DIY: Oil Pressure Gauge

ChrisSlicks · 01-04-2012, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wstar

Yeah my own install I ended up deciding mine was BSPT, or at least BSPT was a better match than NPT was. There was someone else, I forget who, who measured theirs and claimed theirs was definitely NPT, though. It may vary

I don't think it would vary, just that they look so similar to the untrained eye and mostly fits (especially in this particular size) so NPT would work, just not ideal and could certainly leak depending on what was used for sealant.

wdkwang · 01-13-2012, 03:45 AM

hypothetically if you were in a dire situation, like your wife just broke her water and you need to get to the hospital 5 miles away ASAP, and cold start the motor and drive the absolute **** out of the car banging every gear to redline, how much damage will that do? and since you said you never saw above 100-105 psi due to a release valve, does that mean it won't go past that even while the motor is still cold?

wstar · 01-13-2012, 05:12 PM

There's a pressure relief, yes. Don't ask me if it's possible to still get significantly higher effective pressure by redlining a cold engine. Maybe you can completely overwhelm whatever the bypass passage is, heh. With just 1-2 minutes of warmup the pressure drops pretty significantly. I'd still *prefer* to wait longer, but you could drive it and keep the revs down if you had to.

There might be situations where I'd nail the car all out from dead cold, but I don't think any of them are situations where I would even remotely care whether the engine was damaged afterwards. In other words, it'd really have to be life-or-death or something close to it. I don't think a pregnant wife ferry to a hospital 5 miles away is one of them. It's a 5 minute drive, you can afford a 1-minute warmup, and then staying at low revs and obeying the speed limit. She doesn't need the extra danger-factor from you driving all-out at that point anyways. I'd expect with a baby on the way you'd have a baby-compatible car to use to boot. mom+pop+carseat != fits in 370Z.

SPOHN · 01-13-2012, 08:34 PM

So what about this pressure relief valve? As I'm sure you know I have this same gauge/ setup. But my pressure sensor is located on a sandwich plate instead.

On cold start ups for myself my is always starts at 125psi while its idling high. Then decreases slightly as it idles down then slowly starts to drop off as oil warms. But when cold I have had it shoot to 130psi. It's very easy to do even with very low revs and cold oil. But there's never been issues, even with my cooler. That's always worried me being not sure of what the cooler line fittings canhandle. Not that this happens much at all for i always try to warm the car right and keep the revs down til.......

spearfish25 · 01-13-2012, 08:56 PM

^
I'm impressed your pressures get that high. From the service manual, I learned about the relief valve located in the oil pump. I'm not sure how your sandwich plate would raise the max pressure if you have a stock oil pump.

SPOHN · 01-13-2012, 09:11 PM

That's what I was wondering if the plate setup does this at first. Once it warms it's normal. At idle it's low 30's and under hard acceleration never over 95.

BGTV8 · 01-13-2012, 09:51 PM

Another way to solve the problem s a data logger that hooks into the canbus via OBDII port.

I use on of these:

MoTeC > *NEW* CDL3 > Overview

with a whole bunch of alarms set that I can page thru - but then again, I am a dedicated track junkie and historic racer and one of the engineers who has done work on my race car is an accredited Motec dealer who supplies V8Suercar teams with wiring looms etc.

Complete overkill in respect of cost, BUT this is absolutely the ducks-guts for anyone serious about tracking their car as it is transportable between cars - just unplug from OBDII and the power source and move to the next car - I switch between my race car and the Z34 for track days. I have two files on my laptop reset the CDL3 between vehicles.

I don't trust the instruments in the panel and I like to see EXACTLY what the ECU is seeing

RB

fuct · 05-01-2012, 04:36 PM

^^ballin'!

axio · 05-08-2012, 05:24 PM

When using the Add-A-Circuit, can I tap it to ANY fuse? I'm gonna be doing this DIY along with a few other sensors and wanted to add seperate circuits and fuses for each one. Do I just pull out any fuse and use the add-a-circuit in its place?

spearfish25 · 05-08-2012, 05:31 PM

If they are all gauges, you could splice them all into a single add a fuse. Just pick a high amp fuse like a cigarette lighter. Otherwise, yes. You can pretty much choose any fuse.

axio · 05-08-2012, 05:33 PM

If I run out of options, and I'm left with something like headlights for example, an item which isn't turned on all the time, will the gauges only work when the headlights are turned on?

wstar · 05-08-2012, 06:03 PM

There's plenty of ignition-switched 12V sources in the dash area once you start digging around. Steal power from the +12V side of the wiring to one of the cigarette lighters for example.

axio · 05-08-2012, 06:06 PM

Thanks, wstar. I'll take a look. Worst case, I'll just bundle a few of the PLX sensor module power cords together and change the fuse from 5 amp to 10 amp.

