Fitting Gauges

[kevtherev]

Nesty try and get the sump plug oil temp gauge.. easy to fit but protect it with something if you like long grass!

[AdrianC]

Nesty try and get the sump plug oil temp gauge.. easy to fit but protect it with something if you like long grass!

I fitted a sump plug sender for an oil temp gauge years ago. Thoroughly useless. Not only was it incredibly vulnerable (I got through two before I came to my senses - fortunately, none of them let all the oil out...) but it was also very, very slow to react to changes, because you're measuring the temperature of the mass of oil "resting" in the sump, rather than the oil that's actually doing something. In normal use, the gauge might as well not have been connected, because the needle never moved off the bottom stop. If you were relying on it to warn you of a problem, the engine would be cooked long before the gauge did more than twitch north.

[nicktennear]

Just found my copy of KYBA3 if you want I can email you a scanned version of it.

[kevtherev]

My temp gauge on my 88 DG is erratic so I bought a VDO temp gauge and sender from JK. My local garage cut the sender into the metal water pipe in the engine bay - not sure how wise that was but the gauge sits at a constant temp once the stat has opened, so hopefully I'll get reliable warning of any temp rise.
!

Interesting... though that pipe is the cooled water to the engine, if it started overheating you wouldn't know, better place would be the by pass hose or there's a little place on the thermostat housing that would take a thread, or on the water junction ...

But hey... you're happy with it

[kevtherev]

Nesty try and get the sump plug oil temp gauge.. easy to fit but protect it with something if you like long grass!

I fitted a sump plug sender for an oil temp gauge years ago. Thoroughly useless. Not only was it incredibly vulnerable (I got through two before I came to my senses - fortunately, none of them let all the oil out...) but it was also very, very slow to react to changes, because you're measuring the temperature of the mass of oil "resting" in the sump, rather than the oil that's actually doing something. In normal use, the gauge might as well not have been connected, because the needle never moved off the bottom stop. If you were relying on it to warn you of a problem, the engine would be cooked long before the gauge did more than twitch north.

I've heared different from an air cooled owner, but there you go

Personally I think it's it's all rather academic any way as the engine is water cooled.

here are my amp volt and oil pressure nesty

[AdrianC]

Nesty try and get the sump plug oil temp gauge.. easy to fit but protect it with something if you like long grass!

I fitted a sump plug sender for an oil temp gauge years ago. Thoroughly useless. Not only was it incredibly vulnerable (I got through two before I came to my senses - fortunately, none of them let all the oil out...) but it was also very, very slow to react to changes, because you're measuring the temperature of the mass of oil "resting" in the sump, rather than the oil that's actually doing something. In normal use, the gauge might as well not have been connected, because the needle never moved off the bottom stop. If you were relying on it to warn you of a problem, the engine would be cooked long before the gauge did more than twitch north.

I've heared different from an air cooled owner, but there you go

This was on an air-cooled engine (albeit not VW).

Personally I think it's it's all rather academic any way as the engine is water cooled.

VW saw fit to put oil coolers on (at least some?) WBXs, so they clearly thought oil temp a potential issue.

[kevtherev]

it's not just an oil cooler it also warms it up quicker and I doubt that little thing would check runaway oil overheat
I've fitted a 16 row cooler to my engine with a thermostat sandwich plate where that thing is, in an effort to keep oil temps down to 80 deg and thus pressures up, at lower rpm's with success I can happily say

[OriginalSeries2]

My temp gauge on my 88 DG is erratic so I bought a VDO temp gauge and sender from JK. My local garage cut the sender into the metal water pipe in the engine bay - not sure how wise that was but the gauge sits at a constant temp once the stat has opened, so hopefully I'll get reliable warning of any temp rise.
!

Interesting... though that pipe is the cooled water to the engine, if it started overheating you wouldn't know, better place would be the by pass hose or there's a little place on the thermostat housing that would take a thread, or on the water junction ...

But hey... you're happy with it

Thanks for confirming that, I did wonder. I'm not happy with it if it won't warn me of overheating - The sender is part of a coupling that would join 2 hoses together, so presumably could go on the by-pass hose, but which one is that?

[kevtherev]

It's a 1" pipe that runs from the water distributor on the right, over the top of the gearbox, to the left hand side and connects to the plastic thermostat housing to the angled connection shown here ....

[OriginalSeries2]

It's a 1" pipe that runs from the water distributor on the right, over the top of the gearbox, to the left hand side and connects to the plastic thermostat housing to the angled connection shown here ....

Many thanks, I'll have a look for that

[nesty]

I am going to Wales week after next. I want to get some gauges in place for engine feedback.

Been looking at some gauges on ebay. The company do what called Oil Sandwich plate. It's a reading plate (with 2 terminals), which screws on and sits in-between the engine block and the oil filter.

Has anyone tried these and if so knows the thread gauge that the oil filter screws on to?

[naskeet]

Why oil temp
have you got an air cooled engine?

No got a Watercooler. I suppose on a Watercooler a bit pointless?

An oil-temperature gauge, is appropriate to both air-cooled and water-cooled engines. It's more critical for air-cooled engines, because the characteristic operating temperatures of an air-cooled engine, are oil temperature, cylinder-head temperature and exhaust-gas temperature; all of which contribute to the overall view. An exhaust-gas temperature gauge, is also not without value for a water-cooled engine.

To read more about the important complementary purposes of various gauges, limit-switches, warning lights, flashing warning lights and other warning devices, refer to the following topic threads:

'How To' & 'Handy Hints' > Retro-fitting supplementary gauges

http://forums.kombiclub.com/showthread.php?t=19396

'How To' & 'Handy Hints' > VW flat-four engine, knock-warning device

http://forums.kombiclub.com/showthread.php?t=20804