gauges

[79rolla]

hey, im looking at getting to get some gauges for the ke35
wanting to get 3 2" gauges to mount in the hole that was cut for a head unit at some stage..
the 2 i need is boost and oil pressure, and has been recommended that i get a water temp as well so i an keep an eye on it better..

getting my mates work to get some vdo ones in to have a look at

i want something that looks nice (pref black back ground) are accurate and reliable without being excessively expensive..
will prob be looking at around $400

what are your taught s on this? should i just get some autogauges instead? i quite like the black smocked gauges

the car is just going to be a street car, may see the track once or twice.. but nothing serious..

cheres, and sorry for the long post

[Adydas]

DEFI!~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mind you they cost, i have like 4 defis at a cost of around $1600...

[79rolla]

yeah.. that's a bit too mutch for me ay.. not worth it for my current application..

[Dell'Orto]

Defi wont suit the style of the car, I recommend either Smith's or VDO. $400 may not be enough for the VDO ones, unless you can get a hook up though...they dont come with senders which ramps up the price.

[Mr Revhead]

yeah im with the VDO option. I though they weren't bad at all on price, but it was about 5 years ago....
its the oil pressure sender thats the $$ one isn't it? or maybe im thinking of the speedo....

[Dell'Orto]

I think from memory the gauges are ~$100 retail, and senders are $30-40 each.

[79rolla]

yeah i got it all priced up including oil pres sender and a mechanical water temp and it was somewhere around the 400 mark (just rough estimate calculation)
those defi lookalike gauges look pritty cool.. but don't trust the quality enough. and i cant fork out for the real thing.. saame goes for some of thos autogage ones look cool, but dont know what sort of qulity they are, one of my mates swears by them, had a few sets without any problems.

[matt dunn]

Do go for VDO, great and reliable and worth it,

But do not go mechanical,

mechanical gauges in general are a PITA,
to fit, to run the lead, to get the adapter to fit the engine,

just PITA in every way.


Can do hook up's on VDO at good prices, but I am away from work on holiday ( and out of the country) for the next 2 weeks from the end of this week so wont be able to untill after then.

[iOnic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAU5Owidj54

Cost about $300 from memory

[Jazza]

yeah i got it all priced up including oil pres sender and a mechanical water temp and it was somewhere around the 400 mark (just rough estimate calculation)
those defi lookalike gauges look pritty cool.. but don't trust the quality enough. and i cant fork out for the real thing.. saame goes for some of thos autogage ones look cool, but dont know what sort of qulity they are, one of my mates swears by them, had a few sets without any problems.

Im running autogauges and theyre crap. My water temp says 120 (Thats max reading) when im actually at 85 degrees. Reads 80 at 65. My oil pressure gauge is also off. Just get good quality and stick with it

[Alex B]

Your 100% its not an install issue?

[tsoob]

Your 100% its not an install issue?

im running the boost one and it looks like its going past the 16psi mark my ecu is set to as well, but yeah check your install is 100% correct

[matt dunn]

Autogauge are shit

Autometer are the shit.

dont mix them up.


anyway,
boost $106
Oil Gauge $70
Temp Gauge $$72
Temp sender $18
Oil Sender $82
$348 all up,

and thats straight retail off the price on the shelf inc. GST.

[Dell'Orto]

Your 100% its not an install issue?

im running the boost one and it looks like its going past the 16psi mark my ecu is set to as well, but yeah check your install is 100% correct

When I sold my MR2, I took out the Autometer boost gauge and put in an Autogage one, and gained 2psi...

[strx7]

Autoguage are actually pretty reasonable, they aren't a $200 a pop guage, but you dont expect them to be at the price of them. In all honesty, you are better off buying autoguage type guages and replacing them every 2 years than buying big ticket guages and expecting them to last 15 years.

a very respectable workshop that builds alot of racecars made the comment about autoguage guages "for the price, you cant go wrong"

[Guss]

i've always taken the approach that the after a short time the numbers on the gauge are unimportant. what matters is where the gauge is in relation to where it normally sits.

[B1NZ]

I had an autogage that told me my car was running 4PSI before I even installed it in the car

[strx7]

I had an autogage that told me my car was running 4PSI before I even installed it in the car

thats cause it had been dropped before you got it. I have 2 booat guages that say i'm at 6 inches of mercury vacuum with the car off, same problem.

[matt dunn]

a very respectable workshop that builds alot of racecars made the comment about autoguage guages "for the price, you cant go wrong"

Really,


all the people i know that run race cars would rather pay a bit extra an know that when the temp gauge says 80 the car is at 80, not somewhere between 90 and 130.

And replacing gauges every couple of years?
WTF? they are not even accurate when new,
they just fall apart as well in a few years.

VDO gauges in my car have been in there since I wired it for the previous owner over 15 years ago, and the temp gauge always reads with 2 degree's of the laptop display out of the link ecu.

[Jazza]

Positive its not an install issue, have had 2 different gauges in (diff brands) reading the same temperature as each other (Which is close to a heat gun reading) when the autogauge says its 85 degrees, meanwhile, i can touch my radiator coolant without burning my fingers