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BedLiner Project

Vanagon Gauges (Slave to the machine)

If you are a spelling/grammar/HTML Nazi please go away, this is an amateur webpage

After being hit up on thesamba forum about my fuel pressure gauge setup I thought I would do a write on all the gauges .That way if someone wanted to add gauges it could give them an idea if they wanted to do this or just add one gauge.

Now remember I have a 2.0 ABA 135hp in-line Digifant Jetta motor, so if you have a (WBX ) Wasserboxer, the same applies, it will be just a little different here but it's still all VW .So we are comparing green apples to red ones. Also I have kept all my idiot lights and all the factory gauges. I used electric gauges and no mechanical gauges (except for the vacuum gauge), the motor is too far away from the dash for that

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Rental Van while paddling in the Northwest...I'm pinein' to go back...

I truly believe that idiot lights are better than gauges, a flashing light will grab your attention and might save you while you are checking out the scenery, a gauge just tells you what went wrong when things go south. So don't delete them. But you can't trouble shoot a blinking light, so this is where the gauges come in, and between the gauges and the lights you have duplication, which leads to reliability. No more "I think the gauge might be wrong" now you know.

I like SunPro gauges for the most part, they are priced middle of the road, I'm not driving a race car or trying to impress someone on what brand I bought.

I have also been emailed on how to install them step by step, there isn't enough bandwidth in the world for that...sorry, I think the gauges you buy come with pretty good instructions, you need common sense, common hand tools, some planning and not to be in a hurry. Treat each gauge as a separate system, do one gauge at a time, work the bugs out and go to the next. There is nothing wrong with having a gauge hanging loose until you get your mounting down...not my style...but you see what I'm getting at...just do a little at a time. If this is new to you...install a voltage gauge first, if you can tie in the lighting to the dimmer switch and the gauge to the voltage system, first...well man you now know how to wire gauges now!

View from a Westy

A mechanic will rape you (and not even kiss you)  if you pay him to do all of this ...it will lead to resentment and later down the road you will get rid of your van, yep you worked the bugs out ,so someone else could enjoy your van ...and you sold it too cheap... so do it yourself! Your mistress...ooooops I meant your van will thank you later. Btw how many stories have you heard. "I use to own a Westfalia" I'd like to rock them away from me...sorry I digressed.

One other thing, there is a reason the factory didn't do all of this , it's a lot of labor and time and they were built for the masses. But I think it's worth it. I think it's funny... I hear how unreliable Vanagons are but yet on long trips I seem to work on everyone else's car...so add the gauges and snub your friends, and payments SUCK!

Here is a rundown on the gauges I have

So let's get going...

The Fuel Pressure Gauge:

I got the gauge off eBay ,a lot of the rice rocket boys use these on Hondas, I  got it cheap, it has N.P.T. internal brass threads in it's housing, you just plumb it in-line after the fuel pump so you know what your fuel pump is NORMALLY running at, doesn't matter the pressure, mark a line on the gauge where it normally runs .Later if you are having problems and it's not on "the mark" you know something isn't right.

Trouble shooting field notes:

This set-up helped me on a trip when my fuel pump went out, no guessing I went to the local store, got a pump, swapped it, and was out 30 mins. for my vacation. And I looked like a hero knowing how to save the vacation. "Daddy is so smart" ...no Daddy is too cheap to get a Sprinter van...

Also one time the van was running sluggish on the road one day, and I had just changed the fuel filters the week before. Something wasn't right I knew I had a fuel problem. Well that gauge saved me, I  bypassed the filters for a moment (carry a spare hose), the gauge told me my pump was fine. It was that new filter!...so I swapped it and we were on the road again.

