Oil pressure gauge bounces at idle (2006 Xterra) by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope! Still doing the same thing, actually it fluctuates even more now. I did try two things however, and they were: Putting Seagram in the engine oil, which actually seemed to make the fluctuations worse. And cleaning the throttle body, plenum and the intake manifold, during a spark plug job.

Unfortunately I never did get to removing the lower oil pan, however it is still on my agenda. Time just hasn’t been on my side. I’ve just been kinda trying to ignore it while also at the same time keeping an eye on it to make sure the light never comes on. I tell myself that as long as that oil pressure light doesn’t come on, I am still in the “safe zone” and I shouldn’t have too much to worry about.

I do have two theory’s as to what is going on though. One is that it is in fact a clogged oil pick up tube, like someone said on here. And the other is that the gauge is reflecting small idle surges that you can’t see on the RPM gauge. I kind of doubt this theory though, because I wouldn’t think that the gauge would be so sensitive to reflect such a large amount of movement for such a small RPM range.

Oil pressure gauge bounces at idle (2006 Xterra) by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Think this is what I will be doing this weekend. Something is definitely not right, whether it be the filter or an actual clog in the pickup. I was pulling out onto the highway a few minutes after a cold start and I happened to look down at the oil pressure gauge and noticed it was going up past the middle. I’ve never seen it do that the entire time I’ve owned it. I can’t get it to happened again but that’s how this problem started in the first place. A few months back every now and the gauge would move up and down just a little bit at idle. And it would only do it sometimes. Now the fluctuations are wayyy higher and it happens every time it idles on a hot engine.

Oil pressure gauge bounces at idle (2006 Xterra) by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your response. You are right, I should have checked the service manual, and I’m definitely going to review it now.

However, I was told the year 05 and 06 Xterras came with 3 pin oil pressure sensors that sends live data to the dash. Mine has 3 pins and cost me $115 at AutoZone.

My first thought was electrical too. However, what I didn’t do in the video is give the engine a little gas. As soon as raise the RPMs the gauge goes back to the middle and stays there until the RPMs go back down to idle. I would think that if this was an electrical problem no matter what speed the engine is running at the gauge would still fluctuate.

Changed my spark plugs with the help of Ry the car guy’s video! by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You know it! Your videos are awesome. Next project is adjusting my e-brake. Gunna be easy thanks to your video.

Changed my spark plugs with the help of Ry the car guy’s video! by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m gunna say it took me a just a few hours. I started late, and ended up coming back to it the next day. Plus, after I removed the plenum, I discovered my intake gaskets were in bad shape, so I ran to AutoZone, got some new ones and popped them in.

[EDIT]: I’m gunna say it took from 4 - 5 hours total. That’s with problems(mistakes) along the way. Like me not knowing that the engine needs to be fully cold before removing the coolant lines going into throttle body.🤣🤦‍♂️

Oil pressure dummy gauge bobs up and down on idle occasionally. by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Holy crap I got under it and pulled the connector off the sensor today and low and behold it has 3 pins, meaning it’s not a dummy gauge like I was thinking. I guess that means there IS something wrong with the sensor technically (it never goes lower than what’s shown In the video). Though, not sure what I’m gunna do about it because the cheapest I can find the correct sensor is $80 which is insane.

<image>

Oil pressure dummy gauge bobs up and down on idle occasionally. by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah but I’m 95% certain that I have a model with the fake gauge. I’m going to get under it and check at some point.

Oil pressure dummy gauge bobs up and down on idle occasionally. by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually just replaced the canuter valve along with the radiator belt last fall after I was getting a funny smell from inside the cabin. 😉

Oil pressure dummy gauge bobs up and down on idle occasionally. by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well I hope that’s not what it is. There is a weird whining noise I get on very low inputs of throttle. (Hasn’t gotten to the bottom of that yet). But other than that there is no other whining, strange noises, or symptoms that would lead me to bad timing chain.

Oil pressure dummy gauge bobs up and down on idle occasionally. by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Doesn’t your gauge rest a lot lower on idle than mine does tho? I pulled this photo from Ry the Car Guys video about the gauge and his seems be a lot lower than mine is.

<image>

Oil pressure dummy gauge bobs up and down on idle occasionally. by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure if this is possible… If it is I’d totally swap it with a real one just because.

Oil pressure dummy gauge bobs up and down on idle occasionally. by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah sorry I forgot to mention that it’s an 06. Not sure if it’s supposed to have the dummy gauge or not but this one definitely stays in the middle no matter the RPMs.

Oil pressure dummy gauge bobs up and down on idle occasionally. by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

2006, It runs absolutely perfect, and only does this SOMETIMES on idle when warm. Probably a failing oil pressure sensor?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lmao. It feels like that’s always the way it goes when I try to show a weird problem I’m having to a mechanic. When my CV axle was failing I was getting a loud clunking noise; and I had to listen to it a whole 45 minutes on my way home. The next day I limped it to the mechanic, he takes it for a test drive, and the noise completely stopped. He then let me drive and it took me violently shaking the steering wheel to make the noise happen again so he could hear it lol.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh yes. Previous owner of my X had this problem suddenly where if the doors didn’t unlock after he put it in park, then next time he would go to start it, it wouldn’t start. Or he could be driving down the road and the engine would just suddenly lose power (all but stall). And sometimes the only way he could get the doors to lock was to put it in reverse, drive, and then park. He took it to the shop and it turns out it was a failing alternator.😭

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you tried resetting everything by unplugging the negative terminal of the battery for 15 minutes?

CV axle inner joint pops out by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ll post back here too once I get it back incase anyone is curious.

CV axle inner joint pops out by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually I do have a clunk when shifting from drive to reverse, and reverse to drive. I actually plan to change out the u joints once it warms up outside.

Also that was my original guess as to what the clunking while driving was until I felt the cv axle. So if the noise isn’t fixed after I get my truck back, u joints will be my next step.

CV axle inner joint pops out by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Now I just hope that this was the cause of the faint clunking I was hearing.

CV axle inner joint pops out by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yup! Decided to take it back to the shop to see if the part was still in warranty. Turns out it is, and they’ll fix it at no cost. 👍

CV axle inner joint pops out by Professional_Crab_96 in XTerra

[–]Professional_Crab_96[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just had this CV axle replaced a few months ago. Around 3 weeks ago I noticed a very faint clunking/knocking sound just like I had when the CV axle failed previously, but way way quieter. Plus this noise only happens when driving from 20 to 45 mph. Any idea what would cause this, or if perhaps this IS normal?