Temp Gauge in Dome Light Retrofit

[GSLENK]

Started a retrofit of a Digital temp gauge into the blank spaces of an automatic dome light. I drive a manual so no need for the auto warning lights etc... I can probably fit 3 of these bad boys in there.

Wont have any more progress till the semester is over. It is crunch time.

So far I have water temp. IDK what else to thrown in there. I dont have room for needles, so probably only temp gauges will be useful in there. Maybe Ill go full digital boost gauge, and or WB. Not too keen on putting rapid number changing gauges in a number only readout form. Does oil pressure change really fast on a real gauge/sender combo (aka not slow like the factory dash oil pressure gauge).

Its hard to capture. I plan on tinting the cover so it is not so bright.

 

[Paintballaa5]

Dude that's an incredible idea! I love it! I think a digital oil pressure gauge would be just fine also. It moves a good bit when accelerating, but you probably wouldn't be looking up at the roof while you're driving much anyway.. I mainly check mine at idle/cruising anyway.

p.s. I feel ya on crunch time. It's getting close to finals, which means zero car time haha.

 

[4Lurker4]

Maybe you could put voltage? Doesn't change much but at least you know if everything is working right.

Nice mod by the way

 

[91-GS]

Nice mod by the way

Yeah, what he said

Wonder if a single or dual gauge pod was to be made onto the dome light, would it be a good idea or will there be too much stuff there?

 

[JOSHDIZLE]

That looks awesome! I would put things you don't need to check that often. It looks great though!!!!

 

[GSLENK]

Yeah, what he said

Wonder if a single or dual gauge pod was to be made onto the dome light, would it be a good idea or will there be too much stuff there?

I think that might look off, throwing large gauges up there instead of sticking to a low profile.

Maybe a completely custom dome light setup would work, but not the original one.

 

[EvilTsi95]

Like everyone else says.. Thats sooooo sick.. I love that. +1

 

[91-GS]

I think that might look off, throwing large gauges up there instead of sticking to a low profile.

Maybe a completely custom dome light setup would work, but not the original one.

Did not realize at the time that typical gauge is 2" round. That would be alot of bulk up there.

What was originally in the part where this digital gauge is?

 

[nelliott500]

Very cool. I love the idea.

 

[n0de]

Can i get one with a warning message that says "Danger to manifold"?

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On a more serious note, I like the direction you're going.

 

[92nolatist]

^Excellent!

Ive always wondered about doing this. Looks awesome dude! I would definitely put battery voltage up there and maybe ambient air temps too? That way you can know the difference between intake air temps and outside temps, to see how well your intercooler is working ?? I dont know, just a thought.

 

[Bud92gsx]

Wow,why the hell didnt I think of this.

Thats awsome,all you did was get a digital gauge,and hooked it up then huh?

Or a gear output for us auto guys.i never look up there.What else could go there

 

[CountryDSM]

Yeah you can go alot of directions with that.

I am pretty jealous as a 2g owner. I have always like the 1g cabin much better as the fans and such are tilted towards you allowing for a neat gauge setup. Then with this you are really do have so many places to put stuff like that. You could even mount a turbo timer in there.

 

[GSLENK]

I managed to get a how to in 2 pics. The gauge (the "smart part/guts") will reside behind the dash somewhere or behind the a pillar trim if there is room. I have it atteched to 6 feet of ribbon cable. I just extended the digital display 6 feet from the "computer" part if you will.

Besides the annoying repetitive soldering, Its pretty easy.

I I like the idea of intake temps etc...

If these 7-segment LED displays are standardized as readouts, I might be able to make a universal type so I can switch is up by dropping the domelight and plugging a different connector.


No gauge in here. only the led display.

I will also extend the warning led next to it so the full square will light up red behind it if I breach a peak level. Unfortunately this one only does *C, but i guess it doesn't matter. I just wanna be a fer degrees below 100*C in this case. red led comes on at 100*C

 

[GSLENK]

it lives!

