hey guys, I'm in the mood to tinker with something and I decided that i want to keep an eye on my oil pressure. I have an aftermarket oil gauge that is mechanical, one where there is a positive pressure tube to go from the gauge to the engine block. My question is, is there any threaded holes on the B230F block that will allow me to put an oil pressure gauge in? Or was the oil pressure gauge supplied my volvo electronic and ran off of a sending unit? Or, would i be better off not screwing with it and relying on my oil light?

Thanks for any info
Andrew Gyger
Oldespeed Imports
"The Hearse" (as seen on the photo gallery)

Not too hard.

Take out the old sender unit and take it to a hardware store.

Look in the plumbing section and match up the threads and size to iron pipe. (galvanized or black, your call)

Hook up whatever Rube Goldburg creation you would like to get clearence from the manifold and/or alternator for one or both sender units, a "T", "Y", 90 & 40 degree elbows, whatever, and go for it!

Be sure to wrap all connections in teflon tape or goo to make sure it is all sealed.

Gambit...

Hi

I also fitted an oil pressure guage, I got a second hand one from a scrap yard. The sender fitted in the place of the existing one except it had two connectors, one for the oil light and one for the pressure guage.

I didn't like the thought of hot oil spurting through my bulkhead under pressure so I opted for the 'Volvo Original' even though it was second hand. Cost 15 US Dollars.

Hope this helps.
Matyas

is the OEM volvo oil gauge electronic?

Yes,
There are two different OEM Volvo oil pressure gauges, a 3-bar gauge, and a 5-bar gague. Each has its own respective pressure sender (converts mechanical oil pressure to an electronic signal) and the two different senders look alike, but have different part numbers on them and should not be switched. Take a look through your local Pick-n-Pull type scrap yards and you'll probably find a good set of gauges in a Turbo 240 or some of the GLTs. You'll need to grab the sender also and it's right by the oil filter. If you're pulling the parts off a 240 Turbo, you may want to pull the alternator off for easy access to the sender.

When installing the sender on your car, you'll need an adapter since they changed the threads from the B21F/B23F to the B230F (your engine). Sunpro makes an adapter kit, part# CP7573 and you should be able to buy it at almost any Autozone, Pepboys, or other auto parts shop that carries Sunpro. This adapter kit has 5 of the most common thread adapters in it for gauge applications, and you need the 14 X 1.5mm to 1/8" NPT adapter out of this kit. The whole kit will cost you $4.99.

I'm assuming you probably have a radio in the upper dash position in your '86 and this will leave you with 2 empty gauge positions to the left of the radio and vents. The most common gauges to put here in late model applications is the Volt and Oil Pressure gauges. Some of the harder to find ones are the Oil-Temp, Ambient-Temp, and Vacuum gauges. Be sure to grab the matching sender if you take a gauge. The Volt, Vacuum, Turbo/boost, and Tach gauges do not have seperate senders. (well the Tach does, but all the 240 cars are prewired for it.) Check out Eric Staufers page:
http://grove.ufl.edu/~smack118/volvoaccessories.htm

If you're pulling parts from a Turbo, consider grabbing the large tach if you don't already have one. (and make sure you grab the little plug that fills in the hole for the clock-setting shaft)

God bless,
Fitz Fitzgerald.
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'87 Blue 245, NA 220K