Fitting oil pressure gauge

[lezmtaylor]

I recently fitted an Instalube system to the engine of my 2002 4.4.( It is a system designed to pre pressure the oil system in the engine before starting the car)
After I had fitted the system the oil pressure light on the dash failed for some reason, as it is a led it cannot be replaced.
I fitted an oil pressure gauge under the bonnet connecting it to one of the 'T' pieces supplied with the Instalube kit.
Although it worked fine, it was not that much use to monitor or warn of low oil pressure stuck under the bonnet.
So I decided to fit a gauge in the cab, hopefully without making a mess.The result is seen in a photo attached.
The gauge kit cost about £10 off ebay, and included the sender unit, 2" op gauge and wiring diagram,I had to supply the wiring
I cut a hole for the gauge to the right of the panel below the sat nav screen, ran the wiring through the back of the dashboard, back of the fuse box through to the instalube set up, picked up an ignition activated take of from the fuse box. Ran a lead from the gauge to the sender which teed off at the oil pressure switch/instalube take off.
Well it works great, looks fine, and I am happy to see the oil pressure.   

Oh heck, one day I'll get the hang of the photo thingy.

Lez

[Alan Gunn]

On my to do list when I get home.
After the run up to the airport I noticed that when I stopped in traffic the red oil light would flicker when in drive but not when natural.
I think the tick over is a bit low on my car at 550 in drive and about 600 in neutral 3.0d

[lezmtaylor]

I have decided to add the method I used to mount the oil pressure gauge to the dash.
Having decided where to fit the gauge I found a large steel washer same as the outside dia of the gauge body  and drew around it with a pen.
In my hole saw kit found the 2"/ 51mm cutter, then cut out the covering material about 1cm inside the the drawn circle and the slotted it back to the the pen line giving 1cm flaps.
Then drill a small hole dead centre(Guide drill in hole saw will go in it), connected up the hole saw to my variable speed battery drill and (took a while) lifted all the flaps so they fitted around the hole saw body, then cut out the hole .
The hole was just too tight so had to file it open a bit at a time, check if it would fit, then cut the flaps off and fitted the gauge body,as I had got it really tight there was no need to fit the back securing bracket
Obviously, I had made up the wiring harness and fitted it to the gauge and ran it THROUGH the hole before putting the gauge in.
Took about 2 hours to fit the actual gauge, I was in no rush and wanted it to look right, it was the only place on the dash where it would go, be visible and be able to get access to the rear of the unit.

Lez

[X5Sport]

Nice job.  Is the binnacle LED oil light something special like surface mount making it difficult to replace?

[lezmtaylor]

Binnacle led for op is innaccessible, and I cannot see anyway of replacing it.

Lez

[Alan Gunn]

What size was the adaptor/T you used to plumb it to where the oil pressure sender goes.
Any links.

[lezmtaylor]

Alan,
The thread size of the BMW oil pressure switch is M12x 1.5mm, and the oil pressure sensor for the  gauge is
1/8 x 27tpi. I also bought a piece of threaded bar M12/1.5mm and cut/drllled it out to make an extension to move ''T'' away from the filter housing.
I bought the taps and dies off ebay.
So was able to modify/retap the adaptor as required and used ptfe tape to seal the threads.

Lez

[Alan Gunn]

[quote="lezmtaylor"]
Alan,
The thread size of the BMW oil pressure switch is M12x 1.5mm, and the oil pressure sensor for the  gauge is
1/8 x 27tpi. I also bought a piece of threaded bar M12/1.5mm and cut/drllled it out to make an extension to move ''T'' away from the filter housing.
I bought the taps and dies off ebay.
So was able to modify/retap the adaptor as required and used ptfe tape to seal the threads.

Lez
[/quote]
Thanks for the info.
Can i not just buy a "T" to do the job as it will be a road side job sort of and i don't have taps and dies.( my nephew will be fitting it on his drive)

[lezmtaylor]

Alan, I had to buy the taps and dies off ebay . I had some tee pieces left over from the Instalube kit, had to modify them (that to me is half the fun, getting parts to fit, must be the engineer in me).
I donot know if there are ''off the shelf'' Tee pieces.

Lez

[Alan Gunn]

Thanks Lez
I will keep looking now i know the size of the sensor.

[sleepyfolk]

[quote="Alan Gunn"]
Thanks Lez
I will keep looking now i know the size of the sensor.
[/quote]

Somewhere like here has lots of t-pieces, and remote t-pieces, thread adapters etc http://www.lmaautoparts.com/products/Ga ... _Fittings/

You can also look at demon teeeks or google SPA oil gauge for fancy choice of analogue or digital gauges

Most gauges are a standard 52mm hole with a 56mm fascia

[Alan Gunn]

[quote="sleepyfolk"]
[quote="Alan Gunn"]
Thanks Lez
I will keep looking now i know the size of the sensor.
[/quote]

Somewhere like here has lots of t-pieces, and remote t-pieces, thread adapters etc http://www.lmaautoparts.com/products/Ga ... _Fittings/

You can also look at demon teeeks or google SPA oil gauge for fancy choice of analogue or digital gauges

Most gauges are a standard 52mm hole with a 56mm fascia
[/quote]
Thanks for the link.
Will do some homework now.