Erratic oil pressure readings

[Martin]

I decided to take the Viper to work today (really nice day here in the Bay Area). The trip to work was normal - I keep an eagle eye on the gauges by habit, and hardly ever turn on the stereo. On my way home, I stopped for gas really close to home, checked the oil as usual (top of safe zone), finished filling up the car, and started up. After getting the SRT Performance Pages to come up again (huge pain in the ass - it constantly harasses me to upgrade my subscription), I noticed the oil pressure swinging wildly between near zero and 80 psi. I shut down, looked at the oil level again, looked around to see if an oil line came loose, etc., but everything looked OK. Started back up, got 80 psi, sat there for a while to see if it would stay there, and it did, listened for noises, and there were no unusual ones.

Then, as I was exiting the gas station, the gauge started going crazy again - this time it flashed red for a millisecond. So, I shut 'er down again and had another look around. Nothing amiss, no oil smells, nothing weird. I started up and let it idle, with the hood up, and no noises, solid 77-80 psi, and all seemed well.

As I drove a short distance to my house, I was watching the gauge like a hawk and every once in a while, it would just start swinging from around 10 psi to 80 psi when at low RPMs. When I kept the RPMs up, it stayed at around 80 psi or higher.

I'm probably going to bring it in to the doctor just to be sure, but I figure I'd ask if anyone else has seen this. The car was broken in strictly according to the book, and this is the first time I've seen this behavior. Again, no strange noises, oil level is perfect, and the car is being babied for the most part. Only seems to happen when the RPMs are at idle, or the car is decelerating into a corner. Really has me scratching my head...

By the way, it's a '17 ACR-E with about 1000 miles on it.

[1.8t]

Probably a faulty sensor. They replace them a lot in other FCA products.

[darbgnik]

Probably a faulty sensor. They replace them a lot in other FCA products.

Yup, I had one go.

[swexlin]

Probably a faulty sensor. They replace them a lot in other FCA products.

This. My Viper tech has told me this is a common issue across the FCA vehicle line.

[Martin]

I hope you guys are right about the sensor - I'd hate to go through the engine replacement process. Thanks for the responses! It gives me some confidence that I can drive the car to the dealership rather than have to deal with a flatbed that'll probably cause damage to the car.

[ViperGeorge]

Almost 100% the oil sender.

[cubeman]

Just going to bite off everyone else, Sensor.

[SilverACR]

I wouldn’t drive it until you know what the issue is. It looks like the guys with bearing issues are getting new motors and maybe it doesn’t matter if it totally grenades, but I’m concerned if it stops when you’re not ready for it. It may just be a sensor but either check it out in your garage or have the dealer pick it up. Don’t chance it IMHO

I do hope it’s a simple fix.

[simon455]

Most likely its the sensor, that oil pressure sensor supersedes to a newer part number, it was heavily back order when I needed one late last summer, had to temporarily settle for the original part number sensor that seems to fail commonly until the updated one came in. But the right thing to do is to put a tool gauge and verify.

[Martin]

The weird thing is that it's so erratic under only some specific conditions. When I'm on the highway, oil pressure is fine and steady. It's only when I'm at idle that the pressure swings wildly - or when I'm off the throttle and decelerating. From all the cases I've read about that had engine failures, the oil pressure seemed to drop pretty steadily, or drop when the engine was at higher RPMs. Once I get the chance, I'll send the dealer a note and ask for advice on what I should do. Having them pick it up is probably going to be difficult - the ACR doesn't have any good tow points on it, and I don't want them to call some AAA flatbed out.

Unfortunately, I can't do much work on it myself. Got an injury recently from a ladder fall, and crawling around under the car doesn't sound like too much fun. Fortunately, I have a great dealer, and I have a warranty on it, so when it goes in, I'll have them take a look at all the other little things that went wrong.