I hate the gauges I have now. I am looking to spend between 50-80 bucks a gauge on a new boost/vac gauge, and an oil pressure gauge. What does everyone run? mechanical or electronic? My dad is an old school guy, and he thinks mechanical will be fine for both, and I tend to agree. He made a pretty clever little "saftey" that includes running one copper hose through a nylon one through a rubber one to ensure no breakage and extra protection just in case, and I think it will be fine.
I know for the boost gauge, mechanical would be perfectly safe, 100%. I know others will disagree about why NOT to run a mech OP gauge. lets hear it. Show your setups!
Dual Aeroforce interceptors and done
Autometer Sport Comp Mechanical oil pressure gauge for me, going to get the Sport Comp boost gauge as well, in mechanical.
I have my oil pressure reading pre-oil filter, so when hot the needle buries itself past the 100psi mark on the gauge at anything over 4500rpm.
So at 7500rpm its anyones guess what the oil pressure would be, 200psi? 250psi?
Needless to say, not a single leak to date, so that says something about the quality.
I'm just running the clear plastic line as well.
Setup looks like this.
Boost gauge looks like this.
This thread all comes down to preference. There are a million options out there. Personally I prefer electronic over mechanical in a lot of cases for a multitude of reasons. Mechanical still has its place in certain situations too.
ASE Master Certified Automotive Technician
I personally dont want fluids inside my cabin area. Oil especially. I know some fail and some dont, but when they do and it goes unnoticed, it hangs around forever and makes a huge mess until its too late and oil is everywhere.
Electronic of course has its bugs, its not like either are fool proof. I have seen some mechanical gauges be off but at the same time, ive seen electronic be off just as much. Its all about preference. You will be able to buy mechanical MUCH cheaper than you ever will full sweep electrics.
ordered up the z series 30/30 vac/boost gauges, and the z series 0-100 OP gauges. should have em friday.
Man I bet those gauges stay coooooool. I hate messing with glass, and If I'm gonna bondo up my dash, I'm keepin' my ac vents. I'll end up with a single pillar gauge or somethign lame, but heres my 2 gauge mounts...
I'm running mechanical boost, remote fuel pressure obviously, and no oil. If I was going to run an oil gauge it'd be remote, and if it had to be mechanical, it'd be duct taped to the outside of my windshield.
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I seen em put right in front of the passenger seat above the glove box to I think that's pointless tho more a show thing
EvoFire wrote:ordered up the z series 30/30 vac/boost gauges, and the z series 0-100 OP gauges. should have em friday.
Why spend 50-60 on a mechanical OP? I know AutoMeter is one of the top dogs in reliability, but you could've had a remote OP gauge for $55 from glowshift, but their sending units are cheap and known to die right out of warranty. Very interested in how you plan on installing the OP gauge, line wise, so please post pics and details!
@ Chris
Is there a log/how to somewhere for the ac vent bondo gauges. May go that route. I saw how 'JUCNBST' did his gauge back in 09' that way and hey don't look terrible. Plus theres always your floor vents ahaha. EDIT: Took 10 minutes of searching to find out how he did it w/ pics
Sorry to thread jack, PM me if I'm crossing a line of sorts.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Thursday, August 16, 2012 3:50 PM
I roll on steelies. Work-in-progress daily-sleeper potential.
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I agree, I think you would have been happier with a digital oil psi gauge. I have like 4 or 5 mechanical Autometer Sport Comps laying around that you could have had.
