Oil Pressure Sender / Switch

[victorbronco]

I removed my old oil pressure sender and have purchased about 6 or 7 different aftermarket units and all of them are larger diameter than the original I took off of my 1973 Bronco. It is the sender type that goes with the gauge and my issue is that the smaller original sender, in order to thread into the extender, butts right up against the back of the power steering unit. These larger diameter aftermarket senders will not allow me to get the sender threaded into the extender due to the position of the power steering unit. I have purchased aftermarket senders from Napa, Amazon, Autozone, O'Reillys and are all too large to snake behind the power steering unit. I could try Wild Horses, Autokrafters, Dennis Carpenter, Rock and buy one of their senders but I am afraid they will be the same larger size like all the others I have purchased thus far. Are there aftermarket senders out there that are smaller diameter like my original and if so where can they be purchased? Any other suggestions to resolve my issue?

Photos can be viewed at https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B1yJtdOXmyEp1N

I hope that shareable photo link works....

 

[Oldtimer]

victorbronco photos:

 

[Oldtimer]

How much larger are the new ones?
Post a picture of new and old senders side by side.

You can tighten the extension in the block (ever so slightly) and the angled flat will point more to the rear.
Then the sender should clear PS pump.

 

[victorbronco]

How much larger are the new ones?
Post a picture of new and old senders side by side.

You can tighten the extension in the block (ever so slightly) and the angled flat will point more to the rear.
Then the sender should clear PS pump.

View attachment 955131

I don't have one of the aftermarket ones in my possession at the moment to take a picture of. Have one coming in a couple days. Yeah I will try turning the extension but worried it will break off as I have heard they have a tendency to do that - not sure if it is steel or aluminum. Tried fairly gingerly to turn it and it wouldn't budge...

 

[Lawndart]

You are correct being cautious.
Place a magnet on the extension, if the magnet sticks, slightly tighten to get desired angle. If the magnet doesn’t stick, I would recommend removing the extension and getting a steel one before proceeding.

 

[AzBroncoGuy]

just a silly thought here. If you loosen up your power steering pump enough to take off the belt and move the pump as far back as you can, it may give enough room to start it. May have to remove the locking bolt under the pump for a little more movement.
Good luck,

 

[Oldtimer]

Verify extension is steel, as Lawndart mentioned, use a  deep socket wrench, and apply only twisting motion to socket, no side load.

 

[B RON CO]

Hi, as mentioned, besides loosening the pump, perhaps a longer belt will move the pump farther away. Good luck

 

[SLOWnEASY]

I guess I'm glad I never read something like this post before I tightened my extension by a little bit. It all went fine. But if I had read this first I'm positive it my extension would have broken.

 

[DirtDonk]

No picture of the aftermarket ones, but did they look like the picture Oldtimer posted? What about a picture of your existing one? Is it short also?
Short ones are usually for a light and so you probably have the incorrect one.
Or, are you running a fuel injection that needs a different kind of sender?

 

[victorbronco]

No picture of the aftermarket ones, but did they look like the picture Oldtimer posted? What about a picture of your existing one? Is it short also?
Short ones are usually for a light and so you probably have the incorrect one.
Or, are you running a fuel injection that needs a different kind of sender?

Oldtimer posted my pictures so that is a picture of my old one.

 

[victorbronco]

Thanks for all your inputs. I will not get back to the truck till early next week so I will let you all know how it goes. I did confirm my extension is aluminum..

 

[DirtDonk]

Sorry, now I see that he put that detail above the pics!
So your new ones were even bigger than that? Yours already has what looks like a larger than normal lower crimp flange.
Wowza. The new ones must be a “design improvement” implemented overseas.
You know, the new and improved version!

 

[gr8scott]

Is it me, or the angle of the photo, his extension doesn't look to have an angle to it?

Some random photos I see on the internet:

 

[Oldtimer]

I had the same thought, but it is aluminum, so he NEEDS to replace it.

 

[DirtDonk]

And that often leads to a whole nother can of worms.

 

[ntsqd]

I prefer to mount those senders remote and run an 1/8" copper tube over to them. Even the steel extension gives me the heebee-geebees.

 

[Slowleak]

A 3 inch brass NPT nipple and a 45 degree female fitting from Home Depot will fix that right up for a couple of dollars….

 

[ntsqd]

I'd never do that, it's no upgrade over the aluminum extension.

The sender is fairly heavy, and it is being put out on the end of an arm made of a material with low fatigue resistance and of small diameter compared to it's length. The sender is going to be vibrating the whole time the engine is running, which will eventually cause the extension to crack. Likely this will happen at the end of the threads where it is threaded into the block. When it fails it will leave the half-nipple of threads stuck in the block. How long it takes it to fail varies greatly depending on how the vehicle is used.

 

[Slowleak]

I'd never do that, it's no upgrade over the aluminum extension.

The sender is fairly heavy, and it is being put out on the end of an arm made of a material with low fatigue resistance and of small diameter compared to it's length. The sender is going to be vibrating the whole time the engine is running, which will eventually cause the extension to crack. Likely this will happen at the end of the threads where it is threaded into the block. When it fails it will leave the half-nipple of threads stuck in the block. How long it takes it to fail varies greatly depending on how the vehicle is used.

It’s worked fine for me for 24 years. It’s pretty thick wall brass, much thicker than the aluminum and brass doesn’t seize up in the block like the aluminum ones do. The problem with them is that they are way too thin at the threads and the aluminum seizes in the block. Then they snap off or break when people try to remove them. Brass is a stronger, denser, and more corrosion resistant metal. Brass fittings are used on all kinds of motorized equipment. Not the same as aluminum.


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