Wednesday, 27 April 2011. More gauges

I know they are not everyones choice, but I love the whole gauge thing in cars. So I though I would go for a centre console display instead of some electronic management/TV combo. 

After removing the standard clock, I bought a new gauge clock, Oil pressure and oil temperature gauges along with the DEFI gauge pod. 

The electronics wiring was simple enough but fitting the sensors was a real pain. 

The gauges are of the electronic sensor type for pressure and temperature, which means that you run the supplied sensor cables from the back of the gauges, through the engine compartment fire wall and into the engine bay. From there, you install the pressure sensor below the alternator in the oil gallery plug.

I purchased a a way fitting with extension pipe so that once I had the alternator removed, I removed the original oil sensor wire and sensor from the plug that was screwed into the engine block, then screwed in the extension pipe. I then replaced the alternator and screwed the original sensor into the adaptor and the new aftermarket sensor into the second adaptor hole. This way the original ECU sensor and the gauge could share the same pressure signal. This location is best as it is quite close to the crankshaft and so your able to read what pressure is in the block at full load. 

According to online forums, the best place for the temperature sensor was under the intercooler, near the throttle body, above No.3 cylinder. However, after removing the intercooler, I discovered that there were a couple of oil and coolant pipes running over the top of the oil gallery plug. No matter what tools and extension pieces you use, its basically impossible to remove it without dropping it down deeper into the engine bay. The other thing that had to be considered was how do you even replace it as you cant get hand access to fit a new one. 

The solution was to fit an adapter plate, which ECC did for me, when I was getting some other work done. Basically I ran out of time and didnt get a chance to fit it myself, but its as easy as removing the oil filter and screwing into place, then replacing the filter and filling the sump. 

The temperature sensor for the gauge then screwed into the adaptor plate. The oil temperature during running can range from 85 Deg. C right up to 98 Deg C depending on driving/weather conditions. 

The pink cable above is the oil pressure extension pipe. The lower end screws into the block and the top has a 2 way adapter to fit 2 sensors at the same time. Dont over tighten it and use plenty of PTFE tape!

Oil pressure is about 6.8 Bar at warm up and Max pressure at full load has been 7.1 Bar.