Best Oil Temp Sensor Mounting Location
11-25-2007, 07:22 AM
#12
if I tap it off the pan now I will have to tap it off the drain plug .. I believe the drain plug is 1/2x20 sae ... so I will need to adapt from sae to npt ...also I have drain hoses off the plans... To keep those will have to "T" .... There is a plug on the side of the pan but it prob is too high to get a good wet reading ...m
11-25-2007, 08:04 AM
#13
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From the pan, directly immersed into flowing oil is my preference. The oil in the pan is what's about to be fed to the engine. It's also the largest mass of oil and best representative of actual oil temp, not just an isolated incidence. By the time you get a spike measured on a sensor mounted at the dead end of a tee, it's probably too late. I like to use idiot light sensors tied into a main "trouble light" and a very loud horn as a backup. When you're running hard, watching the waves, throttling and dodging the occasional waterborne moron, you're not always watching the gauges.
11-28-2007, 02:09 PM
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Just get a machine shop to make you up a spare oil drain plug that's already tapped for your sensor. eg get an extended external hex plug (so you can undo the plug) and then have the centre tapped to whatever thread you need for your sensor.
Make sure your sensor has sufficient reach to get into the oil properly.
Bulk oil temperature is the best indication of how hard the fluid is having to work. Temperature measurements elsewhere can be prone to upheat issues eg engine block) or cooling eg the oil filter adaptor is hanging in the engine room airflow and may underread.
Sump is always the best answer and is what we always use on engine dyno testing for the best indication of stress on the oil.
Make sure your sensor has sufficient reach to get into the oil properly.
Bulk oil temperature is the best indication of how hard the fluid is having to work. Temperature measurements elsewhere can be prone to upheat issues eg engine block) or cooling eg the oil filter adaptor is hanging in the engine room airflow and may underread.
Sump is always the best answer and is what we always use on engine dyno testing for the best indication of stress on the oil.
11-28-2007, 02:47 PM
#19
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The oil in the pan is the oil that just came out of the motor, not the oil that is about to go into it (until it goes back through the filter and cooler).
That being said, its still a decent place to put the sender, as it shows what temps are being created after the oil has passed through the bearings etc. However, on most engines its a pain, as there is no place to mount it. So the easiest place is usually the remote oil filter housing. This receives the same hot oil that was in the pan, with a little heat added from the pump. Plus almost every after market remote oil filter bracket has a place for the oil temp fitting.
That being said, its still a decent place to put the sender, as it shows what temps are being created after the oil has passed through the bearings etc. However, on most engines its a pain, as there is no place to mount it. So the easiest place is usually the remote oil filter housing. This receives the same hot oil that was in the pan, with a little heat added from the pump. Plus almost every after market remote oil filter bracket has a place for the oil temp fitting.
11-29-2007, 01:26 PM
#20
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So for those that don't have easy access to a pan location, but instead have easy access to a remote filter port, it's the best proxy to add an oil temp gauge.
Also, the port just above the filter on the block, that would be oil returning to the engine after having been through the cooler right? Sounds like a better location for pressure. If you have that location and the top of the block, I think I'd want a gauge sender just above the filter mount, and a warning sender at the top of block?
