oil pressure

[mbouse]

Thanks Denise. I finally hooked up that oil pressure gauge, as per your wiring hints last night. That's right, you gave me the instructions last October. So, I'm a little slow.

The analog clock was sacrificed for the oil pressure gauge. Hey, I gotta digital clock in the radio. If i really need to know what time it is.

My short jaunt test spin last night proved that the gauge measures pressure, and everything else seems to have survived the dash surgery.....but that is all i know for sure.

Now.....what oil pressure ranges should I be looking for under what driving conditions? No pressure, and extreme high pressure are bad news, i know that much; but, not much more.

[mdrburchette]

Good gracious! I forgot all about that. Did you ever get the little window crank bezel I sent you and how long will it be before you install that?

According to the factory manual, you're oil pressure will be between 55 and 80 lbs, but the gauge is rarely accurate. It shouldn't cause an alarm for the gauge to read close to 0 when at a warm idle, just so the idiot light doesn't come on and slightly sly of the middle mark while driving. I have hooked up a pressure gauge to mine when I was worried about the low pressure reading and the mechanical gauge showed the true reading way above what the dash gauge read. I was told if I wanted the gauge to be accurate, a new OEM sender should be used.

[bran100]

What size is the clock opening? 2", 2 1/16" etc.? I'd like to place a gauge there as well, but I'm not sure what size gauge I need.

What other gauge options are good to put in place of the clock?

Oil Pressure Gauge
Vacuum Gauge
?
?

Thanks,

[So Cal Mark]

voltmeter
altimeter
boost gauge
hour meter

[mbouse]

Brandon,

Just the gentleman i was looking to speak to. or at least, someone like you who wants to add an oil pressure gauge.

Just so happens that I purchased another oil pressure gauge (used) and an oil pressure sending unit, with the intent to put it into the other Spider. and, Denise has the correct wiring instructions, which i finally proved last night.

My wife has informed me that stock is how her dash will look.

We don't need no stinkin' gauges.....Oh, wait. that was another movie....

So, i have a set up for sale. If you decide that this is the way you wanna go, send me an email. I DO NOT put Spider parts on Evil Bay!!

Near zero is where idle speed oil pressure reads on this gauge. it reads less than half way at about 40-50 mph in 4th gear.

[mdrburchette]

Sounds like the sender, Mike. Was yours a used one? For some reason, they get lazy with usage.

[bran100]

Thanks Mike, sounds interesting. I'll PM you on that one for details.

Oil pressure is super important, but isn't it either there or it's not? Does a variable pressure gauge tell you much? To a rookie mechanic like me, it sounds like a pregnancy test for a woman. There's no such thing as a little bit pregnant.

I was thinking of a vacuum gauge as it seems that it would show varying levels of engine health. That would be more like a cholesterol test.

Would a boost gauge be mainly for turbo applications. For a non-turbo vehicle, it seems like I would just use half the gauge?

Anyone know what size gauge that is?

Thanks,

[racydave]

Mike, make sure to bleed the air out of the line. Im in a gauge process now with my dash. Ill probably opt for a voltmeter. Amp gauges require major wiring, and can cause problems if not done properly. Vaccume gauge will give you something to watch. Oil press is the most important. Whats important is reading in hot eng at idle. Ive been kickin the idea of a MV meter to watch a O2 sensor like a fuellie would. Im not sure if it is feasable, but it might be able to help me tune in my carb???

[mbouse]

dave, what air would be in my oil system that would need to be bled out? Spider oil pressure gauges are electrical, requiring a sending unit at the oil filter housing.

i guess, once i get used to a specific reading at a specific rpm, i will become accustomed to 'normal' for my set up.

and, having a digital clock in the radio, i thought i'd dump the analog clock for a gauge. everything i read about volt meters said they were a trcky install. vacuum gauge was an alternative, but oil pressure sounded interesting too.

so...do i need an oil pressure gauge? no. is it cool to watch? absodarnlutely. so much more than the clock. am i pregnant? not last time i checked, but the oil pressure gauge will let me know if that happens too, won't it?

eventually, i will redo the dash, especially the center. then we will consider volt and vacuum gauges in addition to the oil pressure gauge.

[Spiderferg]

I would like the info regarding the oil guage. I have one installed with a new oil sender, but the guage does not work?

[Spiderferg]

that is, i need the wiring information please----

Thanks,

b

[mbouse]

Denise, the sender is brand new from Bruce's. The gauge is NOS.

let's see if i can do this from memory.....NOTE that i am now over fifty, so my memory may have faded since last week. Denise may have this at her finger tips.....

white with black
and
white wire
connect to same colored wires on either the tach or the speedo....these are dash lamps

yellow with black
gray wire (double check these colors)
these are for the oil flow idiot light.....connect to same colored wires for the existing oil idiot lamp (on the tachometer)

that leaves the gray/black wire....which is the only wire that needs to be extended all the way to the oil pressure sending unit that you just installed at the oil filter fixture.



the size is the same as the fuel gauge and the clock, and the temp gauge.