Date:         Sun, 4 Sep 94 20:21:46 EDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         dcarment@ccs.carleton.ca (David Carment)
Subject:      Re: Oil Pressure Guage, Kohl-Weiss, TDC sender

John Huguenard writes:
> 
> 
> Well, after all this discussion of oil pressure in air-cooled vanagons
> I have decided to bite the bullet and put one in this weekend.  I just
> called Kohl-Weiss in Redwood City, CA and of course they stock all the
> VDO stuff!  And they are not going out of business, just moving.  You
> had us Bay area folks worried for a second there, Joel.

We bought our oil pressure gauge and head temp gauge from Kohlweiss. The
pressure gauge does not come with the sender/adapter which fits in the
existing oil pressure hole. Since we had the engine out and tin off we
were able to cut away a portion of the tin to put the sender in. Since you
may not want to remove the tin to do this, I recommend that you remove the
distributor first (BUT do so only if you feel that you can put it back in
its proper spot). You will still have to widen the hole but tin snips will
suffice and a proper sealant will fill in the gaps. Make sure you specify
the 85 psi gauge as there is also one the goes to 150 psi (too high). The
two items together I recall being around 80 dollars. If you are also
installing an oil temp gauge there are anumber of ways to go a) dipstick;
b) oil galley or c) oil screen plate. a) is the easiest b) requires an
adapter and different plate and c) replacement of the existing drain plate
nut (I think). The included instructions BTW are not great-let me know if you
need assistance.

As for head temp; the sender can go either at the  sparkplug or  in one of
the existing drilled holes for head sensors. In any case install at number
three cylinder. I moved my sensor to the sparkplug and now get more realistic
(but higher) readings of 300-350F (compared to 200-250 at the FI head temp
sensor position).

As for wiring the best place to feed through the front is where the brake
lines exit from the dash (is this a Vanagon?-if so wiring is easier with
the front grille removed). Make sure the wiring does not rub on any metal
parts  by thoroughly wrapping with electrical tape. > 

> I am going to keep the old idiot light sender, as recommended.
> There is a cheap head temp sensor from JCW that attaches to the idiot
light also .... (no idea if it works)
> The parts guy there says that we need both oil temp and pressure, but
> I'm not so sure.  I guess I remember {David?} saying something about
> oil pressure first, oil temp second, and head temp last.  Any other
> opinions?  And what about the installation?  I can see that putting a
> straight pipe adapter in place would be a good idea, but where do you
> obtain this so called adapter? Finally, how about a TEE or even three
> way tee adapter to connect to the oil press guage, idiot light, and
> oil temp guage?
> 
> questions.. questions.. questions...
> 
> And one last one instigated by the search for David Carment's silver secret.
> 
TDC sensor
As I understand it this was designed for  diagnostic equipment that few
shops now
have-within the sensor is a magnet that picks up impulses from the wheel
for setting the timing and diagnosing the FI system effectiveness.
We kept ours though it had been tucked away at the back of the engine for many
years before we bought it. They are rarely used....
 >
What is the TDC sender for?  I've never seen it connected in
any > wiring diagram, but it sure looks nice. Its in the Hanyes wiring
diagram....  Might it be a dealer > diagnostic tool hookup?
> 
> Send in some numbers once you have it hooked up...... Cheers - DC
> ---------
> John Huguenard
> hugie@lindy.stanford.edu
> 


-- 

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David Carment
School of International Affairs
Carleton University
Ottawa, Ontario
K1S 5B6
voice - (613) 788-2600-6662
fax - (613) 788-9882
Email address: dcarment@ccs.carleton.ca
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