Auxilliary gauges recommendations - oil, water, volts etc

[mm289]

Evening all,

finishing the rebuild on my WBX (picture below just for eye candy ) and want to fit some auxilliary gauges to make sure I know whats going on inside!

Looking to monitor the following and have a few questions:

Oil pressure - would you go electric or mechanical gauge? Was going to T piece off an existing pressure switch port but some electric gauges have said not to use a t-piece for their sender - any thoughts?

Temperature - was intending to monitor oil temp but have had conflicting opinions on whether this is worthwhile, whether I should fit a water temp gauge instead or neither and just use dash gauge. What would you fit and where would you locate the sender?

Voltage - again a debate on whether I fit an Ammeter or Voltmeter. Vehicle is a camper and will have a 2nd leisure battery installed with a switched charging system so the leisure battery is charged when the engine is running and the primary battery is full.

Any ideas/thought gratefully received as, having built the engine I want it too last

Thanks,

MM[img][/img]

[tencentlife]

Lookin' good, mm. Saw your pics over on 80-90, too.

OP: I'm always surprised the "mechanical vs. electrical" gauge question ever comes up, it seems to come most often from non-American quarters, guess there's cultural differences. An electrical gauge is easier to install, offering far greater flexibility in choice of locations, faster response from a cold-start, and doesn't carry vital engine fluids to remote parts of the vehicle unnecessarily. I have trouble believing anyone would consider a cap-tube gauge in this day and age. But then I always say I'd rather run wire than pipe any day.

That said, if you're adding gauges, I have always felt that OP is the most important one.

OT: if your driving habits include cruises of more than 15 minutes at speeds above 60mph, put the money toward a regulated external oil cooler and you'll have no reason to know the OT. If you drive that way, and install an OT gauge, you'll only come to understand where you should have put the money in the first place. And having an OP gauge gives you a window into OT once you get accustomed to what pressures you routinely see, so it's not as if you're flying blind as far as OT goes.

Amps vs. Volts: this is a tossup, each has it's strengths, but an ammeter is more expensive and harder to install in a way that gets you useful info. And, with a second cabin battery, you would want to know amps at both batteries, adding more expense for a second shunt and switching between them. And finally, without an amp-hour meter instead of a plain ammeter, you don't have a window into battery state-of-charge, only whether you are presently charging or discharging. Amp-hour meters are quite expensive; if you were to go that route, getting an all-in-one battery monitor from the solar power market might be the best bet, something like the Bogart TriMetric I use for my home battery bank.

I also think vehicle electric supply is a system that rarely has problems and there are so many proxy indications that just carrying a handheld digital VOM is money better spent, because you can use it to confirm perfromance if you suspect it is off, and then use it to go track down the exact problem, as well as so many other things.

My solution to an electrical system monitor is as bone-simple as you can get, a simple digital LCD 12V direct-reading VM, surface mounted on the dash right next to the cig lighter socket. It has a constant reading of the cabin battery, always on (the current draw is so minute it couldn't discharge the battery in months). When the engine starts and the bateries are combined, it shows that the alternator is charging because the voltage climbs above rest. It's always there to tell you the cabin battery's condition at a glance while camping. That's all the info I wanted. The challenge was in finding such a thing, they're not that common and no cheap once you find one. Here's a link to the one I found that meets my requirements:

http://www.martelmeters.com/products.php?cat=1&action=detail&id=55

Anyway, nice job on the engine, good luck getting it all hooked up!
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[mm289]

Thanks 10c, I saw you had droppped in on us over here

You re-enforced what I thought about mechanical vs electrical - just I hadn't had to install one since the 80's so thought I would check

Where do you install the sender for your Oil Pressure - do you just t into an existing or use a new location?

Like the logic with the battery gauge - also de-stresses nights in the van as you can see if the aux battery is running low and its time to go to sleep!!

Hope to finish installing the engine this week and then we will see if it goes as good as it looks I read your original September 2007 post when I started into these wbx's and thats what triggered the idea for the paint etc,

If this one works then I plan on using the couple of spares I have to build a full engine from scratch - maybe like one of your 2.2's although it seems parts are cheaper over there than here - with suppliers like CB and Scat - which is kinda crazy given the engines were made about 400 miles from me!!

Cheers,

MM

[mm289]

Question on oil pressure gauge sender location.

Was going to install with the switch sender between cyls 3 & 4. Got a t piece but it is only 50mm and doesnt give enough room for the OP gauge sender.

Any alternative locations or suggestions?

Cheers,
MM

[zandon]

Check this out. Most helpful: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=193593&highlight=gauge+installation

[Zeitgeist 13]

I vote for voltmeter, oil pressure and pyrometer
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[VisPacem]

this should answer your question

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/398527.jpg

Almost forgot, since this picture was taken, the mostly useless/decorative CHT was replaced with a transmission fluid temperature gauge
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No Regrets (Nothing to do with Vanagons)

[mm289]

[VisPacem]

[tencentlife]