Gauges are a must have instrumentation and all motor vehicles have got them in some form or other. The most common that is fitted into all production cars is the water temperature and oil pressure gauges. Warning lights generally tell you of a problem to late, where-as an actual indicator needle at least gives you a better idea of where the values are but what are they?.
There is certainly no shortage of gauges out there and at prices that can make you cry, but if you want the looks with accuracy then you have to spend the money. There are now three classes of gauges in various sizes. You can choose whether you want a mechanical, electrical or stepper motor gauge. The stepper motor is an electrical system but works totally different to the normal gauges of years gone by.
I have always favoured the mechanical gauge and these were what I had fitted originally in the 50mm size to my car until recently. I finally found a set I thought would not only look good but hopefully were accurate. A gauge is pretty useless unless it gives you the correct information. Image if your water temperature gauge was reading 25% too low on temperature. You could be over-heating your engine without even knowing it.
The great thing now with electronics being used in motor cars, they are making gauges with warning signals incorporated into the gauge. This is a fantastic feature that should be considered when looking at purchasing modern gauges. Let's face it, you can't constantly look at the gauges while your driving. Unfortunately this is the main reason we actually overheat our engines. The last time you looked at the temperature gauge it was fine. The next time & it was on the red line or worse the needle rose up without you noticing it and it returned back to normal or maybe a little lower. This means you have already overheated your engine. You see the gauge only measures liquid temperature not steam, the sensor must be imersed in water to work correctly. Now this can happen in a matter of minutes. The gauge was there but how useful was it? Well as I said the gauges now have warning lights, buzzers and some blink on & off to attract your attention to a problem. All fantastic features to alert you before it is too late. However gauges that measure liquid can fail on you and give you no warning at all. This can happen if the radiator cap fails to maintain pressure in the cooling system. The gauge may be set to alarm at 105 deg, well water boils at 100 deg and will vaporise before your gauge even knows what is going on.
I never liked the OEM gauges and warning lights that are offered in most vehicles which prompted me to initially purchase a water temp & oil pressure mechanical gauges. Then I came across these cool looking stepper motor gauges which I fitted and was very happing with them. Now I have come across a new type of gauge that I will fit to my motorhome, fitted with a 1HZ diesel. This new gauge measures cylinder head temperature, not the water temp. So should I start to run out of water this new gauge should pick up increased head temperature and set off an audible alarm that I need to respond to. So now we have a fourth choice of temperature gauge style. Click the link below to see my full review of the new gauge.
