I've seen it done on v8's at the head, don't see how this would be much different. I was looking for a gauge to put into my sending unit port to see if my sending unit was bad and had no luck locally, you'll have to special order it or get one off the net.

But honestly, if you don't have one in the cockpit (other than the stock one) I'd get one in there first, your gonna be $30 for a good mechanical gauge plus any fittings you need, or $60 for one you can read while driving...

I'm monitoring oil pressure in three spots. Head, filter housing and at the turbo oil inlet.

Why don't you just T the factory oil pressure sensor.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-engine-fuel/359004-using-t-install-oil-pressure-gauge.html

I'm also getting my oil feed from the ofh, and I'm just trying to see if I can do another solution other than tapping the oil filter housing, which won't be that big of a deal. Or do I not need an oil pressure sending unit...? the way I see it, (i have a ff-oil filter housing) is I will have my oil feed to the turbo and the oil pressure sending unit on a T, then I'll need to tap in a different location for the mechanical oil pressure gauge

Huh ^^^^

My turbo line is coming out of the ofh on the front hole, the sender is on the back side... when you buy an aftermarket oil gauge (one for inside the cab) you get an aftermarket sender, this means the stock gauge dies... no biggie, it sucks anyways.

If you really would like to have a mechanical under the hood and the sender you can tee the sender line with a 1/8npt tee...

What are you trying to accomplish so we can help you better? At first it was about head pressure, now you're talking about ofh pressure... or do you want to do both?

I don't like using those T fittings, especially the brass ones. All the vibrations and 4G63 boosted awesomeness could cause it to crack, which could result in a fire. I would also advise you do your best to use the OFH as your source.

If you do use a mechanical gauge, make sure you secure the line properly. A goon on another forum didn't, and it spat pressurized oil all over the interior. Personally I found it hilarious

I think the mechanical gauges are a little more reliable, and accurate. The senders they usually come with fail prematurely.

Brass fittings are the best way to go. Brass does not crack, plastic can. Yes, you can get the oil pressure off the head. If you supply oil to the turbo from the OFH then you can use the oil feed off the head for your oil pressure guage.

You will have a lower reading at the head. Go off the OFH.

Sebba said:

I don't like using those T fittings, especially the brass ones. All the vibrations and 4G63 boosted awesomeness could cause it to crack, which could result in a fire. I would also advise you do your best to use the OFH as your source.

If you do use a mechanical gauge, make sure you secure the line properly. A goon on another forum didn't, and it spat pressurized oil all over the interior. Personally I found it hilarious

I think the mechanical gauges are a little more reliable, and accurate. The senders they usually come with fail prematurely.

Click to expand...

I second that! I had one break on me and it was quite the bi*** to fix.

I concur with little-razcal. The OP at the head will read quite a bit lower than you actual OP from the OFH. OP at the head oil outlet (used for MHI turbo oil feeds) is normally 20psi, when the OFH pressure would be 50+. You true OP reading would be from the OFH.

Or take it in more than one spot and actually have a picture of what's going on..

Maybe look into a GReddy sandwich plate.

HIGHPSI4 said:

Brass fittings are the best way to go. Brass does not crack, plastic can. Yes, you can get the oil pressure off the head. If you supply oil to the turbo from the OFH then you can use the oil feed off the head for your oil pressure guage.

Click to expand...

Brass does not crack? Don't be silly, I've had one snap myself.

Regarding the oil pressure gauge, if youre just wanting to see the engine oil pressure, dont take the reading from the head, its much lower there. Also, the sending units for the gauges can fail from being exposed to excessive engine vibration (balance shaft delete, poly or solid engine mounts), so its sometimes a good idea to have a "jumper" hose made. The following is the setup I use on my car. You will want this hose to be the same type thats used for the turbo oil feed from the filter housing. This is a -04 PTFE (teflon tube), hose with steel braid on the outside. Have the hose made about 12" long, with 1/8 NPT male on one end, and -04 fjic (4AN to you car folks). Get a little brass or steel 1/8 NPT coupler, screw the sender into one side, the fitting on the hose into the other. Get another 90 degree -4 mjic x 3/8 MBSPT adapter, just like the adapter youve already got with your OFH oil feed kit. This goes into the filter housing, and the fjic side of the "jumper" hose goes onto the mjic side of the adapter of course. Look at the picture Ive posted. (Its not my pic, but its a good one, eh?) Look at the labels closely. The port you should be using to feed your turbo is labelled "turbo feed", and if youre not using this port, you shoud be. The one you can use for your OP sending unit is labelled "unfiltered from pump". If you dont want to use the setup Ive mentioned above, at the very least, you could get a 3/8 MBSPT x 1/8 NPT bushing, screw the bushing into one of the 3/8 BSPT ports and then install the sending unit into the bushing. This way, you dont have a T fitting hanging out to be snapped off by some kind of BS debris on the road when driving around, its just not worth the risk. I am an expert in all manner of hoses and fittings, so if you want the setup Ive mentioned and have any questions, PM me and I will give you the info necessary so that you can go to a local shop and have the stuff put together.