ASE Master Certified Automotive Technician
CaliforniaDomestics wrote:I agree, I think you would have been happier with a digital oil psi gauge. I have like 4 or 5 mechanical Autometer Sport Comps laying around that you could have had.
x2 on digital that's what I have easyer and no worries
CaliforniaDomestics wrote:I agree, I think you would have been happier with a digital oil psi gauge. I have like 4 or 5 mechanical Autometer Sport Comps laying around that you could have had.
well you should have told me that when I was asking you about it. I went with mechanical, because both of the digital ones I have had now have gone out within 6 months of installing them. Either that, or I have some SUPER spuradic oil pressure. Or they were too sensative. Either way, if I decide I don't like them, then the OP gauge I am getting would still be a good diagnostic tool later down the road for other things I am sure. I know my digital one right now is on the fritz because I verified with 3 mechanical gauges, and they are read with in the same 1 or 2 PSI, while the digital one was 10-11 PSI off.
As for the boost gauge, I just wanted a full sweep mechanical vac/boost gauge.
Yeah, the reliability is the only upside of mechanical. Like I said, glowshift sending units suck. If you don't have good grounds your readings are off. I'm all for running a mechanical oil gauge, I just am really curious on how you route it for future reference. The only reason I prefer electrical is because its easier for me to diagnose wiring problems, then to figure out where my oil pressure is leaking from.
Boost gauges should always be mechanical. Unless you use you're map sensor as a sending unit. That'd be cool, and worth wile.
I roll on steelies. Work-in-progress daily-sleeper potential.
http://www.j-body.org/classifieds/engine/60493/
Eric Knight wrote:Boost gauges should always be mechanical. Unless you use you're map sensor as a sending unit. That'd be cool, and worth wile.
Im not a fan of electric boost gauges.....they react very slow...smooth but slow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA7gezz_fjg
EvoFire wrote:CaliforniaDomestics wrote:I agree, I think you would have been happier with a digital oil psi gauge. I have like 4 or 5 mechanical Autometer Sport Comps laying around that you could have had.
well you should have told me that when I was asking you about it. I went with mechanical, because both of the digital ones I have had now have gone out within 6 months of installing them. Either that, or I have some SUPER spuradic oil pressure. Or they were too sensative. Either way, if I decide I don't like them, then the OP gauge I am getting would still be a good diagnostic tool later down the road for other things I am sure. I know my digital one right now is on the fritz because I verified with 3 mechanical gauges, and they are read with in the same 1 or 2 PSI, while the digital one was 10-11 PSI off.
As for the boost gauge, I just wanted a full sweep mechanical vac/boost gauge.
You never asked. I never offered because you asked my opinion when you text me and my opinion was opposite of your choice. Had you told me you decided on mechanical I would have probably then offered the ones I have laying around. Honestly the problems you are describing sound like a ground issue OR you tightened the ground prong too much and broke the isolator in the sender. Pretty common mistake on the sending units. Just use what you bought and if you hate em you can go the other route. This way you spend more in the long wrong. Seems to be a common theme haha.
Eric Knight wrote:If you don't have good grounds your readings are off.
This is true for anything electronic. On the flipside I personally have never had problems with digital gauges even gloshift so I suppose its hit or miss. No matter what though good ground is imperative.
Philly D wrote:Eric Knight wrote:Boost gauges should always be mechanical. Unless you use you're map sensor as a sending unit. That'd be cool, and worth wile.
Im not a fan of electric boost gauges.....they react very slow...smooth but slow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA7gezz_fjg
Depends on the brand, sender, and more importantly the drive motor in the actual gauge. Some are definitely slow, the sweep speed can be bench tested though if you wanted while making choices. Digital in my opinion has too many pros that outweigh those of mechanical. I use to be a fan of mechanical too but that's long in the past.
ASE Master Certified Automotive Technician
Well in terms of boost gauges, if you're running a 2+ bar map, all the data you need for tuning is right there. It's cheaper and definitely less of a worry to have a mechanical.
I actually bought a cheap mechanical oil pressure gauge to see how they are routed. The one I had (returned now) was a tiny plastic line for oil. The gauge is solid but a tiny line turned me off. IMO a sending unit right on the block with proper grounds, will be more reliable and accurate.
I roll on steelies. Work-in-progress daily-sleeper potential.
http://www.j-body.org/classifieds/engine/60493/
