Oil temperature sender installed in the rear oil galley!
The oil temperature sender started out installed in an oil drain plug adapter. I wasn't sure reading the oil temperature at the oil pan was accurate, as in reading low. I decided the best place for this sender was in a block adapter, installed in the rear oil galley port. This oil galley comes plugged from the factory, so a 10mm hex bit is required to remove the plug. More on this later in this write up.
Bobby…
The upper picture shows the VDO oil temperature sender, standard 1/8-27 NPT thread. The lower picture is the WRXtra ACC-1011 block adapter as pictured on their website.
I purchased the block adapter from WRXtra.com, which is now
Deerfield Precision... some legal issue forced the change from WRXtra.com. This is the 4th one of these I've installed, so I can tell you they will rust if they're not painted. It's made from high-nickel steel & is untreated, so some corrosion (rusting) is to be expected. The rusting is cosmetic & won't affect its functionality. Still... I have a low tolerance for rusting of any kind! This block adapter also fits on the front oil galley.
The upper picture shows how the block adapter comes. The copper washer comes installed on the fitting, held in place with an O-ring. The lower picture shows the block adapter painted with Rust-Oleum B-B-Q black high temperature paint. You don't want to paint the thread sealant that comes preapplied to the threads.
It's a major PITA to get to the rear oil galley plug & the intercooler needs to be removed first. To remove the intercooler on the '07 FSXT:
- Loosen & remove the 2 bolts securing the BOV to the intercooler. The hose will be removed from the BOV, but the spring clamp can't be removed with it attached to the intercooler.
- Pull off the 3 hoses on the pipe attached to the intercooler.
- Loosen & remove the 2 bolts (one on either side) that secure the intercooler to the support brackets.
- Loosen the hose clamp on the throttle body to the intercooler coupling hose. The one nearest the intercooler, the other one doesn't need to be loosened.
- Loosen the hose clamp on the hose attached to the turbo oulet.
- The instructions say to pull the intercooler off the throttle body hose & off the turbo. Sounds easy, but not as easy as it sounds! The factory/OEM hose on the turbo is a very hard plastic & it wouldn't pull off. I finally had to place a strap around the hose (see the picture) & had my son pull on the strap as I worked the intercooler around. It finally pulled off. What a PIA! I hate to say it, but putting this hose back on turned out to be just as difficult, specifically the hose to the turbo!
The left picture shows the BPV removed from the intercooler. The right picture shows the 2 hoses (left side) pulled off.
This picture shows the hose on the right side of the intercooler removed.
While my son pulled on the orange strap, I moved the intercooler around until the stinking hose popped off the turbo outlet!
The red arrow is pointing to the oil galley plug that needs to be removed. #1 is the coolant return line from the throttle body. This has to be held aside while the oil galley plug is removed with a 10mm hex bit & extension. I had to use a 18" flex handle to break the plug loose! Once the plug is removed, use sticky tape to remove any loose thread sealant. I also used a Q-tip to get what had fallen into the gallery. #2 is the hose that attaches to the BPV. To my surprise, it's very soft & flexible, which is a plus, since it has to be pulled back out of the way to get to what you see in the picture! The plastic bags are covering the opening from the turbo & the throttle body.
Here's something I thought was odd. On the picture below, the left rear oil gallery plug is from the '07 FSXT & the right oil galley plug is from our '03 X. Note that the left galley plug is longer & there is no aluminum washer. Yes, I double checked to see if it was stuck to the block & there was no washer.
I hate to admit it, but I missed some pictures. This can happen when one gets too involved in a MOD! The yellow arrow shows the wire attached to the oil temperature sender. Of course the block adapter was installed, no sealant required, since it comes precoated, & sender was screwed into the block adapter, again, no sealant is required. The block adapter is torqued to 30 ft-lbs & the sender to a very snug fit, since it has a tapered pipe thread. Note how cramp the space is! The coolant hose presses up against the sender connection, so I provided some extra protection by sliding a piece of split clear hose over the connector. I routed the wire under the intake manifold, protected with 1/8" split tubing (not visible in the picture), also called convoluted tubing to protect the wire. Once the hose for the BPV is placed back in position, the sender is very difficult to see!
Here's a shot just before I reinstalled the intercooler. If you look closely, you can see I took the time to dress things up a bit. :wink:
I'm not going to step thru the reinstallation of the intercooler, since if you remove it, you'll know how it goes back on. I can tell you it was a PIA to get the hose back onto the turbo! On the positive side, it does go back on… eventually & getting the intercooler onto the throttle body coupling hose is a piece-of-cake!
Lastly, any hose clamp that wasn't 100% stainless steel... that would be all of them, were replaced. I hate corrosion, especially rust!
The
Table of Contents for my Member Journal can be found :icon_arrow:
here. (post #124)