Thread: Guages

how is everyone? i had a quick question if someone who knows guages could explain to me what mechanical means, i know what short sweep and long sweep are, pretty self explanatory, but i am not sure what mechanical is, i have an idea, but i want to make sure...

It means that there is no sending unit with a wire going to the gauge. Mechanical means something different for each kind of gauge. But for boost gauge, a mechanical one has a vacuum line running to the gauge itself. An electrical boost gauge has a sensor/sending unit and a wire going to the gauge.

A mechanical oil pressure gauge has an oil line running to the gauge. An electrical oil pressure gauge has an oil pressure sending unit that senses the oil pressure in the engine, then sends an electrical signal to the gauge.

well i have the air/fuel ratio ultra lite 2 guage from pfyc.com and i need to get 2 more so i was thinking about oil pressure and trans temp...for oil pressure and trans temp what kind of guage you think i should get...short sweep or mechanical?

Originally Posted by GP2003GT

well i have the air/fuel ratio ultra lite 2 guage from pfyc.com and i need to get 2 more so i was thinking about oil pressure and trans temp...for oil pressure and trans temp what kind of guage you think i should get...short sweep or mechanical?

Uhhh....electric.

Get a boost guage... lol, jk, i had my fun...

I got a electrical tranny temp guage, there is a plug on the tranny below the throttle body where I putthe sending unit and a wire back into the car, then inside, just need to ground and find a spare 12v power source for it.

You could do a anmeter too, your oil pressure will seem useless...

Yeah definitely dont buy a mechanical oil pressure gauge. Running a hot oil line into your car is just asking for trouble.

And Im not exactly postive how a mechanical tranny temp gauge works. But if its the same thing as a mechanical oil pressure guage, dont buy it. Just pay the few extra dollars for the electrical versions, you wont regret it.

i was going ot get a short sweep oil pressure and tranny temp im not sure what i wana do

Mechanical gauges really aren't dangerous if you install them correctly. They are also more reliable, respond quicker, and are more accurate. Electric oil pressure senders go bad often. To me, it is more of an issue about ease of installation. Electrical gauges are MUCH easier to install, so that is why I use them. Just need to run one little wire, whereas with a mechanical gauge you are limited to the length of the tubing and you have to get a big sender through the firewall (that may just be mechanical temp gauges).

An oil pressure gauge is a must if you are planning on getting any aftermarket gauges IMO. The stock idiot light is no help. I got an electric one and I am happy with it. You just install the sender in place of the stock idiot light sender above the oil filter. Tranny temp is a piece of cake. Like mentioned above, there is a plug on the tranny below the throttle body that you remove and replace with your sender. That is a 2 minute job. Then it is just hooking up the gauges inside and that isn't hard, it just takes some time to make it look good.

ok i see i think i am going to get mechanical oil pressure and short sweep trans temp...