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MG TD TF 1500 - Oil Temp Guage Factory Insallation

Hello everyone,

I've always been amazed by the wealth of knowledge on BBS and willingness to share and guide me in the right direction.

I have an NOS Jaeger oil temperature guage, in the box, and as I underatand it, you could have the factory install one of these guages as an option on a TD (and TA and/or TB's). A search of the archives discusses options on installing the bulb end to the sump and also states it's believed there was a special drain nut/plug the factory installed, that would accommodated the installation of the bulb.

Assuming the factory did it this way, has anyone ever seen one of these drain nuts/plugs. If so, any pictures of the factory installation? Or, Is this one of items that are in the "rarer than rare" category and needs to fabricated?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

John
John Mitchell

I've got one. Jeager. Rather ugly bracket under the dash. I'm thinking of yanking it, but for now I just tucked it up over the panel (I have the original underdash panel) to recover my knee space.

It works, but really... what are you going to do if you don't like the oil temp? If the water temps OK you're done. I guess you could put in an oil cooler if you live in Arizona...?

See the pic, it's just screwed into a tapped hole - no boss like the drain plug.

....


MAndrus

I think that you could buy a spare drain plug, drill and tap it for the bulb fitting, maybe solder it as well if you couldn't get enough threads in the plug to give you a warm-fuzzy. Of course you would have to remove the bulb every time you change the oil or at least loosen it so the plug could be removed without twisting the capillary. Drill and tap the sump as above but is it really worth it?
JE Carroll

Hi,

Just for info, here is where the factory fitted the oil temp gauge. This one hasn't worked since I can remember.

Mike


M Spencer

I've got one in the TC. It works well, but I often freak out when I start it and drive away, then glance down and see the oil gauge reading 0. (Because the oil is cold)
David
D. Sander

MAndrus, thanks for the pictures of the factory installation of the blurb in the sump. And thanks to everyone for your responses and advice. Not sure which way I'll go. Stock location or adapt a spare drain plug, that is if I do anything at all...

Happy motoring,

John
John Mitchell

John, I decided to throw my 2 cents worth in on this discussion. I mounted both a vacuum pressure and oil temperature gauges in my TD similar to the factory installation shown above. Just be mindful of the backup wood frame behind the main wooden panel when drilling the hole for the gauge.
I also drilled and tapped a stock oil sump drain plug to install the temperature sensing bulb. I later found that it made changing the oil more messy as well as eventually damaging the oil sensor tube with the twisting of the plugs.
Eventually, I modified my sump to accept the oil temp sensor separately from the drain plug. Although it may not have been necessary, I was not comfortable in simply drilling a hole in the side of the sump due to its thin wall thickness. So, a thicker threaded boss was welded in the sump wall for the modified drain plug. Now the sensor can remain in place during an oil change. I know, an overkill but that's the way I prefer to do things rather than wish later on that I had done it my way in the first place.


Jim Merz

This thread was discussed between 07/03/2015 and 08/03/2015

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