Ok, i'm getting kinda irritated with MINI's choice of locations for sending units!

Anyone else find a suitable place to tap for a Oil temp and a water temp sending unit? I cant think of anywhere besides either tapping a hole in the oil pan next to the drain plug and fiding a smooth are of either plastic or metal somewhere in the cooling sytem to tap for a water temp sending unit.

any other ideas?

 

bump, does any know ?

 

I mounted my oil temp sender by drilling and tapping the oil pan - probably gives you the highest temps the oil reaches (in my case, over 285 F, prior to oil cooler installation). BMP sells an adapter that screws into the factory oil pressure sender location and has 3 ports to mount senders, so you could mount oil temp and pressure there and plug your factory sender in, too. People have made an adapter like this at home, too, by using plumbing parts.

My water temp sender is mounted via an adapter spliced into the water hose above the radiator. I used this:http://www.uamotorsports.com/proddet...ater%5FCoupler
for a 1" hose diameter.

Also, look at: http://www.racingworks.com/gauge_misc.htm
There are hose adapters and oil temp adapters that replace the oil drain plug, if you'd rather do that.

I am not sure if the thread sizes for the different brands of senders are standardized or not.

Have fun!

Ada

 

MINI's oil temp probe is an oil pan drain plug replacement. Real easy install !

 

What he said ...

MINI has a special drain plug that replaces the stock unit but it Ain't cheap. Its not one use and throw away. Also, if you ask a MINI parts department, you got to be very specific or they will send you the normal drain plug

 

thats not what i need. i have an autometer temp sending unit i need to use, so i have to either find a plug i can drill out and tap, or find another place to tap for the temp sending unit.

 

Some have drilled out a plug in the oil filter canister. Not the best place, but about the easiest to get to. Still recommend getting one for the pan. Will get more accurate readings from the pan.

 

Hi all:

I have a few Qs of my own. I have the Chrono Pack. What's the normal oil and water temp reading? Also, does any one have a pic of the special OEM drain plug with Chrono Pack? I wonder if it has a wire attached to a probe or something. Thanks.

 

well, i'll probably end up taping a hole next to the drain plug in that flat area of the pan.

I found a place in front of the IC for the water temp, looks like some kind of inspection port, maybe for some diagnosis equipment. it was the same threads as the sending unit, so its all good. i might just have to ground it somewhere else though, the neck i tapped into is plastic, so i'll have to do something about the ground.

anyone set up an an ammeter? I am still kinda scared about trying to reach down into the bottomless pit we call an engine bay and connect some wires to the alternator

I think thats about it. I gotta connect some more wiring and i should be all set.


Then, you have to keep an eye out for my custom exhaust, i just bought 200 bucks worth of mandrel bent tubing to piece together a new exhaust for my car



oh yeah, here are those gauges, from top to bottom, Boost, Volt., Oil, and Water Temp i like the A pillar gauges. Looks a bit heavy, but they are all right in plain view and very easy to see!!!!

 

Can you see the road with those pods sticking out? I will be interested of changing my own oil in the future and I have no clue what it looks like under there yet (Have the car for 2 weeks only) Is the drain plug just like any other cars? Or do I need to disconnect some connector first for my Chrono Pack before removing the plug? Also, where is the location of oil filter canister? Is it mounted side way to the block or (north-south) direction? Sorry for all the questions. I will soon get a service manual of my own.

 

you probably get the chrono reading from the oil temp sensor on the side of the motor, not from the drain plug like in the accesory gauge pod package, since yours was integrated from the factory.


but, you will know as soon as you see it, the gauge pack one has a wire coming from it, if it doesnt have a wire, your good to go!

 

alrighty, well i got myself an M14x1.5 brass adapter from Autozone, its from a Sun kit with a few adapters. It should be a suitable replacement for the drain plug and it already has the center hole drilled and tapped. I'll probably want to add some teflon tape just to be sure it seals well to the pan itself.

One more problem now. there is no way i'll be able to reach down to the alternator from the top side to hook up to the B+ terminal. Our lift is down now so i probably wont be able to get it from underneath for a while either....

I'm tracing the schematics in the Bently manual to see exactly where the B+ termial connects to, but does anyonje know offhand of what runs from that terminal?

 

I hooked up my voltmeter to my cigarette lighter. I think any 12 volt line should be good. It all comes off the alternator, doesn't it?

 

see, thats what i thought too, but for some reason, when i hook it to any 12v source, it pegs at 18 volts.....

i think i just need to fool around with some wiring and see whats going on there....

 

Not sure about chrono pack. The auxiliary gauges use the drain plug tap, about $50.

I normally see 100C or so for oil but a lot of hwy driving brings it up to 110C rarely above that.

 

I'm using the same Autometer guage. Check your ground connection.

 

awesome, got it, i had the sending terminal and the igniton termial wired backwards. thanks man!

 

anyone know exactly where the oil temp sender from the factory is located?

I cant seem to find it anywhere....

 

Wow ... every gauge under the sun.
If that A Pilar air bag ever deploys you are going to have some very odd injurys.

 

the cover merely pops open, it never comes off.

 

The cover pops open to reveal the retaining strap for the airbag. The airbag itself is in the headliner.

 

To answer a couple of points:
- The factory Chrono Pack does not use the drain plug location for its oil temp sensor.
- If using the drain plug for that purpose don't go overboard with Teflon tape. The single wire sensor needs to make a ground through its threads.
- Drain plug sensors won't take much tightening torque: just 11 lb-ft for the VDO models. This means you're buying yourself a perpetual obligation to make sure it's never overtightened. OK if you do your own oil changes, but if not...?

Neil
05 MCS
96 M3

 

" This means you're buying yourself a perpetual obligation to make sure it's never overtightened. "

 

How about letting us in on the factory location for the chrono pack oil temp sensor?

 

thanks man