aftermarket gauges

[nicbeer]

who runs em? i have got a speco oil pres and also a water temp gauge.

oil pres i have worked out, gotta buy a Tpiece fitting for block.

for water temp, where the hell do fit the damn thing. its got a huge probe thingo that fits nowhere.

Engine is a G16B in a sierra.

Nic

[Red_Zook]

should go near thermastat housing...
may need to get an adaptor! in all my cars they have gone there....
Bling boy

[nicbeer]

got pics? was thinking that a adapter would give a false reading for water esp.

[want33s]

A while ago I had this problem with a motorbike. Nowhere to put the capillary tube!. I made up a fitting in a piece of pipe and cut and inserted into top rediator hose. Worked great.

[nicbeer]

is this like a T piece so probe sits inside the top hose?

Nic

[want33s]

is this like a T piece so probe sits inside the top hose?

Nic

yep.. well more like a 'Y'. The pipe had to be small to fit inside the top hose so the probe had to go in on an angle. I brazed the fitting that came with the gauge into the pipe. The probe must be fully immersed in water to work correctly.

[Gwagensteve]

What's wrong with the temp gauge that suzuki supply? Don't get me wrong, I like gauges, but having an aftermarket water temp gauge is like having two tachos in the car.

I would buy a cheap multimeter with a K type thermocouple attachment - you will be able to use this to check all sorts of temperatures all over the car, but also to "calibrate" the stock gauge.

Oil pressure is an excellent idea. Fit a T piece to the block with the stock oil pressure light and the gauge sender coming off the T. The light is just as important as the gauge IMHO.

Steve.

[nicbeer]

yeh.

def doing the oil pres.

still deciding on water temp.

[lilzook]

i thought i'd revive this thread on aftermarket gauges.first off, i've never had a car with aftermarket gauges before and this is my 1st 4wd, so i'm not a ricer!

i wanted to know what are some important/useful gauges to have on our zooks? also how did you mount them?

i have these two gauges (water temp/voltmeter) that i was thinging of using and mounting them here in a panel. what do you guys think?

[oozuk]

I went autometer gauges for mine, there pro comp ultra lite 2 1/16 size
I used a combination of mechanical and electronic gauges.
I went electronic on the water temp gauge to get around that problem of that nasty capilary line and fitting as the autometer temp sender looks identical to a suzuki one in the manafold


I've just got one more gauge to go , 0-150PSI air pressure gauge for my air tank and endless air

this is where the gauges are going

[lilzook]

Far out , thats a serious setup you got there oozuk! looks very nice. thanks for posting the pics
What are they like to read flush mounted like that though? i reckon they would be easier to read if they were angled towards you.

[alien]

nar, its the passengers job to look at the radio, gps, dash and guages... lol

[oozuk]

I just look at the terror's that lay in front of me

[oozuk]

Far out , thats a serious setup you got there oozuk! looks very nice. thanks for posting the pics
What are they like to read flush mounted like that though? i reckon they would be easier to read if they were angled towards you.

There not fitted to the car yet but i've found them really easy to read when i trial fitted them in the dash

[Gwagensteve]

money no object, the most useful gauge would have to be wideband air/fuel.

I'm not even 100% sure of oil pressure. I kinda understand it's important, but I reckon a buzzer fed from the charge light (charge light on=no buzzer) switched at maybe 5 psi of oil pressure would be better.

When I'm trying to drive something that might make me run out of oil pressure, I won't be looking at a gauge, and light can be hard to see in sunlight.

I have boost/vacuum in my car (yes it is turbo :rolll:) and its sort of useful - car was running like poo the other day, and sure enough, the line to the map sensor (shared with the boost gauge) was broken, so I git no boost on the gauge.

I don't have a tach. If it's making boost and not on the limiter it's all good. I don't have an aftermarket temp gauge - I don't want two gauges on the dash saying different things.

I DO have a GPS used as a speedo though.

Steve.

[nicbeer]

i'll post up a pic of mine soon.

i mounted 2 x 2" gauges in that spot in the middle of the dash. i have oil and volt gauge in there.

also have a mech water temp gauge on top of the dash facing me. water temp uses a adapter for the top hose fitting from the rad.

[MightyMouse]

Voltmeters are very useful in determining the state of your electrical system - as long as you can interpret their readings.

You can diagnose a lot of problems with one and in the event of an alternator failure they give you an excellent idea of the remaining battery charge.

Ammeters on the other hand are a PITA to fit and not so useful.

[Goatse.AJ]

Voltmeters are very useful in determining the state of your electrical system - as long as you can interpret their readings.

You can diagnose a lot of problems with one and in the event of an alternator failure they give you an excellent idea of the remaining battery charge.

Ammeters on the other hand are a PITA to fit and not so useful.

