Oil Sender Unit Replacement - 308 GT4

To start, I am no experienced mechanic, but I'm not too afraid of taking things apart that are fairly straight forward. That's one of the reasons I got an old car.

I need to replace my Oil Sender Unit and I thought it was going to be simple and straight forward, much to my chagrin it is not. I'm wondering if I really have to remove all this stuff just to get to it, or if there's some obvious or secret trick I'm missing… or maybe I need a special tool?

Here's my experience thus far…

This is the Oil Sender Unit, it sits directly below the oil filter (which has been removed). You see that pink arrow pointing to the nut?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

To loosen that, I would have to come in from the side or top. Can't do it from the top as the oil filter mount covers it. And I can't reach it at all from either side due to all the hoses and other items in the way:
Image Unavailable, Please Login

I thought I could remove the oil filter mount because I could easily reach and remove this nut:
Image Unavailable, Please Login

However, these two posed a bit of a problem. I could remove the one of the right with a lot of patience, but the one on the left is simply unreachable due to the pipe beside it and the limited space around it—there's just not enough clearance:
Image Unavailable, Please Login

So it would seem I'm left with removing everything on the right (1, 2 and 3) or everything on the left (4, 5 and 6) in order to access that nut from one of the sides in order to remove the part:
Image Unavailable, Please Login

Does that seem crazy to anyone else? Am I missing something simple or obvious? Do I just not have the right tool—is there some sort of special Oil Sender Unit removal tool?

Guidance would be very much appreciated as there seems to be nothing on the internet about this.

 

Quick follow-up…

It does appear there is a special tool for this, however I can only find it in 17mm. That's fine for removal as the old part is 17mm. However, that part isn't made anymore and has been superseded who-knows-how-many-times, thus the new part is 24mm. Can't find a removal tool that's 24mm…

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Nice, I didn't even think of that. I found (above) a 17mm tool which will work for removal, but the replacement part is 24mm. I did find a 24mm crowfoot, so this could work. It would be a lot easier than removing everything!

 

I definitely hand off more than I do on my own! However, I'd rather do more on my own than hand it off. It's not only cheaper, it's also more convenient.

But this, as it turns out, is a very simple job… IF you have the right tools (and now, I do have the right tools!). I bought the tool pictured in post #3, and it works like a charm.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

However, before I take it off, I discovered something I'm going to look at first. I found the Oil Pressure Sender Unit and the Thermostat cable have identical connectors and plug into the same area. It's possible these plugs were switched, thus the reason this isn't working? If so, I don't need to replace my Oil Pressure Sender after all. But if I need to, at least now I have the right tool.

There's also more to the story than just replacing that part—isn't there always with a Ferrari?

There were three hoses I needed to replace as well, and I'm very particular about having the "correct" hoses and clamps (which my currently did not have). Hunting those down was fun and educational, but I found what I needed. I have no idea what this would have cost if I brought it in—oil change, replace sender unit, replace three hoses, replace thermostat cable, but I'm certain it would have been a lot more than I spent on it! Plus, the hassle of getting the car to my mechanic and arranging transportation there and back. Also, taking advantage of our wet weather right now, not like I'm gonna be driving the car any time soon.

Next project on my list: Doors. Both of my doors are fairly hard to open, and you absolutely cannot open the driver's door from the inside. Also, neither door will lock… and if you do somehow get it to lock, then you very well may not be able to unlock it! I've discovered this the hard way. I took the door panels off and discovered the rods are fairly bent up, and a whole lot of the plastic pieces are broken or simply missing. I've ordered all the parts, will probably be here in a month, then I can fix that.

It may not sound like it, but I'm having a blast with this car!

 

FML!

So, I finally got around to taking of the Oil Pressure Sender today, which is INCREDIBLY easy with the correct tool. However, turns out the replacement superseded part IS TOO BIG.

Now I have to call T.Rutlands and figure out how they can fix this.

So close!!!!!

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Yes, and that's the problem! In my photo in post #23, my old one is on the left. It has a smaller (17mm) nut as well as a smaller bolt (roughly 10mm). The replacement I was sent is a 24mm nut and roughly 14mm bolt.

I did some digging and it looks like I was actually sent the wrong part as the invoice has the correct part number on it (125340), but what I was sent doesn't match the image on literally every website I can find it on. It looks like they sent me an Oil Pressure Sender unit for a 348/F355/360. Not the one for the 308!

Very disappointing.