Getting the sender back in in the proper position can be a bear. When you get to that point, cut a hole the size of the one in the tank into a piece of cardboard and practice. This will familiarize you with the tricky moves you'll need to move to get the sender into position.

+1 MM said or Watch my video at end of my write up, I literally placed it in reverse order of exit. No issue. just go slow and careful not to tweek the float arm while removing it or putting it back in.

Thanks Jim
 

I just took a little drive so i will wait for the engine to cool down and dig into the job.

Many thanks
BN

How to check static oil level cold after sender repair
 

Very interesting article- I have a 930 3 liter turbo, I stripped my new sender as the thin wire on the little board was not making a good earth. Soldered wire on and drilled a hole for a lug which I riveted onto the sender frame to get a good earth.

Question, the car is cold, been standing for at panel beaters and had a oil leak rom a pipe, now sorted out. (It seemed a small leak but the car had stood for about 6 weeks, so hard to tell how much oil came out). I noticed no oil on the sender float at all, so assume tank level is low ( guage also shows low), but have put in about 5 liters of oil in which I would have thought would mainly reside in oil tank. I know the checking of oil must occur when the oil is hot, but I also don't want to take a chance and run too low on oil, but also don't want to overfill. Without draining the (new) oil to check the literage in the car, what is the best route, fill the tank up until it reaches the hole into which the OLSU fits? Tried checking with a tape dropped inside to get an idea of the actual level by looking at the smear and relating it to the outside of the tank, but this did not work.
Does the oil in the tank when cold flow into the engine and sump and return when the car starts / is hot?

No, never fill up when cold, you will over fill and it will start leaking out the breather hose and all underside and side of your car :eek:

Yes, oil stays in the crank and sump when the temperature reaches around 194 at optimal running temperature, the thermostat fully opens and starts flowing oil into the sump to crank from the front oil cooler as well, at which point you will get the actual oil levels.

To be safe, I would dump and fill per spec or maybe 1/2 quart less to spec, drive her around unitl she is at 194 degrees F then check the dip stick to fill to spec.

Oil is cheap compared to an engine rebuild.

Example. A properly filled 3.2 when dump is 10.5 quarts so that would be the amount when replacing as well. But I and most will fill 10 and add as needed, sometimes more sometimes less.

Sorry not to so good with metric. :-(

I hope there is a fix like this for the oil drunk (pressure). I replaced mine 3 times, and yesterday I saw it's at 3.5 at all time again. This forth one last me around a year or so, but I only driven the car several times last year.

10.5 Quart = 9.9 liters

You can never have too many voltmeters.....

Good write up with an assist.

Thanks-

Drained the oil, got from the engine sump and the oil tank 13.5 liters!! I saw last night some oil on the floor from the left back of the motor, assume this is what came out of a breather ( I did not crank last night).

Indeed liter = 1.056 quarts, so heavily overfilled and thanks for the warning!

As i did not run the car last night, I assume some residual left in oil cooler lines and the serpentine cooler, how would this affect the 10- 10.5 quarts you refer to? I am not sure if it drains back into the sump/ tank after switch off ? It has been stranding a while,

If it is still lurking in the lines, how much should I reduce the 10 quarts by to cater for this volume?

As a matter of interest, what is the minimum volume of oil you can run before having engine issues, I was thinking of this for the above situation if a person is not sure of residual oil in the cooler, so maybe better to fill 8 quarts and run , instead of pouring 10 in straight away and risking over filling

Can you also tell me where the breather sits at the rear so I can have a closer look at the oil that I think has blown out of it, want to mop up but cannot see under or on top of the motor where the oil popped out of! thanks Mark

I put in 9 quarts, then run it to temp and top off.

As Joe Bob said, try 9 quarts first any lurking oil lines residue will soon settle/dispurse after she is properly warmed.

As far as the Breather, it should be just to the left toward the front of the engine. But the over fill would have effected the right side. When you say left side, is it leaking down the valve cover #3 cylinder? If so it is just a standard leak from the valve covers or a seepage from the head to block seal or the oil hardline cross over return fitment as is mine.

