Oil Pressure Switch - Long term Solution?

[SteveD]

Steve
The thread for later airheads with non-tapered thread is M12 x 1.5 I guess a blanking bolt and crush washer would work if one had a bad leak on the road. ( Do you feel lucky? )

I'd risk it, knowing the bike is generally in good working order. Less risk than oil over the rear wheel in wet conditions I'd expect! I seem to remember counting how many left hand corners I had to do in 200kms. It was less than 10, and I did them very upright!

[Jean]

Steve, my notes show a variety of VW switches that fit bikes with a 12mm straiught thread.
Therse are available from most any national Auto-parts store.
ITM 8005
GP Sorensen
Beck Arnley 2011078
Niehoff OP 23821
"2002 BMW auto" 1974-1976 [I don't have a part number for this]
Most of these cost no more than $8 whereas the BMW replacement part was at least $18.
(The /5 threads are supposed to be tapered and 3/8 npt. Anyone care to comment on this?)

[Kurt in S.A.]

Early /5 were pipe threads.

I read on Snowbum's site that the OEM switch goes out (or comes on, whichever you want to look at it) pretty low, like 5-7 psi. One might like to know sooner that pressure is getting low, but then it might come on all the time, like at idle, thin oil on hot days, etc....maybe that's why it's so low. Snowbum lists water cooler VW part 056-919-081E that switches around 27 psi. You would need to check the threads, though.

Kurt in S.A.

[Ray from Indiana]

For those folks in the U.S., another source: Advance Auto Supply has part number S4015, comes with a crush washer. Runs around 9 bucks. It works.
I also applied some JB Weld ( a slow setting filled epoxy ) after cleaning the switch with brake cleaner. We'll see how that does over time.

thanks for the suggestions.

[Jean]

The VW switches I listed were for AIR-cooled engines. The BMW might be a water cooled one. I don't have one of those tho. Just looking at thread size and FIT.
And they do fit...I think they are a little different, maybe a psi up or down, but 27psi is way too high.