Gauges Vs. OBDII Reader + App

[FR-Slide]

If one was to use the sandwich plate to mount a pressure sender, is there any combo gauge that runs Pressure AND Temp in one location? And would that be simple/possible to wire up together using the plate?

I want to mount a gauge in front of the analog speedo, since it has no actual use in this car, and I was considering trying to simply mount my OFT there, but I worry that's going to be very annoying to start up every time I get in the car, plus it's hard to read at-a-glance.

It'd really be awesome if we could somehow convert the needle on the speedo to measure oil pressure, so it'd be an actually useful gauge!

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by FR-Slide

If one was to use the sandwich plate to mount a pressure sender, is there any combo gauge that runs Pressure AND Temp in one location? And would that be simple/possible to wire up together using the plate?

There are such gauges available, and what you're describing shouldn't be too difficult. A lot of aircraft have dual oil pressure/temp gauges, and I know I have seen some automotive gauges modeled on them.

Keep in mind you already have oil temp available through OBDII. If you run Torque, you can display it. I prefer to pair oil temp with coolant temp, where you can see them follow each other. The coolant temp gauge on the dash is actually fake, so I almost completely ignore it now and just monitor my Torque dashboard instead.

Originally Posted by FR-Slide

I want to mount a gauge in front of the analog speedo, since it has no actual use in this car, and I was considering trying to simply mount my OFT there, but I worry that's going to be very annoying to start up every time I get in the car, plus it's hard to read at-a-glance.

It'd really be awesome if we could somehow convert the needle on the speedo to measure oil pressure, so it'd be an actually useful gauge!

Personally, I would prefer to replace the stock gauge cluster altogether rather than patching it here and there. The only thing on it that I actually use is the tach. As you said, the speedo is useless. I monitor my fuel in actual gallons remaining through torque. As I said above, the coolant gauge is fake in that it doesn't correspond to actual temperature. It hits the center "normal" position at about 170° and stays there at least up through 210°, which makes it little better than an idiot light.

I would really like a custom solution with a combination of needle gauges and a configurable Torque-like screen that matches the interior styling of the car. There are some custom dash options available, but to me they all look like they came right out of the 80s Knight Rider tv show. I'd like one that actually looks like it belongs in this car.

[nikitopo]

Gauges require extra wiring and extra sensors. They also make your engine appear more like a mess with the extra wiring. Why not to utilize what is already available?

[FR-Slide]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

There are such gauges available, and what you're describing shouldn't be too difficult. A lot of aircraft have dual oil pressure/temp gauges, and I know I have seen some automotive gauges modeled on them.

Keep in mind you already have oil temp available through OBDII. If you run Torque, you can display it. I prefer to pair oil temp with coolant temp, where you can see them follow each other. The coolant temp gauge on the dash is actually fake, so I almost completely ignore it now and just monitor my Torque dashboard instead.



Personally, I would prefer to replace the stock gauge cluster altogether rather than patching it here and there. The only thing on it that I actually use is the tach. As you said, the speedo is useless. I monitor my fuel in actual gallons remaining through torque. As I said above, the coolant gauge is fake in that it doesn't correspond to actual temperature. It hits the center "normal" position at about 170° and stays there at least up through 210°, which makes it little better than an idiot light.

I would really like a custom solution with a combination of needle gauges and a configurable Torque-like screen that matches the interior styling of the car. There are some custom dash options available, but to me they all look like they came right out of the 80s Knight Rider tv show. I'd like one that actually looks like it belongs in this car.

Agree 100%, I'd much rather have a digital dash that allows configurable views of all monitoring, as well as size scaling, alerts, etc. Basically, a tablet crammed in there. But I figured that'd be pretty cost prohibitive, or at least very skill prohibitive (for me).

I may just go with a Torque option, but since oil pressure isn't viewable, I got to thinking about how to monitor oil as top concern. But seeing AFR, coolant temp, IAM/KC, and ethanol content (if possible?) would be awesome. Ideally it'd be in the cluster and not where the radio is, to keep glare down, and keep it easily viewable for the driver, but again, we're now talking about a complete overhaul of the cluster system.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by FR-Slide

I may just go with a Torque option, but since oil pressure isn't viewable, I got to thinking about how to monitor oil as top concern. But seeing AFR, coolant temp, IAM/KC, and ethanol content (if possible?) would be awesome. Ideally it'd be in the cluster and not where the radio is, to keep glare down, and keep it easily viewable for the driver, but again, we're now talking about a complete overhaul of the cluster system.

Here's my current Torque setup:



That's an old Galaxy Note I wasn't using any more as a phone, retasked as a dedicated engine computer. I rooted it and flashed it with Paranoid Android to keep the OS and battery usage light. I leave it in airplane mode with bluetooth enabled so that the unused cellular radio doesn't run down the battery faster, then turn on wifi if I need an internet connection from my phone. It's mounted to the little triangular window in the door and powered by a 2.1 amp USB power supply I have mounted under the dash on the cross bar under the steering column.

It shows me everything I need except oil pressure. For that, I have all the pieces I need to install an oil pressure gauge out of a wrecked Beechcraft airplane. I just haven't been able to find the time to do it working six days and having two Jeeps that need more attention. This is the type of gauge I have:



That's actually a cylinder head temp gauge in the pic, but I have the oil pressure version in that same slim case (couldn't find what box it was in to take a pic). The display is the same size as that stupid clock in the center stack, and I have an extra center stack frame and clock unit to cut up and plastic weld back together. The clock is actually on a single board that also has the hazard switch and passenger airbag light, all buttoned up in a plastic housing. Rather than trying to rewire that board, the plan is to relocate it behind the climate control unit. Then I'm going to use the spare clock housing I have and plastic weld the oil pressure gauge where the clock was and my radar detector remote faceplate where the airbag light was and wire in jumpers from the hazard switch to the board behind the dash so that it still works. I need to practice my plastic welding, but my hope is that the final result will look like it came from the factory that way.

[FR-Slide]

Wow, definitely post a pic of the new center stack once you have it done. That seems like a great idea.

I've seen an ethanol gauge in place of the clock that would be nice (for me, anyway), but your idea also sounds useful.

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

Gauges require extra wiring and extra sensors. They also make your engine appear more like a mess with the extra wiring. Why not to utilize what is already available?

Because 1) sometimes what you want isn't available (oil pressure), and 2) the stock sensors don't have enough data/refresh rate for certain applications.

Again: gauges are great if you know what you want out of them. There is no wrong way to getting the data you need, you just need to make sure what you have setup-wise is sufficient for what you are using the car for.

-alex

[ShadowReaper]

I've been fiddling all the options for gauges/apps. I have OFT already but I am going ECUTEK/FI here in a month.

What all do I need to purchase in order to run the Torque app?? After reading this threas, I figured I would run Torque App with an Oil pressure gauge