Best way to tap for an oil temp gauge

I,ve been told you could do a T fitting where the original sender goes. I need to do this for my psi gauge to rid my check gauges light. You could also remove and tap the oil pan. A little harder, but an accurate reading nonetheless.
 
Thanx for your reply...but is the fitting that you are talking about for oil pressure or oil temp? Im assuming its for oil pressure as our cars did not come with an oil temp gauge or sensor.
 
could you take the stock oil pressure sensor which is basically an on/off switch and change the sending unit so that is actually measure pressure?
 
Yeah, you could. There is an article in the FAQ or in the literature section that tells you how to make your stock crappy oil pres. gauge work like an actual pressure gauge...even gives you part #'s. I think you have to change the sender, and depending on year of ur car solder soem thing or just jumper some cable.
 
As mentioned, tapping a hole for the sender low in the oil pan is the best. Some places make oil pan filler plugs that are drilled and tapped for sending units. I have not looked for one for our oil pan.

My pan was tapped back on the side near the bottom. You want the sender immersed in the oil for a good reading. Same would hold true for transmission temperature sensor.
 
Thanx for the replies guys....George, where can i look for one of those drilled plugs? Some one actually mentioned that to me the other day. What size should I look for? I rather go that route than drilling the pan...but since i actually have another engine now with the pan fully accesible i could do taht If I have to. In the case of a trans temp sender...i've read that tapping close to the 'factory' fluid cooler is the best place since its where it is the hottest (after going through the trans).
 
I haven't looked for one specifically for the SC. One of the big guage vendors like Auto Meter, Stewart Warner, VDO, etc. should have something. You'll just need to know the size of the send (probably 1/8 NPT) and the size of the oil drain plug.


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pearl95sc said:
I,ve been told you could do a T fitting where the original sender goes. I need to do this for my psi gauge to rid my check gauges light. You could also remove and tap the oil pan. A little harder, but an accurate reading nonetheless.
Just ground the old sender wire to the water pump bracket. Your check gauges light will go off, and your stock oil pressure gauge will read somewhere in the middle.
 
George, where did you get that picture from? I browsed the websites for VDO, Autometer and Stewart Warner and i didnt see anything like that. I did verify and the temp sender for the oil temp gauge im getting (autometer ultra-lite series) is 1/8 NPT and it comes with a 2 NPT adapter. I guess i could use that adapter and drill that into the pan if i decided to go that route, but im still trying to find a plug like the one you showed there. I also searched and the thread size for the oil pan bolt is M14-1.50 thread size.
 
Right click on the pic and look at properties and it will tell you the site where it is located.

I also found this one:

http://www.machine7.co.uk/Cart/Gauges.htm

They have an actual sender that fits an M14, but it doesn't say the thread pitch.

I originally found the information through a Google search for "oil plug sender".
 
George, when your oil pan was tapped for the sensor....did you make a whole only for the sender, or was teh pan tapped for the larger fitting into which you can thread teh sensor. Im about to drill my oil pan but when I opened the box of my oil temp gauge it has two fittings of different sizes and also sensor. The directions say to drill the pan for one of the fittings and then thread the sender into it.
 
We tapped for just the sender. Make sure your sender has pipe threads (mine was 1/8" NPT) to get a good seal. Most senders get their ground through the body of the sender, so teflon tape and thread sealing compounds are not always recommended.
 
Just for reference I tapped the pan at the rear in the drivers side. I did it on this side since the wire for the sensor will go into the interior through the steering shaft boot. George, i didnt use any sealant or teflon, hopefully it wont leak...did you use anything? I was thinking to maybe use a very light coating of Blue RTV where the inside of the pan meets with the sensor....sort of to create an RTV washer all around it but without coating the rest of the sensor. What do u think? That way the sender still makes full contact with teh pan for ground, and is 'pluged', to say the least, on the inside of the pan.
 
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