Installing after market water temp gauge

Hey guys, i was thinking about installing an after market water temp gauge in my nav, does any one know if you can piggy back off the factory sender or will i have to install a new one somewhere else in the system?
Thanks.

I have just ordered these items from the US, should be here in the next few days.

Automobile Multimeter for EGT, Boost, Red [SYL-1813R] - $48.50 : auberins.com, Temperature control solutions for home and industry

and
Oil/Water Temperature Sensor, High Precision. [PT100A-NPT] - $26.50 : auberins.com, Temperature control solutions for home and industry

and
Box for 1512,and 1812, and 1813. Black color [B1085B] - $15.50 : auberins.com, Temperature control solutions for home and industry

The sensor is mounted in this Adaptors for Speco Meter Automotive Gauges from Speco Thomas in top radiator hose. Part number 547-15: 38 mm I.D. Buy through Veales.

also putting in an EngineSaver.

Also getting EGT probe and additional meter from Auberins, to go with the 2.5" system about to go on.

Should cover a few bases while towing the caravan, especially when my wife has admitted she ever looks at the temperature gauge.

Cheers
Geoff

let us know how the install goes as I am interested in get similar. where will the water temp fitting get installed.
Regards cabhsv

All the external water/oil etc gauges i have used have always come with their own sender unit. I think they are calibrated to suit the gauge readings.

Thanks for the heads up Geoff, i will definitely go with the Speco adapter and will probably use one of there gauges aswell. Would have liked to use a autometer gauge as it would match my boost gauge, but they only make them in degrees fahrenheit.

All the external water/oil etc gauges i have used have always come with their own sender unit. I think they are calibrated to suit the gauge readings.

Click to expand...

yes all of the ones i have looked at have there own sender aswell, but i wasnt quiet sure if they were cal'd to there own units.
Thanks

how come some of the after market temp gauges scale from 100-240 deg and some range from 40-130 deg. Why would you want to know whats happenening between 40-100 deg? Wouldn't you just want to know when the temp starts going above 100deg?

there's never a dumb question, but hey we could just have one here.....

and I have just read through this thread as well, noting roun 87-93 deg is about right temp:
http://www.navara.asia/d40-engine/1875-radiator-temperature.html

ta

Lj

Without seeing the ones you are looking at I would imagine that the 100-240 degree gauges are farenhiet and the 40-130 degree one is celcius. If it is over 100 degrees before you know about it then it is probably too late. AS you put in the last line, around 90 degrees is typical.

I agree 40 is a bit low but the temp gauge on Scangauge is one of the gauges that is always on in my car and while you are right that temps over 100 are the ones you want to worry about on long trips I keep a constant watch on it to make sure I notice any major fluctuations.

As the other thread says my average is low 90's and while I don't always take notice of it rising bit by bit I do have some ideas where to expect certain temps on my regular drives from cold. It's not info everyone wants but for me knowing that it takes my Nav approx 7 ks to get over 85 means I know that if it's at 85 after only 2 ks I need to keep an eye on it, or its extremely hot outside.

240 to me is an overkill the other way though given that radiator water with coolant in it boils at around 130-140, if you get to 200 you either have problems or you've got good coolant.

Bluester is probably right too

farenhiet would make a lot more sense - cheers

Lj

i installed one the other day, speco gauge and 38mm hose adapter off ebay, temp sits around 90deg C, seems to work well.

bit of wiring advice please guys - my temp gauge has two power wires which I joined together and then hitched onto the Cigarette light positive wire. The gauge isn't working.

Is this beacuse I should have left them seperate or is the Cig lighter power not constant?

thanks

Both my Cig lighters have live power at all times if thats what you mean by constant, the AUX in the center console is only live when the ignition is on though. I don't know about your exact gauges bit I'd suggest if they made two separate wires they probably expect them to be connected to different places, but I could be wrong.

I'll take a punt that those wires are for the internal lighting and it's probably a normal globe, so connect the black to earth (vehicle body) and just strike the red wire across a positive line (eg the back of the cig lighter) and see if it flashes.

If that's the case, you could connect it to the instrument panel lighting. Not sure about which wire for that, but someone else has done that recently in these forums so it'd pay to search for instrument panel or something like that.

thanks guys... I'll add a little more info. The kit has 5 wires:
1 - to the temp prob - easy
2 - earth - easy
3 - illumination - easy and is working
4 & 5 - power wires and the instructions (which were v basic) said both were to the positive

I'll try over weekend to go for 2 seperate supplies and see if that works. No negative wire though.... is that normal for appliances???

Are you using a hose adapter? if so it needs to be earthed aswell, mine has a small allen key bolt in it which is where the earth for the sender goes.

working now - it was actually the earth from the hose adaptor not contacting the body enough. weird seeming as I chose the same spot as for my driving lights. Moved it and it works. Thanks for the suggestions guys

Good to hear

good find jackass - damn cheep for a e.g.t gauge ....I like ;')