Oil Monitor System

[Big D]

I was on an F-36 convertible today and saw for the first time two knobs on the helm marked oil monitor. Don't know if this is OEM or an add-on. She has twin Chrysler 440s in her and there are very thin plastic tubes going to the engines with what looks like metal tubes on the ends but they were just lying in the bilge and not hooked up to the engines. Looks like probes that would go into the oil pan. I didn't have much time to investigate, and haven't done any research on this yet. Does enybody know anything about these? Never seen them before and the new owner doesn't know anything about them.

[prowlersfish]

New one on me Big D Mine F 36 had 440s and I have been on other F36s a never saw that .
Do have a photo ? A guess off hand would be that it is something out a 1970s j.C.Witneny catalog .

[prowlersfish]

Something just came to mine . It could be a oil level monitor . I remember my high school shop teacher had one in his old Chevy wagon . He also tubes running to all his grease fitting so he cold grease his car by pushing a button .

Yes he was a big fan of jcwhitney

[Big D]

I'll be at the boat again soon and will take some pics. It's more than just a monitor because you can turn the knobs to do something. I'll see what I can find. I've been on a few F-36s and it's a first for me too.

[prowlersfish]

When in doubt hit the switch and see what smokes .


Disclaimer don't try this at home ( or anywhere )

[Big D]

Figured it out! Its an oil monitoring system by Ajusto Equipment out of Ohio (think it's closed up now) which gets installed in place of the dip stick so you can tell if you still have oil or not.....explanation to follow.
These are the knobs on the helm used to check the level;



The system uses a thin plastic tube hooked up to the knob at the helm;

The other end of the tube mates with a hollow copper tube;

This is inserted into the dip stick tube;

To check if you have oil, you pull the knob at the helm corresponding to the engine you want to check. If all you see is the green section, you still have oil. If you can pull the knob enough to see the red section below, you are out of oil.

The knob at the helm is basically a vacuum pump. As long as the end of the tube/probe in the pan is submerged in oil, you can only pull the knob enough to see the green portion of the indicator. Once the oil level falls below the end of the probe, pulling the knob sucks air instead of fluid which allows the red portion of the indicator to appear alerting you that the oil level is low.

Pretty simple concept except for a couple of things; first I would not trust anything but the reading on the dipstick itself. Secondly, if any debris lodges itself in the capillary, it will give you a false reading. Since the blocked tube will act the same as being submerged in fluid by creating a vacuum when pulling the knob, one will think there is oil when in fact it may be empty. When I investigated the system I had to blow it out as it was full of debris from lying in the bilge. Lastly is the installation as I found in this particular case. I thought for the heck of it I would compare the length of the probe to the length of the OEM dipstick and the probe is actually longer! So in this particular install, the unit would only read empty long after there would be no indication on the dipstick itself. For it to work right, I'd prefer the end of the probe be close to the "ADD" mark on the dipstick so that the system would indicate ahead of time that you are LOW on oil not OUT of oil! Come to find out that the reason these were lying in the bilge is because the PO found out first hand that the reading was always wrong when compared with a dipstick. If left long enough, the oil level wouldn't even register on the stick but he was getting the thumbs up at the helm. All he had to do was cut the tube to the correct length and it would be fine.

I cleaned it all up and installed it to see if it worked, and sure enough it did. My buddy who owns the boat now is still deciding if he's going to keep the system or not. This was pretty cool...you learn something new every day!

[rickalan35]

I've been awaiting this explanation. I figured you'd get to the bottom of it.

Pretty cool little piece of inventive technology, though. I wonder how many units they eventually sold. I sure'n heck have never seen nor heard of it before.

[prowlersfish]

Glad you got it figued out .

[mikeandanne]

Interesting device, it reminds me of a system of pulleys and wire to turn on your light switch instead of just doing it------- Big D do you think that the device on the dash could have a spring where you would set it by pushing the knob down and if there was no oil in the pan to hold the suction it would pop up to alert you---- just a thought --------Mike

[Big D]

....do you think that the device on the dash could have a spring where you would set it by pushing the knob down and if there was no oil in the pan to hold the suction it would pop up to alert you......

There is a spring inside but I think it is to return the knob to its resting poisition. I could not get the knob to do anything else. If you remove the probe to mimick no oil, nothing happens on it's own at the helm. You must pull the knob to get a reading. I can't get it to work any other way so unless it's not working right in that respect, I have to assume that you have to make the effort to take a reading. It works great that way.

[rickalan35]

Very funny, Mike. I'm wondering if Big D can find a way to jury rig that thing so that it serves draft beer

[Big D]

It wouldn't be able to deliver the volume I'm used to! It can however tell me when the keg is about to run out

[Commissionpoint]

Rube Goldberg dipstick.

We had a lot of crazy notions about how to best do things and what constituted an "improvement" back in the day before microprocessors. Now such a device is quite simply made and installed at the factory using electronics.

[rickalan35]

Big D - At one point earlier this autumn, I mentioned on this forum that I had arranged to have the insides of both fuel tanks re-coated but subsequently the fuel gauges had ceased to function. You asked me if I knew if the tanks had been grounded when they were re-installed. Can you (or others here) expand on how these gauges are set up? Perhaps mine are still capable of working if I gave them half a chance. Thanks Rick

[Commissionpoint]

Big D - At one point earlier this autumn, I mentioned on this forum that I had arranged to have the insides of both fuel tanks re-coated but subsequently the fuel gauges had ceased to function. You asked me if I knew if the tanks had been grounded when they were re-installed. Can you (or others here) expand on how these gauges are set up? Perhaps mine are still capable of working if I gave them half a chance. Thanks Rick

Start a thread Rick. Some of us are getting bored with all this winter. I'm sure the discussion would be welcome.

I had to go out and do this yesterday to keep the cabin fever at bay.......

https://plus.google.com/u/0/?tab=wX#pho ... 9875924593