Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post

dts3 · 03-17-2019, 03:44 AM

Alright, so here it goes. I'm combining my work on the oil cooler install with the triple gauge swap because they go hand in hand, and the reason I wanted an oil pressure gauge is because I wanted peace of mind if I ****** up the oil cooler install

I don't want to call this a DIY, because it's really not. There are some good ones on oil coolers. This is just "stuff I did with some pics thrown in"

In some of the pics above, I posted some preliminary ideas I had for the mounting of the pressure probe (specifically those AN hose adapters. I decided against that because I don't know how much I trust an oil pressure reading directly before or after the cooler. The solution I went with was two-fold: I mounted the oil pressure sensor on a tee with the OEM oil pressure switch (i.e. in the upper oil pan). Nissan figured this hole they tapped is good enough for them to monitor the pressure at, so I'm using it too. It's OK in a tee because unlike oil temperature, the pressure will be same at the back of the tee as it is in the tee branch. It's not just the tee, but there are also some adapters on there to extend the reach, which I needed for clearance. The perspective of the picture makes it look like the tee is a mile long, but it's really not that bad. I was worried about the whole think clocking around after driving, but I checked it several times over the past three months and it hasn't budged.

The stock oil pressure switch (black) next to the Defi oil pressure sender

The stock oil temperature probe (blue) next to the Defi oil temperature probe

Notice the thread difference between the two probes. I expected them to be the same, and I was planning on replacing the stock temperature sensor with the Defi as a drop-in swap... so much for that idea. I was talking to Z1 about this and they tried to convince me that it's the same thread size, even though I'm holding that in my hand. They said they measured it to be the same, and I trust them, so I'm just going to assume that the probe changed with model years.

My work-around for this was to pick up a tapped oil pan drain bolt from Greddy/ It's tapped for 1/8 bspt, and it makes for a really clean install. Here are some pics of that. I forgot to take some pics with it on the car, but I've got an oil change coming up soon and I'll get some pics then. This moves the measurement location from the block to the bottom of the lower pan. One added benefit was that I got to compare temperatures at two locations before the swap was complete, when I had both gauges going. The bottom of the sump measures about 10F cooler than the block. I'm sure many people will disagree with this, but I found some suitable pipe thread sealant (non-hardening) that I have used on these threads.

Here is the temperature probe masked off to keep the sealant only to the threads

Here is the temperature probe mounted in the oil pan drain bolt.

After installing the cooler, I noticed that I had a leak (this was before installing the tapped oil pan bolt). It was a big enough of a leak that some of it would hit the exhaust piping from time to time and I could smell it. I tracked it down to a defective O-ring gasket in the thermo sandwich plate. It was letting oil past the seal. Thankfully Z1 actually sells this as a replacement for a few bucks. If I had just pulled the seal out to inspect it the first time around I would have seen this and saved myself some trouble

OEM oil pressure switch (black) and oil temperature probe (blue) with wires disconnected. Pressure switch is toward the front of the vehicle

A few pictures of the setup after I installed everything. Again, the perspective on the picture makes the adapters look a lot longer than they are. I had to extend the pressure sensors away from the block for clearance. This doesn't come through in the pics. Everything is very tight, and I've checked it once a week for three months; it hasn't budged.

So now everything is mounted... I bought a thermo plate with my cooler, but even with that I can't get my oil temp above 140 in good ol' Michigan winter. I made a block-off plate out of scrap aluminum sheet painted black. I added Zino because he's almost like a baby Godzilla, and the Z is almost like the GTR's little brother, so... yeah. My son thinks it's cool at least. This is as close as I'll get to putting any stickers on my car. I bought some heavy-duty outdoor Velcro to put on the plate and cooler.

Car is on a lift; this is looking at the cooler up from underneath

I think this covers the oil cooler and gauge probes. I'll make another post for the gauges later.

