After Market Gauges?

cosmic · August 14, 2013, 10:00 PM

looks great TJ. hooking up the wires to the different required areas and sensors must be a real bugger.

LJ-TJ · August 14, 2013, 10:03 PM

Woah,Woah who said anything about hooking them up. :)rotflmao

DaveVA78Chieftain · August 14, 2013, 10:11 PM

Trying to run all them wires is a b*&^%$#

Looking good

Dave

James E Vining · August 15, 2013, 05:17 AM

:)rotflmao :)rotflmao Oh man you guys kill me, I was wondering why all my Sunpro gauges were reading at base line and never moving, Hooking them up must be the answer :)rotflmao J/K
I actually got a Set of the Triple Sunpro Mechanical Gauges, I am not much of a Electronic gauge person, just a personal thing I am sure, Temp/Oil Pressure/Voltmeter.
I had not thought of getting Oil Temp, Tranny Temp gauges, I am curious if I do not tow anything is there really a reason to have those 2 gauges other then just security of mind to know that it is running cool enough?
I could see that With the setup I have ( I did not set this up) The tranny is not running into Radiator it is bypassed to a Cooler located in front of radiator ( Which is funny my 74 Powerwagon had the exact same cooler bypassing the radiator too) the tranny could be running extra hot and you would not know, I assume if oil is extra hot the Water temp should show that as well as if tranny ran through radiator it should show on gauge as running hotter then normal.
Actually I could see someone going a Bit overboard on gauges, having a Pyrometer (exhaust gas temp), Vacuum, power steering pressure, Differential Temp, Generator Oil,Water Temp, Oil Pressure, Amperage, voltage, Brake Temp, Interior temp, outside temp, Tire temp etc.
Oh I forgot Tire pressure too.
Oh Heck I digressed from my original Reason for posting, I found on the 71 Stock dash there were 3 round holes in the metal backplate that once I cut them out the fit my Gauges perfectly plus since I do not smoke I found the lighter hole to be a perfect match for my Sunpro Super Tach II.
It's Pretty dark out now but I will see if I can get a Pic for ya all.

LJ-TJ · August 15, 2013, 09:24 AM

As a lot of the old timers here know, I've never had a functional dash in either of my 75 Winnebago's. And I'm just tire of breaking down on the highway and not knowing the reason why.Making the problem worse by trying to keep on going. This way I hope I can monitor the engine functions and get off the road before causing further damage to the engine. Possible even being able to do road side repairs. But yes I can see where it might appear to be over kill. Ok,Ok I'm insecure.

legomybago · August 15, 2013, 10:02 AM

hey that looks good....very easy on the line of sight...I like where the Garmen is mounted too

James E Vining · August 15, 2013, 12:41 PM

Oh no I did not mean to Imply your setup was Overkill I said I could see how one could go overboard though, I would think that if Towing anything a Tranny Temp and Oil Temp may be a great Idea, and that fact that you have broken down a few times is even more reason to have those 2 temp gauges, I was actually thinking of getting a vacuum gauge just so I could try to keep it in optimum range when possible to get the best possible MPG, Plus I could show G-Friend how she has a some Accelerator pedal foot thing where she is pulsating all the time drives me totally batty I'll tell ya.

I'll Try to get those pics I was talking about here in the next say hour or so

BTW why would you need a Fuel Pressure gauge? Are you running Fuel Injection? Or is it another Item that may have caused you to break down so now you want to know right before your engine croaks??

James E Vining · August 18, 2013, 03:47 AM

Here is how I set my gauges up and my tach, still have work to do though like protect restore dash color and fix rest of dashboard, this is just the start.

Ok Now I have to figure out how to link my gallery pics to the posts, LOL

James E Vining · August 18, 2013, 03:53 AM

Ok Figured it out here they are

[smg id=5683]

[smg id=5684]

[smg id=5685]

LJ-TJ · August 22, 2013, 08:58 PM

Wow what a day. Spent the day trying to hook up some of the interments. After great consternation I decided to hook the volt meter to the back of the fuse box on the ignition side. Seem to work great unless someone no's what I did wrong. Second one I hooked up was the Trans temp gauge. I put the probe where Dilbert suggested. Anyone no what the normal running temp should be and what temp is to hot and approaching trouble. Spent the rest of the day running around looking for parts for the vacuum gauge with no luck so looks like that will be the next project. Oh I put in a separate fuse bar just for the instruments each interment gets it's own power supply and it's very own ground. Now if something should go wrong I might be able to figure it out. Hey THANKS for all your help. If yeah want I'll post on how the other gauges go.

