I recently had a guy come by that had a massive oil leak at the rear of his TPI engine he wanted me to help him remove and replace the intake gasket which he was convinced was the source of the oil leak, but I convinced him to take a few minutes to locate the source of the oil leak BEFORE we started dismantling the upper engine, a bit of testing showed it was a defective oil pressure sending unit sensor located to the drivers side and partly under the distributor on the rear block rail at the rear of the intake.
now this is a P.I.T.A. to easily access on the stock TUNED PORT engine config but its easily modified for easier access if you use a few adapters , because with an adapter that allows you to move the sensor further out away from the distributor base.
ON A TPI INTAKE GETTING TO THE OIL PRESSURE PORT IS A TRUE P.I.T.A. as clearance is MINIMAL AT BEST, using a 45 degree adapter and a couple other adapters allows you to move the sensors out from under the HEI distributor for easy access
the oil pressure switch might be defective, if the fuel pump won,t run, even if its new
and at $11-$35 Id just swap it out if your concerned
http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?pf_i ... ept_id=153
when these sensors above leak its frequently mechanical damage or improper installation
BTW MOST of the sensors I see that leak oil have BLACK plastic or bakelite like this one below ,its because it gets brittle with age and heat or it got twisted and busted during the instal or removal
http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?pf_i ... ept_id=153
the single terminal sensor runs the oil gauge the dual connector runs the fuel pump ONCE theres about 5 psi of oil pressure but they do fail and they do leak oil when they fail and both are commonly located near the distributor
now this is a P.I.T.A. to easily access on the stock TUNED PORT engine config but its easily modified for easier access if you use a few adapters , because with an adapter that allows you to move the sensor further out away from the distributor base.
ON A TPI INTAKE GETTING TO THE OIL PRESSURE PORT IS A TRUE P.I.T.A. as clearance is MINIMAL AT BEST, using a 45 degree adapter and a couple other adapters allows you to move the sensors out from under the HEI distributor for easy access
the oil pressure switch might be defective, if the fuel pump won,t run, even if its new
and at $11-$35 Id just swap it out if your concerned
http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?pf_i ... ept_id=153
when these sensors above leak its frequently mechanical damage or improper installation
BTW MOST of the sensors I see that leak oil have BLACK plastic or bakelite like this one below ,its because it gets brittle with age and heat or it got twisted and busted during the instal or removal
http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?pf_i ... ept_id=153
the single terminal sensor runs the oil gauge the dual connector runs the fuel pump ONCE theres about 5 psi of oil pressure but they do fail and they do leak oil when they fail and both are commonly located near the distributor