Gauges - Whats Good?

[kangaroosa]

Well it seems my set of 3 gauges for $45 was too good a deal. The oil pressure reads 10-20psi too low, and the temp gauge reads 25 degrees to low. "You get what you pay for" (i hear all of you saying that right now).

So i have priced some autometer gauges. Oil pressure gauge is $125 and water temp gauge is $175.

In the Speco range i can get the oil pressure gauge for $28 and water temp is $28.

 

Just wondering if anyone has the speco gauges and are they accurate? The Speco gauges are featured in Repco's latest catalogue.

 

Mechanical or Electronic - What is everyones preference?

I've read a previous post discussing the legalities of in cabin mechanical gauges and this doesnt bother me in the slightest. So i'm open to either type of gauge.

 

Whats the deal with the fuel mixture gauges - are they a universal thing, or are they programable. Will the gauge be just as accurate on a worked 5k compared to a standard 3k. I have no idea how they work, so please excuse my lack of knowledge.

 

All i'm after is accuracy basically, and preferably not $125 for one gauge.

[Jason]

air/fuel meter work using a O2 sensor in the exhaust, ranging for 0-1v.

 

I made my own and built it into my dash

[Super Jamie]

not every ego sensor has the same output though. if you want to build your own EGO, do some googling on "diy wideband" or "diy_wb" or similar. there are certain sensors the jaycar kit works exactly right for, others you need an efi car or known good ego to calibrate the sensor with

 

vdo gauges are good quality and not as high priced as the other brand name stuff, if you're after accurate gauges on a budget then they're the way to go. if you must have the full bling bling dash, then get autometer or speco or whatever else brand name they sell at autobarn. the more you buy at once in a pack, the cheaper they are

 

electronic is the only way to go. it's illegal to run any line from the engine bay into your dash, and there's the obvious danger of having hot engine oil circulating around inside, not to mention it would be f@$king messy if the line breaks

 

i have a mechanical vac gauge, i think this is illegal but not as unsafe as an oil pressure line so i don't mind

[Xany]

Autogauge are another one. Made by Autometer, i have an EL oil gauge atm and its great.....better than the shitty one i bought from autobarn.

 

go electrical, easier to setup i think. and better than mech.

 

you can find some autogauges on ebay if you look.

[Teddy]

^^ hehehehe ill vouch for that

Edited February 8, 2005 by Grimwolge

[crazy_bunny]

Ive brought several Autoguage guages off ebay.. they all work great and havent hand any problems with them yet... can be brought from most performance shops but cost nealr tripple than off ebay...

CLICKY ME

these blokes are the main suppliers of autoguage stuff om ebay(i buy from them).... havent got much atm but uselly have 50+ to select from..

[kangaroosa]

I guess the main reason that i have never gone with electrical gauges in the past is because i've been told that they are not as accurate as mechanical.

Is this true and if so, hot far off accurate are they. Since you all recommend electrical gauges, i guess they are accurate enough.

Finally, are the electrical gauges more expensive or cheaper than mechanical gauges. The prices that i gathered were for mechanical.

I really only need oil pressure and water temp. I recently had a ammeter and vacuum, but never found them to be that useful (for everyday use that is).

[demuire]

Electrical ones are actually usually more accurate due to the sender being right where you want the measurement to take place. Just make sure you get good stuff, any cheap gauge (mechanical or otherwise) will potentially have accuracy problems.