Oil Level Sensor- Question after replaced seal (1 Viewer)

[Andrewsreef]

Ok, I finally got around to changing the gasket on the oil level sensor. It has been leaking some oil and it was past due. One queston about the sensor itself. Is the part that goes into the oil pan painted a dark color? At first I thought mine had burned oil on it but it appears to be a dark coating like paint. If it is not paint then it must be some coating caused by high temps from the prior owner wonderful care . Just thought I would ask.

Thanks

Andrew

 

[IdahoDoug]

Andrew,

Engines will get a bit of what's known as "varnish" in them from the oil in normal use. It's not an indicator of things being overheated. FYI, if indeed that part of the engine (bottom end and oil pan area) had gotten so hot it was causing the oil to reach its flash point and turn to a solid, then the normally much hotter head and valvetrain area would have been beyond comprehension. In other words, there's almost no way you could overheat the part of the engine where the oil level sensor is to that degree - it would have siezed up long before.

DougM

 

[nakman]

If you search around , you'll find that some who have removed their sensors in the past also took the time to take a picture. See if theirs looks like yours.. if so then you're probably ok. hth...

 

[Andrewsreef]

As always, thanks for the info and link. Both of those look a little better than mine. Mine appears darker more like the second pick. However, both of those don't seem to have the dark thin coating mine had. The long metal shaft looked like it had some paint on it that if you were very careful, could be chipped off it.

As I recall when my HG was done, some of the top end parts, cam and shims were dark also. Not so much like paint but more like varnish. The shaft on this sensor seemed to have a coating on it.

Thanks again for the info.

Andrew

 

[IdahoDoug]

Sounds like someone may have used cheap oils or long intervals. Again, I wouldn't sweat a thing as this stuff only collects on parts that are simply bathed in oil - not on wear surfaces that really matter. It might make me forego a future engine flush that purported to "clean" the engine via the oil (personally, I'd NEVER do this anyhow) as if it really worked (debateable) you might have a lot of varnish chips or sludge blocking tiny valvetrain oil holes.

DougM

 

[Andrewsreef]

Thanks DougM. I think the long interval part is (lack of proper maintance) dead on. Since this truck does consume some oil, I have switched away from synthetic and gone back to inexpenive quality dinos. I think I will continue with 2k-3k OCIs for a while as hopefully this will promote "slow" cleaning. I have about 23k on it since I got and have been changing a lot of oil. Hopefully it will only get cleaner over time.

Thanks again.

Andrew