

have the timing system checked also have the oil system flushed you may have something clogging a passage what weight oil are you using and what brand oil filter? also how often do you change it and what is the climate where you live? does this occur more on a hill or incline while the front of the vehicle is pointed upwards?