Where does the sending unit go for an oil temp. gauge? I can't find any place to tap into on my 2004 F350 V10. Please help, I'm right in the middle of the job. Thanks, Greg

 

Thanks to the 81 people who took a look here. Since no one answered the question I'm assuming no one has hooked up a oil temp. gauge on a V10. Can that really be: NO ONE has hooked up an oil temperature gauge on a V10?

 

You would have to either cut into the oil cooler lines and place a tap there, or tee off the oil pressure port in order to put a sensor in there.

And yes, it's more than possible that no one has ever put an oil temp sensor in a V-10. Personally, unless you're racing or have a turbo/blown engine I wouldn't see the point.

But that's just me and my 2 cents.

 

I agree with Jay...
I clicked on your post on the chance you were asking about a diesel engine. In that case the sensor is already in place and the PCM monitors that reading. There are a variety of ways to tap into that signal or install a stand alone gauge.

I am not familiar with the V10 oiling system but it seems reasonable there would be a gallery plug that you can tap into somewhere. Have you looked at the oil filter housing? Sometimes there will be a plug on those things...

 

I put a T where the stock oil pressure sending unit is.

 

Thanks for the help. We are planning on towing our 5th wheel over the Rockies this summer. And I've heard that the stock gauges are glorified idiot lights. Hence the motivation to be able to monitor the V10 in REAL time instead of some sort of delay.

Yesterday I went to the local Ford dealer and asked them about this issue and they said I should go to a hardware store and pick up fittings that will make this work. Swell! He did show me the location of the oil pressure sender unit. So I ought to be able to remove the sending unit and come up with a T fitting to go in there and allow me to hook up the stock gauges and the new gauges.

So, I think I have this figured out.

 

I am not familiar with this engine, but oil pressure sensors are often mounted at the end of passages, so having no actual oil flow will not show the temperature you might want to know. If your engine has a cooler with hoses, that most likely would be better point for readouts. Just make sure you get the right hose, not the return one.

 

Good Point. Guess I'll think about this some more before doing anything.

 

Even if the oil pressure sensor is mounted where there is oil flow, putting a T fitting in removes the sensor from that oil flow. This wouldn't affect your pressure sensor but it would effect your temperature sensor.

Does the V10 have a stock oil temp sensor? If so, any of the common ODB-II type gauges should be able to read and display it for you.

 

So, is this like saying that heat doesn't transfer through a liquid?

Heat transfers through everything else that I know of including wood, albiet very slowly in comparison to metal.

 

Sure the heat will transfer through the oil but if you're looking for real time temp it needs to be where there is oil moving past the sensor. Otherwise by the time you see a too high temp it's too late.

 

Unless you have some way to bleed the air out of the T, the heat has to transfer through air. Even if you do have a way to bleed the air out, the heat will transfer through liquid, but that takes time. Your gauge will react much slower than if the sensor is actually in the liquid flow.

 

No, it doesn't. It has an oil pressure "switch", it's not even a sensor. It just picks up whether there is pressure or not but does not tell how much. It's basically an idiot light.

 

I was asking about temperature, not pressure. I know about the pressure switch. Same thing on the 6.0L. Stupidest damn thing I've ever seen, but that's not the subject.

I spend some time looking at the wiring diagrams last night and I couldn't find any oil or water sensors of any kind. Which kind of tells me the diagrams are screwy. Wouldn't be the first time. There has to be a coolant temp sensor, but does it feed the PCM or just the dash gauge. Hard to say.

 

I just checked with a science teacher and he said that heat will readily transfer through oil. Now, granted, if I wanted the absolute highest temp. at any given point in time I'd want the temp. sending unit to be in the oil passage-way as close to the combustion chamber as possible. However, I'm thinking that as long as the gauge sensor is actually in the oil the oil temp. gauge will be an improvement over what I have now; which is nothing, but a stock water temp. gauge.

I'm going to check with a physics teacher in a few minutes.