Electric oil pressure gauges

[NHerron]

Right now I have a cheapo oil pressure gauge which has an actual oil line running into the car. I really hate that. Especially when I thought I had the fitting snug enough on the back and it slowly leaked inside the gauge pod

So I've been looking around for some electric ones and was curious what everyone else has been running. A lot of the ones I find have a huge sender which may complicate things but I'll deal.

I like this one since it is a smoked lens so to keep a low profile when it's off. Kinda like the LC-1 WB
MK1 Electric Oil Pressure LED Blue Gauge Kit W/Sender | eBay

SO what are you running? Comments on price/function/brands etc

 

[91eclipseDSM]

I have a Blue Digital LED Oil Pressure Gauge

i like the way they look and fit into my cd player gauge pod but i am terrible at wiring and have not got it hooked up yet but it is mounted was hoping i could find a write up and pictures of how to do it but no luck

 

[NHerron]

Nice^! That would match the LC-1 being that it has a digital readout too. I also like a "high quality" one like AEM etc JUST because of the wiring. I really like cable sheathing to go with it instead of wires hangin everywhere haha. Being concerned more with organization under the dash vs a nice paint job? Check.

Just checked the price for an AEM oil pressure setup and it's more than their wideband! What the hell...

 

[91eclipseDSM]

Nice^! That would match the LC-1 being that it has a digital readout too. I also like a "high quality" one like AEM etc JUST because of the wiring. I really like cable sheathing to go with it instead of wires hangin everywhere haha. Being concerned more with organization under the dash vs a nice paint job? Check.

Just checked the price for an AEM oil pressure setup and it's more than their wideband! What the hell...

dang thats crazy must be a good oil pressure gauge then i thought widebands were like the most expensive gauge guess i was wrong but yeah ill take a picture tomorrow of how mine looks mounted and mayb if i figure out how to wire it in it will be lit up haha

 

[NHerron]

^I would look into how to hook up a wideband just to get an idea where to run wires for power/ground and where to run them in on the firewall

*I couldn't find much for threads on what people are running for electric oil gauges, I'm hoping more will chime in on what they are running and where they got them

 

[91eclipseDSM]

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theres my oil pressure gauge in the center of the 3

 

[TSiAWD666]

I have an electronic VDO oil pressure gauge, analog-style. I prefer analog-style gauges at a glance while on the track as I find digital require a bit more mental processing than I have while racing around and trying to turn It was pretty cheap too.

I have mine installed on my dash with a carbon fiber autometer pod:

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Bought the gauge and sender for I think around $60 from egauges.com. I also bought a blue led for the lighting from 42 draft designs.

You can see I also have a VDO electronic oil temp gauge.

 

[NHerron]

91eclipseDSM- I would guess that is one of the cleanest 1g's I've seen! Nice. Really like the smoked lens but I guess I'm used to oil pressure being analog

TSiAWD666- I was looking through the classifieds and found luda selling some gauges he got from egauges.com, the website kinda blows so I'm not 100%. Does it have a light you can switch on and off? Why do you have oil temp? I found a little info on the purpose but still didn't convinced me to get one, any tips?

I don't think I would like this one just because I hate blinding gauges at night

Was thinking about going this way. Cheap, Plain

 

[TSiAWD666]

The vdo gauges I have do have a light and I have it tied into my interior lighting so the gauges turn on/off with my other lights.

The egauges.com website leaves a lot to be desired but if you wade through it the prices are good.

I road race my car. Oil temps are important to me for a couple of reasons. Our engine oils are designed to operate within a given temperature range. Colder than this range and the oil is more viscous and does a poor job of lubricating your engine, and it can't boil off water that has been absorbed into it. Too hot and the oil starts to break down and again doesn't lubricate properly. Both scenarios mean engine damage long term and sometimes short term. So I want to make sure when I'm racing my oil is warmed up to the proper range before I drive hard, and then while driving making sure it doesn't overheat and start breaking down.

 

[jpmxrider489]

How about something like this? I always like digital gauges.

NEW 2" 52mm BLUE DIGITAL LED 0-120 PSI OIL PRESSURE PRESS GAUGE FOR CAR TRUCK | eBay

 

[NHerron]

I like that digital one jpmxrider489, but only thing is I'm used to analog for alot of things. The only digital I go for is the Innovate WB

TSiAWD666 thanks for the tips -especially coming from someone who knows their stuff. I'll be adding a couple more gauges here in a few months, and I think oil temp would be a good idea since I live in a cold climate (Imagine it would take a while to warm up the oil).

I got used to egauges.com, it's not so bad I guess. Spend a good amount of time there but nothing really caught my attention compared to the cheapo eBay gauge I found.

I'll comment on how the install went/quality of gauge, due to it's such low price. However I did find some reviews on "Revo Technica" and they sounded good to me.

In the meantime, if anybody wants to throw up their preference of oil pressure gauges, go ahead that would be cool

 

[NHerron]

Well I got the REVO oil pressure gauge installed. Not very happy.

