Date:         Thu, 21 Mar 1996 11:31:32 -0600 (CST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Sami Dakhlia <dakhlia@wuecona.wustl.edu>
Subject:      Re: questions on temp gauges

On Thu, 21 Mar 1996, Edward Claiborne Gould wrote:

> I have a '72 with the standard T4 1700 engine.  I was wondering first 
> of all, where is the predrilled mounting spot on the heads for a temp 
> sensor? 

I believe the extra "mounting spot" exists only on '75-'76 fuel injected
type 4s. After that, VW simply enlarged and retapped one of the existing
holes in the head that are used to attach the tin shrouding, specifically
the hole situated on the flange for the intake manifold, in front of
intake #3. Thus, the bolt-shaped temperature sensor for the fuel injection
serves the additional purpose of holding down the tin. On my bus, I slid
the ring-shaped VDO CHT sensor between the head and the tin, like a
washer, with the FI CHT holding it all down. 

You could simply follow the same principle in your '72, but, of course,
use a regular tin screw with a washer to hold things down instead. Another
option is to bolt it in with the #3 sparkplug. I feel bad about
contradicting David Schwarze, but it's feasible: you only need to bend a
right angle into the VDO CHT sensor. The problem with this setup, however,
is that you can't really torque down the plug to spec (hence allowing
blow-by):  the sensor is made of soft metal that will tear and break
*very* easily. 

> When i got the bus it had a non functioning cyl head temp 
> gauge.  It turns out that the power and everything is hooked up to it 
> and if i ground out this one haging wire it pegs the needle.  There 

The CHT gauge kit is, like, "self-powered." :-) The heat will generate
tiny amounts of current in the sensor (forgot the term for this
phenomenon), that are directly read by the gauge. The gauge/wire/sensor
kit is calibrated for this tiny current (which is why you're not supposed
to shorten or lengthen the wire--and most definitely not supposed to hook 
it up to 12V power). 

> may just be a sensor back there some where.  Aside from that, I was 
> wondering how much setups for  cyl head temp
>                                oil temp  and 
>                                oil pressure
>                                               would cost and the best 
> way/place to install that pressure sensor.

If you shop around, you could get it all for under $120, I think. If not, 
you may pay as much as $200 (e.g. RMMW). Check out the adds in HotVWs.

Lots of options on where to put the gauges: under the dash, in the dash
(under the radio--you gotta cut holes, though), over the dash, or 
overhead. For an "in the dash" picture, check out 
http://econwpa.wustl.edu/~samid/bus-stuff/lebus/dash.jpg

Sami