Oil temp sender
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 326
Likes: 0
From: Rochester New York
Oil temp sender
Where are y'all's?
I think I asked this 47 years ago but I searched and couldn't seem to dredge it up. So, again - my car came with a fresh 355, never started. Who knows what it was born in, but for the life of me I can't find a port anywhere to put the sender in. The block sides are smooth except for 2 coolant plugs along the bottom sides (above the oil pan), and 2 holes in parallel with the engine mount holes (shallow, no plugs or anything). There is one small hole over the oil filter, but a close inspection and poking revealed it to be just bored shallow and not plugged or threaded. And there is nothing on the passenger side at all. I was bored one day and tee'd it off the pressure switch at the top near the dizzy, but I get no readings on my gauge from there. Should it even go there, or is there not enough circulation?
Don't laugh, remember, I was bored.
I think I asked this 47 years ago but I searched and couldn't seem to dredge it up. So, again - my car came with a fresh 355, never started. Who knows what it was born in, but for the life of me I can't find a port anywhere to put the sender in. The block sides are smooth except for 2 coolant plugs along the bottom sides (above the oil pan), and 2 holes in parallel with the engine mount holes (shallow, no plugs or anything). There is one small hole over the oil filter, but a close inspection and poking revealed it to be just bored shallow and not plugged or threaded. And there is nothing on the passenger side at all. I was bored one day and tee'd it off the pressure switch at the top near the dizzy, but I get no readings on my gauge from there. Should it even go there, or is there not enough circulation?
Don't laugh, remember, I was bored.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
I have used that port by the distributor several times before with great success. Never had it not work, in fact my manual pressure gauge is connected to that port and it reads just like the interior electric pressure gauge.
The two standard ports are the one by the oil filter which you say you don't have, and the one by the distributor.
Try that port again, but this time with a different pressure gauge. Try a manual one you know works, or a fresh electric one.
The two standard ports are the one by the oil filter which you say you don't have, and the one by the distributor.
Try that port again, but this time with a different pressure gauge. Try a manual one you know works, or a fresh electric one.
Last edited by Durango_Boy; Sep 18, 2007 at 12:59 PM.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
Well, the difference is that both ports are designed for pressure, not temp. You're going to have a hard time getting temp from that kind of port.
To really be accurate I would suggest having a bung welded into the oil pan, so the probe can protrude into the hot oil as it seeps back down from the motor. You can probably use a threaded in approach and just drill a hole but that's just one more thing to maybe go wrong.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 6,251
Likes: 488
From: Glen Allen, VA
Something doesn't make sense here. I'll admit I don't know, but I can't imagine the factory put a bung in the oil pan for the 81 or 82's that had a factory oil temp guage. I think your answer will be to put it wherever the factory put it on those cars.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
That's where I would have suggested too before an oil pan bung but he doesn't seem to have that port. Considering it's easier to add a bung to the oil pan than it is to drill and tap the hole in the block.
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Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 326
Likes: 0
From: Rochester New York
Ayup, ain't no port, nowheres except on the top rear of the block. It's not the original motor - it's an off-the-shelf deal from a local builder.
I just hate to take the pan off.
I just hate to take the pan off.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
Likes: 15
From: Columbia Missouri
What about getting one of those sandwich adapters that are usually used for oil coolers, and installing a temp sender in one of those bungs and pluggin the other?
That's a spin on afair and you can do it from under the car. It's also a good place for a reading.
