Oil Pressure Switch

[mgbrv8]

I heard some horror stories about removing the Oil pressure switch on our motors. Some people would lift the motors up with a hoist others would remove the motor mounts and jack up one side of the motor even read one story or a person removed the exhaust header on that side. Mine was leaking so I decided to take a stab at it. I started from the passenger-side trying to get to it but after a while my hands started cramping from trying to fit in the tight spot at a odd angle. So I step back and took a long look at the situation. I Figured out if you lay a series of blankets over the motor from the drivers wheel over the engine to protect everything and if you lay on top of the engine from the driver side you can reach your left hand in very easily. I also disconnected the oil cooler lines to ease access and plug them with plugs I had in my toolbox, this gives you a few more inches of freedom with the ratchet but it isn't absolutely necessary. Its also nice because with your left hand is in there working you could look right down at the switch through the exposed section. I also dissected the bad switch to see what failed.


Dave

[mgbrv8]

Here are some more pics.

Dave

[Z06scentair]

Great Info!

[mgbrv8]

Thank you Z06scentair I just want to help our and future members and owners

Dave

[mgbrv8]

I forgot one helpful hint. To keep from straining my wrist while turning the ratchet and trying to hold up the ratchet and socket combination with my fingertips I made a 10 inch length of stainless steel wire with eyelets on each end. I put one eyelet in between the socket and the ratchet head and protruded the other end up through the view port of the oil pressure switch this allowed me to not only hold up the socket against its weight but also to help place the socket on the switch initially. Another point the finer the ratchet the better because you don't have much swing in there. The job in total was about 35min.

Dave

[Schrade]

Seems they could have integrated the OP light into the OP guage...

Get Cliff to link it in 'Solutions'...

[A26B]

Originally Posted by Schrade

Seems they could have integrated the OP light into the OP guage...

Get Cliff to link it in 'Solutions'...

Could have.... but better to have redundant sensors on critical functions. It's helped more than on ZR-1 driver when one has failed, usually the gauge sensor. Personally, I prefer a mechanical oil pressure gauge added to the pressure switch.

[Dynomite]

Originally Posted by Schrade

Get Cliff to link it in 'Solutions'...

OK

Some more information for ya

GENERAL CHECKS
Post 18 - Engine Oil Pressure/Temperature Sensors
Post 19 - LT5 Lubrication Tricks
Post 20 - Potential Oil Leaks and the OPRV Cover Plate

[bamawrx]

This is my kind of thread.

[AustinJohn]

Like many folks my car developed a sudden oil leak which I at first thought was the oil temperature sender and Pete made two good repair procedure suggestions - remove the passenger wheel and the center section of the wheel well liner. But once I removed the wheel and the wheel liner section and started to clean up the sprayed oil it was clear the cause was the oil pressure switch rather than the sender and searching the forum I found folks divided on whether the better approach to replace the switch was to remove the oil filter adapter or to raise the passenger side of the engine. Then I read Dave's procedure.

I have to admit I've done some unusual things in caring for my cars (and trucks and motorcycles) over the years but lying on them is a new one. Still it did make sense to help get one's left hand in a more natural and useful position, although removing the wheel goes a long way toward that same goal (of course all this assumes small hands as without removing hoses the space is limited). And I was already using a variant of Dave's stainless steel wire suggestion. But what really helped was seeing the picture of Dave's tools and particularly his flex head 3/8" socket driver. As the saying goes "use the right tool for the job" and indeed the flex head made all the difference in the world.

Unlike Dave I didn't yet have my replacement switch so I couldn't quickly button it up and total my time spent. Plus having removed the wheel and center section of the wheel well liner and done a lot of cleaning my time on the clock was much longer than his. But the important thing is result. And I now know that even if my new switch fails sometime down the road replacing it by removing the passenger wheel and the center section of the wheel well liner, using a helper wire to support the heavy socket with a flex head 3/8" socket driver is a doable task. So thank you, Dave.

John