Best place to fit oil/water senders? impressions pros/cons

[Force13b]

Originally Posted by Jonathan3009

I've found something similar... and some time ago... there was a gb to spain for those gauges...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqouOlz74KY

i think for many rx7 users that gauge can be a good option... the only bad thing I've found is they don't have warn/peak alert...

they're cheap and seems like they're good quality

but im still opened to your advise and feedbacks about brands

Wow that is exactly what my gauge looks like. I'm sure it's just re-branded very cool. Good to know it was a pain to get the Sgear gauge.
http://www.deporacing.com/product_1....key=342&type=B

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by Signal 2

Good to know I'm not the only one wanting to minimize the number of gauges. Having one with multiple displays is kind of cool, as long as it's simple to go from one to another on the fly.
But monitoring both oil and coolant temps still seems redundant. What will oil temps tell you that coolant temps won't...or vice-versa?

On my setup for example, the oil temps can get rather hot when pushing it hard for 25minute sessions. And by rather hot I mean 200-210* Water on the other hand tends to stay around 180-185. While sitting in traffic the oil temp can get out of control because there is no movement through the exchangers. I've seen 220* oil temps while sitting in traffic, yet coolant never get's about 185* It's good to know what both are

Originally Posted by Force13b

Water and Oil temps are not necessarily related.

You're correct, they're not always related.

[Jonathan3009]

Hi all

so finally today after some weeks waiting parts... gauges are installed

here is a pic.. i went for an apexi mechanical for boost and 1 depo racing 4 in 1 gauge for the rest...

20111126_201618.jpg

Just im worried about my apexi boost gauge illumination... I hooked it to acc directly.. so gauge will be lighted on all time... can it be bad for the bulb life?

and also... after s 20 mins ride by city with medium traffic my oil temp looks really low...

i got at start 68 F after ride parking and ready to shut down car 95 F
coolant was 68 F at start and after ride 212

those temps are normal for you?

[speedjunkie]

The D and the lettering on that Depo gauge look way too familiar lol. Where did you get that? The De looks like Defi but with po at the end.

Hook your illumination wire up to something that will come on with the headlights. On the FD you can hook it up to the wires for the lights going to either the cigarette lighter or the ash tray for example.

The coolant temp looks like it might be right depending on your setup, maybe a little bit high, but the oil temps look way low. Mine are closer to 200 at least IIRC, and during driving I've seen them get up to around 230 or 240 on warmer days.

[Signal 2]

Originally Posted by speedjunkie

.......Hook your illumination wire up to something that will come on with the headlights. On the FD you can hook it up to the wires for the lights going to either the cigarette lighter or the ash tray for example.....

^ +1, that way you should be able to adjust brightness with the rest of the dash lights as well. Just (carefully) pull the shifter surround panel and the wire is right there.

[TitaniumTT]

I went looking for that Depo 4/1 gauge but not seeing it... do you have a part number for it by chance?

If you hook up the illumination to the headlights, you won't be able to adjust the dimness at all, they will either be on or off. And depending on the type of illumination used on the gauge, you might not be able to dim it even iff hooked up to the proper circuit.

[Jonathan3009]

Originally Posted by TitaniumTT

I went looking for that Depo 4/1 gauge but not seeing it... do you have a part number for it by chance?

If you hook up the illumination to the headlights, you won't be able to adjust the dimness at all, they will either be on or off. And depending on the type of illumination used on the gauge, you might not be able to dim it even iff hooked up to the proper circuit.

Sure!

they've 4 models...



I have to say i'm happy with that gauge...

returning to my illumination problem.... so, where should i fit my apexi gauge then? it just have 2 wires...

[speedjunkie]

Originally Posted by TitaniumTT

If you hook up the illumination to the headlights, you won't be able to adjust the dimness at all, they will either be on or off. And depending on the type of illumination used on the gauge, you might not be able to dim it even iff hooked up to the proper circuit.

I had mine hooked up to the dimmer switch before, but they still just went on or off, no adjustment. At least if he has them hooked up to the headlights they will be off during the day and on at night. Where should he connect them otherwise?

Originally Posted by Jonathan3009

returning to my illumination problem.... so, where should i fit my apexi gauge then? it just have 2 wires...

So your APEX'i gauge is mechanical? If it only has two wires I would think one is power and one is ground and it's mechanical. What color are the wires? Do you have instructions for hooking it up?

