The oil level switch that screws into the oil pan (both 2.9L and 3.0L?) is getting hard to come by. Standard Auto Parts seems to be the only supplier. Has anyone ever found a way to fix the leaking. I'm not talking about the seal between the switch and pan. These develop an interal leak and oil exits where the wire plugs in. Also, is there a different Ford model and/or year that has an improved version (over 1989) that can be screwed into a Cologne pan?

 

Well there's now an M20 drain plug in the side of the pan and this float switch is either going in the trash (whole or in pieces) or getting repaired, so let's start dismantling.

I've read you can't repair these because the seal is proprietary, but I think this blue rubber plug is just to keep grime away from the wire connection. That's not going to keep oil from leaking. Behind that plug you can see a clip (anyone know the name for these?) like the one holding your windshield washer pump in the tank.



With that clip removed the male side of the plug would slide right up to the edge of the cylinder. Then it took some pulling and wiggling to get it out, like the plug or the cylinder was not perfectly round. I suspect it was the cylinder (i.e. the sensor body) from wrenching on that aluminum body to get it loose. Once it was out, no sign of a seal to replace. I'm looking for suggestions for a high temp, oil resistant glue or sealant to use when this goes back in.




I need to test conductivity on this part, but I suspect it's still okay. As for how this works with the float, the metal piece attached to the float has a pin that extends into this piece, and it has a metal lined
cup that must connect to the male plug. When the oil level is low the metal on the float touches the cup and the steel part of the body, which completes the circuit to ground through the engine.

 

I thought I could add this as an edit, but I couldn't find a way to do that now.
There's one more photo to add related to disassembling this float switch. While rotating this internal part in a caliper to check how round it is (note the light brown line made by sanding a high spot) it became obvious that the black plastic would slide off the metal. A little sanding on the brown plastic and filing on the switch body and I can now get the parts to slide together fairly easily. I wanted to accomplish that before RTVing it back together.