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Oil Pressure Sending Unit

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Old Feb 16, 2009 | 06:27 PM
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Default Oil Pressure Sending Unit

Frustrating day!. Just spent 4 hours replacing the original oil sending unit that failed reading 130 PSI. Got the car back together and started it. Oil pressure sits strong at 48 PSI. Go out to get gas and the oil pressure goes to zero and stays there! No ticking , engine is fine. Everything is correctly hooked up. Brand new Echlin unit from NAPA failed in less than an hour! Used a digital torque wrench for the entire procedure so no over tightening. Anybody else been there?

Last edited by Kens86; Feb 16, 2009 at 06:27 PM. Reason: error in title
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Old Feb 16, 2009 | 07:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Kens86
Frustrating day!. Just spent 4 hours replacing the original oil sending unit that failed reading 130 PSI. Got the car back together and started it. Oil pressure sits strong at 48 PSI. Go out to get gas and the oil pressure goes to zero and stays there! No ticking , engine is fine. Everything is correctly hooked up. Brand new Echlin unit from NAPA failed in less than an hour! Used a digital torque wrench for the entire procedure so no over tightening. Anybody else been there?
Is it the brass one or silver one? If its the silver one yea I know people thats it gone again in less than an hour. If its brass thats a first as far as I know..... A bunch of us on the forum bought brass ones around the same time and know reports of falures yet....
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Old Feb 16, 2009 | 07:43 PM
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Its a brass one. So was the one I removed. I Just picked up another one and compared it to the old one. The old unit has a larger orifice and is 48mm tall. The new one has a small orifice and is 56.25 mm tall. The part is what NAPA Call out for it. It appears to fit okay and not hit the bottom of the manifold.

Has anyone else used the different height units?
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Old Feb 16, 2009 | 08:12 PM
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I heard that some brass replacements were starting to show up but so far till now, haven't heard of any failures of them. The sticky at the top has lots of information on the senders. The usual is the cheap alluminum ones dying within hours to days. In my case, the new one lasted about 2 weeks. After I relocated it, no more issue.
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Old Feb 16, 2009 | 08:26 PM
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I am in the process of doing mine now. I was going to wait but I am putting LG Street Series System in and it calls for an Air Tube change which requires the intake to be moved forward to get at the air tube so I am going to do the oil pressure sensor now.

The sensor I bought is a brass one. It is a BWD form O'Riley Auto Parts and the part number is S4202.
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Old Feb 16, 2009 | 08:32 PM
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When mine went out I opted for the Buick sensor and remote mount. It's a costly way to fix the problem but I figured it had two very attractive advantages. If it goes out again it's only a five minute fix. Remote mounting puts the sensor in a cooler area of the engine compartment (I think) and lessens the chance of a failure (I think). It's only been about three months so far but all is good. I also do not recall seeing any posts of anyone having a failure after remote mounting.
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Old Feb 16, 2009 | 09:24 PM
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Did anyone notice the height difference between their old and new sending units?
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Old Feb 16, 2009 | 09:26 PM
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Yea I put the brass one in mine, same dimensions as the one you got from Napa. 2 months and and a couple thousand miles ago, and know problems with mine at all.
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Old Feb 16, 2009 | 10:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Kens86
Its a brass one. So was the one I removed. I Just picked up another one and compared it to the old one. The old unit has a larger orifice and is 48mm tall. The new one has a small orifice and is 56.25 mm tall. The part is what NAPA Call out for it. It appears to fit okay and not hit the bottom of the manifold.

Has anyone else used the different height units?
Oh boy, now I'm really confused...everyone says the brass sensors are better.....

Last edited by lucky131969; Feb 16, 2009 at 10:09 PM.
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Old Feb 16, 2009 | 10:50 PM
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Here are some pics of the replacement sensor I installed a couple months ago - so far so good...


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Old Feb 16, 2009 | 11:17 PM
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And that is why I cut a hole
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Old Feb 17, 2009 | 01:06 AM
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i replaced mine with a GM unit and no issues and been in there almost 9 months.
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Old Feb 17, 2009 | 01:09 AM
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Two years on my evil aluminum unit.......
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Old Feb 17, 2009 | 05:57 AM
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Bought one at a local parts house. Made by a company called Standard. Been in 3 months and no issues. Made in the USA.
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Old Feb 17, 2009 | 11:57 AM
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Originally Posted by SJPD
And that is why I cut a hole
Didn't cut the hole but I did do the relocate. No problems since. Good luck With your repair...again.
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Old Feb 17, 2009 | 12:12 PM
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mine from napa lasted 1 week it was brass and had a gm part # on the sender but in a napa box.
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Old Feb 17, 2009 | 12:31 PM
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I have no idea how I would post it here....but for those of you adventurous types.....

I made an AutoCAD template you can print off on your computer and then lay over the firewall/wiper trough to drill a hole in the right place. Mine was the donor car....drilled a few, well, er, not so perfect location holes...

Anyway, if you want it just pm me. It requires the wiper arms and the plastic under them to come off but then you just drill in and bam, you're there. Beats the tail off of pulling the intake.

Cassidy
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Old Feb 17, 2009 | 01:03 PM
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I got the brass Borg Warner part from Advance Auto for $38. It's only been a couple weeks, but it hasn't died on me yet. It also seems to be more accurate than the stock unit. I can blip the throttle and watch the pressure rise pretty quickly. The old one never did that. It was a much slower response.

If you cut the cowl, I found that you actually only have to remove the passenger side wiper arm. The cowl has a ton of flex in it, so I just propped it up on the passenger side and went to work.
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Old Feb 17, 2009 | 01:04 PM
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Originally Posted by C4B4the04
Anyway, if you want it just pm me. Cassidy
PM sent.
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Old Feb 17, 2009 | 01:31 PM
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1. Cut a hole
2. 20 min replacement
3. use some teflon tape but stay clear of the end
4. Snug it up and have a cold beer.

See page 4 of the sticky.
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