Electric oil pressure gauge reads off scale high

[Chris Sloan]

Hello everyone
I hope this is the correct forum to post a request for help

I am a long term member living in Tampa
I have a 1955 Continental Turkish red
1995 Frame up restoration of the entire car, including original VDO instruments rehab by North Hollywood Speedometer

The car has been running well.
Fuel gauge, speedometer & tach are working well
Only malfunctioning instrument light is the high beam blue light does not illuminate, not a recent change
However recently the non mechanical oil pressure gauge has been acting oddly
Ignition off it reads zero
Turn on ignition, motor not started it reads 20 lbs.
Turn motor on it reads off scale and does not fluctuate
I have redone the ring connector at the sender unit
Can some help guide me to diagnose the problem or I just send back the gauge to North Hollywood for a rebuild
Thank you for your time and help

[Craig Richter]

356's didn't come with oil pressure gauges, so can we assume this is an electric VDO you added? Sounds like the unit has gone to ground and will need to be fixed or replaced. They are not that expensive so replacing is probably best. I have used many of these gauges. I say "many" because they are not the most reliable components, and I have replaced many. Even working ones often exhibit the "turn motor on it reads off scale" function, but return to working OK after starting. Isn't it fun working on old furrin' cars?

[George Hussey]

agree gauge needs examination

[Thomas Sottile]

Wrong sending unit or mismatched gauge

[Tom Coughlin]

Chris: Is it a Stork oil temp gauge? My '55 (Turkish Red also) has one but I seem to remember a switch to VDO late in production hat year.

n any case, is it a temp. not pressure that we're talking about?

[Chris Sloan]

Great to hear from you again.
It is an electric VDO oil pressure gauge that has been in the car since 1970 when I bought the car
and refurbished in 1995 by North Hollywood speedo