Oil Pressure

[Strat]

I own a 92 Continental, With all electronic dash board. my oil pressure gauge will drop, if I let off the gas while driving. However, in park, idling the oil pressure will not drop. Is this the sensor or the Oil Pump?

[Lscman]

A very healthy engine (not worn) will produce about 20 to 25 psi oil pressure at idle when the oil is HOT. At 2000+ RPM it can produce over 70 psi when the oil is cold and about 40+ psi when hot. As you can see, oil pressure varies widely. In the 90's, Ford began installing oil pressure switches instead of analog sending units and wired them into analog & digital dash gauges. They provide a VERY misleading readout but were necessary to avoid warranty complaints. Rumor was their analog sensors and dash gauges had such terrible accuracy that many read well ouside the normal operating range even though eveything was normal. Sounds like this is your problem. Perhaps a calibrated mechanical test gauge that provides a "true" reading would satisfy your concern. Knowing what I do about the history of Ford pressure complaints, I'd ignore the gauge if it read between 1 psi and 100 psi. The gauge readings can change with accessory loading, battery voltage, grounding resistance and many other variables.