# Oil pressure guage hookup?



## slideways240sx (Feb 19, 2005)

Whats it going to take to hook up a mechanical oil pressure guage on my 91 240sx i jus had some engine failure due to lack of pressure and now that im gettin it all together id liek to hookup a sctual pressure guage so it doesnt happen again, its run an eletrical but i have a auto meter mechinal layin aorund and dont ahve much $$ left after all the engine repair. thanks guys


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## Chris90FB240sx (Feb 25, 2005)

Umm Im not sure but on the mechanical gauges they actually use a hose from a Oil line I believe. But dont do it until you find out for sure. But I think that is the jist of it.


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## 2Fass240us (Aug 2, 2004)

Why do you want to use a mechanical gauge?


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## slideways240sx (Feb 19, 2005)

slideways240sx said:


> Whats it going to take to hook up a mechanical oil pressure guage on my 91 240sx i jus had some engine failure due to lack of pressure and now that im gettin it all together id liek to hookup a sctual pressure guage so it doesnt happen again, *itd run an eletrical but i have a auto meter mechinal layin aorund and dont ahve much $$ left after all the engine repair*. thanks guys


On a money budget


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## Joel (Jun 11, 2003)

I wouldnt recommend it. You dont want an oil line going into the cabin, if it breaks youll have scalding hot oil spraying at you! Fork out for the electrical gauge


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## bridrive55 (Aug 26, 2004)

Joel said:


> I wouldnt recommend it. You dont want an oil line going into the cabin, if it breaks youll have scalding hot oil spraying at you! Fork out for the electrical gauge


Funny story here.
My friend's BMW 530i puts out so much oil pressure, that it breaks mechanical oil pressure gauges. Mechanical oil pressure gauges work by having oil push directly on a bent loop of metal, which straightens the loop, and moves the needle. His car has such high oil pressure, that the metal loops would kink completely in half. We went through 3 oil gauges figuring this out.
Well, inbetween oil gauge 2 and 3, my friend decided to drive his car to the gas station. I don't know why, I don't know how, but he made it 4 blocks to the station before realizing a warm sensation in his feet. He turned off the car and looked down and saw oil bubbling out of his gas pedal. It took us 30 minutes to discover that he (retard) hadn't plugged the oil line that goes to the oil pressure gauge before driving off. 3 quarts of oil had made their way behind his dash cover, and were slowly leaking out of the gas pedal and center console. It was a sad sight, seeing this poor BMW bleed synthetic. 
The bottom line is, you don't want oil running inside your car, oil gauge or not. Electric is the way to go.
If you insist on using mechanical, there should be an oil nipple below the oil filter.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

slideways240sx said:


> Whats it going to take to hook up a mechanical oil pressure guage on my 91 240sx i jus had some engine failure due to lack of pressure and now that im gettin it all together id liek to hookup a sctual pressure guage so it doesnt happen again, its run an eletrical but i have a auto meter mechinal layin aorund and dont ahve much $$ left after all the engine repair. thanks guys


Like everybody else that posted here not recommending a mechanical gauge, I'll also say DON'T use a mechanical oil pressure gauge setup; for all the money you've put into your rebuild, I'm sure the cost of an electrical gauge would be well spent for piece of mind.

A lot of oil pressure gauge kits use an1/8" NPT fitting. The oil pressure sensor port in the block has a JIS PT 1/8 thread. BSPT 1/8 and JIS PT 1/8 have same thread spec. Look for a 1/8 BSPT to 1/8 NPT adapter to hook up most aftermarket oil pressure sending units.


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