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Looking for a muti function gauge

Shayne

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Something like this that doesn't look like it came out of a christmas cracker would be ideal so i would be grateful for ideas .
 
Cheers for that Towpack nice factory looking gauges but nothing with a 3 in 1 display , now i know i can get boost - EGT and coolant temp on a single gauge i would like to replace the factory clock with one but i'm not having much luck finding any that don't look like toys .
 
Thanks guys but both too big , for me the gauges are an evil necessity so i'm not looking for anything extra and i will probably go with the gauge i first posted it doesn't look to bad backlit in white and would look even better if i can get the glass off and put a black sticker over the infantile badge .
 
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Hmm, black insulating tape does that sort of thing pretty well. It's there to attract the teenage boy racer fraternity not the, more discerning, 4x4 owner. [emoji6]
 
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This one looks a little better but a month waiting list

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I ended up with one of these
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just have to work out where to put the sensors now .

Would i be right in thinking the 1KZ-TE EGR take off comes from the hottest exhaust manifold because that is where i would like to put the EGT sensor ?

I'm not sure about the coolant temp sensor my preference would be half way up on the side of the rad but that might prove difficult and i will have to remove the rad to see if its a possibility , if not top inlet pipe v bottom outlet pipe v the yet to be investigated option of fitting in in place of the drain plug ?

Any thoughts ?
 
Coolant temp sensor should go on the return from the engine to the rad. That way you are sensing the water at the hottest point. It's probably fine to clip it to a metal part associated with that pipe and put some pipe insulation over it.

Nice looking gauge BTW. May we ask where from and how much?
 
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I recognize that top hose highest temp is the usual plan Starcruiser but the many comments i have read from people who have altered their driving as the result of fitting gauges got me to thinking about why mrT numbs the factory gauge and ultimately i like the philosophy behind it . Call me reckless if you like but i don't see the need for 3 separate gauges all telling me catastrophic engine failure is imminent .

I reckon the numb spot on the factory gauge is between 80 and 100 degrees , i have seen mine climb without blowing anything up so when the gauge starts climbing its fair warning all on its own if you are of a mind to watch it when you know your pushing the engine hard .

The EGT gauge alarm will remind me to look at the factory gauge should i forget , so when the needle starts rising and the alarms start ringing and your heart stops beating and your pants start leaking wouldn't it be nice to know at a glance there is plenty of cold stuff available to cool the reactor down .

Half way down the rad seems the ideal place to me because the reading should remain quite stable unless you have a serious problem that demands immediate attention such as a burst pipe .

This gauge comes with a threaded probe so it could go in the rad i think its just a case of working out how to weld a nut on to screw it into (i'm assuming the sides are aluminium?)

Its an SGear Crenate 3 in 1 gauge you can get them on ebay Oz or USA for about a million pounds plus shipping costs , or about 130 quid direct from these guys http://www.spacegear.com.tw/
 
All depends what you want to measure Shayne TBH. If it's the engine then top hose is the place IMO. If you want to measure how well the rad is doing then it's across top and bottom. If you want a result that doesn't relate to either then the middle of the rad may be that place. In the bottom hose would be telling you that everything's fine, when the top is cooking away for example with a blocked or frozen rad or lost water or the like. Standard convention to measure anything is to measure what comes from it, air or water. Hence measuring the return temperature.
 
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Half way down the rad wasn't a very good description , what i had in mind was setting the alarm at normal top hose temperature then putting the sensor lower so if the coolant level drops or the temperature rises the alarm goes off . The gauge won't be telling me the highest temperature but i hope it would give me peace of mind that everything is working correctly or warning me that it wasn't . Does that change your view at all Starcruiser ? , i asked the question hoping for a few opinions which would help me weigh up the pros and cons because it would be just my luck to fit everything only to be told later i did it wrong :|
 
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I would have thought that under loss of water conditions, as soon as the water level drops below the pump that the head will be starved of water and overheat. If you want to look after your head, then I would have thought the best place for your probe would be into the metal of the head itself. There are other better ways of detecting low or no water such as a flow switch in the return (top) hose for example or even use your temperature sensor there and look out for lower water temp as none would be circulating (this might be difficult to set an alarm for as it would sound until the engine warmed up). The answers is, I don't know if what you are trying to achieve will work by putting the sensor half way down. Part way down, on the actual head may do it but I would have thought into the metal rather than the water. At that point you can see head temp rising when water temp doesn't. I'm no expert on heads I'm afraid.
 
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