Where to drill oil pan for aftermarket gauges?

[sticky_steve]

Hey everyone, here's the deal. I have a tripple gauge pod with an oil pressure, oil temp and a/f mix gauges. Right now i have them screwed into that oil sandwich adapter off of ebay and i'm kinda having issues. First of all the oil pressure shoots through the roof before i even turn the car on, and secondly the oil temp gets really hot (350 deg faren.) I don't have a clue about the pressure, I removed it from the sandwich adapter and it read no pressure, but after i install it, it just peaks out. And as far as the temp, I think since the adapter is directly installed against the block and made out of alum., it's just getting really hot from the engine.SOOOOOOOO, my question to all of you is, do any of you agree with me, and secondly is there an ideal place to drill and tap the oil pan. (sid or bottom) And last but not least, the a/f gauge. It dosen't come with a wideband o2 sensor, just a gauge that you can get from autozone. And after using the search button, i found out that all you have to do is splice the wire with the o2 sensor, no big deal. But the gauge isn't giving me any readings, even at WOT. I think the o2 is needing to be replaced. And help on any of these issues is apprecated.

[Rucca]

I don't know what air fuel gauge you have but the stock o2 sensor is not a wideband o2 sensor. It will not read air fuel ratios like a wideband.

[sticky_steve]

I understand that, the one i bought from autozone is an APC a/f meter with no wideband. So i did a search and everything that i found said to just hook it up to the o2 sensor.

[gumby74]

Well, I will attempt to assist.A/F gauge should have 3 wires. Signal goes to O2 sensor, ground goes to Earth, power should go to an ignition source.Oil pressure gauge: How much psi does it read? Is it mechanical or electric?I have mine (Autometer mechanical 0-100psi full sweep) screwed into the stock pressure sensor location. Right below the filter. Reads about 15psi at idle (hot) and upwards of 60 psi while driving, usually around 3000 rpm or so. All on the high side of spec, but I had my engine rebuilt with this in mind.I can't comment on the temp. sensor however as I do not have one.

[sticky_steve]

Both the oil gauges are electric. And I've heard that i can screw the pressure sensor into the stock location, I just don't know if that for a 1990 240. And the max psi is 100, and it instantly jumps past it. I'll try the stock location.

[w0nderbr3ad]

You have a bad gauge ground if its jumping past 100psi. And the oil press sender won't just screw into the stock location. The thread pitch is different and you need an adapter.

[Vegascorbin]

Re: Needing an adaptor. I just put an aftermarket mechanical Oil Pressure gauge on my 1990 240 KA24E. the adaptor you need is a 1/8" BSP to 1/8" NPT. Translation: BSP stands for British Standard Pipe which is close to american but farenough off to cause problems. It is a metric thread. NPT stands for National Pipe Thread. It is the American standard.

I had a heck of a time finding an adaptor. I could order one on line (summit had one) for $15 to $20 plus shipping or just buy a new Equis gauge for $25 and it included a stright adaptor (not a "t".) I went with the new gauge.

Also we just rebuilt our KA24E and the only spec we found for oil pressure is 70 PSI at 3000 rpm. I would say 15-20 at idle and anything over 55-60 at cruse is fine.

Hope this helps.

[sticky_steve]

Well if it's that much of of hassel, why don't i just drill the oil pan, and leave the stock oil pressure sender where it is. Well now that i think of it, my gauges did come with some adapters. I'll just have to give them a shot. Thanks

[98koukile]

Would pressure be accurate in the oil pan? I wouldn't think so but I'm no expert

[gumby74]

Unless I mis-read, I was lead to believe he wanted to tap the pan for the oil temp. sensor.At least I would hope so.

[martins_240sx]

there will be no pressure in the oil pan. the pressure is from the oil pump pumping the oil through everything... someone correct me if im wrong, cause now im curious

[gumby74]

You are correct, there would be no pressure reading from the oil pan.He mentioned he had an oil temperature gauge as well. That can be tapped into the pan, at the bottom most part so as to keep the sender submerged thus giving a better reading.I still think for the work involved a sandwich plate is preferable to run both gauges.