I decided to order the sending unit made by Meyle - it was $35 and hopefully will work ok. I think Meyle is a pretty good brand.

Also, I decided to attempt to remove the oil filter housing and replace the housing-crankcase gasket and the housing-cover gasket. The oily "mud" around the bottom of the filter housing is getting out of control.

Will I need to drain engine oil in order to remove oil filter housing or not?

__________________
84 300SD - bought in April '06 with 237,000 mi