OK guys I know that this has been duked out many times before but I need some help deciding what to do. I am looking for some additional protection for the track car by putting in a water and oil pressure gauge. I have researched it extensively and here is the final verdict

Electrical:

Pros
-Easy to wire up
-No fluids in the cabin

Cons
-Slow response time
-Limited sweep, which means less accuracy

Mechanical:

Pros:

-Cheap
-270 deg sweep
-Better response more accurate

Cons:
Fluid in the cabin

With that said if I were to go mechanical where do most tap in to run the lines?

Also are there any 270 deg swings that are affordible?
Looking for any general opinions.

Thanks!

 

mechanical are more accurate than electrical, at least thats for the Autometers....

nick

 

Go with mechanical....You tap it where the stock oil pressure sender is at the block. You get a T fitting and place a line from the block to the T fitting then on the T you hook up the stock sender that way you dont have the oil light on, and then from the other opening on the T you run the line to the gauge through the fire wall. I went ahead and upgraded my line to copper which is better then the nylon line the gauge comes with...its only 10 more bucks for the copper kit. On the water temp gauge I think the auto meter doest run water inside. It has a sensor that goes somewhere in the water line and then sends the pulse down a special wire for that gauge.

 

in my opinion, both could be just as accurate/inaccurate.. both have sensors and readout. the better calibrated/built quality , the more accurate readings will be.

lets say fuel pressure, with mechanical, reading 43psi - it will fluctuate between 42.5-43.5.. average of 43psi.. with electrical, it will not move around as much, but will still read 43psi, its not like electrical will read 46psi just because it is.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by VTECAcuraGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
-Slow response time
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how fast do you need it to be? lets say you could tell the difference, lets talk about whats more important to get from gauges,

with .5 second delay you will still get reading that your oil/fuel/boost is changing - it will take seconds to react/process whatever you gotta do anyway. lets say you didn't see that happen - peak n hold will solve that problem. - that option will allow your setup to be more accurate.

tachometer is electrical gauge - and is important, you have experience using that in your car - and overall it gives decent readings so you can avoid errors.

i don't see any reason to run mechanical gauges, instead invest in a better quality gauge, just because its mechanical - doesn't mean it will read accurate.

 

No other opinions?

 

Back from the dead...
I'm looking to put two affordable gauges in the caR, But have been stumped.

A long time ago... 96,97 I had a 76 ford that I installed Autometer mechanical guages and they were great and had no issues... But that was a simple car compared to todays...

For an oil psi guage on the R, which would you prefer, Mechanical or electrical. I'd like to keep it simple and cheap but effective.

thanks

 

Rob, IM me..

I went with mechanical oil pressure, temp and water temp.

2 5/8 Autometer ultra lites, and will be mounted right on the dash for easy view on track.

Rodney and I will be doing the install in about 2 weeks before WGI, you are more than invited to come up and see me watch Chris do most of the work

 

mechanical for me as well. on a side note, i remembering reading that the honda oem guages. ( specifically water temp) can take as long as 30-40 seconds to register a significant change.

 

i have all autometer mechanical gauages. water temp, oil temp and oil pressure. the temp guages go to the pan and the thermostat water neck and the pressure gauge goes to the stock oil pressure sending unit location. i used the autometer braided line instead of the copper or nylon. after almost 3yrs no issues.

 

glad to hear. have any pics?

 

i have been running mechanical in my car for 5+ years. but, i don;t have an itr, so what do i know.......

 

I prefer electrical - it's a little more simple, and the install is usually easier.

Plus, no fluids in the cabin...

 

as someone who has installed and dealt with electrical guages in a race car, i will say this. my electrical guages are about to get "delt with," and thrown in the trash. actually i'll probably sell them if you want to buy from me.

i've had nothing but problems with my water temp guage, and i don't trust it to be giving me accurate readings. the oil pressure guage has been perfect AFAIK, but i can't help but think a mechanical one would be better.

 

I've had no problems with my electrical guages yet. As far as I'm concerned they're accurate enough, at least for what I'm doing anyway.

