Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2021 08:25:37 -0700
Reply-To: Bruce Todd <beeceetee@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Bruce Todd <beeceetee@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Oil Temp Sender and Gauge
In-Reply-To: <CAK9Aa+=A5PWdB+kCVScHrn+=iX1ruFSdmc0Yh6SYAvzfe315ig@mail.gmail.com>
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Ok - so with some guidance from Dennis - I can update the list by stating
the digital oil temp gauge was pooched. The good news is it comes with a
lifetime warranty. The bad news is that the buyer paid postage will cost
about the same as a new gauge when sending it to Ohio. Oh well - I settled
on a VDO analog gauge for about the same price I bought the digital one for
from Intellitronix. When I removed the VDO gauge from the packaging I
could tell I had a better instrument - perhaps the weight - just felt and
looked well put together. Plunked it into the gauge cluster after wiring
it to all the leads - and voila I now have readings!
I bought the VDO gauge at Cal Imports and it being located about 30 km from
me - I took the van on a good highway run on a relatively warm day. I have
to marvel again, by replacing the rockers and fuel injectors with the
Mansispeed products I am grinning from ear to ear - noticing a subtle power
increase. Not requiring to change gears as quickly when climbing inclines
and just having a little more power at my fingertips when driving highway
speeds. I noticed this on both ends of the Alex Fraser bridge where there
are times I have to pop the van into third - but not yesterday - steady
3000 rpm in 4th and keeping up with the flow of traffic all the way.
The cooling system is working well - I had it rechecked about 2 weeks ago
and everything is good - just the temp gauge is still reading a little
higher than what I am used to. Could be the new aluminum t-stat housing -
not sure but the fan comes on when it should and things stayed steady
yesterday - needle didn't budge much when idling in traffic.
Another small victory was that the oil dripping from the pressure hose
fittings for relocating the oil pressure switch has stopped. Thanks Dennis
for the tip on using a thread sealer - things are very dry again under the
butt of the van and on top of the case where oil was also seeping from the
oil pressure sender I had installed.
OK - the kinks seem to finally be worked out and summer is here - so
hopefully (knock on wood or pat the dash 5 times), I will have few issues
to contend with and report during vacation season. One last project is to
set up and try out the rear attaching add a room tent I picked up last
fall from Bus Depot.
Thanks for all the tips everyone.
BT
On Thu, Jun 24, 2021 at 8:53 AM Bruce Todd <beeceetee@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> So - I am having some issues getting an aftermarket digital oil temp gauge
> to work.
>
> The sender connects to a threaded adaptor that replaces the oil
> relief plug - which I imagine many of you folks likely have in place on
> your beloved vans. First question - if this is your set up, have you had
> to ground the sender since the bottom of the block is aluminum? When I
> jumper a ground to the sender the gauge reads -18C which equates to 0
> Fahrenheit...(I opted for Celcius over Fahrenheit). Without the jumper to
> the ground, the gauge reads full scale - 181C or 300 F. Note - This is
> just with the ignition on without any temp being generated from the motor.
>
> When I run the motor with the sender jumped to ground and the sender wire
> attached to the gauge the gauge just stays on -18C and there is no
> fluctuation - so somewhere in this equation the resistance isn't dropping
> as the oil temp rises....which is how I believe things work with temp
> gauges.
>
> If I drive the van without the sender grounded - the gauge at full scale
> (181C) begins to slowly decrease as the motor warms up - but continues to
> drop until it reaches -18C and then stays there - it doesn't set on a
> temperature.
>
> This gauge is from Intellitronix (M9108) and came with a sender. I had
> originally installed a GW sender but then exchanged that earlier this week
> thinking it might be the issue as it may not be matched correctly with the
> gauge.
>
> When looking at GW (as a resource) they don't seem to mention grounding
> the sender - nor did the instructions I received for the gauge and sender -
> however I imagine they typically sell these units to vehicles that don't
> have an aluminum cases and the sender grounds directly to the motor.
>
> Any thoughts appreciated as I am running out of ideas here.
>
>
> Bruce
>