I know autometer isn't perfect (decent for the price), but I've noticed something odd (mechanical gauges only). I've had 3 units on 3 different cars so far. One was an unknown mile D16, one a 60k mile B16, one is a fairly loose D16 I built. All had the gauges on before & after putting the turbo setups on.

All three seem to have an issue between 20-10psi. When the engine is warm and revs dropping (almost to idle), the needle drops far faster from 20 to 10psi than it does for any other 10psi-increment (2-3 times faster). Is that just the gauge, or are Honda's pumps odd? I'm guessing its the gauges, since one of them (old, boosted D16) liked to idle at ZERO psi! It ran fine, and bearings looked great when torn down. The others would idle at 10psi when hot.

Anyone have this issue? DEFI/electircal gauge users do you have this issue? One thing I do know is gauges are "rated" based on their accuracy in the middle 70% range. A gauge that's "2%" is actually 3-5% in the first & last 15% of it's range. The problem is it seems like these are more like 25-50% off at the edge.


Modified by HiProfile at 9:44 PM 6/22/2008

 

i've noticed that the last couple (electronic) autometer units that i've installed in different cars as well as mine, hate to read proper idle oil pressure & it's a pain in the *** coz it's so hard to tell whats going on with freshly built motors.

As you stated, when under load in the mid areas of it's reading capabilitys, it works great, but it's at the edges of it's reading limits that it really shows it's quality. I wish there was a way to correct this.

 

I ran an electric Autometer gauge for almost a year and never had any reading problems.

 

I have an electric oil pressure gauge, water temp gauge, mechanical boost gauge, volt gauge, and electric oil temp gauge.

The only issues I have are that my electric oil pressure gauge will not read 0 when the engine is off. I guess the needle is just off a little bit and doesn't go down far enough.

 

Mine reads pretty good. Mine says that it's idling around 15-18psi or so, never any lower than that.

 

i know there boost gauges can be as much as 13psi off!!

 

pretty much i will never buy any autometer gauges
i never hear anything good about them and i wont ever buy them!

Defi gauges FTW

 

heres my experience with their oil pressure gauge-
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1935320
went through 4 sending units in about a month before i finally gave up

 

Wow, good stuff to know! Sounds like it isn't a one time thing.

 

if their oil gauges are like there boost gauges dont get one!
i had my boost gauge a week now on my probe runnin at 15-16 psi which is way off and its stuck at 10

 

Been running an Autometer Electronic Oil Pressure and Temp. gauge for quite some time. No issues, Reads very accurately. The manual boost gauge I have from them however is 2-3psi on the low side.

-Froth

 

Never had a problem with my oil pressure gauge, its just the cheaper electric 0-100 psi short sweep gauge. Seems to be accurate.

The ones in my previous cars were as well.

 

My oil pressure gauge seemed to be pretty accurate, but then again I wouldn't really know since it was the first oil pressure gauge I ran. But then again, one day oil leaked into the oil pressure housing and then there was a nice oil puddle riding under the needle. I guess you'd expect that from that kind of price.

My boost guage was off the 2nd day I had it installed and it was new. It was off about 2 - 3 psi and when the motor was off it rested at 2psi.

 

i just sold a pro comp that was used on my car 2 years. and its still runing fine,

i got a new set of the ES gauges....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HiProfile &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is that just the gauge, or are Honda's pumps odd? I'm guessing its the gauges, since one of them (old, boosted D16) liked to idle at ZERO psi! It ran fine, and bearings looked great when torn down. The others would idle at 10psi when hot.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

So, the motor with 0 psi, I assume you connected a different gauge simultaneously for comparison, what did that gauge show?
This is pretty weird, I trust mechanical gauges way more than electrical gauges myself, (yes, I know the oem map sensor is an electrical guage..but still) and this is the first bad thing I've read about autometer oil press gauges too. I haven't seen a large number in person, but I have still never seen an accurate oil press sending unit/gauge, factory especially. (30 psi at 7k rpm, but then 25 at idle ..or 10psi all the time, or the response time is so slow that you just know not to trust it, stuff like that)
And when you use an expensive test gauge at a shop, it is a mechanical gauge, and those are supposed to be pretty accurate..
I would certainly not say autometer gauges are junk, but who knows, maybe you got a few weird ones..

 

check your oil line to the gauge...
it did that to me and i had a kink in my oil presser line to the gauge...


i also up a oil presser gauge on a 2001 gsr and it read 30 psi at full throttle.
it was two things...
1. i had a kink. lol
2. the oil line got pluged up. (i dont know how that happend) i think old oil and it sat for a while...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rorik &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So, the motor with 0 psi, I assume you connected a different gauge simultaneously for comparison, what did that gauge show?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Long story, but basicly it was stolen before the backup gauge arrived, then I spent time in work-release 'jail', then some wh0re pulled out in front of me, ending that car's life. It did have a rather long 1/4" copper line to the oil block, but another setup similar did not see any change when going from fairly short 1/4" to a shorter 3/8" line.

FYI the main difference between mechanical and electric is the actual gears/parts inside always have issues at the edges of their range, while the sensors in the electronic sending units are good from edge to edge. I would also only accept someone saying "my gauge works great" if they've had it professionally tested & certified.

PS all my gauges didn't see enough miles to suffer from vibration issues.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HiProfile &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
FYI the main difference between mechanical and electric is the actual gears/parts inside always have issues at the edges of their range, while the sensors in the electronic sending units are good from edge to edge. I would also only accept someone saying "my gauge works great" if they've had it professionally tested & certified.

PS all my gauges didn't see enough miles to suffer from vibration issues.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Honestly, I use my guages as a reference. Not an end all be all, so close is good enough for me. Granted, if yours was reading 0 there is a problem, but I'm running an electrical one and have no problems.

The ONLY gauge that I watch religiously and make sure it stays accurate is my wideband. Everything else I can either log through my Hondata via map sensor/whatever or I just don't need a perfect reading for.

 

I had Autometer electrical gauges for oil pressure and oil temperature. They never did any of the things that you are describing. I was always weary of Autometer, so for my mechanical gauges I got Stewart Warners.

In the end I didnt have a problem with either brands. Good luck to you.