2GM20F Oil Pressure Sender Alarm

[kiltym]

Does anyone know if I can remove the sender without draining the oil from the engine, or when I pull the sender out, will the oil pour out the hole?

I suspect I have a faulty sender on 1 engine, and would like to take the sender from the other engine and install and try it to confirm, but would like to know if I need to drain the oil from both engines before attempting this.

Symptoms, in case anyone it helps another:
Oil pressure alarm "chirps" at idle speed.
Sounds full when put under load until about 2000rpm.
Above 2000rpm the alarm stops.

I had changed the oil about 2 running hours before the issue appeared, and all was fine during those 2 hours. Just in case, I just drained the oil, removed and replaced the filter again, and checked the attachment location for the filter for anything '"odd" and did not notice anything. The engine's oil level is full.

I am hoping it is just the sender, and since I have another engine, seems an easy place to start as I don't have a pressure gauge.

[Triton106]

Mark,

You should be fine to replace the oil pressure sender (because the oil sits at the bottom in the oil sump). It goes without saying the best practice is to tee an oil pressure gauge into the line so that you know exactly how much oil pressure your 2GM20 has instead of relying on the warning buzzer. That is what I am doing for my 2GM20.

Ray

[Blues_Harp]

I have replaced an oil pressure sending unit, and did not lose any oil.

[kiltym]

Thanks for the replies. I will try this morning and keep my fingers crossed.

Ray, when you get it all fitted, if you could share the part #'s and sources that would be really helpful. Having an oil gauge would be the right approach, but with 2 days before crossing the Panama Canal I have to solve this issue pretty quickly right now. But am interested in putting a proper guage in.

[kiltym]

For those interested, it seems to have been the oil pressure switch as the buzzer is behaving normally when I swapped the sensors. Whew.....

One think I saw when I took out the "bad" sensor:

Where the wire screws into the sensor, there was a bit of oil in the hole. Not sure how/why it would get there, but perhaps there is a tiny leak at the sensor itself which would explain the issue.