How Gauges Read?

[Qwooootz]

Okie heres comes the NooB Question::p

Just really curious on the purpose of certain particular gauges, what they read, why, and the significance of them if any?

Gauges such as, Volt, Oil Temp, Water Temp etc. Im sure theirs a whole heap more out their, just looking into gettn a few for the Em1, but need a reason for having some extra guages apart from the cluster that reads the speed, taco etc hehe

Cheers

[destrukshn]

volt, well, some people may have big systems, and want to monitor what volts they are at when crankin it?
oil temp, so you don't cook your motor.
water temp so you don't overheat your motor, and start blowing shit. lol.

[Qwooootz]

so how do u know whats a moderate temp your water or oil is suppos to be?

also how about air/fuel?

[destrukshn]

well.. boiling point of water is 100 degrees.. lol, thermostat opens at around 75 degrees or so, so normal operating temp i guess is around 80-85 degrees?
oil dunnoes.

air fuel, mainly i reckon for boosted cars, but to monitor if your leaning out or running rich, you don't want to lean out.
lol

[saxman]

a/f guages are a complete waste of money unless you're running a wideband o2 sensor, regardless of if you're stock, modded, n/a, turbo, etc

[destrukshn]

a/f guages are a complete waste of money unless you're running a wideband o2 sensor, regardless of if you're stock, modded, n/a, turbo, etc
yes, what he said.

BUT, i've heard different from tuning shops, they say, they are not completly useless, they give a rough idea of the mixture, but not 100% accurate.

[Boban]

And let us not all forget that out friendly po-po can defect you for having gauges in places that obsturct your view. Having said that i do have 2 gaudes on my A-Pillar and i haven't had any problems yet:D

[CUL8R]

a wideband like my plx m300 is fantastic coz it gives an electronic readout of ur a/f. bloody awesome!

[EK4R]

what oil pressure do

[saxman]

tells you what the oil pressure is...

[Qwooootz]

tells you what the oil pressure is...

smarta$$ answer LOL

but whats the relevance for it? why do we need to know the pressure?

[saxman]

a certain oil pressure is needed for the motor to run safely.

a gradual loss in oil pressure will show you if there's a leak somewhere... a sudden loss of oil pressure may allow you to stop the motor before catastrophic damage is done.


honestly, though, chances are if you see the oil pressure hit the floor, it's too late, and you can keep an eye out for leaks/burning oil, but just keeping an eye on the oil level... like you should anyway.

[Qwooootz]

thanks every1 for the input, if anyone has further info, please post up and shares


cheers

[e240]

well.. boiling point of water is 100 degrees..

You'd be in trouble if the water boils in your radiator. The pressurisation of the cooling system raises the boiling point of water. so water doesn't boil at 100 degrees in your radiator.

cheers

[destrukshn]

yes it does, and the coolant also raises the boiling point a couple of notches as well.

[sassy_fit_vtit]

to be honest WHO ON EARTH LOOKS AT THEIR GAUGES WHILST DRIVING, or at all to gather information and actually does anything abt it? its just rice to me, i only have 2 in my car and not even that my vafc (only in so i can tune my vtec) & boost ( so i dont kill my engine) but even my boost is still a waste of money and i dont even look at it most of the time because i know what my highest PSI is. if you dont intend on doing track dont waste ur money, your stock gauge cluster (rpm, km/hr, temp and fuel is sufficent for a stock car.

[Limbo]

ok i think that reading between the lines you are asking which guages are best to help with the car's performance & health.

You already have water temp so that's not a prob. though after market ones are more accurate.

Generally i would recommend Oil pressure & Oil temp.

The main reasons are, if your oil temp acutally raises too high this will affect the engine's performance & also cause oil burn which will cause seizing and other nasty effects. (temps > 100 degree celcius).

Oil pressure shows that the engine is running sealed. If the pressure is good in the case it means that the combustion is sealing in around the engine. Generally you loose pressure when you get an oil leak somewhere or the bearings are gone. Btw car comes with a sensor already in hondas that when there is very low oil pressure the engine light will turn on. With the guage you can see this more readily and stop earlier so that there is no damage to the car. Oil oil pressure will also cause seizing of the engine & cause lots of damage! Especially if its all run down the back like mine did once!

P.S generally you need gotta be driving the car hard i.e tracking to need the extra guages or they are just Bling.

Air/Fuel ratio shows that your car is running lean or rich, not much use when your driving unless you have a totally tunable ECU, and then you should already have this sensor from the ECU. So generally unless.

Volt reader - tells you your battery voltage, not too imporatant unless you run a rally or driving extremely long trips, as generally so long as your driving you should have enough charge to keep going.

[Qwooootz]

Limbo thanks man gave you a + on the rep! that was pretty informative!

[Fo55il]

MMm - get a guage coz u need it - dun get one coz u dont !!!
no offence but u think u wanta guages just so u can have em - not so dat u can actually look at em and use em -
my opinion -- no offence intended !!!

Peace

[Fo55il]

MMm - get a guage coz u need it - dun get one coz u dont !!!
no offence but i think u want guages just so u can have em - not so dat u can actually look at em and use em -
my opinion -- no offence intended !!!

Peace

YEah a typo made it sound stupid

[Qwooootz]

hrmm.. heheh ol goods i see your point, its the same thing as getting a body kit and a pink respray, its not like your car needs it but you have them coz you want them..

and gauges i want them despite,, but i just want to know what theyr functions are so atleast it has some purpose, and also so i can explain to the ladies what they are for hahaha

cheers

[Fo55il]

u r one funni boii -
but body kit and pink (pearl) respray make me stand out of d bunch :) - but i like your sarcasm style !!!

[Qwooootz]

Ditto, haha:cool:

[mugeneration]

Well if you REALLY want one, then go the oil pressure guage, coz i think a lot of those other guages come stock on the Em1 dont they? Other than that maybe a voltmeter or ammeter if you tend to have battery issues or unusually high power demands such as a large sound system, or a winch! (:confused:hehehe)