The intake manifold is not tough to remove either, it looks crazy with the wires and stuff all over but, it's like a 15 minute job at most probably.

 

how much $$ is the sender unit going to run me?

 

you don't have to remove the intake. it is pretty easy to change and is less than 20 bucks. but it sounds like it is the cluster. pretty common.

 

Changed a sending unit just the other day for the very same reason. Fixed the problem. Don't have to remove the intake unless you just want to. Try the sending unit first it's cheap. There are a lot of problems with the clusters on our trucks though.

 

I guess i have something to do for the weekend.

 

The socket is over the Oil Pressure "Sender" in the below picture. As mentioned, taking the intake off isn't a bad job. While you are under there, you can clean the intake ports on your heads (most likely gummed up) and check for water intrusion in the knock sensor provisions of the valley cover. May actually wish to put some silicone around the boots.



My knock sensor boots sealed:

 

thanks for the pics that really helped out. i changed the unit and the psi is back to normal. thanks again for the help