oil pressure/temp gauge install

[mops 4]

Hello.

I just got a set of nice electronic gauges that i'd like to put into my E30 325i. I have oil pressure, temp and water temp - total of 3 gauges. I was wondering whether is there an easy way of installing them, because i'd like to aviod drilling in the sump (or other engine parts for that matter).

I did a search on the internet for something like that but couldnt find anything constructive. The gauges I got come with installation manual, it explains how to mount them on dash and how to connect them/etc, but they dont mention oh how and where to mount the actual sensors (senders) for a proper reading/measurment.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Mops.

[westy 614]

Factory sender possie?Did they come with senders?

Youll definatly have to do something to make the oil temp work AFAIK.

[topless 13]

Maybe you could adapt the oil temp sender to fit into the sump plug? That would avoid having to drill into the sump.

Others should be easy...

What do the senders look like? pic?

[mops 4]

the thing with oil is that i have both pressure AND temp, so 2 senders. senders look very similar to factory mounted oil level sensor - would probably fit into the tread but i wouldnt want to remove the factory one....

and where would i hook up water temp sensor ??? would just at the output of engine water be good ?

[topless 13]

Go to a hydraulics shop, Enzed or similar, and get a brass T fitting that will screw into the block and allow you to put the factory and the new sender on. (It might have to have a few adaptors to make it all work). I would definitely keep the factory sender as a red light will draw your attention to a pressure problem long before you notice a gauge on zero.... (sender circled on pic).

Depending on your motor, you may have some blank plugs in the area of the thermostat. (arrowed on pic). Put the water one there. It won't give you the same reading as the factory one because it is on the other side of the thermostat but it will work when the thermostat opens.

Sometimes these plugs are not drilled in (left blank) so you will need to drill the sender in. Failing that, there may be blank plugs on the passenger side radiator tank which are used for the aux fan senders which you can put your sender into.

[318is 0]

To add to Topless's suggestion, go to Brass Fit on Church St, Penrose, AK. They have a huge sellection of fittings, all at a great price. They will also tap something to fit something else for you if required.

I've used them for years for LPG conversions and other jobs - great service and really a one-stop-shop for fittings.

[mops 4]

THansks for great info guys.

I know Brass-Fit, i used to deal with them when i was building my computer water-cooling systems and then what i was mucking around with boost on my twin turbo legacy.

As well I read somwehere that under the exaust mainfold there's an engine coolant drain plug (drains coolant from engine block) - i might try to stuff my water temp there.

As well aparently my car might have oil cooler. i hink it sould be good place to fit a T connector for the oil pressure

I'll post and update and make a complete pictorial guide once i'm done .

Cheers.

Mops.

[Guest Andrew]

As well aparently my car might have oil cooler. i hink it sould be good place to fit a T connector for the oil pressure

oil pressure in/through the cooler is pretty low - get it from the sender.

[mops 4]

Thanks topless. that definitely helped.

Yes, i have those screws on top of termostat housing, in fact both have different threads and one actually fits my sender :bounce:

Sadly, I'm still not sure how to hook up both oil press and temp senders. Yes, i know where the factory oil press sensor is, however fitting would have to be custom made.

I could put oil temp in sump plug, however that would make it the lowest point under my car therefore I'm pretty sure it would get damaged on the first unnoticed speedbump .

so yeah, i'll do some more research on what to do with oil temp/press.

I just cant believe noone here did that already in their m20b25

But that's cool. I'll post my findings

[Gus 5]

was going to when i did the swap, but ran low on time, and the gauges i got needed a whole bunch of other stuff so didnt get round to do it...will one day, so let us know how you go

[topless 13]

I could put oil temp in sump plug, however that would make it the lowest point under my car therefore I'm pretty sure it would get damaged on the first unnoticed speedbump .

Was just an idea as you didn't want to drill the sump...

however, from a previous post I somehow got the wrong impression that the oil temp/press was a single sender. What does the oil temp sender look like? Would have a better idea what you could do with it if I knew what it looked like.

Hooking the oil press sender up where the factory sender is using a T-piece will be a very simple job. As Andrew says, don't put it in the oil cooler line... the fitting/s you will need is off-the-shelf stuff and the bloke at the brass-fit shop should be able to put it together for you if you bring in your factory oil press switch so he knows what thread it has in the block.

Edited August 28, 2005 by topless

[mops 4]

Thanks for the input.

All though the oil temp sender is somewhat the size of the factory mounted oil pressure sensor, my oil pressure sender is rather big... I'll post pictures tonight when I get back home.

As I said, a T piece of a factory mounting position would be good too, BUT it would require cuetom made T piece, or best case scenario t piece with several extnesions on one end.

[JohnDoe 0]

You need something like this (which is what I have fitted to my car):

http://leatherz.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?..._Code=Z3_Gauges

Maybe it would even work on yours - but if not, you'd think someone would make one.

[mops 4]

Just a quick update on my progress.

I'm in process or organizing/fabricating custom adapter for aftermarket oil press/temp gauges. I'll post some info and pics once done.

[Gus 5]

please do....very handy as there not a lot of info out there