Best way to get access to the oil pressure sender

[Adam_NAclubman]

This is the last time I ever pay a 'mate' who is supposed to be a mechanic to work on my car, I've had to redo half the stuff I paid him a grand to do.

Last thing (I hope) is that there seems to be oil leaking from where the AVO kit oil feed tees off from the oil pressure sender (plus the oil pressure gauge isnt working though maybe thats because of this leak). It's not leaking lots and lots of oil, but drips while the engine is running. Problem is that it is down under the inlet manifold where I can't see.

I'm regretting taking it down off the stands before starting it because it's a pain in the arse to get up again (stupid ride height will be attended to when it gets aligned after a new exhaust). Would I be able to get good access to this area by getting the front up on small ramps, jacking it up at the front and putting the front on stands and taking the drivers side wheel off? I'd really rather avoid trying to jack both ends of the car up on stands so I can lay under it


Cheers

[TieNN89]

I reckon thats your best bet jacking the front end up and going in where the d/s wheel is

I have a leak somewhere there too which I haven't been bother to look at yet

[Steampunk]

From the top, but you need a deep socket because it needs to clear the electrical connector right at the end of the sender.
You can bend it slightly to get the socket onto it.
A spark plug socket (not sure the big one or small one) might work.

[smmax]

The "normal" Oil Pressure Sender switch is 24mm (or 15/16th will do fine) long reach needed (spark socket is what I used) Don't know what a "real" sender is like on the early models. The replacement VDO "real" sender for the OPG mod is much bigger but still used the same socket. Bastard of a job.

Access from as per TieNN89 seemed to work for me.

[Locutus]

i got to mine from above with a deep socket + some trial and error with different extensions

[Garry]

I got at mine from underneath. I removed the oil filter too.

[timk]

Do you know where to get thread pitch adapters? I have an aftermarket oil pressure sender however the thread is slightly different than the original sender & block.

I have a brass fitting that moves the sender out by about 20mm, whoever originally installed the gauge just screwed the sender into said fitting until it was tight (only 2 or 3 turns). VERY dodgy and I'm suprised it hadn't leaked!!

[Adam_NAclubman]

I think I fixed it tonight, will know when I try starting it tomorrow, want to give the loctite plenty of time to set.

Bastard of a thing to try and get a spanner onto!

[Adam_NAclubman]

Ok, so after fixing that leak I then discovered that it was also leaking from the CAS o-ring, replaced that and it was all good.

150km later however, I noticed tonight that its dripping again. GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[timk]

I got the right brass fitting and used Stag Jointing Compound, hasn't leaked yet for me. Might be worth a try?

[Adam_NAclubman]

Just checked, the oil pressure sender fittings are dry as a bone, its the bloody CAS again. I think I'll order the genuine o-ring this time, I used a non-genuine part of the same specifications as described on the US site user guides that everyone uses but it seems that this only worked for a short time. Bugger, the CAS was an absolute PITA to refit and I really don't look forward to doing it again.

I guess its not a good idea to drive the car tomorrow night to a meet? Probably 30 or 40km round trip

[Uncle Arthur]

I found the best trick to refitting the CAS was to undo the two bolts that hold the upper-mounting-curved-metal-thing by a couple of turns. It means that the whole process of slipping the CAS back home is made waaaay easier.

[Adam_NAclubman]

I undid everything in the area and it still took me ages to get the bastard to line up properly going back in. I took note of which way it was facing when it came out but by the time I'd spent 10 minutes trying to get the CAS to get between the firewall and the head to get it out of the engine bay, then put the new o-ring on, then tried to get it back in (actually.... I think I swapped it with the one from my old engine because the new one had a broken plug on the top) I'd forgotten how it should go, tried feeling for the orientation but it took about a million goes to get it back in

[SuperMazdaKart]

heheh, been there done that. i ended up just taking off the valve cover to put the cas back in.

should be a much simpler job to do with the familia though lol.

[Adam_NAclubman]

Took the cam cover off to do it this time, soooooooooooooooooooooo much easier. Guess I need to wait for the silastic to cure at the six spots on the side of the cam humps before driving it to see if it starts dripping oil again