Good gauges for oil pressure / temp

[Jan Pedersen]

I am debating wich gauges to get. Some are mechanical, some electrical and some have a stepper engine driving them. Which is best?

Mechanical: I don't really like because of the extra oil line into the car.
Electrical: Changes in voltages will change the reading. I know it doesn't matter but it might make me nervous... And I wont to have confidence in the reading - thats why I wont something else
Stepper: Hmm I not really sure how this works so I would like your oppinion

What should I get? Price does matter but its not my main concern...

[fax0815]

Defis for example are Stepmasters and they´re well known for beeing accurate because of the stepmaster drive. I´d personally run gauges with stepper motor, they start around 80€ (Autogage).

Mechanical ones can be very accurate, too! (Omori) But I´m not a fan, for the same reason.

Electric ones can also make very decent readings (Stack, but damn expensive), but there are tones of shit gauges on the market! Be aware

[Ivan141]

I just use regular electrical gauges. Just run a voltage gauge right beside them, that way you'll know when to distrust the readings.
Stepper motor drive is very accurate in driving the needle, but wouldn't these gauges be sensitive to voltage too on the measuring side of things? This dependency can be eliminated, but I wouldn't just assume every stepper drive gauge is built like this.
Myself I am a VDO gauge fetishist. They are one of the few gauges that dont look horribly out of place in an ae86, and that counts for something too in my book.

In the end, you spend very little time staring at gauges, usually just a quick glance. I'm guessing that as long as you don't have major electrical issues you should be able to get decent ballpark readings. If it's engine life you are worried about I'd install a whopping big red light, tied to an oil pressure switch.
You could make something similar for oiltemp, but oil temps usually dont change very quickly, so the gauge will suffice.

[Bean]

personally I'm a Defi fan , although the fact they change theire line up every now and again is a bit of a pita. Atleast I can still get spare parts for them and being Defi this means every single bit is replaceable.
I can also vouche for VDO as the use quality sensors and are on the market forever already.

PS: I'd sell you mine so I could justify upgrading to the next generation and because I'd like to have the display thing the offer instead of the gauges but being on the other end of the world doesn't realy help. Anyway if this would be of interest to you, let me know quickly

[Lauren]

It's probably a bit late for you Jan, as you sound like you are about to buy a load of gauges.

My fiance, is a bit of an electronics geek. He is currently making me a display which is 4 lines with 20 characters.

Basically on the top line it displays maximums for oil temperature, oil pressure and water temperature.
On the next three lines it displays oil temp, oil pressure, water temp and has a corresponding bar graph that raises.
This is all designed to fit in the hole where the ashtray goes, so saves having loads of gauges all over the place and is a lot neater.

I'm not sure if he's going to make it available but he can do this, it all depends upon price. You'd have to add the cost of the sensors as well, though I think it is going to be very neat in operation.

This is his previous project which is a datalogger to measure intercooler inlet and outlet temps.

http://www.mr2.net/article_charge_temp_monitor.html

He made a few of these for various people on the MR2 forums running SC's and Turbo's.

[Bean]

your fiance got skills very nice work

[Lauren]

Am hoping to get a vid up later of the new project.

Edit, two seconds later clever fiance popped down and said he'd stuck a vid up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEj0SthndTA

[Jan Pedersen]

VDO looks too cheap IMO. And I prefer 270 degrees movement.

Defi DIN I quite like but I don't wont to give up my radio. Do you have any pics of you setup, Bean?

Right now my heart is set on Stack gauges, but they are quite expensive. At least for the electrical / Stepper versions. The mechanical gauges are about €70.

Depo gauges look quite good too. Stepper based, alarm/warning light. BUT they have a stupid start up sequence with seven different colors flashing

Lauren, the digital display is a bit too modern, but actually not a bad idea (as I have a display just like it)

[Bean]

Here you go, also have a EGT not in the pic
http://www.aeu86.org/garage/ae86/mode/vi...age_id=387

[Lauren]

Jan Pedersen Wrote:Lauren, the digital display is a bit too modern, but actually not a bad idea (as I have a display just like it)

It can be done in other colours, but for me I thought it was fitting as I have a digital dash so thought it'd be nice to have everything digital.