Gasket on oil pressure sensor?

[andreic]

Hello,

today I had an hour to tinker with the car, and decided to check engine health by checking oil pressure. To do this I removed the oil pressure sensor ("idiot light") and hooked up an oil pressure gauge.

The good news is that the oil pressure was great: idle about 18 PSI, 1000 RPM -- 20 PSI, 2000 RPM -- 40 PSI, 3000 RPM -- 55 PSI, and after that it tops off around 60-65 PSI.

The bad news is that after putting everything back together and driving the car to my garage, I found an oil puddle under the place where I worked, and found drips of oil in the driveway to the garage, about one every yard.

My question is where can this leak be coming from. My thinking is that it could be from when I attached the gauge (I did not tighten it hard to the engine), and perhaps now the entire bottom of the engine is soaked in oil and still drips. Or it could be from the oil sensor after reinstalling it. Was there supposed to be any gasket underneath it (I did not see one when removing it)? Was I supposed to coat the threads in some kind of Teflon sealant before reinstalling it? If yes, is there a recommended brand?

Thanks,
Andrei.

[beatnavy]

If it wasn't leaking like that before then your oil pressure sending unit is the primary suspect, I would think. I don't think there's a gasket or sealant to use. I think it's just finely threaded and needs to be on firm (but not too tight!). Clean up as much as you can, keep running it, and see if the dripping slows and stops. Of course make sure your sending unit is in properly.