14 replies to this topic

[M44K TS]

998 Mayfair
1991
fitting an mpi oil temp gauge

Hi, quick question, i have just bought a 3 + 3 Rover dash and was wondering how to go about fitting the oil temp gauge.

I have the wiring loom for the 3 gauges and have figured out how to do the clock, volts and the dial illumination. Now, the bit i'm stuck with is how to wire in the oil temp gauge, i'm guessing the white is a switched live as this is tapped into the white wire that feeds voltmeter (tested off a small 12v battery)

I take it the other wire on the gauge goes to the oil temp sender?

Also, where do i fit the temp. sender and how?

Here's some pics of the gauges and a quick wiring list of what i think does what..

Please correct me if i'm wrong with this.

Back of oil gauge




Where the 2 whites are joined inside factory loom


Same white as above going to volt gauge


And my quick wiring notes which i think should be correct




So providing i have the above correct, how would i go about fitting the oil temp sender?

Thanks in advance
Mark.

[M44K TS]

anyone?

[Globule]

I'm just bumping this up as im also wondering, where do you fit the oil temperature sender and what type etc? Im in pretty much the same situation as M44K TS was so need to know now

[paulrockliffe]

First thing, can you clarify that its oil temperature and not water temperature? Oil temperature is not a standard dial, in fact its pretty rare on custom minis too. Water temperature there shoudl be a sender switch near the thermostat housing on the front of the engine.

If it is oil temperature then the sender unit goes in the sump plug. I'm not sure if anyone does a sender that just screws in or whether you need to get a plug and tap it for the sender though.

[fishey798]

The mpi's had a oil temperature sender where the previous cars had a plug to house the oil pressure release valve and spring. according to minispares.

[paulrockliffe]

The mpi's had a oil temperature sender where the previous cars had a plug to house the oil pressure release valve and spring. according to minispares.

Ahh, I didn't know that!

[fishey798]

Neither did i till a couple of minuites ago!

[taffy1967]

Water temperature there shoudl be a sender switch near the thermostat housing on the front of the engine.

I believe it's beneath the inlet manifold on Twin-Point Minis?

[Globule]

Just to clarify, it is for oil temperature (for me, im not speaking for M44k TS), its a standard clock from an LE dashboard (magnolia one)

Paulrockliffe, is this what your talking about?

http://www.minispare....aspx?pid=33002

then i basically screw a sender into it?

Fishey, excuse the naivety but where is the " plug to house the oil pressure release valve and spring" as i have no clue where to look

[fishey798]

Its on the front of the block about halfway down on the left hand side.
I guess what you'd have to do if you want to fit an oil temp guage in an earlier mini you would have to use a sump plug adaptor like this:Sump Plug Adaptor

[fishey798]

Anyone know if you could use this adaptor, with the sump plug adaptor to insert a sensor? Adaptor

[Dan]

ARRGGH, too much gibberish.

Right:

1: Where did you find this? This looks like a repost of a topic that I've already been through in some detail with M44k TS. I'll stick up a link to the original when I find it and then lock this.

2: The oil temperaturew sender for this gauge fits into the front of the MPi block in a custom port that is only present in the MPi. I believe it only works with the original sender.

3: Yes it's on oil temperature gauge. It's not remotely rare and is part of the Sports Pack, making it present on very many Minis.

4: The MPi oil temperature sender does not replace the oil PRV cap, it fits in another identical boss below the PRV tapping which is present on the MPi block ONLY. You can choose to replace the PRV cap with the sender if you like but there is a very good chance that the length of it will prevent the PRV opening fully when it needs to, or very much at all.

5: The water sender on MPi Minis is just where you would expect it to be in a sandwich plate on the head. It's the SPi that has the sender beneath the inlet manifold.

I can't find the other version of this thread (thinking about it now it might have been more to do with wiring the same gauges, although we did discuss the oil temp gauge) so I'll leave this open. In short, to my knowledge that gauge only works with its own specific sender unit which has the same thread as the oil PRV cap. I don't imagine it will fit inside an adaptor for the sump plug, although there is a good chance that the thread is the same as the sump plug itself so it could replace the plug entirely. I'll have to check that at some point. to be honest though personally I don't really care about the temperature of the oil in the sump since the sump is cooled and the oil will be a lot hotter after it leaves the oil pump. It's the temperature of the oil in the bearings that's most important so you need to get a sender somewhere near the main gallery. There are adaptors available that fit between the block and the filter head allowing you to get the sender in the oil flow immediately before it enters the gallery.

[Southy]

Just a question as i didnt see the need to start a new thread about fitting an oil temp.

Ive recently bought myself a digital dash which has an oil temp sensor and all the wiring for it too be fitted, i have myself a 1990 A+ engine and would like to know the best place to fit the sensor?

[lolipop]

I have a magnolia sportpack VDO oil temp gauge fitted to my 93 Rio,since it needed to be connected I asked at Somerford,but was told it was very difficult and involved cutting away part of the subframe,couldn't quite understand why but he should know.
I suppose since the temperature will vary throughout the engine you need to be carefull where you fit a non engine specific sender,and then what temperature is good and what is bad??Maybe it's information you dont need to know,i'm now just relying on having a decent oil in the engine and enough of it.

[Globule]

Dan, i was searching for oil temperature gauge fitting as i needed to do it and only found this, and frankly M44K TS's question was exceedingly better set out that mine ever would have been (pictues etc etc) so rather than make a new post i just bumped it up as i needed to know really Thanks for the comments on the PRV albeit not the best news, i messaged M44K TS and he did tell me similar things, most likely from your discussion but thanks all the same I dont especially care about the reading on it, but as i am putting the dash in i would rather have the clock working, rather than have a gauge which will never move as it will most likely niggle away at me