[Jonathan3009]

nope.. I don't have the isntructions =S... wires are yellow and green... so i think will be safer for bulb gauge if i hook it to some illumination wire... i think im gonna hook it to the iso stereo adapter

[speedjunkie]

Green is probably ground then, but look it up online to make sure first.

[speedjunkie]

I know this is an old thread, but I have a couple questions, I just want to verify that it'll be ok.

I don't have stock gauges in the FD anymore, switched to Speedhut. So I'm thinking about deleting the stock oil pressure sender and putting the aftermarket (Spa Techniques) sender in its place. I'm switching from a Power FC to Adaptronic Select...it shouldn't cause any issues with the ECU, correct? I've been told the stock pressure sender feeds info only to the gauge cluster, not the ECU, but I wanted to make sure.

Also, since I'll only need one more port for the oil temp sender, I've been thinking about getting rid of the sandwich plate I've been using, but I'm trying to think of a good place to mount the sender. I've thought about mounting it in the bottom of the stock oil filter pedestal or in the Mocal thermostat before the oil coolers. I think I've seen someone mount it in the thermostat. If I do either of those I want to make sure it's not obstructing oil flow.

And right now I have the water temp sensor tapped into the water pump housing, right behind the thermostat, because I wanted it in the hottest place on the engine and I figured that would be it. But now seeing that someone else mounted theirs in the stock port, I'm thinking about doing that. Would there be any problems with the ECU by getting rid of the stock water temp sensor or does it feed only the gauge as well?

Any suggestions?

[chibikougan]

Bash for thread ressurect and I have no idea what you are talking about.


So you are running a piggyback ecu still so you are wondering if they will feed signals to the piggyback as they did the stock ecu? If you switch the sender's?

Just make sure and hook the same wires to the new senders and I would think that wouldn't change a thing. Make sure senders send the same values. Anyone else?

[speedjunkie]

Yeah that kinda is what I'm talking about lol. But the sensors are for Spa Techniques gauges, so they won't work with the stock connectors. I'm just wondering if the oil pressure or water temp senders feed the ECU as well as the gauges or just the gauges.

And I'm also wondering if it would be better to mount the oil temp sender in the stock filter pedestal (drill and tap) or in the Mocal thermostat, which I think I've seen a pic of before, just can't remember who did it.

[chibikougan]

Originally Posted by speedjunkie

Yeah that kinda is what I'm talking about lol. But the sensors are for Spa Techniques gauges, so they won't work with the stock connectors. I'm just wondering if the oil pressure or water temp senders feed the ECU as well as the gauges or just the gauges.

And I'm also wondering if it would be better to mount the oil temp sender in the stock filter pedestal (drill and tap) or in the Mocal thermostat, which I think I've seen a pic of before, just can't remember who did it.

Hmmm I am not sure I am qualified to give advice for this. I would think yes it send a signal to the ecu but it may just go to a dash light for warning. Hmm let me dig through the fsm and see what it has for us.

As far as mounting what's wrong with the sammich?

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by speedjunkie

Yeah that kinda is what I'm talking about lol. But the sensors are for Spa Techniques gauges, so they won't work with the stock connectors. I'm just wondering if the oil pressure or water temp senders feed the ECU as well as the gauges or just the gauges.

The stock ECU for purposes of fuel/ign calcs only uses the temp sensor that's on the back of the waterpump housing. The sendors on the rear iron are for just for the gauges.

Datalogging the oil pressure and temp is always a good idea, a better idea is to datalog fuel pressure, that's some good info to have.

As for where to mount the sensors, I wouldn't drill into the Mocal t-stat though, I would get something like this if you're looking for pressure

Originally Posted by speedjunkie

And I'm also wondering if it would be better to mount the oil temp sender in the stock filter pedestal (drill and tap) or in the Mocal thermostat, which I think I've seen a pic of before, just can't remember who did it.

For Temp, well I would get the same adapter on the front cover.... I always found it odd that people datalog the oil temp at the coldest location - after the oil coolers as it goes back into the engine - where the coolant temp is generally tapped is the hottest part, as it comes out of engine.... which is why I kinda want to probe both the front cover and the rear pedestal.... I'll probably end up welding a bung onto the front cover and tapping it that way if it doesn't interfere with the AC belts.