Oil Temp Sensor Placement
 

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Where do you guys install your oil temp sensors?

In the pan, below the oil level, on the intake side.

/thread

Mines off the oil pump. Don't know the advantages or disadvantages to either placement.

Have also seen (not on a miata) one on the end of the dipstick.

Ebay sandwich plate behind oil filter that I use to feed my external oil cooler.

So do you have an external thermostat for the oil cooler? I was looking at the MOCAL sandwich plate which does not have any extra ports in it but does have a thermostat built in

I currently have mine t'd into the oil supply line...this is temporary. When I swap in my fresh motor it's gonna be in the sump on the intake side of the engine.

I bought my sandwich plate with the intention of using a RX7 oil cooler which has an internal thermostat. I ended up not being able to put it where I wanted initially so I used a different cooler I had with no thermostat. It never gets cold enough here for that to be much of an issue. It's not a daily driver either.

I have mounted mine in the oil pan near the drain plug on the '99 and in the pan near the dipstick on my previous '94. I went with the passenger side this time to keep the wire further away from the hot parts.

That's where mine is too

+1.

How much hotter is the compressed oil than the oil sitting in the pan? I'm not an engineer, this is a genuine question.

Oil is in-compressible :loser: I'm assuming you mean pressurized. I don't see why it would be any hotter except for the fact that there is less thermal mass when it is running through small orifices vs. sitting in a pan (so it can heat up faster)

You can do this with a $8 drain plug adapter. It puts the sensor kinda low to the ground (pigtail is about even with the bottom of the subframe) so it's not the optimal permanent placement, but it's quick and easy and will suffice until you pull the pan and have a proper bung welded in.

This is what I am doing for now. Like you said, quick and easy. Might even put some sort of plate under it for protection or extend an underpanel that far back. Wouldn't want to rip it off on track or bottoming on something.

You could also drill and tap sandwich plate for 1/8 npt if not already tapped.

I just drilled and tapped the pan itself in both of my installs, its fairly thick in that area.

I'll drill/ tap it while the engine is out. I am building a shortblock now anyway.

no clue. im assuming that the only extra heat I would get from that spot is from the oil pump. but i dont know for sure.

I dont think NA's have that plug. but it has been a while. i asked a friedn with a 94 and he doesnt remember one there.

Wheres the $8 oil adapter from>?

Pics of sensor placement in pan for reference?

Autometer 2267. Adapts 1/8 NPT sensors to the M14 x 1.5 threads of the oil drain. Ebay, amazon, wherever has them the cheapest. The one review on Amazon is mine and I suggest you read it. Cliff's: it works but the washer placement has to be "just so."

I can post a couple once I find my camera. You can get away with drilling & tapping the pan itself if you don't want to weld on a bung, but I wouldn't drill the pan with it still on the motor. Reason being, the pan (at least the 01 pan) has some baffling fins in the bottom of the sump. If you drilled it blind, there's a chance you could drill directly or sideways into one of the fins and wind up with a hole that would be a PITA to tap and could cause issues with the fit of the sensor.

I bought the VDO sensor properly sized for the drain. No adaptor required. I'm travelling for work now but I can look for the catalog link if there's interest. But you guys are smart, I bet you could find it yourselves.

Bump for a useful pic for those who stumble across this thread by searching. (I know I did but didn't see any pics).

Here is fitment with a 1/8npt oil drain adapter and an AEM 1/8 npt temperature sensor. It sits just high enough to not bottom out on the ground and gave me good readings.


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1427429967

Kudos, quite pro.

This is an Auto Meter 1/8" sensor. Maybe this gives a good idea about placement. For you greasy bit guys if you need a measurement PM me. the car's on stands so...easy

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-h...o/DSC_2784.JPG

Pretty much the exact place I put mine, though I used an 1/8-BSP sensor from a Saturn, mainly because it was like $7 new at O'Reilly.