My 124 car's oil pressure electric gauge stays at zero until the pressure builds up. It's actually faster responding than my 123 car since the latter has a mechanical gauge and the pressure has to travel up the little tube to the dash.

When my 124 had a bad oil pressure gauge sender (mounted on the oil filter block) it would read above zero with the car turned on but not running. My first guess, therefore, would be bad sender. A new sender cured my problem. It took my mechanic two senders over 6 months to get me a good one, BTW.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970