Froggy1936 · August 22, 2013, 09:55 PM

Hi TJ 150 to 180 is normal 250 is max damage starts @ 270 and its junk @ 300 Frank

LJ-TJ · August 22, 2013, 11:08 PM

Berrrrrfect Frank. Thanks a lot. Doesn't do me a lot of good if I don't know what I'm looking for. Off to the Big Rig Drag Races this weekend and then finish up wiring the rest. I guess I have to take the oil pan off and have a

?? welded in it in order to hook up the temp gauge get a oil temp reading.

W0WOP · August 23, 2013, 07:10 AM

Does

?? = Bung?

Froggy1936 · August 23, 2013, 12:04 PM

TJ Look around on the oil filter housing for a threaded hole with a plug in it There is usually a place somewhere on the block that taps into an oil passage . Or you could remove drain plug and drill and tap a hole into plug . (make sure you have a spare drainplug just in case Gremlins show up ! Frank Note: engine oil temp is usually close to its water temp So an engine oil temp gauge is not really necc.

LJ-TJ · August 25, 2013, 08:33 PM

Thanks Frank, I'll have a look tomorrow. I took the rig out with the new vac gauge working,the Volt gauge working and the trans temp gauge working. Wow I'm in love. It was so nice to glance at a gauge and see what was going on, it was fantastic. The tranny ran at 190 the hole trip there and back. Still have to hook up the water temp, oil temp and oil pressure. Hope to get at that some time this week. So far it's been worth the invesment for me. I want to thank all you guys for your in put. It's been a big help. I'll let yeah know the others work out.

DaveVA78Chieftain · August 26, 2013, 09:56 AM

For a stock setup, transmission fluid is routed through engine radiator so minimum transmission temp will be close to engine temp.

LJ-TJ · August 26, 2013, 12:19 PM

Thanks Dave, The engine water temp gauge will be installed some time this week. I'm going to grab a few pic's for some location suggestions. Hey Frank here's a pic of the oil filter bracket. Are one of these bolts, plugs what you were talking about?

Froggy1936 · August 26, 2013, 08:10 PM

Hi TJ i am not familuarwith Mopar . but the large plug in the center(if there is nothing under it like Springs ck balls etc) Looks like a likely opening ? If you have another engine take it out of filter housing an check or look up a picture !Frank

LJ-TJ · October 08, 2013, 08:47 PM

So I finally got all the gauges hooked up. On the 440 were it bolts to the tranny there are two plugs. One is where the stock oil pressure top hat oil pressure is located and right across from it is a plug. That's were I installed my oil temp sensor. I took the oil pressure top hat out and installed the oil pressure sensor in that spot instead. I installed the water temp sensor in the top right side of the water pump. The volt meter is attached directly to the back of the fuse panel. The vac gauge is just tee-ed of to the original vac hose. Last but not least the trans sensor is inserted in the pressure port on the passenger side of the tranny.

DaveVA78Chieftain · October 08, 2013, 08:57 PM

So what did the tranny temps work out to be?

LJ-TJ · October 08, 2013, 09:56 PM

Well I've only got one trip on them but the Trans Temp maintained a constant 180.

LJ-TJ · October 20, 2013, 01:12 PM

Well I still have to add the tack and the two fuel gauges. However after a 200 mile trip I can't get the smile off my face.

When things were going to hell in a hand basket on the trip I was able to check all my gauges to find out the engine wasn't coming a part. The volt gauge was reading a constant 14 volts. The Vac gauge was running between around 10. The trans temp gauge ran a steady 160. The water temp ran around a steady 170. The Oil temp came up to 180 and oil pressure ran a constant 60. So in conclusion YES the investment in the Auto Meter Gauges was worth the money if for no other reason than piece of mind. NOW! It doesn't have to be overly expensive as you can usually get your gauges off Craigs list for half or less the retail price. I'll finish this once I get the tack installed and the two fuel gauges.

Froggy1936 · October 20, 2013, 02:19 PM

Well TJ the spot you picked for your trans temp is the Low / Reverse servo , The pressure there in reverse is very high I do not know if the temp sensor is suseptible to pressure or not so keep an eye on it and dont throw away the plug that goes in that hole Frank

LJ-TJ · October 20, 2013, 03:10 PM

>GRIN< Awww yep! You've trained me well Frank. I still have the plug IN the motorhome. I couldn't get a definitive answer on where to put it . But for the most part I'm pretty sure were I've located the temp sending units I should be ok. However as usual I'm still open to suggestions.

sasktrini · October 21, 2013, 10:07 AM

As an alternative location for the Transmission sensor, you could drop the cover (pan) and have someone tap it for a drain plug... only tap it to the size for your sensor. Actually, I suppose you would be drilling and inserting a threaded fitting, sealed up with copper RTV. Then you have a way to maintain your tranny fluid without having to drop the pan in future.

That servo location may be important, but I don't know. Pressurized? Probably.