The Gauge face looks great, install was easy, and the light is not very bright at night. The problem is all in the sender. First kit I got, the oil pressure would not read anything under 20psi. The gauge would just sit at zero while the engine is idling. Then once it got enough signal it would shoot up to 20 psi, then 30, then 40 etc. It would do this is a jumping manner and would not smoothly transistion from 20-30-40. So I emailed the seller and got a second kit. Still crap. The only thing better this time was that it smoothly transitions across the gauge instead of jumping. It still reads 0 at idle which really sucks.

When I get the money I'm going to egauges.com. No more playing games.

 

[leepen]

Where are you all putting the sending unit at?

 

[NHerron]

I have my 16G being fed from the stock T-25 feed port on the OFH. Between the feed and OFH, I have a -4an adapter which has a 1/8NPT port for the sending unit to screw into. There's actually quite a bit of room for a S/U there.

 

[leepen]

I have my 16G being fed from the stock T-25 feed port on the OFH. Between the feed and OFH, I have a -4an adapter which has a 1/8NPT port for the sending unit to screw into. There's actually quite a bit of room for a S/U there.

Sounds like a good set up. My turbo is being fed from the head so that wont work. I have figure out a spot on my 90 OFH...thanks

 

[NHerron]

Ball bearing turbo? FP has an inline 4an filter with a selectable built in restrictor. With that installed, you could follow this link and run the turbo from the 90' OFH. Or just leave the turbo alone and screw the sending unit in any of the ports since a S/U by itself doesn't need clean oil. The threads are 3/8BSP which is very close to NPT, but still not NPT.

 

[leepen]

Ball bearing turbo? FP has an inline 4an filter with a selectable built in restrictor. With that installed, you could follow this link and run the turbo from the 90' OFH. Or just leave the turbo alone and screw the sending unit in any of the ports since a S/U by itself doesn't need clean oil. The threads are 3/8BSP which is very close to NPT, but still not NPT.

Yeah BB turbo, I have an Earls filter and restrictor set up so Im ok there. I have read people using teflon tape in these instances with the BSP and NTP and it seems to work. Thanks for the links

 

[NHerron]

I will admit, when I got this car, I noticed the PO had cranked in a 3/8NPT to 1/8NPT with a bit of tape and it doesn't leak at all. Just was a disclaimer basically, in case someone were to point out a technicality

I have also tightened up the same sender (1/8NPT threads) in the head to check oil pressure and when I was done, I had no problems sealing it back up with the original 1/8BSP plug and some liquid thread sealant. Hell, I doubt my machinist even used BSP plugs when doing the block work.

GL

 

[steve]

In the past people have had issue with the electric oil pressure senders failing when connected directly to the oil filter housing. I don't know if that's because of the high pressure spikes in the oil at the housing or engine vibrations. The typical solution was to attach the sender to a stainless flex line and remotely mount it.

If you do that make sure to ground the sender body since it usually grounds via the mounting and I wouldn't trust the hose braid to be a good electrical connection over time.

 

[leepen]

In the past people have had issue with the electric oil pressure senders failing when connected directly to the oil filter housing. I don't know if that's because of the high pressure spikes in the oil at the housing or engine vibrations. The typical solution was to attach the sender to a stainless flex line and remotely mount it.

If you do that make sure to ground the sender body since it usually grounds via the mounting and I wouldn't trust the hose braid to be a good electrical connection over time.

Ive read the remote mount stuff didnt know about the ground thing..thanks

 

[NHerron]

Steve, can you give me an example of mounting the sender via a remote flex line? I can't mount it at the turbo SS line because I have a restrictor installed. Are you implying running a flex line a couple inches off the OFH just for the sender? I hadn't thought of that, but want to make sure that's the idea first

 

[chinola69]

Steve, can you give me an example of mounting the sender via a remote flex line? I can't mount it at the turbo SS line because I have a restrictor installed. Are you implying running a flex line a couple inches off the OFH just for the sender? I hadn't thought of that, but want to make sure that's the idea first

Was wondering if you had pics of your setup?

Also if you were having problems with the aftermarket sending unit, is it possible to just use the OEM sending in its place?

 

[snowborder714]

Steve, can you give me an example of mounting the sender via a remote flex line? I can't mount it at the turbo SS line because I have a restrictor installed. Are you implying running a flex line a couple inches off the OFH just for the sender? I hadn't thought of that, but want to make sure that's the idea first

Here's what my brother and I did. Loggable pressure sender on the left of the tee (silver unit) and aftermarket gauge pressure sender on the right (gold unit).

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[NHerron]

Was wondering if you had pics of your setup?

Also if you were having problems with the aftermarket sending unit, is it possible to just use the OEM sending in its place?

Here's mine right now.
It goes from 3/8NPT (should to BSP) to 4an via adapter, 90* 4an, 4an pressure sensor adapter (1/8NPT port), 4an oil restrictor, oil feed line to turbo. The sender is a two wire sender.

Not sure on the interchange, I could test resistance at various oil pressures to see where they are at, for reference.

 

[leepen]

had a straight braided line made off the 90OFH

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