 

[Paintballaa5]

Not sure if it's to late in the process for you, but I was scrolling through and had an idea for something else.
Maybe in the background of the gauge displays, you could have some LED's rigged to light up as a shift light.

I made some quick drawings to illustrate that cause that probably didn't make sense.

Normal Driving:

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At your shift point:

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Just passing on an idea for your already sick design

 

[knochgoon24]

Where did you get the gauge to convert into this? Is it just a gutted aftermarket water temp gauge?

 

[GSLENK]

some LED's rigged to light up as a shift light.

I Have it set that way for my coolant warning temp light.

That is not a good spot for immediate feedback. A shift light is better suited in the direct line of sight, or at least around/above the tach. IMO... also I cannot directly backlight a 7 segment display. I can only light around the entire assembly.

The auto enclosure up there is divided into 3 sectiona from the factory. The outer 2 sections are a prefect snug fit for a 3 part 7-segment display to be transplanted into. The center has about 4-6mm of wiggle room side to side. there is less than a single mm of up down play in all 3 sections. The middle is where I mounted a red warning led for now. Ill ground my temp sensor (to display 150*C and warning light) tomorrow to show it.

The "(3x) 7 segment (plus 1 decimal point)" display is from a disassembled display of an aftermarket coolant temp gauge. I simply desoldered it from the board, took note of the pin locations, and extended it via compact ribbon cable. I reused the package to protect the remote mounted internals.

There is plenty clearance for ethernet twisted pair cable, I might go that route, but I wanted to be extra sure the first time around.

Where did you get the gauge to convert into this? Is it just a gutted aftermarket water temp gauge?

This is a trial. I bought a cheapo $20 digital gauge from ebay. unfortunately they only come in Celsius at that price. I tested it in boiling water... 100*C on the dot, so I will assume it is accurate enough for my needs (warning light, that is more accurate than oem dash gauge.) I have yet to log it against the ecu gauge.

I really wanted to try it myself, and I figured the $20 was disposable for the sake of a fun tinkering project. and it turned out virtually perfect. I might make a few revisions next time, but it works.

 

[Paintballaa5]

That is not a good spot for immediate feedback. A shift light is better suited in the direct line of sight, or at least around/above the tach. IMO... also I cannot directly backlight a 7 segment display. I can only light around the entire assembly.

That's what I meant, around the entire assembly.
And I feel like 10+ leds blasting off slightly into your peripheral vision would suffice. But that's just me.

Good work so far though!

 

[GSLENK]

there is only room for about 3-4 leds and that is only in the center section. the other sections are a c-hair shy of a perfect fit. and there is now way to significantly shave these any smaller.

This is literally the perfect place to put 3x 7-segment displays. and 3-4 indicator leds.


I do get what you are saying, I agree there are worse places than proposed to put a shift led light, and your spot is not a bad idea. you would have to aim the leds at the driver to guarantee notification. a glow in the corner of the eye may not help.

I might steal your idea and devote an entire section to a shift light now that I think about it

I drew a pic to scale using cunthairs as the scale

 

[Paintballaa5]

there is only room for about 3-4 leds and that is only in the center section. the other sections are a c-hair shy of a perfect fit. and there is now way to significantly shave these any smaller.

Oh okay I gotcha. 2g owner here, so I'm not even totally sure what this piece looks like.

I might steal your idea and devote an entire section to a shift light now that I think about it

Just trying to think out of the box!

I drew a pic to scale using cunthairs as the scale

Wait.. you drew an image with what? lulz

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[GSLENK]

UPDATE... 2 years later, I am pretty good at arduinos now. No more sacrificial gutted gauges. Also picked up some PCB prototyping. A MUCH cleaner package. All of it will fit in the dome light case, retain 100% dome light functionality, and on top of it, only 3 wires need to be ran (instead of the ribbon with ~12 or so wires in it). One for each value/parameter to be displayed. I have coded the omni-4bar, and the E85 flex fuel sensor to go up there for now. Middle is blank. Will be easy to make it the engine temp except not from a chinese sender. It will read directly from the ECT sensor that feeds the ECU =].

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