03-17-2019, 03:44 AM	#13 (permalink)
dts3 Track Member Join Date: May 2018 Location: Farmington Hills, MI Posts: 599 Drives: 08 Expedition Rep Power: 6765	Alright, so here it goes. I'm combining my work on the oil cooler install with the triple gauge swap because they go hand in hand, and the reason I wanted an oil pressure gauge is because I wanted peace of mind if I **** up the oil cooler install I don't want to call this a DIY, because it's really not*. There are some good ones on oil coolers. This is just "stuff I did with some pics thrown in" In some of the pics above, I posted some preliminary ideas I had for the mounting of the pressure probe (specifically those AN hose adapters. I decided against that because I don't know how much I trust an oil pressure reading directly before or after the cooler. The solution I went with was two-fold: I mounted the oil pressure sensor on a tee with the OEM oil pressure switch* (i.e. in the upper oil pan). Nissan figured this hole they tapped is good enough for them to monitor the pressure at, so I'm using it too. It's OK in a tee because unlike oil temperature, the pressure will be same at the back of the tee as it is in the tee branch. It's not just the tee, but there are also some adapters on there to extend the reach, which I needed for clearance. The perspective of the picture makes it look like the tee is a mile long, but it's really not that bad. I was worried about the whole think clocking around after driving, but I checked it several times over the past three months and it hasn't budged. The stock oil pressure switch (black) next to the Defi oil pressure sender The stock oil temperature probe (blue) next to the Defi oil temperature probe Notice the thread difference between the two probes. I expected them to be the same, and I was planning on replacing the stock temperature sensor with the Defi as a drop-in swap... so much for that idea. I was talking to Z1 about this and they tried to convince me that it's the same thread size, even though I'm holding that in my hand. They said they measured it to be the same, and I trust them, so I'm just going to assume that the probe changed with model years. My work-around for this was to pick up a tapped oil pan drain bolt from Greddy/ It's tapped for 1/8 bspt, and it makes for a really clean install. Here are some pics of that. I forgot to take some pics with it on the car, but I've got an oil change coming up soon and I'll get some pics then. This moves the measurement location from the block to the bottom of the lower pan. One added benefit was that I got to compare temperatures at two locations before the swap was complete, when I had both gauges going. The bottom of the sump measures about 10F cooler than the block. I'm sure many people will disagree with this, but I found some suitable pipe thread sealant (non-hardening) that I have used on these threads. Here is the temperature probe masked off to keep the sealant only to the threads Here is the temperature probe mounted in the oil pan drain bolt. After installing the cooler, I noticed that I had a leak (this was before installing the tapped oil pan bolt). It was a big enough of a leak that some of it would hit the exhaust piping from time to time and I could smell it. I tracked it down to a defective O-ring gasket in the thermo sandwich plate. It was letting oil past the seal. Thankfully Z1 actually sells this as a replacement for a few bucks. If I had just pulled the seal out to inspect it the first time around I would have seen this and saved myself some trouble OEM oil pressure switch (black) and oil temperature probe (blue) with wires disconnected. Pressure switch is toward the front of the vehicle A few pictures of the setup after I installed everything. Again, the perspective on the picture makes the adapters look a lot longer than they are. I had to extend the pressure sensors away from the block for clearance. This doesn't come through in the pics. Everything is very tight, and I've checked it once a week for three months; it hasn't budged. So now everything is mounted... I bought a thermo plate with my cooler, but even with that I can't get my oil temp above 140 in good ol' Michigan winter. I made a block-off plate out of scrap aluminum sheet painted black. I added Zino because he's almost like a baby Godzilla, and the Z is almost like the GTR's little brother, so... yeah. My son thinks it's cool at least. This is as close as I'll get to putting any stickers on my car. I bought some heavy-duty outdoor Velcro to put on the plate and cooler. Car is on a lift; this is looking at the cooler up from underneath I think this covers the oil cooler and gauge probes. I'll make another post for the gauges later. Last edited by dts3; 03-17-2019 at 04:15 AM.