Thread: HELP! TD5 engine oil pressure sensor connection to SAAS gauge

You will need a T and possibly an adapter to change threads if your pressure sender doesn't have the same thread as the existing switch.

Originally Posted by Graeme

You will need a T and possibly an adapter to change threads if your pressure sender doesn't have the same thread as the existing switch.

I had worked that much out and am hoping that someone may have done the job and recalls the thread dimensions.
From my research, it appears most TD5s have a M10 x 1 thread into the engine, but that some of the earlier 10P motors may be different, which in turn means I'll have to take out the sensor to confirm what thread and then organise a 2 way adapter.

I can't be 100% sure, but all the info I've found too says M10x1.0 too.

So something like THIS T-ADAPTER should do the trick. I used one in my TDi(also M10x1.0 too), and the side port is 1/8NPT, which is what SAAS usually use for their sensors.

The only problem with these ready to go adapaters could be space restriction down there in the TD5. The adapater is approx the length of your index finger(~7cm or so). While the adapter may fit in there, I recall that there is a slight bulge in the block casting roughly where the end of the adapter would be, which could make it very hard to impossible to then fit the original pressure switch back onto the end.

Originally Posted by AK83

I can't be 100% sure, but all the info I've found too says M10x1.0 too.

So something like THIS T-ADAPTER should do the trick. I used one in my TDi(also M10x1.0 too), and the side port is 1/8NPT, which is what SAAS usually use for their sensors.

The only problem with these ready to go adapters could be space restriction down there in the TD5. The adapter is approx the length of your index finger(~7cm or so). While the adapter may fit in there, I recall that there is a slight bulge in the block casting roughly where the end of the adapter would be, which could make it very hard to impossible to then fit the original pressure switch back onto the end.

Thanks Arthur - spot on, providing the M10 x 1 thread gets confirmed and there is enough room for both the adapter and the new sensor. And yes the SAAS thread is 1/8 NPT.

I was very impressed with your work on fitting the remote oil filter as well, but it ended up quite a bit more expensive than your original expectations. Did you ever calculate the total parts cost?

Originally Posted by gavinwibrow

.... And yes the SAAS thread is 1/8 NPT.

....

The oil filter could have been done on the cheap, but I don't like making things more complicated due to financial constraints.
That is, the cheapo ebay parts could have been used, but with the severe lack of space to swing a spanner down under there, I'd then need to buy a 27 and 24mm spanner, and hack it down to a shape that allowed it to be swung enough to tighten up the fittings. I could have used clamped hose fittings, but we all know how they end up down the track, and being stuck in the middle of nowhere with some clamp that didn't quite hold on strong enough under 60 psi wasn't a happy thought to contemplate, let along the potential reality.
And those super annoying ebay fittings .. could have used teflon tape like everyone else does, but again, stuck in the middle of nowhere and something goes wrong(not necessarily the adapter), and it has to come apart but putting back together and it just leaks all the time ... nup!.
Like the saying goes, do it proper and just once.
I have the fittings set up so that I can swing a small shifter down there if they need to be disconnected(eg. due to burst hose from the oil cooler, or oil press switch goes bung.)

I actually spent more on the proper AN tools, than on the parts themselves. The tools are horrendously expensive, but do work really nicely. Hose was the ebay cheapie(but you could easily just get a small 600mm(or 1m from any store). The oil filter eliminator piece cost $170-ish direct from a real store(remember them!), and online was actually a bit more expensive anyhow. The problem is how to confirm that it will actually fit, both down there, allow access for outlets, and so forth.
Then of course, had I bought online, I'd have been livid that the small threaded rings didn't fit, and the stuff around of them umm-ing and ahh-ing about my dilemma that they sent me a defunct product(the rings for fitting the oil filter threads were made wrong, and there was a small updated and included pack of proper rings) .. so again stuff around and go back to store .. so much easier dealing with known product and real store!

The final issues of the leaking ports .. I could have used just the nicer quality Proflow fittings, and left the ebay oil filter head attachment .. but by this stage I'd had enough of the kit and went all in and got the $200 oil filter head part too. TBH, a bit of over excessive rush of blood to the head, and I literally threw the ebay kit in the rubbish box!(I will pull it out tho, I think it will come in handy for another project I want to do with a filtering system for an eventual parts washer.

For sure, had I done it as a job lot including a re done oil drain hose, I could have easily stayed with the $30 ebay housings, but just got all the fittings from Proflow to replace the rubbish ebay fittings. Ebay hose is fine to use.

Just as a side note: as an average the price for the Proflow fittings were in the $11 - $20 range, and they sound not too expensive, but you need 'this and that and the other' by the time you've got the bits you need to angle them this way and that way and space it out enough to allow a spanner to swing down there ... maybe $200! My problem IS .. they only now sell in black. I wanted coloured, preferably silver. Used oil goes black, so if there is a leak .. you just cant' see it. If they were silver, much easier to see the leaks. BTW, I have confirmed zero leaks, even tho they are black. I used white rags to be sure ... no stains at all!
So the sales guy tells me they don't sell other colours due to no demand for them from the regular buyers, thats it! .. I check their site, and they have silver coloured fittings, and they all like $5 or so. I ask sales guy, do you have any of the silver on special fittings .. I think I needed about 8 or 10 fittings in total .. @$5 each .. big difference in total cost. But they don't have them there, and at some warehouse and maybe they don't have them there, and they have to check, and I reckon they just wanted to go to lunch and not worry about some TD5 owning lunatic that comes into a pro speed parts shop to buy parts normally sold to Ford and Chevy rodders.. etc. etc.

OH, yeah, nearly forgot to say, the other handy aspect of all those oil filter relocation kits, is they all have additional port accesses for the likes of gauge senders. The ebay ones have two, the Proflow one I ended up with has only one .. 1/8NPT .. so to fit sensors is now a very simple bolt up job(and obviously wiring).

I did seal up the NPT ports in both instances with thread sealant and the blank bungs, but still easy to fit a sensor now.

Recall tho that I did fit two of those adapters I linked too(from the same company) to my TDi. I fitted a temp sensor and pressure sensor to the TDi. It also uses M10x1.0, and the sensors are VDO 1/8NPT fittings(that's what my gauge kit came with).
I mucked around with copper washers and o-rings to stop the leaks, and it was hard to fit it all, again not really easy access, and it had to be fitted and a specific way .. one piece first then the other then this sensor and that sensor. Leaked oil all the time. Finally asked a plumbing chap how to fix, and I started using Lokseal as my thread sealant(so easy to get) .. and been fine with it ever since(6 years now on the Tdi).

I got this made up for me so I have aftermarket oil pressure gauge and oil temp and factory oil pressure PXL_20220713_082445466_Original.jpg