37Z · 05-14-2012, 07:15 PM

Autometer custom shop has a combination oil pressure/oil temp gauge to fit the center cousole gauge cluster. It can be customized to match.

spearfish25 · 11-08-2012, 09:59 AM

Interesting update. Haven't changed anything but now my oil pressures are running lower. When fully warmed up I'm idling at about 8psi, hit about 30-35psi at 2k RPM, and get to a max of about 60-75psi under WOT. Not sure what made the change. Thoughts? Some sort of blockage before the pressure sensor (not sure how that would happen). If there was blockage in the oil cooler, I'd guess the pressures would register higher, not lower.

01-13-2012, 03:45 AM	#47 (permalink)
wdkwang Track Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: N/A Posts: 899 Drives: slidewayz Rep Power: 20	hypothetically if you were in a dire situation, like your wife just broke her water and you need to get to the hospital 5 miles away ASAP, and cold start the motor and drive the absolute ** out of the car banging every gear to redline, how much damage will that do? and since you said you never saw above 100-105 psi due to a release valve, does that mean it won't go past that even while the motor is still cold? __________________ Powerhouse Amuse \| K&N Typhoon Intakes \| MotorDyne ART Pipes \| Borla Catback Exhaust \| B&M Short Shifter \| Intake Ducts \| Ichiba 25mm F/R Spacers \| Carbon Fiber Interior Vinyl Wrap \| Tints \| 10000k HIDs \| Vtak, yo!**

01-13-2012, 05:12 PM	#48 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	There's a pressure relief, yes. Don't ask me if it's possible to still get significantly higher effective pressure by redlining a cold engine. Maybe you can completely overwhelm whatever the bypass passage is, heh. With just 1-2 minutes of warmup the pressure drops pretty significantly. I'd still prefer to wait longer, but you could drive it and keep the revs down if you had to. There might be situations where I'd nail the car all out from dead cold, but I don't think any of them are situations where I would even remotely care whether the engine was damaged afterwards. In other words, it'd really have to be life-or-death or something close to it. I don't think a pregnant wife ferry to a hospital 5 miles away is one of them. It's a 5 minute drive, you can afford a 1-minute warmup, and then staying at low revs and obeying the speed limit. She doesn't need the extra danger-factor from you driving all-out at that point anyways. I'd expect with a baby on the way you'd have a baby-compatible car to use to boot. mom+pop+carseat != fits in 370Z. __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details

01-13-2012, 08:34 PM	#49 (permalink)
SPOHN A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Covington, GA Age: 45 Posts: 14,844 Drives: Waiting on next Z Rep Power: 221	So what about this pressure relief valve? As I'm sure you know I have this same gauge/ setup. But my pressure sensor is located on a sandwich plate instead. On cold start ups for myself my is always starts at 125psi while its idling high. Then decreases slightly as it idles down then slowly starts to drop off as oil warms. But when cold I have had it shoot to 130psi. It's very easy to do even with very low revs and cold oil. But there's never been issues, even with my cooler. That's always worried me being not sure of what the cooler line fittings canhandle. Not that this happens much at all for i always try to warm the car right and keep the revs down til....... __________________

01-13-2012, 08:56 PM	#50 (permalink)
spearfish25 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Naples, FL Posts: 4,117 Drives: to work Rep Power: 1856	^ I'm impressed your pressures get that high. From the service manual, I learned about the relief valve located in the oil pump. I'm not sure how your sandwich plate would raise the max pressure if you have a stock oil pump. __________________ 2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z

01-13-2012, 09:11 PM	#51 (permalink)
SPOHN A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Covington, GA Age: 45 Posts: 14,844 Drives: Waiting on next Z Rep Power: 221	That's what I was wondering if the plate setup does this at first. Once it warms it's normal. At idle it's low 30's and under hard acceleration never over 95. __________________

