Oil Pressure Sensor Location

[ggub]

Hi everyone,

Just wondering what’s the preferred method for installing aftermarket oil pressure and temperature sensors on a stock r33 gtst oil system (ie no aftermarket cooler, no filter relocate, factory coolant/oil heat exchanger is intact).

The most straight forward way would seem to be with a sandwich plate between the filter and block, but I’m led to believe that pressure sensors may be prone to failure from vibration when mounted directly to the block. The next simplest looks to be remote mounting sensors with an extension line. In that configuration the oil and, depending on how it’s oriented, air in the line would be static so I assume this won’t work for temperature, but I assume it’s fine for that to be directly into the sandwich plate. For the pressure sensor, does is matter if there’s air between the pressure sensor and the oil? Static pressure is static pressure, but my gut feeling is that direct contact with the oil would be preferable to having something compressible in between.

Or perhaps there’s an easier way that I’m missing. Interested to hear people’s thoughts.

 Cheers

[Chopstick Tuner]

You could use an adapter to fit it in the factory hole. But if you want to keep your factory one functional whilst adding another, a T Piece adapter into the original hole is another option, which is what I did temporarily until I install a sandwich plate. But really sandwich plate is probably best option, because you can run a temp sensor from the same location, and lines for an oil cooler if you wish to do so in future. 

[GTSBoy]

Factory pressure sensor is directly attached to the engine and takes 20 years to die.

[joshuaho96]

On 5/19/2022 at 10:16 PM, GTSBoy said:

Factory pressure sensor is directly attached to the engine and takes 20 years to die.

I've also heard that part of the reason why it dies is often some contamination like one of the o-rings in the filter housing disintegrating and bits of it clog up the sensor. Personally I don't worry about it being a problem.

[ggub]

On 20/05/2022 at 3:16 PM, GTSBoy said:

Factory pressure sensor is directly attached to the engine and takes 20 years to die.

This is exactly what came to mind when I first saw the suggestion of remote mounting on parts suppliers' websites. I asked Haltech support and they said vibration can damage the diaphragm inside the sensor 🤷‍♂️ 

Part of my motivation for posting was to see if anyone had experienced failures from direct mounting.

[Murray_Calavera]

I've been mounting sensors in sandwich plates across various cars for the past 15 or so years, never had a sensor fail yet. 

[r32-25t]

I put a t-piece in the the factory location and screwed the original and bosch one either side 

[ggub]

On 20/05/2022 at 4:58 PM, Murray_Calavera said:

I've been mounting sensors in sandwich plates across various cars for the past 15 or so years, never had a sensor fail yet. 

 

On 20/05/2022 at 5:28 PM, r32-25t said:

I put a t-piece in the the factory location and screwed the original and bosch one either side 

Sweet, seems like remote mount shouldn't be necessary then and T-piece seems like it would probably be the easiest. If I go that route, a quick google says the thread is 1/8 BSP. Is that correct?

[Chopstick Tuner]

On 20/05/2022 at 6:45 PM, ggub said:

 

Sweet, seems like remote mount shouldn't be necessary then and T-piece seems like it would probably be the easiest. If I go that route, a quick google says the thread is 1/8 BSP. Is that correct?

Correct. Many aftermarket will be 1/8npt so need a T Piece that's BSP on one and npt on the other if you buy one that is

[ggub]

On 20/05/2022 at 7:00 PM, Chopstick Tuner said:

Correct. Many aftermarket will be 1/8npt so need a T Piece that's BSP on one and npt on the other if you buy one that is

Cheers. Is this the sort of thing we're talking?

[Chopstick Tuner]

On 20/05/2022 at 7:28 PM, ggub said:

Cheers. Is this the sort of thing we're talking?

Looks pretty much like what I got

[ggub]

Dope. Thanks for you responses everyone.

[Duncan]

I think there is a place for remote mounting pressure sensors. In an endurance race car perhaps.

But back to your original question.....pressure can go anywhere because you have the same pressure everywhere in the system (between the pump and the oil galleries at least).

