Oil and Water temp gauges

[Ian Lummis]

Over the winter period I would like to change the oil and water temperature gauges to mechanical units ,the car is a R400d 2010 module with the push button controls.  And a dry sump system Has anyone else done this before and where is the best place to source them thanks.

[Jonathan Kay]

If you want to keep the original senders you'll either have to use gauges that are already known to be appropriate or find the resistance ranges of the senders and then work from that as part of the specification.

There is some information on this in the forums but I've never seen it collated.

Is your current (!) set-up the factory Stack? 213 Performance have been very helpful.

And I'd talk to Redline.

Do you need any wiring diagrams?

Jonathan

Edited October 29, 2023 by Jonathan Kay

[OldAndrewE]

Why do you want to change them?  One issue with the oil temp will be where do you put the sender bulb - with a wet sump it can go in a sump plug adaptor but dry sump I don't know, don't think it will fit where the electrical sender fits

[Guy Lowe]

1 hour ago, Jonathan Kay said:

If you want to keep the original senders you'll either have to use gauges that are already known to be appropriate or find the resistance ranges of the senders and then work from that as part of the specification.

There is some information on this in the forums but I've never seen it collated.

Is your current (!) set-up the factory Stack? 213 Performance have been very helpful.

And I'd talk to Redline.

Do you need any wiring diagrams?

Jonathan

I thought the OP was wanting to change to mechanical 🤔

[Ian Lummis]

Yes I want to change from electronic gauges to mechanical. 

[john milner]

On 30/10/2023 at 13:06, Ian Lummis said:

Yes I want to change from electronic gauges to mechanical. 

I have never heard of a mechanical temperature dashboard gauge before. I have only ever seen ones that use electrical senders and gauges that read a variable resistance. Although I suppose all gauges with a moving needle could be described as mechanical to some extent. Can a link be provided as I need a small amount of educating?

[OldAndrewE]

As requested John, similar available for oil temp

Smiths Classic Mechanical Water Temperature Gauge from Merlin Motorsport TG1310-01078

Edited November 2, 2023 by OldAndrewE

[john milner]

11 minutes ago, OldAndrewE said:

As requested John, similar available for oil temp

Smiths Classic Mechanical Water Temperature Gauge from Merlin Motorsport TG1310-01078

Thanks. A new one on me. I'm not sure how how it works but I am guessing the brass bit heats up and that expands something in the tube which then moves the needle. Looks great but are there any other advantages?

[Jonathan Kay]

Ian: I think that a bit of clarification of "mechanical" would help.

I understood this to be a mechanical indicator moving across the face of the gauge rather than an electronic display in a Stack or similar. So there would still be an electrical sender.

Thanks

Jonathan

"There will we rehearse, for if we meet in the city we shall be dogged with company and our devices known."

Edited November 2, 2023 by Jonathan Kay

[John Vine]

7 hours ago, OldAndrewE said:

As requested John, similar available for oil temp

Smiths Classic Mechanical Water Temperature Gauge from Merlin Motorsport TG1310-01078

Oh yes.  I had one of those way back on a Ford Anglia.

JV

[JP]

I've just been looking at this as I've been trying to find a dual gauge set up to show oil and water temp and oil pressure since fitting my Apollo.  After talking to a lot of suppliers including Caerbont, I'm going to have go with the flick switch on the dash and just use the water temp gauge.

There are a number of reasons, but there seems to be a fundamental problem with fitting mechanical temp gauges and that is that the take off isn't big enough.  On a K-series, the electrical sender has a 1/8 NPT thread.  The "senders" for mechanical gauges tend to be an ether filled bulb that is too big to fit in to a 1/8 NPT thread hole.  The threaded fittings tend to much larger to accommodate the bulb. If you use an adaptor, you lprobably introduce inaccuracy because there will inevitably be a well where the fluid will pool around the bulb.

 

 

[john milner]

I use the flick switch method with my electrical temperature senders and it works very well. Comforting to know that the oil is not doing something silly on a motorway and is getting warmed up on colder days.

I have now done a bit of reading up on mechanical senders and a possibly significant disadvantage is that it is somewhere between difficult and impossible for a DIYer to shorten or lengthen the capillary tube.

[John Vine]

2 hours ago, john milner said:

I use the flick switch method with my electrical temperature senders and it works very well. Comforting to know that the oil is not doing something silly on a motorway and is getting warmed up on colder days.

I have now done a bit of reading up on mechanical senders and a possibly significant disadvantage is that it is somewhere between difficult and impossible for a DIYer to shorten or lengthen the capillary tube.

So do I.  IMO, it's the simplest solution.  As for altering the tube length, all I can suggest is what I did - namely, measure the route precisely, add 6", and then order the next higher size.  I think I ended up with a 6' tube, and coiled the spare under the dash.

JV