Ammeters can be outright dangerous if not installed correctly. I got stuck in the back of a Landy with an electrical fire in the middle of a water crossing thanks to a dodgy ammeter install

[Gutless]

I have a custom stainless dash with Autometer Cobalts for my zook. I am yet to fit them, but I will be running 3 3/8 Elec speedo, 3 3/8 Tacho, oil press, oil temp, water temp, boost, A/F, EGT, and a fuel press. thats well over $2500 in gauges alone. I also am yet to buy the fuel level gauge, sender and fuel cell from rocket (another $600). Also need a speed sensor, but I may pinch one from a jimny.

[Gwagensteve]

Yep, there's another one Gutless - EGT - but from a diagnosis point of view with a petrol, it really needs a wideband A/F with it to interpret what the EGT is saying.

Sounds like you have all the bases covered.

Good point about voltmeters Mightymouse, especially on an efi car I guess.

Steve.

[cj]

Along the lines of what Steve said about having an oil pressure alarm, a low coolant alarm may also be something to consider. For those with autos, an auto trans temp gauge is also nice.

When setting up analogue gauges where possible it is nice to clock them so that the needles are all pointing in the same direction when all is normal so that it is easy to see at a glance when something is outside the normal parameters.

[Gwagensteve]

a low coolant alarm may also be something to consider.

I know a number of cars with header tanks have these (my Range Rover's was a little constant friend) but how would you set one up in a car without a pressurised header tank I wonder?

Steve.

PS, There can be an issue with too much information. Some stuff is useful for tuning or troubleshooting, but an out of parameter reading will get lost if you have 20 gauges in front of you. Boost gauges are a lot like this. You only need to check it if you have a problem or have changed the tuning. 99.9% of the time, it's pointless, which is why most factory turbo cars don't run them.

So some gauges are useful to be read in a range, but others are there just as a warning, and if a gauge's purpose is as a warning, its better served as a light and/or buzzer. It worries me that there's no other indication on a gauge that damage could be ocurring, until you take the time to read it and determine whether that reading is accetpable or not.

Really, (meaningful) idiot lights are just as effective if you have to stop to fix the problem. I.E. once set up, if your trans exceeds, say, 120Ëš you'll want to stop to cool it down anyway, so maybe a light is effective.

Expanding on this, "intelligent" lights might be even better - so, if 120˚ is a problem, then the light goes amber at 110˚, then red at 120˚ then audible at, say, 125˚ that way, once the light is out, you know you're below 110˚ and safe to move again.

Same could be done for oil pressure, coolant temp even oil temp, once normal operating ranges have been established.

Lots of factory cars are going this way - most new BMW's don't have temp gauges, only a warning light. No idea if they have an audible too.

Just some thoughts.

Steve.

[cj]

http://www.enginesaver.com.au/installation.htm

and http://www.enginesaver.com.au/In-Line%20Install.htm

[Gutless]

Yep, there's another one Gutless - EGT - but from a diagnosis point of view with a petrol, it really needs a wideband A/F with it to interpret what the EGT is saying.

Sounds like you have all the bases covered.

Good point about voltmeters Mightymouse, especially on an efi car I guess.

Steve.

I do have a wide band A/F, but it will only be used for tuning and trackside diagnolsis. I have a threaded bung in the dump pipe for it to be hooked in, but the cobalt A/F will give me a fairly good indication of whats going on when racing.

[Gwagensteve]

Yeah no worries - kinda supports what I was saying about tuning tools and operating indicators.


Steve.

[nicbeer]

i also have hooked up but in the glovebox a AF meter of sorts from jaycar that piggy backs onto the o2 sensor.

[MightyMouse]

i also have hooked up but in the glovebox a AF meter of sorts from jaycar that piggy backs onto the o2 sensor.

Not worth the dash or glovebox space - narrowband Lambda sensors are designed to basically switch around the stoichiometric point with the curves either side being largely irrelevant - so trying to use them as Silicon Chip does is at best optimistic, at worst a plain waste of time.

If your into tuning buy a proper wideband unit

[Gwagensteve]

Not worth the dash or glovebox space - narrowband Lambda sensors are designed to basically switch around the stoichiometric point with the curves either side being largely irrelevant - so trying to use them as Silicon Chip does is at best optimistic, at worst a plain waste of time.

If your into tuning buy a proper wideband unit

It ws only a matter of time surprised it took that long

Steve.

[cj]

Not worth the dash or glovebox space - narrowband Lambda sensors are designed to basically switch around the stoichiometric point with the curves either side being largely irrelevant - so trying to use them as Silicon Chip does is at best optimistic, at worst a plain waste of time.

If your into tuning buy a proper wideband unit

It ws only a matter of time surprised it took that long

Steve.

You and me both

[nicbeer]

what is a wideband worth? and some brands?

i mainly bought it too quickly see if it was running rich or lean under power and crusiing. mainly while in the glovebox and not in the dash mounted.

i already have the ecu in the glovebox so not much room to play with