Gauges / Dials

[devonhelpus]

Hi
I am wondering if I should buy the 3 following for what will be a 1600 twin port with no more than a decent exhaust and carb for family trips?

oil pressure
oil temp
head temp gauges

I am new to the scene, I realise that millions of miles have been covered by many without these. But would it be best to invest?
Or will I never look at them?
Or will I end up a nervous reck looking at them every other second?

 

[Trikky2]

I never ran gauges on stock engines.

When I built a non stock I fitted pressure and oil temp. They were useful when running in the new engine but these days they are just "worry gauges" :lol:

 

[Tofufi]

Or will I end up a nervous reck looking at them every other second?

Definitely you'll do this.

I've got a tacho and oil pressure gauge. I spend far too long looking at the oil pressure gauge, even when it's reading perfectly normal. Mostly on long runs, when there's less to think about.

 

[devonhelpus]

I have read a few pages including the one below regarding true "accuracy" of gauges or more inparticular their sender units, seems that oil pressure is the only real one to put any real trust in what it says at any point in time!
The other two can be shall we say more approximate.... mmmm food for thought

http://www.ratwell.com/technical/VDOGauges.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[chad]

I ended up buying Oil Pressure and Cylinder head Temperature Gauges from Dakota Digital.

These are supposed to be more accurate than the VDO ones and can be set to flash if the set parameters are exceeded.

They're out of my direct line of vision, above the ashtray, so aren't distracting but you notice them when they do flash.

 

[aspro]

I've got a gauge which tells me how much petrol I have. It kind of works. I also have a gauge which tells me how fast I'm going. It's very innacurate. I don't think I need another gauge which kind of works.

I almost forgot, I have installed one of my tachos of course. It works great. :lol:

 

[devonhelpus]

This also got me to thinking, as the speedo runs off the front axle, with the different wheel size / profiles people opt for and their different rolling circumference from standard must mean the speedo is a best guess gauge as well....!
Might get a few friends (for an average) in modern cars to drive at 30 /40 /50 mph and work out how far out my speedo, so I dont chug past the police at 37.5 mph in a 30 area blissfully unaware.....

 

[mike202]

You could do that, or just use a free speedo app on your smartphone, or a savnav app. That's what most people do.

 

[Moseley]

This also got me to thinking, as the speedo runs off the front axle, with the different wheel size / profiles people opt for and their different rolling circumference from standard must mean the speedo is a best guess gauge as well....!
Might get a few friends (for an average) in modern cars to drive at 30 /40 /50 mph and work out how far out my speedo, so I dont chug past the police at 37.5 mph in a 30 area blissfully unaware.....

Mine over-reads by a long way due to lower profile tyres. Somewhere in the region of +10mph at 40. I shouldn't ever have to worry about speed cameras, but people might get annoyed when sitting behind me! :lol:

 

[gas1man]

^^^^^^^^^^^^WHS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
:lol: :lol: Mines the same :lol: :lol:

J & P


vvvv WHS vvvv
And one of those :lol:

 

[the_troupster]

I've got one of these from a recent group buy...

http://www.savemybug.com/index.htm

Works great 8)
Jim

 

[Albie5]

I've always used oil temp/pressure guages with my stock 1600. Without knowing the oil temp you can cruise at too high a speed for too long. Driving at say 65 - 70 mph on a long run (in my case across France) in say outside weather temps of 30 + degrees will overheat your engine. Keeping an eye on the guage keeps the engine running in "safe" parameters. Also my pressure guage saved my engine once - I noticed pressure falling and the needle fluctuating - I pulled over to check dipstick which was dry - I had a bad oil leak ! (Always carry spare oil)
Thats my experience anyway . . .

 

[K@rlos]

I've got Autometer monster tacho, oil pressure and oil temp. With 5k + of race motor in the back I like knowing what's going on. Not fixed staring at them, they just get an odd glance now and then. Just like the speedo, fuel gauge