Gauge senders

[Nobimmer 694]

Woohoo got myself 3 2nd hand Trisco gauges for xmas from my rice next door neighboor.And had to leave our holiday accomodation in Ahipara due to unforseen circumstances.

Anyways figured why not put em in seeing my factory water temp gauge is stuffed.

So basicly got the wiring side of it sussed just need to figure out where to tap the senders to.I've read that for the water temp you just cut a radiator hose in half and stick in a T-joiner and stick the sender into that.Sounds easy enough.

What about for the oil temp and oil pressure?..I can't really figure out why I would need an oil temp gauge so might flag that as it will mean the little space I have for them will be all jammed and poo.

But anyways,where do I put the sender for the oil temp? and how do I do the oil pressure one all together?

Figured I'd run the wires etc through the hole for the steering rack as thats easily accessible and quite close to where I need it.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[nz320i 0]

yo, ive been looking into doing gauges in mine too i reckon they look sweet above the coin tray in a custom black plastic panel real easy to make..

anyways i was going to do water temp by replacing factory sender with the autogauge one, there is a hole with senders by the thermostat housing, i wanna know if the thread is the same??

and ill be interested where oil ones go cos i have no idea either man!

[will 169]

Are they all electric and, if so, do they come with their senders??

Will

[Nobimmer 694]

Yeh Chris exactly where I want to put mine...just get a piece of plastic from Acryform and Bobs ya uncle.

Sorry Will..they are mechanical and have a massive coiled thing on the back of them with a big probe looking thing on the ends.

I read on some site that there is an adapter for the oil sump plug that is basicly the sump plug with a threaded hole and the oil temp probe goes into it.sounds easy enough...

Chur

Edit: also read that f**king with the factory sensor and not doing it properly can lead to unstable idle etc.Me being a noob don't wanna even start there bahah

Edited December 25, 2006 by blackbma

[Mike 1]

I'm using the factory warning light sender for my oil pressure gauge. If you want to keep the factory idiot light you'll need a 'T', otherwise just a suitable adapter as threads will almost certainly be different.

[Nobimmer 694]

Do you think you could maybe take a picture of where the tard light sender is?I really have no idea aye.

The thread adaptor should be sweet just get em from work.

[Mike 1]

Below your oil filter, by one of the engine mounts. On my 318 it was a 24mm nut, and thread was 12x1.5 mm, maybe different for your car though.

Edited December 25, 2006 by Mike

[will 169]

Standard temp gauge sender is the brown plug at the top front of the motor, the blue one next to it controls the fuel mix so don't stuff with the blue one.

Most radiators have plugs on the side for the electric fans that work in conjunction with the aircon. If you dont have aircon, you could use this point. Also, in front of the brown and blue temp senders there are often 2 more blanked off holes on the M20 motor. These can also be used for temp.

That big coiled thing is a capillary tube, is easily damaged so be careful with it.

As you say, best place for oil temp is via the sump plug. If you have an oil cooler fitted, you can get it put into the oil cooler radiator.

Oil pressure takeoff point is on driver's side in front of engine mounting at the bottom of the block. I would suggest keeping the warning light... I blew a motor a long time ago as a result of not having this light, only the gauge, didn't notice the loss of oil pressure as a result of a broken oil pump drive, the light would have visually warned me of impending doom...

I would personally prefer electric gauges, they are much less hassle to fit than the ones with capillary tubes, and the wiring is simple.

Will

[Nobimmer 694]

Ohh k.

So heres my findings on what I think the temp sender is.

Is it the one circled A?

if not there were 2 more sender looking bits around the area marked B.

If it is A,do I just unblot it,find an appropriate thread connector and stick the new one in?

Cheers

[will 169]

Yup, thats it... Should have a single wire going to it.

Just remove it and get an adaptor but you must try to get the sender for your new gauge into the water flow.

Will

Edited December 25, 2006 by will

[will 169]

Also, if you look to the front of A under the fuel press regulator you will see 2 more blank plugs, you could use one of these as well.

You can also use the plugs at B.

Will

[Nobimmer 694]

Cheers man,will have a go at it today if my work has the right adaptor.

Thanks for the help

[nz320i 0]

hang on- so the plug used for air con on the drivers side of the radiator can be used for water temp??? (electrical) as at the mo ive got it jumpered so my electric fan is always on slow speed ( replaced air con with an electric fan) but i can re wire this and then use the radiator plug for the gauge?????

please reply wanna do it tomorrow! thanks!

[nz320i 0]

also ill take some pics for blackbma as ive made my bit of plastic up to hold the gauge - i was lucky and have a spare center console to carve up to fit the gauge as i got the cheap auto gauge 2.5" models ( 2" werent on special lol ) but yeah should be done tomorow once my flat tyre is fixed

[kerrynzl 3]

Yeh Chris exactly where I want to put mine...just get a piece of plastic from Acryform and Bobs ya uncle.

Sorry Will..they are mechanical and have a massive coiled thing on the back of them with a big probe looking thing on the ends.

I read on some site that there is an adapter for the oil sump plug that is basicly the sump plug with a threaded hole and the oil temp probe goes into it.sounds easy enough...

Chur

Mechanical Guages are what racers use, they are accurate [ temp guages will work while switched off]

Oil temp capilleries [the bit on the end] can be drilled & tapped into the sump bung.

a word of warning with Trisco oil pressure guages! Throw away the junk plastic oil line [buy a copper line instead] I remember seeing a commodore V8 with a plastic line which melted and sealed 30lbs pressure in the oil guage while it pumped oil out while going down the pit lane at Taupo emptying the sump

[bumpstop325 0]

if your oil temp in electric type. you can weld a nut ONTO the sump. NO hole needed. Then screw the sender unit into the nut.

I have VDO guages and senders.

oil pressure sender. I went down to ENZED Hose doctors and got them to weld up a brass T join, with the correct male and female threads on it. Cost me $25 Cash. So i could fit the factory sender and the VDO one, on the same hole.

This bolted into the factory oil pressure place. I have an electric sender with buzzer unit.