Where is the best oil pressure port location? Im installing a Triple mechanical gauge. the water temp was easy (right in top of the water pump), along with the volts (solenoid switch).

But where is the best place to tap the engine block for the oil pressure sensor? I saw a block plug on top of the block near the firewall. just behind the injector. it looks to be about the correct size of for the sensor. \

also the gauge came with the nylon tubing. i know you have to be careful to route it away from heat sources, but what about making sure it doesnt come loose from the fittings? it seems like it could come out pretty easy. especially with the torqing of the engine on the mounts. maybe a little tape on the tube to the fitting to keep it secure? seems half assed, but better than nothing.

 

For your temp gauge, you didn't need to use that tap on top of the water pump. You can use the factory sensor locations, 2 to choose from. Usually we tend to use the temp Light sender, simple to keep the dash gauge working, as well as your real gauge.



And for the oil pressure one, just T in the factory oil pressure sender at the back of the engine. You'll get a reliable reading there also.

 

ya i wanted to keep the factory sensors. the new water pump made it real easy to tap into. it gets the temp of the water returned from the heater core. so it should be pretty accurate.

ok i didnt see that oil port circled in the pix. ill check tomorrow and see. thats off a 7.3l? i dont have a dog house like in the pix. might be a little more difficult to access. guess ill have to belly on the block like a beached whale to see it.

the glow plug controller circled is where the block plug i looked at is (no controller there, just a plug). i thought that might have been where i would tap in the oil pressure sensor.

how do you T in the line?

 

putting a tee in the line is real simple. unscrew the factory sensor from its hole, screw in the tee fitting you can buy anywhere, and assemble it using pipe thread seal tape

 

You don't really want to be measuring the coolant temp coming back from the heater core. Thats pretty much useless, as the heater core is like a mini radiator.

If you don't want to tee in, find one of the other oil ports on the side of the block near the oil cooler.

Honestly, this has been discussed about 5 different times in the last few weeks, scroll down the forum and you're going to see several threads about coolant and oil sensors.

Sorry to get pissy, but I swear people don't know how to SEARCH before they post the same damn thing again and again...

 

If you are installing a mechanical oil pressure unit, spend the extra 15$ or so to buy the copper feed line kit and ditch the nylon tube. The plastic ones get brittle from the heat under the hood and like to crack. Not "if" but "when" it breaks on you, the engine oil pumps out all over the ground and can oil starve your engine. This can happen a lot faster than you would think (ask me how I know...) if it breaks under the dash you will probably notice before your engine starves of oil, because it will pump scalding hot oil all over your legs and shoes (ask me how I know). Copper tubes are not immune, but a lot better than the nylon. I recommend electronic oil pressure gauges for just that reason, but if you must go mechanical at least do yourself the favor of buying the copper feed line...

 

^^ he speaks wisely

i once lost a nylon line in a ford LTD i used to have. if it wasn't for the idiot light, i would have blown the engine - but the light had its proper "OH ****" function and enabled me to save my engine. don't repeat our mistakes

 

The port on top of the engine, where the factory NA sensor is, and where i beleive the ats turbos get thier oil comes from the cam. The port next to the oil cooler where the banks turbos take their oil is off the mains.

FWIW i put a tee on the port on top in the back and used it as my turbo supply and oil pressure.

Not sure... but i want to say the piston squirters are fed off the cam also.

 

Oops damn internet

 

Here are some pix of what im working with. Im guessing this is the oil port i can T into? its on the passenger side


What is this port? in the pix posted by someone else in the thread it lookedl like their glow plug controller was in it


here you can see my GP controller on the rear of the block

 

You have an '89. That will have that Glow plug controller, it is the newer style one, the Solid state one, witch is the much better system to have, that came out in 1987.


Like so, But I never realized the newer heads are tapped to have that old style controller that screws into the head.




And your oil port, looks odd to me, never seen one like that. Does your gauge work?? I looks like somethings missing....?

 

Are you sure he has a 89? That looks to be an actual pressure switch, not the dummy switch that was used in the brick nose on. The slants had actual pressure guages. Otherwise, that is the wrong sending unit for an 89 that i know of. But yes, go from there, in the first pic. The second pic, its hard to tell, but is that plug in the head? I would guess that goes into a coolant passage, must be temp related for the glow plugs. Starting to wonder if you dont have an older engine.

 

Well his garage has an 89 in it.... and hes got the 87+ solid state glow plug system.


And my van has the dummy switch thing and it's an '85... I don't know if it was the same on trucks and vans though, you'd think so?


Ha actually, if you look closely in my 87 E350 pic, you can see that plug in the head, where the older style controller would be.

 

True but still a 6.9, which im starting to wonder if his is. My dads 85 slant had a gasser, but it had an actual pressure guage (looks the same in the cab but has an actual sending unit) I know our 91 gasser was the dummy switch. Your 85 van, does it have a guage or idiot light?

 

Thats a stock idiot light sensor. Its just a pressure switch, on or off. Along with a resistor either added on to the wiring harness (for early brick nose, like my 88 built in late 87) or added to the circuit board behind the gauge, tricks the gauge into showing mid range at anything above ~7psi.

That rounder bell looking sensor is an actual pressure sender. It sends a variable resistance to the gauge will will cause it to move back and forth for varying pressure. I don't feel like finding the link right now, but there is a site that shows you how to remove the resistor and put the earlier style sender instead of the switch and make your oil gauge work like it used to. I did that, it doesn't seem to vary too much, but does change from idle to full throttle and reads a bit different from cold to warmed up. While I wish the stock gauge had PSI labels I could rely on, it does work, and scared the **** out of me about 2 months back when some corrosion or something got on the connection at the sensor. Sometimes at full throttle on the highway, pressure would drop and the idiot light came on, slowing down it would usually build back up. Pulled it off and reconnected and it worked fine again.. *shrug*

BTW, later ATS turbos take their oil from the port near the oil cooler, not the stock location. At least the kit I got is like that.

And I guess it really depends on what you want to measure. Do you want to see pressure on the main bearings? or pressure at the top of the engine?

I also prefer electrical gauges so I don't have to worry about oil leaks.