Oil Pressure Sensor Unit

[sperold]

Anyone changed an oil pressure sensor unit? 1990 SHO.

Looks a little hard to access, since it is up behind the axle shaft, high on the engine .

Any special tools or advice on how to do this?

I have an unusual issue, the dash light still works, but the plastic nose of the sensor unit will spin around; and it leaks about a drop every 3 seconds when the engine is running.
I got my hand up in there but could not do anything except spin the plastic part with my finger tips, swinging a vice grip or wrench does not look like it is in the cards.

All suggestions and advice are welcome and appreciated.

 

[Irish Pride]

I did one this summer. You'll need an oil pressure switch socket. Not sure if they vary in size diameter but they do vary in length. I'll post a pic of what I use later tonight. I can get to mine fairly easy from under the car and I have big arms.

 

[Irish Pride]

This is what I have. It's the short version.

 

[sperold]

Thanks for the information. Another socket ! Just what I need !

At least I know it is possible now, I was pretty depressed when I took a peek earlier.

 

[Irish Pride]

From underneath its very easy to get to.

 

[Bryan]

When you switch the oil pressure sensor put in a real oil pressure gauge and not that dang idiot light. That’s what I did. Never liked those lights

 

[luigisho]

I would love an oil pressure gauge in every vehicle.

 

[Bryan]

In a somewhat related note... does anyone know where to get a gauge pod for these cars? I have the oil pressure gauge, but a pod for it would be pretty nice.

 

[sperold]

Try here:
http://gaugepods.com/ford.html

 

[Bryan]

Try here:
http://gaugepods.com/ford.html

Wow sweet! Though uhh... what would you put into the other pods? It seems it’s 3 or nothing

 

[Irish Pride]

Wow sweet! Though uhh... what would you put into the other pods? It seems it’s 3 or nothing

Oil pressure, water temp, and voltage are the common 3. Instead of voltage I have a Wideband.

 

[Bryan]

Oil pressure, water temp, and voltage are the common 3. Instead of voltage I have a Wideband.

Wide band? Hmm... never heard that one. Though I guess water temp because the in gauge one is pretty unreliable.

 

[Irish Pride]

 

[ISHOU]

I did upper/lower 60k, radiator, wheel bearings, struts, etc. on my 94 ATX and that damn oil pressure switch was harder than any of the work I did. You wouldn't think it would be. Maybe it's easier on a MTX.

 

[NoSlo]

I just did this this weekend, finally, after not having a good tool or angle to get the sensor out the first attempt. It's a pain. Requires a 26mm or 1-1/16" socket (an actual pressure sensor socket is too long), and since you barely have enough room to turn a 1/2" drive ratchet one click, also a cheap ratchet or cheater bar you can cut down to three inches long.

- Remove rear plastic wiring cover,
- Remove the weird protection bracket tube that goes between EGR bolt and the engine,
- Detach and remove dual green/red DPFE EGR brittle vacuum tubes so they aren't inadvertently broken,
- Unplug harness connector on back of engine (wire coming from near master brake) and move out of the way,
- Drain coolant, and loosen and detach the heater core hose (the one with the lockout switch) from the engine side. If you haven't cut the factory clamps and replaced with hose clamps, you'll have to pull the whole hose. Stick a screwdriver in the end to help keep hose out of the way if not completely removing.
- Unbolt EGR valve from intake, unclamp the two small hoses from bottom of DPFE, and move/bend the EGR tube towards rear (firewall), and wire it up to hold it out of the way (don't let gasket drop and get lost).
- Pry speedometer cable out of mid-cable clip, so slack allows you to move it out of the way of sensor,
- Pull the oil pressure sensor's wire straight off, then use socket to bust loose sensor. Because of the pre-applied sealant on the threads, it will take many turns with a rachet before it can be spun by hand, and will take several turns by ratchet when reinstalling. Try to hold the socket straight.

I did upper/lower 60k, radiator, wheel bearings, struts, etc. on my 94 ATX and that damn oil pressure switch was harder than any of the work I did. You wouldn't think it would be. Maybe it's easier on a MTX.

Vehicle speed sensor. You can only feel it, and can only get one hand in there.

 

[sperold]

I shoveled back the snow, chipped away the ice, jacked the car up until front wheels were 3" off the ground, and changed the oil pressure sender unit. (Standard Products #PS461)

See post #3 for the proper tool for the sender unit. This socket keeps the sender unit at the end of the socket, so that you can apply pressure inwards on the sender while you spin the unit, out and in.

The original sender (WVE#156542) had a relatively long plastic snout where the wire attaches, and that snout would spin with your fingers, and it leaked about 1 drop every 5 seconds. I was down 1 quart in a 2 hour trip, but I was worried it would spring a full pressure leak if I repeated the exercise.

The leaking unit came out with not much torque, which is good because I had a 3/8" ratchet with a 6" handle, with a short (2 3/4") extension.

The new sender goes in easily, and the 1/4" pipe thread is coated with a sealer. You can only get 1 hand up past the half-shaft from underneath, so you don't get a lot of torque on the new unit, but it doesn't need it.

On the 90 SHO, the sender install was far less work than I imagined.