M20 oil pressure and temperature gauges

[ewolfe57]

I've been looking into installing oil pressure and temperature gauges in order to have a little more heads up data for my upcoming head swap on my eta.
Is there a T fitting I can use to replace the stock oil pressure switch with an oil pressure sending unit and temperature sender for a set of gauges? Where would I get that?
Second, what is the best power source for wiring the gauges?

[TobyB]

Pressure, yes, you can tee.

Temperature, no, you cannot. You need to get the sensor into
a quantity of moving oil. Many (me included) measure it at the pan,
with the understanding that the oil in the engine will be hotter.

t

[Bearmw]

Same here. Pressure and warning light on the head and temp from the oil pan drain plug ( I have an M30). The hassles of getting temp from other places wasn't woth it to me. Switched power from many places as long as the wire is thick enough that you T into. Run good synthetic oil and keep an eye on the oil temp gauge and coolant needle in the cluster. I have never seen over about 205° for oil temp and maybe just over 1/2 on the temp. gauge. What's important is if you notice a big change from your normal baseline.

[ewolfe57]

Awesome, great info! So with the pressure sender is there a way to replace the pressure switch with a single sender with a two-pole design for gauge and dash light sending? What kind of adapter would I need?

[digger]

yes, there are some adapters below that provide a way to mount a sensor/switch unit that does both jobs.

http://www.bavauto.com/se1.asp?dept_id=334

http://www.parkerperformance.com/store_search.php?startrecord=10&keyword=&category=BMWE30

http://www.bmpdesign.com/category-exec/category_id/27/