Oil Pressure Gauge:

here is a shot of the oil pressure gauge

I made the gauge pod and painted it, it is a 90 degree PVC plumbing fitting  with the end cut off at an angle. I got it from Home Depot, its mounted on a small piece of metal using a male plumbing adapter to mate it to the metal plate. For the sending unit I used a brass t fitting I got from J.C. Whitney, that is made for mounting gauge sending units and factory sending units together...why reinvent the wheel..

here is a shot of a typical "T" fitting set-up

If you have a Wasserboxer CLICK HERE  You need to read this and educate yourself on options and knowledge is power.

Also you  may need to change your factory sending unit, I had the same problem on my ABA so CLICK HERE and scroll down to the bottom VW installed a lot of wrong oil sensors on a lot of makes and models ,the good thing they are color coded so you will know if you have the right one just by looking.

One other note on this, once the gauge is hooked up , don't freak out when you see the low oil pressure at warm idle, I have owned Foxes, Jettas and Vanagons , gassers and diesels, and they all have low idle pressure. They only need 3 p.s.i. It's volume you need not pressure. I think it's an elegant design. I have never had a VW blow a main seal...now a Chevy ...good luck with that.

Oil Temp, Water Temp, and Voltage gauge mounting:

the oil temp gauge is on the left

Once again I made the gauge pods and mounted them above the glove box, one reason there is plenty of room to work with, second I have seen them mounted above the shifter console. I didn't want to mount them there because I installed a shut off valve to cut the flow to the front heater core. This keeps my feet from getting cooked in the summer. I have to remove that cover to get to the valve. I could have mounted the valve above the spare tire. But I wanted easy access for rainy road trips.

Also I mounted a potentialometer  (don't think I spul that rut) anyway I have a dial mounted back in the dash to dial in the exact temp the oil gauge on what it should read.

***Note you have to ream out the plumbing fittings with a Dremel tool to make the gauges fit snug when making your gauge pod***.

Oil Temp Gauge:

I have this mounted in the external plumbing circuit of my external oil cooler. You could mount it with your factory oil sensor circuit/ mount .

Its just a water temp gauge, that I put a "oil" sticker on the gauge face, true oil temp gauges are way too expensive for my budget. As stated before I also have it dialed in for the true temp, I used a temp gun I got cheap at radio shack to dial it in with. The gun is handy you can shoot your radiator to see if it has good flow, plenty of uses for it. Remember one test is worth 1000 opinions. 

 Good for BBQ dinners also...CHICKEN IS DONE! <insert mental image of burning bbq grill, being a moon shot to the moon and back>

Btw..The life of any motor is to reduce heat, and oil that is too hot will kill the bearings, so now I know. I have 10:1 compression and it's chipped, so I want to keep an eye on it on long grades.

Water Temp Gauge:

I have the sending mounted on a "t" that I got from J.C. Whitney . Its just a water temp gauge. I think the best gauge is the factory water temp gauge, but I like numbers so I have both.

***You will need metric adapters for every gauge sending unit you mount, it's just the price of doing business***

Voltage Gauge:

I have it wired on a normal switched circuit coming from the fuse box. I don't like amp gauges, amperage gauges need bigger wiring and I think they are a fire hazard. most only go to 60 amp, what's a 90 amp alternator going to do to that made in China gauge. I just need to know if I got juice.

Trouble shooting field notes:

To let you know...one day my alternator idiot light flickered for a slight moment, while going down hill, I was off the throttle, never did it the rest of the long trip.(1500 miles no problems)  My voltage gauge read perfect. So I knew my brushes were going bad but had plenty of time to get to it. When I got back home. I took the alternator off and had it rebuilt by a local shop, and was no worse for wear, with no breakdowns, and much cheaper than doing a core swap from the local auto parts store.

Also... you know how your alternator light stays on until you rev the motor?

It's normal.

Well it's because the exciter field in the alternator hasn't been excited enough from the battery, your aftermarket voltage gauge will confirm this for that warm fuzzy feeling. Rev the gas petal and you will give it more juice to excite the field....now are you excited?....if so...you need to get out more brother...trust me.

