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If I purchase an oil pressure gauge or a water temp gauge, what is the install like? I have installed all my stereo equip, and aftermarket glow gauges, so how would the difficulty compare? Last question, where would the oil pressure gauge hook up to take a reading from? Thank Guys

Pretty easy to hook up. Though installation will vary slightly depending on the type of gauge you get. They come in 2 basic flavors. Electrical or Mechanical. Electrical gauges use a sensor or sending unit to tell the gauge where to position the needle on the dial to give you your reading. Mechanical gauges use actual oil pressure in a nylon tube that connects from the back of the gauge to a fitting on your engine block. A good way to do the install of a mechanical gauge is to remove the oil pressure sending unit that is installed currently (for your oil idiot light on the dash) replace it with a "T" fitting that will allow you to hook up both your new oil pressure gauge tubing and your original sensor. Also.. certain gauges may use a copper or other metal tubing rather than nylon tubing.. depends on the gauge manufacturer. In my opinion.. I like mechanical gauges better than electrical. I think they are more accurate and reliable. But the install of the tubing is usually a bit more annoying than just running the wires for the Electrical gauge. Most decent gauges will come with everything (except the T fitting which you can get at any decent autoparts store) you need to install

Now as for where and how you are going to mount your gauge. You have a couple of options.. One is the A Pillar Gauge Pod.. These usually hold 2 or 3 gauges and install on the post that runs between the drivers door and the windshield (on the inside of course). If you do a search you should be able to dig up a few examples..

Second.. Is to do a custom panel of sorts for your center column.. something like this..

http://www.mx-3.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=43041

Hope this helps.

Tunes67

That panel looks real nice. Couple questions. First, if the mechanical gauges are the ones that you say are more accurate, where would you recommend purchasing a mechanical oil pressure gauge? You said the install hook up, besides the wiring to the lights, the oil meter sensor just hooks up to the back of the dash where the oil pressure light sensor is? That sounds pretty easy, at least compared to the install of the glow gauges. Also, I am interested in purchasing a water temperature gauge at the same time. What is that install like? If you have one, like you stated in the DIN panel install, could you post pics? Lastly, how do I determine what size gauges I need for the A Pillar Gauge pods? Thanks Guys, and Tunes

Well first off.. looks like we got a slight misunderstanding about how to hook up the oil pressure gauge. Nothing hooks up to the oil light on the dash. There is a sensor screwed into the backside of your engine which has a wire connected to it (You can get more details from the online shop manual) You disconnect that wire.. unscrew the sensor from the engine.. insert the "T" fitting I mentioned.. the T fitting will have a place for you to screw your sensor into AND a place for you to connect the oil pressure tube fitting. Then the other end of the Tube connects to the back of the oil pressure gauge. Thats the mechanical type. The water temp gauge install is very similar. But rather than going into details on that.. I am going to send you to your local autoparts store where you can get your hands on these gauges and see for yourself what they are and what comes with them. You can also ask the guys at the store any questions you have about them. When it comes to buying gauges.. there are only 2 brands I buy. Autometer and Stewart Warner. Other gauges will work.. But I am a bit of a snob when it comes to performance gauges LOL Autogage Gauges probably wouldnt be too bad.. they are made by Autometer but they are NOT race certified gauges. But should be fine for general monitoring use. E-bay has a LOT of gauges listed and you can probably save some cash buying from there. But I would recommend going down to your local autoparts store first so you can see what you are getting before hand. As for the A Pillar Gauge Pods.. well to be honest I dont know much about them.. Standard gauges should fit in them I would think.. but that is a question for someone that has one.. I choked on the price and came up with the panel idea.. which if you like the panel.. check in the Parts Group Buy forum for details on how you can purchase one. Cheers.

