...I have a lot of questions. I'm removing the stock oil switch to the side of the oil filter so I can install a distribution block. The stock sensor and two other oil sensors for my gauges will go into the distribution block. Once I get that stock sensor out, how do I know what size thread it is so I can go about purchasing the right fittings?

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1. Pull oil switch. Note the fine threads and the thread body has a V taper to it.
2. Screw in oil switch into adapter. Either a few threads and it locks or it keeps spinning in. Delicate is key.
3. The fitting is generic pipe thread taper; a kind of interference fitting that never bottoms like a bolt/nut.
4. Bring both male (switch) and female (adapter) fittings to a good plumbing house and use brass ends coming out of your choice. Wrap white pipe thread tape over the male threads. When winding, note the snipped end of the tape is going to ride over the threads and start at the top. The adapter is in front of me, the threads facing the adapter. The tag end (snip) is over the top of the threads, the roll is my left hand; I spin the adapter clockwise. Visualize snapping the tape after 3 wraps worth, and curl the strands around the threads in the same direction. See how if you spun the male into the female the tape break would be flat, not being bunched up if taped the other way?

Size wise I have no clue, but there's a pipe thread board that if you take the pipe thread, find the one that matches the pitch, this will tell you. Looking up an oil switch for a car might use the same size and might say what pitch and diameter or start pulling parts unit something fits and then read the box you got the part from. The fitting you have, go back to the place you bought it and see if they say what hole sizes they are.

Go to hot rod/car racing shops. That's another place to setup whatever oil fittings you might try.

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Be careful Rook,
There are more than just the standard american pipe threads like 1/8" NPT National Pipe Thread or FNPT for female. 1/8" NPT is about the size of a 3/8" bolt 1/4" NPT is almost the size of 1/2" bolt.

But there is also metric pipe thread sizes which you won't find at your local hardware store and there is a British standard and British parallel port which uses an o-ring seal. I doubt its the British but it could be metric which is very close in size but I think slightly smaller.

I see the metric thread a lot in hydraulic cylinders when they machine the ports and have to drill in from different directions. They call them construction ports and are usually a metric pipe thread to seal them off.

Hopefully the sensors on our bikes us a standard taper pipe thread.

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I've seen some strange threads coming out of Japan.

Maybe it's the "British standard" or something like that.

I've had to replace hydraulic lines on my Kubota tractor and threads where
some goofy thing that even the local hydraulic hose shop didn't have the fittings for.

I order my hoses custom made from this place online, they may be of help.

http://www.discounthydraulichose.com

the roll is my left hand; I spin the adapter clockwise. Visualize snapping the tape after 3 wraps worth, and curl the strands around the threads in the same direction. See how if you spun the male into the female the tape break would be flat, not being bunched up if taped the other way?

You're describing how to wrap the tape so it compresses harmoniously between the male and female threads so it does not bunch up. Yup. I've always done that.

there's a pipe thread board that if you take the pipe thread, find the one that matches the pitch, this will tell you. Looking up an oil switch for a car might use the same size and might say what pitch and diameter or start pulling parts unit something fits and then read the box you got the part from.

You can buy a thread gauge which is like a bunch of saw tooth blades. The problem is that you might need to buy a few sets before you find the right blade.

There are more than just the standard american pipe threads like 1/8" NPT National Pipe Thread or FNPT for female.

Yes, there is AN which is parallel threads and BS-something

But there is also metric pipe thread sizes which you won't find at your local hardware store and there is a British standard and British parallel port which uses an o-ring seal. I doubt its the British but it could be metric which is very close in size but I think slightly smaller.

--and there's those.

Hopefully the sensors on our bikes us a standard taper pipe thread.

I have a feeling they are. I bet it is 1/8 NPT. I read about a guy doing gauges back in 2008 and there is a vague recollection of some details.

I order my hoses custom made from this place online, they may be of help.

http://www.discounthydraulichose.com

Thanks, piken. I may have to go with that if I can't figure it out.

Come to think of it, I might have figured this out now after reading your comments. I have the sensors for the gauges right here along with install directions. The directions must say what type of fitting the sensors should be used with. If the gauge sensors have the same threads as the OEM sensor, I've got it! If not, I have a mystery to solve.

* Last updated by: Rook on 3/13/2017 @ 4:20 PM *

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I used to have a lot of these headaches when I was doing air suspension on custom mini trucks.

A lot of it you can get away with at the hardware store (some people talk crap but a brass fitting is a brass fitting regardless where you purchase it from).

For the more obscure applications you might benefit from sourcing a local hydraulic supply store. These are fewer and far between than Home Depot but the guys there usually know their stuff and they will have a much better selection of thread sizes and pitches as stated above.

Thanks, projo. Hopefully this will all be pretty run of the mill stuff. I know it's been done before because I've seen pics of gauges on 14s and had some replies from people who have installed them on zx14414.com

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I removed the stock oil pressure switch and it is 1/8 NPT, the same thread as the aftermarket sensors.

As you can see, there is some hardened white sealant on the threads.

There's no way that sealant on the tip was present when this was installed. That must have gotten drug out as I removed the sensor or it was all on the outside and caught on the tip as I removed it. Also, there was a reasonable flow of oil that came out for a few seconds ofter I removed the sensor. The stream you see in the first pic was about 20 seconds after I removed the sensor.

My question is, do you think I should remove the oil pan to clean out any putty that might have been deposited inside and broke off after the sensor was removed?

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