Aftermarket gauges?

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volaredon

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I didn't realize that Bosch brand gauges and actron were actually the same. I discovered that when taking stock of what I have here and trying to make a whole "set" (of probably 4) for my newly bought Durango.
I like the auto meter ones are I have in my other Durango better (being American made vs China made is only part of the reason) but I have what I have sitting here, and they've been collecting dust long enough.

Question; do you guys prefer mechanical or electrical gauges? I'm gonna answer myself by saying "mechanical" especially oil and temp.
 
I’ve really liked my auto meter electric temp gauge. I like the mechanical oil pressure gauges still.
 
volaredon said:
I didn't realize that Bosch brand gauges and actron were actually the same. I discovered that when taking stock of what I have here and trying to make a whole "set" (of probably 4) for my newly bought Durango.
I like the auto meter ones are I have in my other Durango better (being American made vs China made is only part of the reason) but I have what I have sitting here, and they've been collecting dust long enough.

Question; do you guys prefer mechanical or electrical gauges? I'm gonna answer myself by saying "mechanical" especially oil and temp.
Click to expand...

Mechanical
 
I like auto meter better than chinesium any day but can't afford to go buy any for a while
 
I prefer mechanical but them said "Self, if an electronic sender is good enough to control prod engines for 150k miles/long warranty tetc for today's OEM's, it's probably good enough for me." (Think cyl deac, cam phasing, variable oil pump control done by looking at oil pressure.) That being said, there are many rationality diagnostics to detect a skewed or bad sensor on prod engines that we don't have for our old engine's typical electric sensors. So you have to decide which you are comfortable with.

Hmmm...guess I made my pick. I have an electric oil pressure sensor on my 408.
 
I'll keep my mechanical ones with 1 condition: that the plastic feeder line for the oil pressure gauge that typically comes with a set of gauges goes in the garbage and gets replaced with copper tubes.
 
I did put a set of tiny autometer electric gauges in one car, cause I couldn't find a place I liked for mechanicals.
Other than that, mechanical all the way. Even the tach, lol.
Edit: I don't use the plastic oil line either. Braided teflon line and A/N fittings only. (I worry about copper line fracturing from engine movement. )

20190520_123918.jpg
 
i prefer electrical gauges

just not a big fan of running lines of hot oil into the cab of a vehicle
with just about anything, i like plugging the hole with a sender of some kind and cut way down on the chances of leaks

of course, mine is a daily driver, and close enough is just fine for me
 
The mechanical gauges do a very nice job of "plugging the hole" just as well. Either way sometimes you gotta put a "t" inline so that you can run both the factory gauge/idiot light and the add on.
 
volaredon said:
The mechanical gauges do a very nice job of "plugging the hole" just as well. Either way sometimes you gotta put a "t" inline so that you can run both the factory gauge/idiot light and the add on.
Click to expand...
Depends on what we are measuring
If it is temp, sure

If it is pressure...the mechanical gauge adds several feet of potential leakage
 
Mechanical for me, plain and simple.
Yes I prefer Auto-meter.
 
If routed and installed correctly, I have never had a plastic oil line failure on my cars with a mechanical gauge. I also use the stock oil warning light, gets your attention faster. I have however seen copper fail from work (vibration) hardening. I will say that it happened in a harsh environment, engine shut down in an airplane from prop stop. Making a pigtail between engine and firewall helps , but it will eventually work harden anyway. I then switched to stainlsteel braided line for oil. Stainless line for my fuel primer lines, but no more copper for me. Agreed, your car is not an airplane!
 
For oil pressure lines, there are AN fitting adaptors to fit on the back of the gauge, then run jacketed AN -3 braided hose. Granted it costs more than the copper or crappy nylon tube, but cleaning up oil from under the dash and carpet is even more of a pain in butt…
 
If you go with the AN braided stainless steel hose, there is a bulkhead fitting available, vs a hole with a grommet in there for abrasion. It all gets more expensive with AN, and the AN stuff isn't forever either, 7 to 8 years. Nothing lasts forever! Enjoy whatever you choose and are comfortable with.
 
I went with AutoMeter Z-Series electric gauges (Tach, Water Temp, Volts & Oil Pressure).
 
The Z series is what I have in my 01 Durango, wish I could afford a set for the 03.
(I say this next thing not having scoped anything out yet) next headache will be figuring out where I can tap into an engine and trans I have never messed with yet in all the years of working on cars/trucks.... 4.7 and 545rfe
 
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