Oil gauge

[scargo70]

My oil gauge(the one that measure the quantity of the oil not pressure) is reading off the chart;that is it is showing that i am over-full.
I have checked the oil level using the proper technique (level surface, car warmed up) and the level is ok.
Any ideas why the guage would be acting up? and how to fix it?

[red911]

Hello scargo70,

I put the oil guage on the counter (removed from the car) and connected an ohm meter to the guage. As I moved the arm, I say the meter move, so I assumed that the guage worked fine. That may be a way to see if the guage is working. You may have a ground in the wire that is sending a "full" message to the guage.

Also, you may want to reconnect the guage (note: out of the car's oil tank) and see is the guage moves as the float is moved up and down.

Please note, I have not started the motor yet, so these are the tests I ran before I installed the guage.

Good luck, Tom

[hdavis]

I had the same problem a while ago (see this thread Oil gauge )

It turns out I had a bad oil level sender, I replaced it and now it works fine.

Good luck

[Bob Schaefer]

Hi folks -

The oil guage in my '67 S has always fluctuated wildly since I bought the car 2 years ago. After reading about the potential for impeding the oil supply in the "oil guage" thread that hdavis referenced, I am paranoid that I may have the same problem. I will check the wiring out first, but is the removal of the oil level sending unit from the side of the tank a 'straight forward' deal?

Thanks,
Bob

[hdavis]

but is the removal of the oil level sending unit from the side of the tank a 'straight forward' deal?

The removal is quite straight forward, you just have to "twist" it a little in the end so that it comes out. Putting in the new one...well that was a little trickier. The whole thing took me a little over 1-1/2 hours, and if I could do it....

Wayne Dempsey's 101 Projects for your 911 has a section on replacing the oil level sender, it was helpful.

Good luck

[red911]

Hi Scargo,

Be careful when you remove the sender that you remove the float on the end of the arm as I have read in other threads that the float may become adrift and it is about the same size as the oil line and may starve the motor for oil.

Good luck, Tom

[johntyboy]

Hi

I would not move the pointer on the gauge, I have checked all my instruments on my car and have check the oil level gauge, you need a 12V power supply or battery, a decade box (resistance box) and a couple of wires to connect it all up as per Haynes wiring diagram. I have the exact figures some where and could send you a diagram if needed, but you should see the gauge read empty if you have 0 ohms and full at 70 ohms or more, if your gauge is working correctly it would suggest a wire has fallen off possibly at the oil tank, or the sender unit float is stuck or u/s.

Regards John

[Bob Schaefer]

I've traced the problem with my oil guage to the tank sending unit, and received a new sender and (cork) gasket from Pelican.

Although it'll probably be a long time before I'm faced with replacing the sender / gasket again, I am NOT thrilled with the idea of using a cork gasket.

Anyone know of a source of gaskets made from a better material? Porsche? Other?

Thanks,
Bob

[hdavis]

Bob, when I replaced mine, which was the original one (it was dated 68), it had a cork gasket, and it was in VERY good shape. Assuming it was also original, it would have been 36 years old when I replaced the gasket, so I had no trouble using a cork gasket again.

[schmidt]

The cork is what you get from Porsche, they work good with the imperfections of the mounting surface for the sending unit, dont worry it wont leak. They also work better with the heat.