Oil distribution and sensor location idea
 

I've read several posts and ways to mount sensors and feed lines for the turbo but I didn't like the idea of drilling and tapping holes into my engine. So I did some thinking and kinda came up with an idea.

Objective:
To supply oil to turbo and a central location for my sensors, stock oil press. aftermarket oil press. and temp sensors. I would like the sensors all in the same place for ease of installation and access.

Idea:
Begi oil feed fitting at the block running to a distribution block with several 1/8npt fittings. Attach the sensors to the various ports and have a line running from the distribution block to the turbo. I found a vacuum block with ports on ebay for 20$.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

I would mount the distribution block to the firewall.
What do you think? I'm open to any suggestions.

:facepalm:

You want an idea? Drill and tap the block.

Or use the preexisting ports like most people do?
--Alex

For feeding a turbo and one or more pressure sensors, this sounds like a fine idea.

Might be problematic for oil temp- those sensors tend to be fairly long, though you might be able to stick it in sideways. It's likely that a temp sensor will read low, owing to the fact that there's going to be relatively little flow through the block, and fairly significant radiant dissipation of heat from the block.


Alex- he's running a '96 engine, which doesn't have the hotside feed that the earlier blocks did. So, essentially, he is using the one preexisting port which he has.

Scotty- not sure where you'd drill & tap for this. I examined the casting on the back of an NB block, and it looks like you'd have to remove and tear down the block and then drill a 1/8" wide hold 6" deep, perfectly straight, which is a little outside the capabilities of most people.

That is true. I'd worry either way. A distribution block with that many ports makes me a little wary.

I actually kind of like it, to be honest. Not for a temp sensor, but for distribution of oil to the pressure sensors and turbo. Much better, IMO, than hanging the weight of an oil pressure sensor off the end of a Tee fitting screwed into the side of the block.

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. I will probably pull the trigger on this setup and post up once I have it done with findings.

Thanks for the info on the readings of the temp sensor, maybe i'll just have to use one of the those oil drain senders.

im going to be using the VVT oil supply banjo area as a distribution block... tap that for the turbo oil feed... would work great, and it shouldnt cause a shortage of oil to the VVT actuator from what i can see.

Isn't this essentially the same as pulling it from the OPG feed port?

That's basically what I ended up doing. Routed a line off the OPG feed, that line fed both the turbo and the new OPG. Didn't need a whole oil mani, just a tee.

Was very confused about block drilling. Thought everyone used the OPG port on late blocks and the hot side port on early ones.
--Alex

[QUOTE=AlexO35;668402]That's basically what I ended up doing. Routed a line off the OPG feed, that line fed both the turbo and the new OPG. Didn't need a whole oil mani, just a tee.[quote]This is what I've seen most folks do, as well. There has, however, been some concern about whether a tee (or the BSP adapter fitting its screwed into) will crack or break if it has a large and heavy oil pressure sensor (either OEM '90-'94 or aftermarket) hanging off the end of it. Remoting the assembly to a manifold (or simply remoting the tee) alleviates this concern.



I think that perhaps Scotty was suggesting that a person drill out a late-model block to create the same coldside feed as the early blocks.

I looked at doing this late last year. The casting certainly would support it, however actually drilling the hole would be tenuous. Here's what it looks like on the back of an NB block:

http://i.picoodle.com/e7dhchp7.gif

Basically, where that horizontal line is that says "feed to turbo" is where you'd need to run a drill of appx 1/8" diameter through about six inches of solid iron, remaining perfectly centered and without deviating by so much as a degree in any direction.


You could much more easily put a hole into the block on the hot side to reach the main galley, but I don't see how this would be advantageous vs. using the OPG hole. You still have to cross over the engine bay with the line. Well, it'd save you a tee, I suppose.

Hmm. Now that I think about it, I might just do this on my '99 block... :rolleyes:

the feed on the oil pump? thats where people run their lines? lolol....

its the same as running it on the oil pressure sensor, with a top mount turbo, this will work quite well as i can plumb it along the edge of the valve cover and avoid all of the heat going low on the block.

Huh? Oil pump? OPG = Oil Pressure Gauge, at least insofar as I'm aware. You know, that 1/8" BSP hole on the side of the block just behind the oil filter?

oh, i would have listed it as the oil pressor sender... the guage i would have considered as in the cluster.... opg in my mind is oil pump gear...

confusion.

yes this is similar

Aluminum distribution part came in today and I think this will work great. It's a little bigger than I imagined but will be great for my plans.

It looks like there will be plenty of room for flow even with the temp sensor.
[IMG]http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/y...h/IMG_1697.jpg[/IMG][IMG]

http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/y...h/IMG_1695.jpg[/IMG]

I plan on feeding the oil in through the 90* fitting on the bottom and then out the top to the turbo. I just have some stuff in the ports to make sure they all are 1/8NPT.
[IMG]http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/y...h/IMG_1696.jpg[/IMG]

Personally, I don't think I'd use a hose barb anywhere in that setup. It's just asking for leaks, and you want to maintain as much pressure as possible throughout. And be sure you use plenty of thread sealer. I had one of those that leaked vac like crazy no matter what I did. I eventually just pitched it because I could never make it seal properly.

