Question - My sending unit is about as big as an infant. Would there be any problem using say a Honda one that's much smaller?

 

Your gauge is not calibrated for a honda sending unit. You can upgrade to a VDO sending unit and get more "real" OP readings. I just upgrading my unit a while back and it works great. The needle doesn't move real fast but it does go up when I rev the car up atleast now.

 

mine isnt a real gauge, just on/off with the fake gauge.

 

I have a '99 mine is just as unreal as yours.
Go to m.net and type in oil pressure guage mod.

 

I might have been unclear. Im not trying to get the gauge to read a real pressure, just wanted to know if there was anything special about the way the miata on/off switch worked as opposed to a smaller version, i.e. a honda on/off sending unit. ya dig?

The reason being the stock miata one is a huge monstrosity while say a honda one is much more petite.

I remember on my 240sx I ended up going with a BSPT to NPT adapter then used NTP for everything else, even got a stock sending unit off a domestic car.

 

I knew what you were getting at. But I thought I'd throw out there that you could have functional gauge while you're at it.
I have no idea if it would work. It would probably just make the gauge read something different. As in it might give you false readings because the sensor is most likely not the correct resistance.

 

just do the conversion, you need a OP sending unit from an 94-95 i think, maybe older ones too...look it up, its been done many times...96 and up have fake OP gauges...mostly for looks i would say
but its been done functionally, many times
good luck

 

WTF difference does it matter how big the sending unit is? Is it in the way? Does it weight too much? Does the size of it make you feel inferior about the size of you junk?

 

If I were to put the stock unit on a Tee off the block, I would be a bit nervous about the weight snapping the tee in half. I was just figuring if there's nothing different from the stock sender it wouldn't hurt to use a smaller one. Not only that but I have a very small *****. I've seen my wife checking out my sending unit and it's tearing us apart.

 

Umm, the sending unit isn't heavy not is it all that large so I guess I don't see the problem either. It definitely wouldnt' break a T in half.

 

Thanks for the info. I may have jumped the gun a bit I guess. I havent technically gotten the stock one off but it looked big from the angle I was able to see it at. I'll try to get that sucker off tonite and re-evaluate the situation.

 

you can get your wife to look into your engine bay? props man...
the 96+ ones are smaller, but do not work with the real gauge, the 94 on my engine is not that big, its smaller than our oil filters, and they are tiny...
as far as your problem goes, they have pumps for that

 

Almost sounds like someone put the older, variable sending unit in. The on/off switch is pretty small. I would REALLY worry if that was being favorably compared to my *****

 

That's what I was thinking actually. It's about the size of my thumb. The sensor, not my *****.

 

Ok, I put my foot in my mouth. Today is the first time I've technically *seen* my sending unit (thanks to a taking pics of it). It felt a lot bigger than it is. I think im gonna take off the "oil cooler", replace it's gasket and do the oil **** while it's out.

 

If your ***** is that big you got problems

 

I've never had a problem and my ***** isnt THAT big. I wish...:gay:

 

Do you plan to permanently remove it? Because you can, just cut the threaded rod down and reinstall it. A 1.6 rod might work as well because I don't think they had a cooler, something like that, cutting would be easiest.

 

I wasnt planning on permanently removing it and probably wont. If space ends up being a problem for me I'm gonna run a short -3AN line out so I can hook up the pressure sensor and feed line.

 

It won't be a problem.