my oil pressure gauge was not working so I put in a new sending unit and it has not fixed the problem. with the key on I can take the lead off the sending unit and ground it out and with the key on the gauge rises slowly. Once i put the wire back on the sending unit it actually moves in the opposite direction. What is wrong? Ths car is a 1983 Subaru GL

Edited March 25, 201313 yr by dholte

grounding the wire to the gauge should make the gauge peg but, be careful doing this you could possibly bend the spring in the gauge and make it read wrong. your problem sounds like a twenty year old wire that is causing too much resistance and  not letting the gauge work properly. the next thing to do would be trouble shoot the gauge itself, what i do is run a new wire from the sending unit side of the gauge to the closest ground. i use the same gauge wire and close to the same length so that i don't bend the spring but even then don't hold it to straight ground for to long a quick touch will tell you if its working or not, it should peg quickly. if it doesn't its probably the gauge.

Edited March 26, 201313 yr by mikaleda