01-13-2012, 09:51 PM	#52 (permalink)
BGTV8 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: 03350 Australia Posts: 1,503 Drives: 09 Nissan 370Z M6 Rep Power: 29907	Another way to solve the problem s a data logger that hooks into the canbus via OBDII port. I use on of these: MoTeC > NEW CDL3 > Overview with a whole bunch of alarms set that I can page thru - but then again, I am a dedicated track junkie and historic racer and one of the engineers who has done work on my race car is an accredited Motec dealer who supplies V8Suercar teams with wiring looms etc. Complete overkill in respect of cost, BUT this is absolutely the ducks-guts for anyone serious about tracking their car as it is transportable between cars - just unplug from OBDII and the power source and move to the next car - I switch between my race car and the Z34 for track days. I have two files on my laptop reset the CDL3 between vehicles. I don't trust the instruments in the panel and I like to see EXACTLY what the ECU is seeing RB Last edited by BGTV8; 01-13-2012 at 10:25 PM.

05-01-2012, 04:36 PM	#53 (permalink)
fuct A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2009 Location: Sugar Land Posts: 3,692 Drives: 97' Ranger :) Rep Power: 23	^^ballin'!

05-08-2012, 05:24 PM	#54 (permalink)
axio Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: SF Bay Area, CA Posts: 271 Drives: '09 370Z Rep Power: 16	When using the Add-A-Circuit, can I tap it to ANY fuse? I'm gonna be doing this DIY along with a few other sensors and wanted to add seperate circuits and fuses for each one. Do I just pull out any fuse and use the add-a-circuit in its place? __________________ GTM Stg II SC w/ Aquamist methanol injection, GTM oil cooler, Berk HFC, Stillen CBE, BC ER coilovers, Hotchkis sways, TWM short shifter, Clutch spring mod, CarboTech XP8s

05-08-2012, 05:31 PM	#55 (permalink)
spearfish25 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Naples, FL Posts: 4,117 Drives: to work Rep Power: 1856	If they are all gauges, you could splice them all into a single add a fuse. Just pick a high amp fuse like a cigarette lighter. Otherwise, yes. You can pretty much choose any fuse. __________________ 2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z

05-08-2012, 05:33 PM	#56 (permalink)
axio Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: SF Bay Area, CA Posts: 271 Drives: '09 370Z Rep Power: 16	If I run out of options, and I'm left with something like headlights for example, an item which isn't turned on all the time, will the gauges only work when the headlights are turned on? __________________ GTM Stg II SC w/ Aquamist methanol injection, GTM oil cooler, Berk HFC, Stillen CBE, BC ER coilovers, Hotchkis sways, TWM short shifter, Clutch spring mod, CarboTech XP8s

05-08-2012, 06:03 PM	#57 (permalink)
wstar A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 4,024 Drives: too slow Rep Power: 3594	There's plenty of ignition-switched 12V sources in the dash area once you start digging around. Steal power from the +12V side of the wiring to one of the cigarette lighters for example. __________________ 7AT Track Car! Journal thread / Car setup details

05-08-2012, 06:06 PM	#58 (permalink)
axio Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: SF Bay Area, CA Posts: 271 Drives: '09 370Z Rep Power: 16	Thanks, wstar. I'll take a look. Worst case, I'll just bundle a few of the PLX sensor module power cords together and change the fuse from 5 amp to 10 amp. __________________ GTM Stg II SC w/ Aquamist methanol injection, GTM oil cooler, Berk HFC, Stillen CBE, BC ER coilovers, Hotchkis sways, TWM short shifter, Clutch spring mod, CarboTech XP8s

05-14-2012, 07:15 PM	#59 (permalink)
37Z Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 476 Drives: 370Z MB 6M -sold Rep Power: 262	oil pressure/oil temp combo gauge Autometer custom shop has a combination oil pressure/oil temp gauge to fit the center cousole gauge cluster. It can be customized to match.

11-08-2012, 09:59 AM	#60 (permalink)
spearfish25 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Naples, FL Posts: 4,117 Drives: to work Rep Power: 1856	Interesting update. Haven't changed anything but now my oil pressures are running lower. When fully warmed up I'm idling at about 8psi, hit about 30-35psi at 2k RPM, and get to a max of about 60-75psi under WOT. Not sure what made the change. Thoughts? Some sort of blockage before the pressure sensor (not sure how that would happen). If there was blockage in the oil cooler, I'd guess the pressures would register higher, not lower. __________________ 2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z

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