this morning's 2002tii house call

[OriginalOwner]

I had a failure on the '74tii, a big oil leak problem I couldn't solve.  As luck would have it, this morning Le Tran was heading up to Camarillo to pick up some wheels, so he and his assistant detoured a few miles over to Simi and solved the problem.  Impossible for me, oh-so-easy for them ...... about 25 minutes later the tii was back on the road ..... and they were too.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

 

[FunElan]

We have a great community here in SoCal. What ended up being the issue?

[OriginalOwner]

The oil pressure sender switch right next to the distributor, the threads got messed up and I couldn't get the switch to thread-in and seal.

 

Le brought an entire replacement of that whole bolt-on "piece" which also mounts the distributor.  Thus, remove/replace would require a complete re-install and re-time of the distributor itself and I've never done that ..... and I don't even have a timing light, never needed one.

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

 

[Steve Tochi]

Carl, I literally just changed my oil pressure switch 5 minutes ago.  It's been leaking at the top, and thought I'd take care of it before it really goes.  I was getting oil dripping from my left lower control arm and have been trying to chase it down. I can see no oil anywhere up near the KF or dipstick, so I eliminated one possibility.  Anyone know if oil from the pressure switch can travel from the right side, over to the left side defying gravity like Roger McDowells magic loogie? 

Le Tran is great making house calls.

[OriginalOwner]

Steve,

 

my educated guess:  nope, oil won't magically transport from side to side.

 

Here's an idea for your left-side oil leak:  the little plastic oil tube which feeds the KF.  Years ago mine got abraded (no idea how) and had a tiny pinhole leak in the back, out of sight.  Nothing huge, but enough to keep me scratching my head trying to find it.  It wasn't until the hole got bigger and more oil pumped out that I was able to figure it out.

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

 

[jimk]

1 hour ago, Steve Tochi said:

It's been leaking at the top,

That comes from using an open end wrench instead of a socket or box wrench.  The body is soft and becomes distorted.  The seal lets go then.  Some cars have sockets specially made for the oil pressure sensor.

[Steve Tochi]

34 minutes ago, jimk said:

That comes from using an open end wrench instead of a socket or box wrench.  The body is soft and becomes distorted.  The seal lets go then.  Some cars have sockets specially made for the oil pressure sensor.

I've never removed it before but upon closer inspection, the connector was bent to hell and had become a bit loose. I have no idea how it happened. My old pictures show it straight and perpendicular. 

[Mike Self]

3 hours ago, Steve Tochi said:

've never removed it before but upon closer inspection, the connector was bent to hell and had become a bit loose. I have no idea how it happened. My old pictures show it straight and perpendicular. 

When one of those oil pressure senders does let go, it'll dump all your oil in a few minutes at highway speeds--so even at the slightest inkling of a leak, replace it.  Cheap insurance against a lunched engine.

 

Or...use this as an excuse to get a proper oil pressure gauge instead of relying on a S.N.O.P. (Sorry, No Oil Pressure) light which will belatedly tell you your oil pressure is now down to 7 psi--a bit too late.  

 

mike

[Mike A]

Nothing wrong With an analog needle gauge but you have to be looking at it. If it’s down on the console chances are you won’t be looking when it goes . Nothing like a bright light to draw your attention.  In the early 12 quart 911’s where oil pressure is everything including cooling we replaced the dash clock on track cars with a 2 1/2” red light .

Edited July 19, 2020 by Mike A

[tdskip]

Very cool that he stopped by to help. Thanks for the discussion on the sender, very helpful for a noob like me.

[Steve Tochi]

1 hour ago, tdskip said:

Very cool that he stopped by to help. Thanks for the discussion on the sender, very helpful for a noob like me.

Yes I didn't realize they can implode and there are several prior posts about it. It may have been Mike who actually recommended always having a spare in the car in the event of catastrophic failure.  There are other discussions on how to install a "T" connector for a gauge as well. I actually searched FAQ on the topic (via google) and was able to get quite a bit of good information, what a concept.

[adawil2002]

Had an oil sender let go on my way to The Vintage in Asheville. Averted catastrophe, fortunately, was an easy fix once the part came in. Had to leave the car at a shop in Allentown PA for the weekend. Still made it to the event and rode around with friends.

 

[tdskip]

 So not to hijack the thread – but on the Porsche 912 site that I’m a member of they have a sticky topic that is basically entitled  “Common  failure points and what to do about them “.

 

 I’ve seen the very helpful technical articles but have not come across that same sort of sticky here.