 

I've had electronic Greddy oil temp and pressure gauges in my car for about 8 months now. Personally i think theyre more accurate and reaction time is instant, as soon as i hit the gas pedal, pressure readings are instant. I dont think there is any difference between mechanical and electric/electronic temperature gauges, mine works fine and i believe is pretty accurate. i went with them due to ease of fitting, i used the greddy sandwich plate/adaptor which made fitting even easier. I dont like the thought of fluids in the cabin and with these theres no fear of that happening. Freinds of mine have mechanical oil pressure gauges (not cheap ones but blitz, HKS etc etc) and my greddy pressure gauge has far more fluid movement/sweeping, their gauge needles are jerky and shoot up and down so fast thats its hard to actually see where theyre peaking at whle driving.

 

some things to consider.. or i should say the reasons to get electrical gauges over mechanical

1. unless its a racecar, you probably don't want hot oil/coolant inside engine bay
2. mechanical or electrical, gauge is only as good as it has been calibrated to work
3. i find it hard to believe how anyone would notice difference in time in takes for sensor to send realtime electrical signal to display for readout vs mechanical.. electrical signal would travel just as fast and your readings should be instant and not for human eye to notice
4. speaking of human eye, this one is very important. what good is a gauge if you're unable to replay the data, say if you have overboosted and didn't see the readings, sometimes you're occupied with something else, peak-n-hold is always available on electrical gauges.
5. reading accuracy, i have fuel pressure gauge under hood, it vibrates like hell because its real time readings, i woudln't expect that with electrical because it rounds things off for easier readout..

 

i've been told by racers who have been doing this much longer than me (20+ yrs) that plumbing hot oil and water into the cabin is one of those things that is a reasonable concern, but it never actually happens.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tnord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i've been told by racers who have been doing this much longer than me (20+ yrs) that plumbing hot oil and water into the cabin is one of those things that is a reasonable concern, but it never actually happens.

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I have seen it happen...A friend of mine had an Omoni oil pressure gauge (mechanical) and discovered his passenger side carpet covered in oil one day, the line had ruptured and had leaked a **** load of oil into the cabin. He had to strip out the entire dash unit in order to clean it. I will admit that is the only time i have seen it happen, but it was enough for me to get electric gauges

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vtec.dc2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">some things to consider..

1. unless its a racecar, you probably don't want hot oil/coolant inside engine bay
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only oil pressure guages pipe fluid into the engine bay. oil temp and coolant temp use sealed either (sp?) in the lines.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tnord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i've been told by racers who have been doing this much longer than me (20+ yrs) that plumbing hot oil and water into the cabin is one of those things that is a reasonable concern, but it never actually happens.

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Alot of sacntioning bodies wont let you use gauges that let fluid into the cabin. They wont let you race.
Thats where electronic has its perks.
I have ran both and I like my Electronics better. Much quicker.

 

going back 5 years on this thread.. lol

i have a car that occasionally runs hot after towing or hauling heavy loads. i agree, honda's are designed to be work trucks, but i think you should be able to tow a single jet ski, or medium camping load.

anyways, twice its ran hot, and neither have been pulling grades, only after the crest of the hill, on the way down. the 2nd time was in traffic in vegas, with the A/C on.

fans are confirmed and working. the dealer of course can't find a problem, and the stock cluster gauge never moves from normal temp until its too late.

i just put in a mechanical water gauge, and for once, i can see what the hell the engine is doing. since i didn't want to deal with taping into the water sensor, or "T"ing off anything, i used a adapter that went in between the upper radiator hose. even though its not true water temp in the block, its the next closest point before the radiator, and the cool down cycle. once started, the temp registers to 170ish, and thats where the oem gauge stops. with the car high idling it gets up to 208ish when the fans come on, and then instantly drops to 195. thats over 10 degree's with the fan alone. the OEM GAUGE NEVER MOVED. on the test drive, the temp on the freeway went down to as far as 160, and in town, as high as 208 (fans), with the OEM GAUGE never moving. so this worries me. once you break 210, and its not cooling down, you should be concerned.

now my question, i used a mechanical gauge, but there isnt' a fuild line to the gauge. there's a copper probe, protected by a spring type shroud... do you think theres a heat transfer issue with the 5' long copper probe? or is that pretty reliable?