Let's check it out next time I see you RN SmileWavy

Filled with approx 8.5 quarts. Car started and a lot of white smoke came out the exhaust./ Let it run for a while, switched off, drained 1.5 quarts ( approx) out) and started again. Smoke much reduced, but as car warmed up, it had a a bit of smoke, still enough to be noticeable. Left it for a few hours to let it settle, ran again, same story, at first nothing then a noticeable light plume. Definitely better than when the car first started after a gap of being used. Car probably did not reach full operating temp, want to take another 1/2 quart out and try again, Oil gauge still shows empty, which I told is normal until the oil is really hot . Is this residual plume a sign of a still to high level of oil, or is something else possibly contributing to to this light whitish smoke?
I had heard that condensation in the heads on start up can also lead to white smoke, but am sure after the running that that is not an issue. Car runs a little rough, just had EFI fitted a while back and the car is still bedding in from the engine rebuild ( same pistons, just head job and bearings)

Whoa, 9.5-1.5-.5 = 7.5 quarts??? That does not sound correct, your car per Bentley Manual states 10.5 fill/dump, not including the oil in cooler/lines.

I just recently helped a Pelican's 78 oil change and we dumped and filled 10 quarts, at first, the fuel guage read full, pegged at top ( due to the thermostat being closed, because itwas cold ), then driving 5 minutes later ( thermostat starting to open) it dropped to 3/4 full at the gauge , we check at the dip stick while at idle and it was actually at low mark. ( yes his OLSU/gauge is off ). 30-40 minutes later, after a freeway run and hot it was low 1/4 quart, but in between the low and high mark on the dipstick. So he decided to leave it alone and top off next gas fill, therefore his particular fill was 10 quarts

As far as grey smoke, that will disapate, that is residue and carbon deposits but you need to drive her until 194-200 degrees F, consider doing an Italian tune up ( this should blow out any reminents of carbon ) then fill to spec. If you still have obvious grey smoke after proper warm up, then there may be other issues.

Jim

I did a search to find this thread, as I need a little help. I have a 84 Carrera that I got a few months ago. I started a brake job, and as I was sitting there staring into the RR wheel well, wondering where the heck to start, I noticed that there are no wires attached to the oil level sending unit. :( And there are no wires coming into the wheel well that I can see. :(

The oil level gauge goes to "full" whenever the ignition is on.

Sooooooo.....Where do I start to look for the wires, or where they join the wiring harness, if I need to manuacture some?

On my '89 the wires come thru the fender right at the top of the oil tank. On the inside of the engine compartment they run along the right side, and then along the front of the engine (past the shock absorbers) to join the wiring harness.

To add to the fixes to the sending unit above, I once had a problem with the rivet that goes thru the sending unit coming loose, not making a good connection and causing eratic behavior. Drilling out the old one and replacing it made it all good again.

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 334k miles

Thanks, Chuck. I'll look around and see if I can find some loose wires.

Outstanding job
 

You did an outstanding job.

I have seen many books (repair manuals) that did not come close to what you provide all of us.

Thanks and look forward to you next repair.

Maui44

Olil level Gauge
 

This has been one of the most frustrating problems I have came across so far.

First I had no reading at all on at the oil level Gauge (OLG) so I unplugged the negative side at the Oil Level Sensor (OLS) turned on the car and the OLG shot up all the way to the top.

I then checked the voltage at the OLS with the car running I got 7+ volts (this is what you got with the care turned off)?

I got 0 volts at the OLS with the car off?

So, I proceeded to take apart the OLS per your instructions and that part went well.

I now have a condition that when I have everything connected, the OLG pegs to the very top and when I turn off the car, the pin still stays all the way at the top.
If I hit the face of the OLG a few times it will drop down to the bottom. I have no idea what is causing the pin to go all the top and stick there.

At this point I fell like buying a new OLS and sending the gauge in for a repair/tuneup.

I just wanted to ask you if you have any ideas regarding this mess and have any idea what is causing the needle to stick at the top position. This is something new sense I started working on this thing.

It' kind of funny, everyone on this site states how unreliable the OLG is and to always you the dipstick (which makes total sense to me)however, at this point, it's a war and I want it to work to just prove a point that it's fixed.

Again, what would you do at this point?

Thanks,

Ron

On my sender, what failed is the rivet going thru the plastic, shown in this photo here:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345130454.jpg

It was a little loose, and didn't make good contact so it would cause the reading to be erratic. I drilled it out and put in a pop rivet about 100k ago, been fine since.

Chuck.H
'89 TurboLookTarga, 338k miles