Extra guages?

[Fusion]

My overhead BC isn't working quite right and I don't really believe the guages too much so I was thinking I would buy extra quages for water temp, oil temp, oil pressure and maybe voltage since I also plan on tracking the car next year, I really want to know if anything's going on in the engine.

I found some Raid HP guages, anyone have experience with them? Each gauge kit should include all necessary cables/sensors, but the actual install may be a bit more complicated.
Where would you plug in the oil temp/pressure sensors?
Can the water temp sensor be mounted into the aluminum tstat housing with some modding, or is there a better placement?

Thanks

[416stroker]

T the stock temp sensor or delete it. I deleted mine It never read rite anyway. Everythime I hit a bump it moved.

[erik325i]

I just put all the oil and water senders where the stock ones were.
If you're using aftermarket gauges, there is no need to leave the stock senders in place.
Erik

[justin_l_]

^What he said.

[Fusion]

Ok, I also found out that the cheaper ones suck and aren't very exact, now I'm looking at VDO Vision or similar.

And the sensors that come with the VDOs for example will be plug and play?

[Fusion]

Looks like I'll get the VDOs, just not sure on the sensors. Anyone know what thread size is in the original water temp sensor placement? This is important to buy the right one along with the gauge. Is the original placement (probably in the head) the best for water temp info? they also sell an adapter that fits in between hoses with a 32mm diameter, but I'm not sure where I'd place it.
And where would you place the oil temp/pressure sensors? I'm thinking about getting the Ireland Eng. filter cap and cooler, which I'd like to install later. It says that there are two spaces for sensors so that would probably be a good placement?

Edit: the original oil sensor on the m50 is just a low oil level sensor for the idiot light? Would it be OK to replace it with the VDO oil temp sensor, and where can it be found?

[flyboyx]

Looks like I'll get the VDOs, just not sure on the sensors. Anyone know what thread size is in the original water temp sensor placement? This is important to buy the right one along with the gauge. Is the original placement (probably in the head) the best for water temp info? they also sell an adapter that fits in between hoses with a 32mm diameter, but I'm not sure where I'd place it.
And where would you place the oil temp/pressure sensors? I'm thinking about getting the Ireland Eng. filter cap and cooler, which I'd like to install later. It says that there are two spaces for sensors so that would probably be a good placement?

Edit: the original oil sensor on the m50 is just a low oil level sensor for the idiot light? Would it be OK to replace it with the VDO oil temp sensor, and where can it be found?

i think vdo gauges are a very good choice. they are not cheap, but competitive with other quality manufacturers. they will look the most stock in your car. the water temp sensor is in the side of the head. oil temp and pressure sensors should be located on the oil filter housing. they are on the side of the housing facing the firewall. sorry i can't help you with the thread size. my s52 oil housing has another orifice or two that are unused and blocked off with a plug. i don't think it is a good idea to mess with the oil lever sensor. it is located in the bottom of the oil pan. that sensor is pretty big. i think if you are worried about readings such as oil temp, you should be worried about oil level and keep this information intact in your car. this sensor corresponds to the check panel above the inside rear view mirror. it is the one labeled "oil".

i think the number of gauges you install depends on the amount of places you have available in your dash. i purchased that trapezoidal aux gauge pod that looks like a factory install just below the climate control panel in the console. it has three openings. i am going to run a supercharger on my car and i have an s14 gauge cluster that already contains an oil temp gauge. with this information in mind, my gauge pod will be filled with a boost/vacuum, oil pressure, and voltage gauges. since my installation is not applicable to you, i would suggest for a normally aspirated car with stock cluster the following aftermarket gauges in order of importance:

1: oil pressure
2: water temp
3: oil temp
4: voltage
5: vacuum
6: anything else you can think of such as the kitchen sink

if you are modding your engine, an air fuel gauge might be located just under oil pressure. however, once you have it dialed in, that gauge wouldn't likely be useful. i am probably not going to install this gauge for two reasons. i want my car to look as stock as possible, so most of them look really stupid in my opinion with all those leds and such. they are also very pricey. 200-500 dollars.

as far as water temperature is concerned, i won't bother adding that one to my car because the stock gauge in my cluster is very accurate. no, i can't tell the exact reading, but i know what temperature my thermostat opens up so it can safely be assumed that the normal position of the needle at operating temp is located there. in my case, we will assume 90C. i would suggest fixing yours to free up the space for another instrument in your panel.

[Fusion]

Thanks for your thougts!
I will most likely go with the 1, 2, 3 exactly like you listed. I was also thinking about voltage, but I don't really think that's a major need.
I'll check the filter housing for the sensors. I also looked at the parts catalog to find out what size the threads are, but ie. temp sensor is either 14x1,5 or 10x1, same engine, same year, so before I buy the VDO sensors, I'll check physically on the engine to be 100% sure.

[george graves]

as far as water temperature is concerned, i won't bother adding that one to my car because the stock gauge in my cluster is very accurate.

That may not be true. It's been said that the gauge is not linear, and so around center it's actually a much wider range than you think. I'm hoping to give this a test someday. Ohhhh someday.

[etxxz]

oil press and oil temp are a must. I could have saved my engine if i had oil pressure.. I came in at 137mph into turn 10 of PBIR ~ 6800rpm and lost oil pressure (oil pump nut) w/o knowing.. a couple turns later good bye.

If your dash water temp is not hooked up then hook it up or get one too. Some things are good to have redundancy on, water temp is not one if your stock on works imo. I plan to stick the oil senders onto a UUC "oil center" or IE oil cap so i can also add an oil cooler. Man, i can't wait to get this thing running again!!

[flyboyx]

oil press and oil temp are a must. I could have saved my engine if i had oil pressure.. I came in at 137mph into turn 10 of PBIR ~ 6800rpm and lost oil pressure (oil pump nut) w/o knowing.. a couple turns later good bye.

If your dash water temp is not hooked up then hook it up or get one too. Some things are good to have redundancy on, water temp is not one if your stock on works imo. I plan to stick the oil senders onto a UUC "oil center" or IE oil cap so i can also add an oil cooler. Man, i can't wait to get this thing running again!!

I can never figure out why bmw never chose to put an oil pressuure gauge in anything. Imho I believe it is more imoprtant than oil temp. If the engine is healthy, oil temp will be 30 to 40F higher than coolant temp. It is nice to know, but not nearly as useful as pressure.

[Fusion]

Agreed. A lot of the older Mercs, mainly diesel but even gas had oil pressure guages and you could tell a lot about the engine condition by just starting it a taking it for a quick drive.

[mck]

What is operating oil pressure for the Euro S50B30? also what would be a low oil pressure?

[Fusion]

If my findings are correct idle should be 0.5bar and tops about 4.0bar.

Also found this nice little thing for hooking up oil temp + oil press + stock warning sensor

http://www.harrisonmotorsports.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=93

[mck]

If my findings are correct idle should be 0.5bar and tops about 4.0bar.

Also found this nice little thing for hooking up oil temp + oil press + stock warning sensor
http://www.harrisonmotorsports.com/s...products_id=93

That is a nice unit.