2.5l Oil Pressure sender fitting- What to do if it breaks

[Swampy]

Hey guys, as some of you may know my oil pressure sending unit fitting broke flush with the block and this is a write up on how to get it out. 

 

Yes there are several ways to get this fitting out, such as pulling the engine, removing the engine mount etc. This is what worked for me and can be used as a reference for other 2.5l renix owners.

 

This problem started when I swapped my cluster from the dummy lights to a full cluster. The oil pressure switch ( which turns on the dummy light if oil pressure goes down) does not work with the full cluster. I got the oil pressure sending unit and it is a direct swap, so i thought it was going to be a 20 min job at the most. As I am trying to loosen the original switch the fitting it screws into breaks flush with the block.

   

 

After singing like a sailor, i started scratching my head.

Attempt #1

I thought about using a 5/16 extractor bit. The bit fits into the hole but without removing the engine mount there is not enough room to be able to get a drill to spin it out. 

 

Attempt #2 I ran to Home depot with the advice of some of my fellow members and got a set of pipe nipple extrators

 

These would have been perfect if it fit into the hole of the fitting. It would work beautifully but since a hammer doesn't fit to tap in the extractor.

 

Attempt #3 

So the next attempt was getting a small metal cutting blade and modifying it w/ an angle grinder to fit into the fitting 

 

 

Before cutting away at the fitting, I removed the alternator and the ac compressor

 Covering the blade in grease carefully cut 2 grooves into the fitting on opposite sides, either top and bottom or left and right. Once the grooves are cut get yourself a flat head screwdriver (one that is just as wide as the fitting) slide it into the grooves and carefully back it out 

[Pete M]

excellent!    added to the master list.   

[Minuit]

Glad to see you got this fixed.