VDO Tell Tale Boost Gauge

[TurboKraft]

Originally Posted by krasuskyp

I used to run one too, it needed rebuild - was lethargic to register the boost signal until sufficient boost moved the needle, and the tell-tale spun freely. It also had the most annoying high pitched rattle @ idle... Chinese Water Torture.

I think I paid $250-300 for it - but that was many moons ago.

I traded it for some bits and an NHS gauge - I'll never need a 2bar gauge and having VACUUM on the readout is way more important to me.

The NHS gauge unfortunately has the same high pitched rattle at times. Lame.

Agreed, the boost gauges are pretty awful quality.
I've been testing cars with both genuine VDO (serviced by NHS) and new NHS, both gauges have a high pitch ringing noise that is beyond aggravating.
The tell-tale needles stick or are loose, and they've been this way since the early '90s at least.
Plus the 2.0bar range is useless in most 930s -- the -0.5bar -- 1.5bar is far more useful.

Maybe the common thread is NHS, and there's another gauge shop out there able to rebuild these so they function as intended?

[Dwerkz]

Sure there are gauges that work better,but i think you can make a pretty long list of items that can be better on a early Turbo.
But.. we are judging tech of 40 years ago?
I think these are great looking and period correct on a 75/76 Turbo,77 had the electrical already.

[93097004xx]

Got my boost gauge today thanks to OSI930.

Thanks OSI930!

I found these for sale in my 1980s automotion catalog.

Cool to look back. I'll start with pic of why these gauges are so DAMN COOL!

[Richard930]

Originally Posted by JFairman

Paul, there's an easy way to stop the weird gauge rattle. You make a little air flow resistance damper and stuff it in the hose.

I took a 1" long piece of 10 gauge wire or whatever thickness it was that fit snug in the vacuum hose. Then stripped a 1/4" of insulation off one end and pulled some of the copper wire strands out with needle nose pliers but left most of them in there so there would be enough room for some air to move by the copper wire strands but still have some resistance to air flow through the piece of wire. Just enough to slow down the movement of air in the hose a little bit.

I stuffed it into the hose at the end that goes on the gauge while sitting in the car and it worked! The gauge needle still climbed up as fast as before when boost came on and there was no more faint gauge rattle at certain low RPMS and throttle position/intake manifold vacuum scenerios.

You could do the same thing with a little piece of cotton and stuff it into the hose with a phillips head screwdriver or small bolt and it would probably work just as well when you got the right amount of cotton in there.
Stuff too much in and it might slow down the gauge movement too much. Then you'd have to blow it out with compressed air to get it out and try again with less cotton.
Try it, I think you'll like it!

The rattle has been driving be nuts and NHS hasn't been able to suggest anything more that 'putting a kink in the hose' which hasn't done anything. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give it a try as I've been close to ditching the gauge and putting the clock back in..

[voitureltd]

Originally Posted by Dwerkz

Sure there are gauges that work better,but i think you can make a pretty long list of items that can be better on a early Turbo.
But.. we are judging tech of 40 years ago?
I think these are great looking and period correct on a 75/76 Turbo,77 had the electrical already.

I have 4 original ( very old ) teletale gauges in 930s i've had for over decades of driving and use. Never a problem. They all work fine, no noises etc. Maybe the early ones made then were good, later ones were not so good ?

[356911930]

Mine does not make any noise either...but I got it over 25 years ago.

Rahl

[VZ935]

I used to buy these from AJUSA for $110 and the 930S stering wheels with the gold Porsche emblem on the horn pad for $225 . Seems I was ordering them all the time

I never had one of the VDO boost gauges break. The digital Ladedruck boost gauges used to fail all the time and I actually had both in some of the 935's I owned.

Like people that use old cameras and nautical stuff for shelf decoration, I use old Porsche stuff...





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[ficke]

I also have a VDO boost gauge that was installed in my car in the early 80's. It still works flawless with no noise. 86,000 miles and 32 years later.

[SAY - 642]

Here's mine, brand spanking new with the led upgrade to match the rest of my gauges.

[krasuskyp]

tx fer the buffer suggestion Jim, and I recall your other re-bush (not as good as de-bush) suggestion from moons ago but as with most things I've not gotten to it 8-)

this thread sure turned wickedawesome tho - great mag pics Tony and love Van's decor and 935 pic

and a Ruf2bar'er... schwing

funny how some are quiet and some share the water torture ring'y rattle - funny Chris you share this misery, tho least my 1.5bar is less so than the 2'er was

I verymuch would prefer having a perfect functioning 2bar tell, alas having vac is more important and 1.5bar is far more realistic and allows for somewhat more finite reporting - and - the dzug strut bar was soooooooooooooooo worth the deal struck for trade 8-).

[911tracker85]

I have mine for sale, see post #19

I am exchanging PMs with a couple people, so they get first chance.

I am asking $500/OBO. but dont really have a good idea of value, I do not have the key.

can anyone suggest a reasonable value?

I tried to test using my brake pressure bleeder but had to duct tape two different size hoses to do that so it would not hold pressure. the boost gauge seemed to track to the pressure reading on the brake bleeder, got it up to almost 1bar. but dont know how accurate the gauge is on the bleeder.

reset tell tale and tested a second time, tell tale tracked to the boost needle.

so in general it appears in good working order. but if I wanted to use it and know is it accurate I would send out for testing/calibration. if just for period correct look, may be OK as is.

that is the best representation I can provide it.

I am selling as I want to use a modern boost/afr gauge as my engine rebuild will be quite modified trying to get 400hp/tq on CIS.

[356911930]

$500 is a STEAL! I haven't seen one go for $500 in three years.

GLWS

Rahl

[911tracker85]

$500 is a STEAL! I haven't seen one go for $500 in three years.

so what would be a FAIR price, considering what I have said about trying to test? and no key?

I really dont mind giving others a good deal as I do not plan to use it.

but I also need a lot of $$$ to build this 930 conversion beast.

[93097004xx]

Got mine installed today!






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JFairman]

Looks good!

[SAY - 642]

That's RAD ! Racing Legacy

[911tracker85]

well I have PM'ed the people who had expressed interest, but no commitments.

so it is available, I will stay with the $500 + shipping.

PM if interested.

[sunlion]

email sent. pm sent

[911tracker85]

PM replied.

[Mr9146]

I've had a number of tattle tale boost gauges over the years. Only original ... never repop. Never had a problem.

I have one in my 75 Carrera with 3.2 Turbo motor. Photo of plumbing below. The only issue I have is that, because of where I'm pulling the signal from, it spikes to 1.6 bar when I snap the throttle shut when shifting at high RPM. Beyond that, it's great; I just leave the tattle tale needle at 1.6 because it's gonna end up there again anyway.