Make sure you use a little Teflon lube to help seal the threads, not the tape. Just not too much, ask hustler why.

I'm no fluid engineer, but sill you loose pressure to the turbo with that big opening? I'm with baron, I'd use npt-AN fittings on the end, not hose barbs.

It looks like a sound idea, hope it works.

Edit: if you're smart, those Npt-AN fittings should get rid of one of this adapters. They're needless potential leak points.

Why not just use a sandwich plate adapter?
That's exactly what I did on a friend's car, and we had all the ports we needed.

For those who are not familiar with the sandwich plate adapter, it goes between the oil filter housing, and the filter itself.

In my experience they're a bit of a pain in the ass during oil changes. Half the time mine comes loose, no matter how tight it is.

Stoopid question:

You are oiling the o-ring on the new filter before installing it, right?

I also have a sandwich adapter for several years now and I'm pretty happy with it. Mine has 4 ports on it.

FWIW, I put an oil temp sensor in line with the turbo feed line, and while it is not totally useless, it does read low and change slowly. In my case the sensor is about 12 inches away from the OPG port on a -4 AN circuit, but there is a restrictor in series at the turbo, so relatively little oil flows past it. In the datalog I can see that OILT follows CLT but ~30F lower.

This is how mine is plumbed:
http://www.boost-instruments.com/oilman/om3.JPG

I'll definitely look into the AN fittings. I don't really like having all the adapters. It's not the clean look and like others have said has the potential to have lots of leaking. I'm planning on pressurizing the setup before I install to check for leaking.

I also have an in-pan oil temp sender so once the setup is in and running I'll post up findings on temp in flow and temp in pan. That won't be for a while though.

I like that setup. Very nice.

So, went with the advice on the An fittings and definitely agree that it was great advice. I used 3/8 to 4an fittings. I don't have pics of the complete setup because the gauges just came in with the sensors and I haven't put them in yet.

[IMG]http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_1755.jpg[/IMG]

If that hose is rubber, you are going to want to keep an eye on it. Over time, oil swells and deteriorates rubber, and peak pressures of 90psi cold aren't going to help either. I have had to rebuild my engine twice because of rubber failure by oil saturation. Ideally you want to use braided SS Teflon lined hose. Using those hose clamps with high pressure is asking for trouble.

+1 I understand completely and agree with this. I only have rubber coming from the engine to the distr. block and SS lines coming out around the back of the engine. Ideally I want to have SS lines completely but I can't find a BSP to 4an fitting for the engine.

Anyone know where I could find one? I have a 96engine.

http://www.pegasusautoracing.com/pro...p?Product=3230

Found in a thread by searching 'oil pressure sender thread'... first link I clicked on.

The whole point of using an fittings is to eliminate hose clamps. Those look like truck air brake fittings.

^^^ If you're refering to the silver elbows, I'm not sure what they are but they came with the Begi kit and fit and seal perfectly with 4an.

Because of positioning there is not enough clearance between firewall and the metal coming from the shock mount to run AN elbows. Sometimes you gotta improvise.

Thanks for the link

I was thinking about a similar setup, only I wanted to add an oil pressure switch to drive and emergency light/buzzer to let me know if I have catastrophic oil failure.

That's a great little distribution block. Ebay just keeps getting better and better.

BTW also thank you for the pic of the VDO sender fitament. I was going to tap it in the oil sump but I might go this route instead. Regardless, those blocks are useful.

The sender that's pictured is the stock one. I got the vdo sender in today so i'll post pics of both senders and temp sender tonight. It seems like this setup will work well as long as everything sealed right (fingers crossed).

Wut?

What's this one then?

Attachment 191617

I have that long neck type of sensor.

There fixed that for ya..

The long neck sensor is the Temp sensor.

Here are some pics of the complete setup with stock press. aftrmkt press. and aftrmkt temp senders. SS lines from block to turbo with AN fittings.

[IMG]http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_1767.jpg[/IMG]

I snaked the SS line going to the turbo between the brake lines, so I wrapped it up for added protection.

[IMG]http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_1769.jpg[/IMG]

Because of location I had to remove the stock windshield washer resivoir, so with some ideas from CR I added this.

[IMG]http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_1770.jpg[/IMG]

Plenty of space between sensors and win. washer tank.

[IMG]http://i807.photobucket.com/albums/y...a/IMG_1774.jpg[/IMG]

Overall I'm happy with the way things worked out. I think it will be exactly what I need for my setup and will make it easy to reach any of the sensors if there is a problem with them. I also feel better about it all not dangling from the T coming off the engine block.

Hey I didn't give you permission to use my tank ideas.

My catch can setup:

Attachment 241430

Red Bull gives you boost.

Sorry, :giggle: I already have a catch can so figured you wouldn't mind if I used it for a windshield washer fluid resevoir.

LOL, I hope you dont track your car like that.