The Tach:

I'm using an aftermarket gauge, the factory tach rocks, but mine doesn't work half the time, (so it doesn't rock ) and I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars to fix it. Consoles are getting expensive. It has a bad hook up; the foil in the gauge cluster is bad thanks to the retard owner who had the van before me. (An apology to all retard owners out there) An aftermarket tach works and is simple. I have it tied into the factory coil. It's plug and play.

Here is a shot of the vac and tach

Vacuum Gauge:

I got one of the gas mileage gauges from J.C. Whitney .I try to watch it and milk my m.p.g. out of the van. (I'm a geek ..and a cheap geek) Also a vacuum gauge tells me the health of the engine valvetrain, if the needle gets shaky I know I have a leak down or a burnt valve. Hey being paranoid is just another way of thinking.

Oxygen Sensor gauge:

This picture is from Ken's website and is not mine

I got this from Ken off the vanagon.com board. This thing is great. It has already let me know about the health of my sensor, I got one right now that I know is slowly going bad, (I didn't use a Bosch) so I have time to look on-line a get a good deal. And I'm letting it ride so I can learn the symptoms of a O2 Sensor going bad...I like learnin'...I'm also convinced this gauge will help you pass your emission tests. You know if you van is truly running right.

Here is where I got it CLICK HERE

Digitool

Darrell Bolher made mine but he doesn't make them anymore, but you COULD go and reverse engineer yourself one. Or better yet Van Cafe is selling kits! I'm also convinced on this too, it will help you pass your emission tests. You know if you van is truly running right. Our vans are pre OBD-I , doing this will bring your van into the 21st century, the Digifant system , gets bad mouthed, only because it was ahead of it's time. It is a very reliable system, and we beat the Subaru guys hands down on simplicity, I wouldn't even know where to start trouble shooting that conversion...UGH!

the digitool

To get a kit CLICK HERE

 It is a hack , that ties into your ECU. By doing this you know on the fly what your fuel injection system is doing no more guessing!

Wireless Temp Gauge

This just sits on the dash and is Velcro mounted. I did this one for the refrigerator, it is from radio shack, all it is a indoor-outdoor thermometer. My "outside" is the inside of the frig. My "inside" is interior of the camper. Now I can keep an eye on the food. I'm not a fan of hot mayo...sorry it's not my thing.

Above the oil gauge is the wireless temp gauge

One More

I plan on adding a transmission temp gauge, but I'm in no hurry, it's a luxury item. I plan on adding a drain plug to the transmission pan, and I will drill and tap a sensor mount in the pan while I have it open. Like I said I'm not in a hurry.

Wiring:

I wired all the backlights for the gauges to the headlight dimmer switch, doesn't do you much good if you can't see them or they blind you at night

I used a professional crimp tool to make my connections, a cheap squeeze connector tool is asking for a fire and trouble shooting headaches later. The connections must be made tight, if you pull on the wire and it doesn't pull loose, you did good. Here my favorite tool and worth the money.

These rock!...spend the $$$ for it and you will be more than happy. It is made by Klein tools, Get two one for your home shop and one for your road tool box.

You can get it here...so CLICK HERE  it's under the crimping tool section

This type sucks give them to your brother-in-law

Want a journeyman trick?

Only use Scotch Brand 33 Electrical tape, you can get it at Home Depot and it's Nuclear Grade, which means it's good enough to use in the Nuclear field.

Once you make a connection, either using a butt-splice or a ring connector. Wrap that connection with three wraps of electrical tape. It will keep moisture out of the joint and will last a lifetime. Poor man's heat shrink! Ever wonder why you can't get electrical tape to stick? It's cause you didn't buy Scotch 33 , its REAL electrical tape.

One last soapbox....Wrap all your wiring up, make it look like a factory wiring harness,  BUT only dress the wiring up ,( ty-raps are cheap) UNTIL and after you have worked all the bugs out and everything works perfect, you might need to get back to something...nothing worse that screwing yourself...just take your time. Remember fuses are your friend and direct wiring is fool hardy.

Mark Cumnock