Aftermarket gauges (engine oil temp and engine oil pressure)
A car’s speedo meter or HUD shows all the information that the driver needs to monitor all the time to keep the car operating at a normal range. For example if the engine oil is low the hud will show, if the engine temperature goes up the radiator gauge meter will indicate the condition and the driver will take actions as necessary.But for a sports car, with high performance tuned engines there’s a lot to be monitored than just regular gauges that a car has from factory.
The after market gauges that are bolted in such cars are A/F ratio, engine oil temperature gauge, water temperature and voltage meter , engine oil pressure.
Today we will talk about engine oil temperature and engine oil pressure gauges.
An engine oil temperature gauge monitors the engine oil’s temperature flowing through the engine oil filters. High performance car engines when pushed to the limit can get very hot and the engine oil temperature must be monitored at all times. If the engine oil temperature gets too high the performance of the engine will fail and the oil would start to lose its viscosity and get burned and evaporate. Long term effect of this will damage the engine.
Cold engine oil causes excessive friction on the bearings and cylinder walls. A regular engine non synthetic oil will tolerate oil temperatures of up to 250 degrees, but starts breaking down over 275 degrees. But it is impossible to reach such levels even on tuned engines. It is just the maximum operating temperature stated by the engine oil manufacturer.
Inside a car’s engine there’s not just high temperature but pressure too. So the ideal engine oil temperature should be 60C, that is when it is safe to accelerate or push the car hard but when it reaches 120C , the car should be slowed down and given time to cool.
Oil pressure gauges monitor’s engine oil pressure in the engine oil filter. Both the engine oil temperature and oil pressure sensor are attached in the engine oil filter. A sandwich kit is attached to the engine and the engine oil filter is attached to the sandwich kit. As the oil flows in and out of the filter , these two sensors take the pressure and temperature reading and the gauge placed inside the car shows the pressure in Psi and the temperature gauge in C or degrees.
When the car is started first in the morning or at cold start the engine oil pressure will be very high. Since overnight the engine oil has settled in the oil pan and its cooler. But as the car engine is ignited and starts working the pressure decreases because the heat expands the molecules and the pressure lowers down slightly. Also a newly added engine oil will show a good pressure reading for the first few months and over time the pressure will drop. It is wise to monitor the pressure and it is much accurate to follow the readings and changing the engine oil accordingly.
Oil temperature gauges are made by various aftermarket companies, the well known ones we have all heard about is Apex I,HKS , Greddy AEM,Defi gauges etc. The price varies from as low as 3500 to 50 thousand BDT depending on the brand. The cheaper Chinese ones are available in Banglamotor and the expensive ones can be imported from abroad.
Image source: Modifiedmag, Hondatuning, kaitospeed.com
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