oil pressure sender install

[1990LTD]

Where does one of these get put on an efi 302? I have an electric stewart warner gauge that I finally found a sender for, the sender says it comes with

# This is a Pressure Sender with Stud Termination.
# 240 ohms at no psi and 33.5 ohms at full rating (100 psi)
# For use with single gauge, standard pipe thread 1/8", includes adapter for 1/4"; additional adapters available

the sender looks like this

[87gtVIC]

You will need a fox bodied, or truck sender adapter. It pushes the sender out a couple of inches away from the block (between the front of the engine and the oil filter) giving room for the sender to screw in. The sender will never fit without it because there is virtually no room in that area.

looks like this

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OE-Ford-truck-F150-F250-oil-pressure-sensor-adapter-V8-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem4cec51fe15QQitemZ330382310933QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

That is a truck one. Fox bodies have the location for the sender on an angle at the tip.

[1990LTD]

anyone got one i can buy? they wont ship up here

[1990LTD]

Jeff (4door on the forum) saves my ass again. He's got one he said he can send me, and suggested how I can make one out of stuff from the hardware store - I don't think I have the tools for that at the moment, though.


If I wanted to get rid of my idiot light in the dash for oil pressure - What would I do with the wire going to the existing pressure switch?

[87gtVIC]

When I was using a mechanical gauge I had it taped up and out of the way. No lights were present with the sensor unplugged. If you want to be real slick you can intercept the factory sensor wire underneath the dash, snip it and reroute it to your gauge...saving you from running a wire.

[1990LTD]

Cool. Thanks Dave.

Did you switch to an electric gauge? I've got a pretty awesome stewart warner 3 gauge pod but it's from 1976 so the senders are naturally pretty hard to find....I want to get the coolant temp gauge working but the sender is unobtainium, I wonder if a different SW sender might work?

I could retain the stock idiot light if I modified the sender adapter pipe thinger but for the same reason I can't make my own adapter - Don't have the tools

[87gtVIC]

Yes. I switched over to electric because I wanted gauges in my speedometer cluster.

[sly]

I'd take the sender to the hardware store and find a 90 elbow for it and a pipe to thread into the stock hole. problem solved.

that is assuming it's all the same thread. Otherwise, get an adapter for the straight section to fit into the stock hole.

[85crownHPP]

Just don't use copper, or brass plated copper. A couple of those setups have broken on a couple members.

[P72Ford]

When I was using a mechanical gauge I had it taped up and out of the way. No lights were present with the sensor unplugged. If you want to be real slick you can intercept the factory sensor wire underneath the dash, snip it and reroute it to your gauge...saving you from running a wire.

I do not think connecting the factory wiring to the gauge will work. I will not say that it is impossible, but the factory pressure transducer (for cars with a gauge) almost certainly has a different resistance curve than the aftermarket gauge requires. The gauge will read incorrectly if that is the case. If you car has just a low oil pressure switch (which is all most boxes have, as far as I know), then the 'sender' is just a switch. Connecting the wire to a gauge will do nothing.

I have seen folks try and hook an aftermarket temp gauge to their factory temp sender as well, which doesn't work for the same reason mentioned above.

On my red car, I made a fitting with a tee adapter that allowed me to retain the factory switch, and also add the gauge.

If you unplug the switch and the light comes on, then you can cut the switch plug off, and connect the wires together. If you unplug it and the light doesn't come on, just leave it unplugged. Or, re-use the switch like I did.

[P72Ford]

Just don't use copper, or brass plated copper. A couple of those setups have broken on a couple members.

In order to minimize vibration amplification, keep your 'fitting' as short as possible.

[87gtVIC]

I said using the factory wiring....not factory sensor.

[P72Ford]

Ah. I did not interpret it this way.

[87gtVIC]

I could have been more clear.

[85crownHPP]

Shouldn't have been necessary... you'd think an engineer would assume as much, being this thread is about installing aftermarket sensors