However, you do need to be more careful with your temperature location. It needs to be in a freely flowing oil gallery rather than it a t piece out of the way, and it needs to be before the oil cooler so it gets properly flowing oil at the hottest point in the system

[ggub]

On 20/05/2022 at 8:39 PM, Duncan said:

I think there is a place for remote mounting pressure sensors. In an endurance race car perhaps.

But back to your original question.....pressure can go anywhere because you have the same pressure everywhere in the system (between the pump and the oil galleries at least).

However, you do need to be more careful with your temperature location. It needs to be in a freely flowing oil gallery rather than it a t piece out of the way, and it needs to be before the oil cooler so it gets properly flowing oil at the hottest point in the system

I was wondering about whether a T piece would have sufficient circulation for reading temperature accurately. With that in mind, would a sandwich plate be preferable for measuring temperature, or should the sensor be located elsewhere on the block because of the cooler/heat exchanger thing?

[Duncan]

As long as the sender is in the oil path to the interwarmer, its all good. Any properly designed sandwich block should work that way.

I used a t piece initially (because easy) but wasn't happy I was getting accurate results. My current setup has it in the oil thermostat block, pressure sender goes there too.

[ggub]

Admittedly I'm not that familiar with the how the factory system works. Is the filter before or after the interwarmer? Is this sort of thing suitable? https://www.mishimoto.com.au/oil-plate-sandwich-adapter.html

[2pee]

I'd be avoiding those brass adaptors, except for very temporary use. Once you add vibes, weight of that, plus sensors, the tapered threads form a nice, fail here point.

[Ben C34]

On 5/20/2022 at 9:02 PM, 2pee said:

I'd be avoiding those brass adaptors, except for very temporary use. Once you add vibes, weight of that, plus sensors, the tapered threads form a nice, fail here point.

How does tapered thread factor in at all?

Any examples or just theory ?

[Duncan]

while it sounds like a pain, the best way to address this is probably an adapter on the block and a remote oil filter mount somewhere convenient for oil changes (I put mine upside down near the sump so easy to access underneath and it drains oil straight into an oil pan

Like this: https://www.efisolutions.com.au/oil-filter-relocation-kit-rb20-rb25-rb26-rb30

The trickiest bit is that you will have to cut the hose to length and assemble the ends. It is a straightforward job but can seem intimidating first time you do it. If you choose the black instead of silver line all you need is a hacksaw, vice, some imperial spanners and attention to detail.

And it is a good opportunity if you want to add an oil cooler as well because you already have everything you need except the cooler itself.

Re the oil warmer etc, the RB26 system has the warmer between the block and the filter, and the factory oil temp and pressure sensors is in the warmer's casting according to the manual. I don't physically have one any more to check, but I expect (hope) the oil goes to the sensor before the warmer, it's not much point knowing a temperature different to what it is at the actual engine components.

 

[joshuaho96]

On 5/20/2022 at 1:45 PM, Duncan said:

while it sounds like a pain, the best way to address this is probably an adapter on the block and a remote oil filter mount somewhere convenient for oil changes (I put mine upside down near the sump so easy to access underneath and it drains oil straight into an oil pan

Like this: https://www.efisolutions.com.au/oil-filter-relocation-kit-rb20-rb25-rb26-rb30

The trickiest bit is that you will have to cut the hose to length and assemble the ends. It is a straightforward job but can seem intimidating first time you do it. If you choose the black instead of silver line all you need is a hacksaw, vice, some imperial spanners and attention to detail.

And it is a good opportunity if you want to add an oil cooler as well because you already have everything you need except the cooler itself.

Re the oil warmer etc, the RB26 system has the warmer between the block and the filter, and the factory oil temp and pressure sensors is in the warmer's casting according to the manual. I don't physically have one any more to check, but I expect (hope) the oil goes to the sensor before the warmer, it's not much point knowing a temperature different to what it is at the actual engine components.

 

The oil temp sensor is right at the inlet of the oil filter. I don't have great pictures of the heat exchanger flow path but the oil temp sensor is definitely before the heat exchanger.