Tunes67

*Edit* Sorry missed the pic request for the water temp gauge.. If I had one.. I would be happy to put up a pic.. but.. I havent gotten it yet.. Thats why I made that panel only to hold the one gauge for me for the time being.. it will be a couple of weeks before I have the spare cash for the water temp one. I need my cash for parts for another project I have on the horizon

if this in going into a DOhc engine you are going to need a special fitting (99.9% positive).
It is a 10 mm Bspt -> 1/4 npt.
Bspt= British standard pipe thread
npt= National pipe thread.
The only place i have found these are at mcmaster.com, maybe you can find them wherever you live but i searched a good 50 mile radius around where i live and got nothing.
the part number is 4860K141
Good luck.

nos92mx3 wrote:if this in going into a DOhc engine you are going to need a special fitting (99.9% positive).
It is a 10 mm Bspt -> 1/4 npt.
Bspt= British standard pipe thread
npt= National pipe thread.
The only place i have found these are at mcmaster.com, maybe you can find them wherever you live but i searched a good 50 mile radius around where i live and got nothing.
the part number is 4860K141
Good luck.

Ok, I'm a bit confused, is it BSPT or NPT? I'm going to assume that the K8 oil pressure sending unit is the same as the DOHC??? If fortunate enough to find a T-fitting that has the right thread sizes/pitches that is compatible to the guages sending unit.
Best to know what the OEM sending unit's thread size/pitch is before purchasing an aux guage.
If I'm not mistaken, the 10mm is a frequently used thread size used on banjo bolts and other similar brake line fittings also

I reckon take the idiot light switch out and replace it with the gauge sending unit. Mine came with a few adaptors and screwed straight in. Dunno the size.

IN the back of the block is the BSPT
The british standard pipe thread is different .
As you thread it into the block The Diameter of the shank will get larger towards the end, thus will self-seal as you tighten the sensor.
Most of the aftermarket oil pressure gauges i have seen use the 1/4 npt fitting.
So hence the need of a

10mm Bspt -> 1/4 npt adapter.
Now im not doubting anyone if the 1/4 npt worked maybe mine was different.
But if you try threading in the 1/4 npt into the 10 mm bspt you could end up stripping the threads and having a leak.

nos92mx3 wrote:10mm Bspt -> 1/4 npt adapter.

I look at that (->), and I'm trying to figure out what you mean. I've used the 10mm BSPT on my Ducati and actually used an old style VW beetle oil pressure switch that is also 10mm.

buy an oil filter adapter with with two extra socket holes for oil temperature or oil pressure, make the connection to a aftermarket oil pressure sender which sends it back to the guage...


having seen how a cheap mechanical guage works i'd go with electrical...but i'll be able to tell you in about 1 week,

Electrical gauges are far easier to install than mechanical.. but mechanical gauges typically have a better reliability reputation. Depends more on the quality of the gauge than on the type though. You get what you pay for

Tunes67

sorry bro didnt want to confuse

you need a 10 mm bspt to 1/4 npt adapter.
So it will go from a male 10 mm bspt to a female 1/4 npt.

most likely I will be purchasing the electrical gauges. Not sure yet though. I got the a pillar pods off the website gaugepods.com If anyone has a pic of that installed, please post! Also, if I get the electrical oil pressure gauge, can someone give me a detailed response of how to install that? I know you hook it up to the dummy light near the tach, but i need a little more than that. Thanks

also like to add that about the install for the oil pressure gauge, I purchased the oil pressure gauge from summitracing.com, got the autometer phantom gauge. I hope this helps with the install instructions. Thank you

i have the oil pressure sender, and its not fitting into the oil unit from the car. so it is the wrong size. the sizes available, from the stock that i got in the package from auto meter, i can either use a 1/4 npt or an 1/8 npt. if none of these work, what size do i need to use, and what adapter am i going to need. above it says i need a 10 mm bspt, is this right, and does this screw directly into the 1/4 adapter already on the oil pressure sender unit for the gauge, and additonally, is this adapter after the 1/4 male or female