I doubt you will have an issue with the brass fitting if you are running a mechanical gauge since you can run the line to avoid stress on it. I could see a vibration issue with the electric models since they have the sending unit that is pretty bulky, but mine have held for 2 years without issue, or failure.

My bad, I thought for some reason we were dealing with an electric gauge. Mechanical didnt even register in my brain, since, in my opinion, other than a boost gauge, mechanical gauges are better suited for track cars since if the line from the source to the gauge fails, you end up with boiling hot oil or coolant in the cabin, and God forbid, fuel if youre brave enough to use a mech fuel pressure gauge in a car, even a race car. In the case of a mechanical gauge, I recommend going to a shop that does SS PTFE brake lines, and getting the -02 SS line for any mechanical gauge. Its tough, flexible, low profile, has the highest working temperature of anything out there, and as long as you route it carefully so that the braid isnt rubbing anything, itll last the life of the car.

Guys, remember I have a forward facing oil filter housing, so i don't have those extra allen wrench bolts that I can just take out and plug an oil feed line in its place. In my oil filter housing I have one hole to plug all my fittings into, and that will be occupied by an oil pressure sending unit on a T with the oil feed line to my turbo.
Now, I should have done some more research about what oil pressure sending units do in general before I posted. Correct me if i'm wrong, but an oil pressure sending unit is used for the stock oil pressure gauge. So, my question now is, can i eliminate the oil pressure sending unit and plug a mechanical oil pressure gauge in its place?

The reason I wanted to get my oil pressure readings from the head was so I didn't have to tap into the OFH. If I can eliminate my oil pressure sending unit then this solves my problem, and I won't have to get my oil pressure readings from the head either, which I realize is not an optimal solution.

Thank you all for the input so far though.

I had a mechanical gauge off of the head in my Evo 8. The idea was if you lose oil pressure you will see it from the head before the OFH. Granted that's not my current setup on my Talon as I'm not using a mechanical gauge. You'll get lower readings from the head though so don't be alarmed.

What size is the tubing that came with your mechanical gauge? You can buy a brass, 1/8 NPT male x compression fitting in the size for your tube size, unscrew the stock sender, screw in your adapter and itll work just fine. The port that the stock unit goes into is actually 1/8 BPST, but they are so close the NPT fitting will screw right in and seal without issue, I assure you.

Can anyone tell me whether or not I can eliminate my oil pressure sending unit and replace it with a mechanical gauge?

bisoo369 said:

Can anyone tell me whether or not I can eliminate my oil pressure sending unit and replace it with a mechanical gauge?

Click to expand...

Yes but you'll have a useless oil gauge in your dash cluster if you do (slightly more useless than it already is). I have the oil sender from my oil pressure gauge in the old one's spot and the old one in a nice box in the shed.

bisoo369 said:

Can anyone tell me whether or not I can eliminate my oil pressure sending unit and replace it with a mechanical gauge?

Click to expand...

You can but the factory gauge will of course cease to function, possibly trigger a CEL too

I told you that you can remove the stock sender entirely, and how to do it a few posts up. Here is a picture. The fitting on the right is the type you need. You remove the stock sender. You then screw the fitting into the port that the sender was in. Next, you insert the tubing that came with the gauge into the compression side of the fitting, tighten the nut a bit, then route your tubing into the cabin, attach the gauge and off you go. The T fitting on the left would allow you to use both the mechanical gauge and keep the stock gauge working. You would put the T into the port where the stock sender was, then screw the sender into the bottom port on the T. The compression adapter would go into the side port of the T.

LandSpeed-DSM said:

Or take it in more than one spot and actually have a picture of what's going on..

Click to expand...

This is what I do. I currently just read off the OFH and post oil feed line filter to the turbo. I will eventually hook one up off the head.