Okay, here's the deal. My engine is burning some oil or something and I thought about installing an oil pressure gauge to monitor when I need to add some more oil to it. I have always associated gauges in pods with having a turbo. My car does not have a turbo. Would it be weird to install a oil pressure gauge and not have a turbo?

Also, should I go for a 1, 2, or 3 pod setup? What do you guys prefer? And which kind of gauges do you prefer?

Just trying to get some ideas.

 

here are my opinions as far as gauges go if it cost 60 dollars or less it is garbage they will not last for the money you put into them you are alot better of getting something like blitz or up in the 100$ price range plus as far as a oil pressure guage goes i would not get a mechanical on incase it starts to leak at the gauge cause then it will leak oil in the car

as for the gauge pod that depends do you want to go turbo or put more gauges in the car i personally have a triple pod and have a mechanical temp gauge electric oil psi and vacume in them if you only lookin to put two gauges in i would recomend the pods that replace the trim to you instrument cluster even if only goin one i would recomend the second pod i informed you about

 

Ah, I forgot about the instrument cluster trim version. Hmm, interesting. So the >$60 ones aren any good? Autometer ones suck then? What about the Glowshift ones?

 

People put gauges in their cars when they want to monitor something, not just for the sake of it if they have a turbo. Turbo people have them so they can keep an eye on boost and vacuum to look out for boost creep, overboosting, underboosting, and potential vacuum leaks. Then people usually add others just to keep an eye on other aspects of the engine that change with a turbo setup (oil pressure and temp, coolant temp, etc. etc.).

For you, if you want to monitor oil pressure, then get an oil pressure gauge. There's no sense in spending the money to get gauges for stuff you're not concerned with. If you have definite plans down the road for this or that, then you might want to pick up one or two other, related gauges now, to avoid replacing the gauge pod in the future.

If you're going to be approximately where you are now with mods and don't intend on making huge changes that would necessitate more gauges in the near future, just stick with a single gauge pod and an oil pressure gauge for now.

Actually...take a step back for a second here. Why buy an oil pressure gauge and gauge pod and go through the trouble of installing it purely for the purposes of monitoring your oil level...seems to me as though that's what the dipstick is for, and that's free...

 

Yeah I know.....I'm just too lazy to keep on checking my dipstick. I recently had my low oil pressure light come on because the oil level was too low. I just wanted to be able to check when the oil pressure starts getting lower, and I need to check my dipstick. Does that make sense?

 

i have never heard of glowshit there for have never tried there gauges but autometer in my opinion are garbage i had a volt gauge hooked up one of theres and it was shot within 6 months i was pissed sunpro lucky if they last a week these are my experiences and opinions

 

It's not odd to have gauges for an N/A vehicle. Oil psi isn't a bad idea. I have one, I had trouble with the pressure in my old jeeps and couldn't tell if my sender/gauges were bad so I always go with mechanical, less to worry about breaking or not functioning and if installed correctly they don't leak. Autometer gauges aren't bad, the company wouldn't be so big if they were garbage. I have thousands into my motor so I like to monitor what it's doing and how it's operating. I have a triple gauge pillar but wish I would have gone smaller, I don't have a need to have all 3 gauges in my face probably just boost. I'd think about installing them in your console too since you may not be looking at them all the time but it's personal preference too

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lithel &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah I know.....I'm just too lazy to keep on checking my dipstick. I recently had my low oil pressure light come on because the oil level was too low. I just wanted to be able to check when the oil pressure starts getting lower, and I need to check my dipstick. Does that make sense?</TD></TR></TABLE>

no it doesn't make sense. Look where ever your oil is going it's not going to fix it self. So this will be an on going problem unless you fix where the oil is excaping from the system. It will probably get worse, so i would get over your laziness and get ready to do some real work on the car that is way more intense than checking the dipstick. Save your money, fix your car right. I would try to focus on where the oil is going or something as you put it.

 

I'm sorry, I retract almost everything I said...here's a much better solution:

CHECK THE DIPSTICK

If you're too lazy to check your dipstick (one of the most simple things you can do), either keep it stock or sell it and get a corolla because you shouldn't be messing with a car if you can't check the oil.

Also, if your oil got low enough to set off the light, you're either too lazy or you have much bigger problems. Using oil pressure to gauge your oil level is really not a good thing to do in the slightest. Waiting until your pressure drops to add oil is waiting too long.

I'm sorry, for the amount of effort it'll take to install the gauge, you can check your dipstick a million times...it's really not that hard.

 

You should really just check the dipstick however, it is a good backup to have the gauge. That way if someone else drives your car, you can feel safe.

If your oil level drops low enough to drop the oil pressure gauge, then it probably needs a quart or two. A little too low for me to feel safe not checking the dipstick.

I had a Sunpro gauge in my old truck. It was mechanical and I never had an issue with it for the four years I had the truck. If they are installed right, they will work right.

 

Your too lazy to check your damn dipstick? That's pretty sad man I mean how had is it to pull the thing out when ever you fill up? I know checking it while the engine is still hot isnt the most "accurate" way but it will tell you if the thing is out of oil pretty quick

 

yea but try having it happen to you, it's just not always convenient and you don't always think about it especially when you're trying to live your life. OP do you see the oil collecting on the ground when you park your car??

 

I check my dipstick semi-regularly as it is. I was just wondering if the oil pressure gauge would simply in any way notify me in case I forget, or the problem gets worse than usual.

Anyway, I don't see any oil spots on the ground where I park my car. It must either be burning oil, quite a bit.....and it only has 79000 miles on it, or there is something weird going on. I'm going to take a look at the underneath of the car and see if I can find anything.

(Edit: Got some pictures, here we go...)

Alright, I looked underneath the car and found this. It seems to be an oil leak of some sort. Any thoughts on where it could be coming from or where to go from here? Does it look strange for an oil leak?










Modified by Lithel at 5:37 PM 10/2/2008


Modified by Lithel at 5:38 PM 10/2/2008

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lithel &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah I know.....I'm just too lazy to keep on checking my dipstick. </TD></TR></TABLE>

This might give you some more encouragement to be less lazy.

I was down 2.5 quarts of oil before the pressure dropped from normal. When I checked the dip stick, it wasn't even touching oil.

Moral of the story,
pressure != volume
You need to check that you have adequate oil with the dipstick. Pressure only will tell you you're already screwed (or very close to it).

(And I got lucky. It appears that I suffered no engine damage. Testament to Honda reliability right there.)

 

The photos you're showing are of your transmission which happens to be where the leaking oil is accumulating. It's leaking from somewhere above this point, most likely the cam seal on the left side of the engine. I've seen some that leak excessively and some that don't leak at all. I'd look there first.