Oil Pressure / Temp Gauge

[cdagnolo]

Well, I came across an oil pressure / temp gauge that was quite reasonably priced and happen to be at ~14 minutes. My gauge has been acting up. The needle seems to stick sometimes (all the way at the top of the range) and it bounces around quite a lot (this may be normal). Anyway, my gauges have white faces. This gauge happened to have a black face but, w/o much thought I figured I could easily take it apart and switch the faces (it's that simple on the Miata, right ;-). What could go wrong? Well, looking at it, it appears that it might NOT be so simple.
Anyone know if I can just disassemble from the back side or, if things start ejecting themselves if I'm not super careful?

Anyone done this and give me thumbs up or down?

TIA,
Chris
'82 Targa

[Flat6pac]

I would go with the sending unit being defective because the guage reacts to what it is given for information from the sending unit.
Bruce

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by Flat6pac

I would go with the sending unit being defective because the guage reacts to what it is given for information from the sending unit.
Bruce

+1, or your connection is loose (typical bouncing result) or the wire is almost broken (usually in the Engine Bay).

With the power on (not running), if you unplug the wire on top of the sender, you are opening the circuit and it will deflect all the way up. If you ground it (touch the engine) it will go all the way down.

Since the swap is not a direct one, I would investigate the connector/wiring/sender first.

[cdagnolo]

Oh boy, sounds like I jumped the gun in more than one way
I need to identify the location of that sending unit and check all of this out.

Thanks guys, I'm still interested in the difficulty level of switching out the gauge faces, if anyone is familiar. I may still end up having to go there I suppose.

cd

[JJ 911SC]

Oil Pressure Sender: top one, wire unplugged --> all the way up & grounded --> all the way down)

Oil Temperature Sender: button one, wire unplugged --> all the way down & grounded --> all the way up)

[dan88911]

Originally Posted by cdagnolo

Oh boy, sounds like I jumped the gun in more than one way
I need to identify the location of that sending unit and check all of this out.

Thanks guys, I'm still interested in the difficulty level of switching out the gauge faces, if anyone is familiar. I may still end up having to go there I suppose.

cd

These guys make some nice overlays in black. I purchased them for my car. And they do custom work. I have no idea what that cost. It maybe a possible option for the gauge faces.
911 Gauge module overlays

[cdagnolo]

JJ 911SC pretty much nailed it. It was simply a crappy connection. Badly oxidized (likely causing the bouncing) and a bit loose (likely why it went to what looked like a stuck full pressure reading). Cleaned up the connection and tightened the slide on connection and, it works like a champ!

Thanks guys for the great info! Anybody need a really nice (black) oil pressure gauge? ;-)
cd