Hi,

Can anyone please tell me what this wire/sensor is for? It is located near the bottom of the sump just above the drain plug on the righthand side (if standing at the front of the engine bay)

It had fallen off but seems to have caused no problems (that I have noticed) but the thing has oil leaking from it and is getting worst as time goes by.

Thanks

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Hi Benedict,
Welcome to the forum.
Could you please provide some details of your car in your signature so that we know what you are talking about.
Your pic looks like the low level switch on a 60x motor, on my 602 it is on the left side of the motor (your right when looking at the motor). If this is what you are talking about, it provides a warning on the dash when you are low on oil.

__________________
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

X2 on the oil sensor, thats what mine looks like too

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hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

Thanks for the welcome message and I have updated 'my vehicles' section and signature.

The sensor must short to earth when oil is too low, as the 'low oil' light hasn't illuminated by being unplugged?

I check oil and top-up regularly so shouldn't need this light but it's good I guess in case the sump had a major hole and I dumped everything on a long drive.

Cheers

__________________
1995 E300 Diesel

Moreso than some things, it's definitely more worth fixing than some things that are less likely to matter. You may loan that car to someone you weren't expecting to loan it to who isn't as conscientious under the hood as you are and the cell phone call "Um, this light's on, what do you want me to do about it? *while they continue to drive down the road*" is a very possible one.

__________________


~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

Or an oil cooler hose leak, or a piece of road debris poking a hole in the oil cooler could dump quite a bit of oil pretty darn fast at 45 PSI as your tooling along the highway! And when you see the stuff laying all over the roads these days!