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projectpag5-05.

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4/18/05

2:17 PM

Page 44

PROJECT PAGE

by Dave Skora

Custom Made
Electronic Oil
Pressure Gauge
A

couple of months ago, Project


Page showed you how to make
an electronic oil pressure gauge
from a discarded Dodge 42/46RE governor transducer. There were so many
comments about it I decided to do it
again. But this time, we are going to use
a transducer from a 45RFE transmission.
The reason well use the 45RFE transducer is that this one can read up to 200
psi. The 42/46RE transducer only has a
range of zero to about 100 psi. Just think,
with these two custom sensors, youll be
able to check almost any transmission
out there. Ill bet with the money you
save, you could afford to buy an oscilloscope, or a second scan tool or an
exhaust gas analyzer. Okay, Im just
dreaming.
There are lots of advantages of an
electronic pressure gauge. I always feel
more secure with an electric transducer
attached to a car during a test drive.
Also, they are easier to install. The wire
cable is simpler to route around the
engine compartment than a high pressure hose. And, a wire cant burst and
throw oil all over the place. That happened once. Ill never forget what a
mess that was. So lets get started.
The first thing you need is an old
45RFE pressure transducer. Next youll
need is to adapt the sensor so you can
thread it into the pressure taps on the
various transmissions. Youll also need
a 5-volt power source and a voltmeter.
The voltmeter is used to display the
voltage change from the transducer.
Since the voltmeter displays pressure as
voltage, you need to refer to the voltage
44

vs.
pressure
chart at the end
of this article.
But first, lets
adapter
your
transducer and
make the power
source.
I found a
Use The Small
ready-made
Piece Here
adapter
from
Miller Special
Figure 1: Adapting an E4OD Extension Housing
Tools. Its basically a block of metal, which allows the
transducer to mount on one end and has
a short hose to allow you to test the
accuracy of the transducer on the
45RFE. There is also a 1/8" pipe thread
hole to fit a gauge on the other end.
(For about $100.00, Miller will ship it
to you). I decided to be more creative
Figure 2: Shortening The Transducer
and look for an alternate solution.
mount the transducer. The easy part
I looked around the shop and
was done. In order to install the 1/8"
found a discarded extension housing
pipe fitting, I realized I would need a
from an E4OD. I chose it for the follarger adapter to thread into the mount
lowing reasons. The bolt holes were
.427" which is only .002" larger than
first. It looked simple to first run some
the hole in the case where the 45RFE
threads into the mount and fit a 1/4" to
transducer mounts. I then decided that a
1/8" pipe reducer. After drilling the
couple of the holes were deep enough
other end with a 7/16" bit, I didnt like
for the depth of the sensor and to tap the
how little metal was left between the
other end to allow me to thread a pipe
opening and the pressure end of the
fitting into. I finally decided on removtransducer. I decided that I needed an
ing the upper mounting area because it
adapter with a deeper hole to tap into.
had enough metal off to the side to drill
Otherwise I would be cutting threads
and tap a screw to mount the transducinto the bore where I had mounted the
er to it just like it was mounted on the
transducer. WHAT NOW.
case (figure 1).
Since this was just an experiment
After cutting off the piece, I drilled
anyway, I shortened the transducer by
and tapped a hole for a 1/4-20" screw to
cutting off one o-ring (figure 2). After
GEARS May/June 2005

transtec-corteco placed4-05.qxd

3/14/05

10:27 AM

Page 9

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projectpag5-05.qxd

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2:17 PM

Page 46

Custom Made Electronic Oil Pressure Gauge

5 VOLT REGULATOR
LF

Radio Shack
part number
276-1770

from fused
vehicle power
Figure 3: Finished Adapter with
Transducer

Gray /
Light Blue
(5-Volts)

Black / Red
(ground)

Input

Output

12v

5v
Capacitor
Radio Shack
part number
272-135

0.1 F

0.1 F

Capacitor
Radio Shack
part number
272-135

Gnd

Transmission Governor Pressure Sensor


Connector Terminal Identification
Purple / Tan
(sensor signal)

Figure 5: Line Pressure Sensor (4.7L)

tapping the hole, I installed the adapter


and 1/8" pipe to the mount. My 45RFE
transducer pressure adapter was done
(figure 3). If you have access to a
machine shop, you could create a much
better adapter than mine. Next, youll
need the following electrical parts.
A 45RFE pressure transducer
A transducer connector
A cigarette adapter (Includes inline
fuse)
A 5-volt IC regulator
2 capacitors
10-15 ft. length of 22-30 gauge
stranded wire
Heat-shrink tubing
An inline 1 amp fuse
1/4-1/8" pipe adapter
Length of 1/8" pipe
By following the included wiring
schematic (figure 4), you should wire
your IC regulator, capacitors and inline
fuse to the cigarette adapter. Also add a
test lead from the ground point for your
negative voltmeter lead.
There is one more challenge you
need to deal with if you want to make
this transducer work. The problem is
the connector. As far as I can tell, the
connector is part of the main transmission harness and not available separate46

Terminal

Wire Color

Function

1......................Red............ 5-Volt Supply


2 ....................White ........ Sensor Signal
3 ....................Black ...... Sensor Ground

Figure 4

ly. I made my own connector with 3


terminals from an old 46RE connector.
I then sprayed PAM around the transducer terminals and filled the cavity
with Silicone. When dried, I could
remove and install the 3 connectors. It
feels a little rubbery, but it works.
Another way it could be done, is to
make the terminals permanent on the
transducer and use your own malefemale electrical connector to plug it
together. After you figured what works
best for your connector, wire the transducer connector to the other end of the
stranded wires.
If you use an actual connector,
match up the colors with the following
chart or use the connector view to
locate where each wire belongs. Make
sure your 5-volt source and ground
leads are connected to the right terminals. The third lead for the signal out of
the transducer (figure 5). The other end
becomes the positive test point for your
voltmeter.
Connect your cigarette adapter to a
vehicle. Attach your modified 45RFE
transducer to a pressure tap and connect
the wiring harness. Using the DC scale
of your voltmeter, connect your meter
to the test points. Use the chart to con-

vert your voltmeter reading to the correct psi value. Remember, this transducer has a range of zero to around
200psi.
When I checked mine, it followed
the expected pressure and voltage values. I also raised the pressure to 300psi
to see if the transducer would fail. It
didnt. The transducer still followed the
expected values. So, now we know you
can get a reliable electronic pressure
gauge from a few old parts and your
voltmeter. If you want to, you could
make several pressure sensors.
Remember, that this sensor is accurate
between 40-200psi. If you want an
accurate gauge with a 0-100psi range,
use the 42/46RE governor transducer.
Happy gauging.
VOLTAGE vs. PRESSURE
45RFE Pressure Transducer
psi..DC Voltage
0....0.8
20..1.2
40..1.6
60..2.0
80..2.4
100....3.0
120....3.2
1403.6
1604.0
1804.4
2004.8

ACTUAL METER READING


psi..DC Volts
0 ..........................0.79
20..........................1.21
40..........................1.63
60..........................2.01
80..........................2.42
100........................2.79
120........................3.19
140........................3.61
160........................3.99
180........................4.38
200........................4.82

GEARS May/June 2005

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11/2/04

3:07 PM

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