For those of you with oil temp and pressure gauges...

[Click]

To bring an old thread back to life.

I put oil temp and press gauges in my jetta this past weekend. I used one of the sandwich adapters. Only issue I had with it was that it didn't ground the senders good enough, maybe its due to the anodizing. Either way I put eye connectors below the senders (not in the pic) and properly grounded them.





My oil runs around 210. I've seen it go as high as 230 when I had it floored going up a steep hill.

[reelizmpro]

I'll say it again, you can toss out the window anything anyone from DDm tells you.

And unless you install a sensor into both the pan and then filter/head at the same time and take readings and data log them, it's not "proven" - it's what someone experienced. I'm not saying it's not the case...it's just not very exact now is it?

I don't see the difference between what I'm saying and what you're saying. I have both identical sensors installed, same wiring and same gauge. The difference is the location of the reading and sensor on the block reads about 10-15 degrees hotter than the one in the pan when I switch the wiring between the two which might I add correlates with the oil thermostat I installed. There's no need to datalog oil temperature. It's clear, one reading is where it should be and the other is way off.

[george graves]

I'll say it again, you can toss out the window anything anyone from DDm tells you.

And unless you install a sensor into both the pan and then filter/head at the same time and take readings and data log them, it's not "proven" - it's what someone experienced. I'm not saying it's not the case...it's just not very exact now is it?

[reelizmpro]

Well, not "proven" - but that's been a few people experience.



I've never heard this - I'll look into it - my guess is that it's flat wrong. But for the time being, I wouldn't trust a single thing anyone at DDM told you. They are a bunch of idiots.

Hmmmm OK. 2 identical sensors installed in different locations on the same engine reading about 10 degrees different is enough proof for me. I couldn't find any information about the pressure senders having to be 45 degrees of vertical but I thought I'd mention it. Jim Powell didn't tell me anything but he can verify this since I know he's experienced the same issues with VDO's on his E36 well before DDM was around. He mentions it in one of his write ups.

[george graves]

It's been proven on this forum that the pan readings will be a few degrees cooler than at the oil filter housing

Well, not "proven" - but that's been a few people experience.

The sender will last a lot longer too. I had read that VDO oil pressure senders must be mounted within 45 degrees of vertical to be accurate as well. Jim Powell from DDM can verify this.

I've never heard this - I'll look into it - my guess is that it's flat wrong. But for the time being, I wouldn't trust a single thing anyone at DDM told you. They are a bunch of idiots.

[reelizmpro]

I've been running VDO electric gauges for 15 years on all my E30's. Do what the factory does, install the senders in the oil filter housing or block and not the oil pan. It's been proven on this forum that the pan readings will be a few degrees cooler than at the oil filter housing. I have senders both in the pan (previous owner) and block (oil pressure adaptor) on my convertible and verified this myself. M20 oil temps are cool around 165-180F and a bit more on hot days in traffic or hard driving. M20B25 oil pressures can be as low as 7PSI idle and upto 65-72PSI at high rpms. A 72PSI gauge is kinda pushing it. 80PSI would give a bit more room. I run a 150PSI gauge which is overkill and I don't think it's ever been past 85-90PSI. Also, the oil pressure senders are extremely sensitive. It matters how and where you mount them. On my M3 and M Tech, I had erratic readings when I had it installed directly on my oil filter housing. After I remote mounted it the readings were steady and accurate. The sender will last a lot longer too. I had read that VDO oil pressure senders must be mounted within 45 degrees of vertical to be accurate as well. Jim Powell from DDM can verify this.

[lostatoll]

thanks man, that makes a ton of sense because the wire is old and brittle. time to replace.

[billybobjoseph]

Might be dirty connections between the sender and the idiot light somewhere causing an increase in resistance.

[lostatoll]

not to sidetrack, but my 87 325e idiot light blinks sometimes at idle. My idle may be a tiny bit low 650ish, but I don't think my pressure should drop that low at 650.. what do you guys think? running 10w30 right now, probably should switch to 20w50.

[MR 325]

Why not get some gauges that you can understand? Possibly something not 20 years old.

[BlackSpeed66]

My oil pressure gauge seems to read around 60-80 psi at startup when cold. I use 20w50. At idle when it's warm it hangs around 20 or so.

My oil temp is a consistent 200 degrees under normal driving once everything has warmed up. During hard driving or track stuff it'll creep up to 220.

I use a sandwich adapter btw. They're picky about how they're installed and can weep sometimes.

[IxTech]

hmmm. my gauge is reading about 10-25 psi.... rwd block in an ix with oil pump conversion. but my light doesnt come on when im driving. it comes on when i start it.

[Click]

Thanks

[george graves]

Nice post Click.

[Click]

Regular e30s don't have a oil temp sender stock. There's many different places you can place a sensor and it is up for debate which is the best location.

Various locations

Stock E30 M3 has both sensors in the housing.


Drain plug


Tap the hollow housing bolt.


Oil distribution block.


Sandwich place for the oil filter housing that has threaded ports for oil sensors and aux lines.