2002 996 Cab. Started car and after driving one mile the oil pressure warning light (oil can symbol) came on and the oil pressure went to 0. Drove another mile and oil pressure gauge went to normal and warning light went off. Drove another mile and pressure went to 0 and warning light on. Checked engine oil and quantity in limits. No leaks. Decided to keep on driving and pressure went to normal and warning light off. Warning light and pressure stayed normal for 25 miles. Arrived home and parked car. Again checked oil quantity and is within limits (both electronic check and with dipstick). Guessing might be sender unit or loose wire. Where is sender unit located on engine? Also told that you should measure engine oil quantity with engine hot. In any case, engine oil is normal hot or cold.

 

sounds like the sender unit. It is on the passenger side and it is an easy job. Need to have crow's feet tool with a extension to your wrench. including jacking rear right up and remove rear tire, took me about 15 minutes to complete the job. Although it may be worth it to remove the wiring and clean the connector first before you buy a new one and start on replacing it.

 

I agree with rogazilla - sending unit. And with you, that it could also be loose wires. But my bet is on the sending unit, they seem to fail, and yours is unlikely to have a detached wire since it comes back on.

The wires to the sending unit attach via (two different size) spade connectors. The female (on the wire) could be loose, or pulled off the male spade. The male, which is attached with tiny nuts to posts on the sending unit, could be loose. I bet this is all ok though.




Sending unit I used was 996 606 203 02.

I've also done the sensor R&R job from the top though the engine bay, with the car on the ground. It is pretty much by feel though...

One thing I ran into the first time I did this job was that my crows foot wrench was too thick - it didn't fit between the top part of the sensor and the engine. A few minutes with an angle grinder to "customize" the thickness of the wrench was just what the doctor ordered. The job went fast after that.





19mm crows foot, by the way...

 

^^^Yep! My sender did the same thing when it failed.

 

The first time this happened I PANICKED....and smacked the dash, the gauge went back up...the next time "smacking" did nothing, ...more PANIC, BUT every time it happens in just a few seconds it jumps back up.
I have the switch, and did fully intend to "do it myself" but although my head says "I CAN DO THAT" my body reminds my head that you are TOO OLD TO BE DOING THAT s**t...get a grip.
So next time the car is in the shop I'll get done....
Now I'm looking to do a GUNDO or FISTER.....definite shop job....

 

Ha Ha! You are not alone. When mine failed I almost soiled my shorts until I figured out what happened. When I saw where the sender is located and assessed my aging body I bought the sender and took it to my Indi! Much easier for me to write a check than nurse the aching body for a week.

 

I encountered the same issue, and applied the same solution.

I does appear that original oil pressure senders are prone to failure - many cases of "OMG, no oil pressure!" turn out to be simply a sender gone bad.

 

Wow, you guys are way more brave than I am. I take the pilot point of view - assume the gauge is correct, always, unless you know for sure it isn’t. I follow this rule: Always, always, always, when the oil pressure light goes on and pressure drops to zero, pull over, turn off the engine, tow it to a place that can connect a pressure gauge and make sure you have oil pressure.

Glad it worked out for you all, but the best advise to anyone would be to not drive the car.

 

Couldn't agree more. Mine said "oil sender bad" drive to maint. shop on info screen with a chime. By the time I pulled over to shut it off, pressure had returned and warning shut off. It went right home to garage, then to Indi when the part arrived.

 

The oil pressure has been stable for a week with no warning light, but decided to have my Porsche mechanic inspect the car .He found the engine oil pressure normal and the spring and valve in the oil line to be good. I had the sensor replaced ( the oil pressure was flickering) as the mechanic said it is a part that has a history of failure. I am 75 and am too old to be jacking up cars (according to my wife).