I've had the VDO after market gauges and a set from an Audi 5000 GT
coupe.
Besides the faces falling off all of them I'd say they are all just
generically sorry.
Gauges are for monitoring and after a little 12v tweaking with a constant
voltage diode i'm satisfied that I can drive in a safe but wide spectrum
of temperatures.
The oil pressure gauge is right on but I can't help but wonder why every
other oil gauge I've ever had swings the needle slowly and the VDO
needles race.

Stan Wilder

On Fri, 28 Jun 2002 14:05:07 -0500 Max Wellhouse <maxjoyce@ipa.net>
writes:
> I took my dipstick sender for oil temp from my 79 loaf, put it in a
> pot of
> boiling water at 200ft. above sea level(grounded the sender to
> chassis
> while it was out of the tube hole and had ignition switch on)  Guess
>
> what?  The gauge read 100 C right on the money.  Technically for it
> to be
> totally accurate, I guess I'd need to be in New Orleans or closer to
> 0
> evelvation, but close enough for shade tree mechanics.  BTW, my
> gauge came
> out of a 77 Sirrocco, could it be that they are more accurate than
> the
> aftermarket gauges?
>
> DM&FS
>
> At 10:31 AM 6/28/2002 -0500, Stan Wilder wrote:
> >Glad to see that you decided to install the cooler.
> >
> >Now, And i drove ti hard yesterday, my oil temp is around 90-95C,
> > > heads 275-325, and oil is up about 5-10 lbs...........is this
> > > awesome or what?  Definitely one of the best mechanical things
> I
> > > have done to my van.
> >----------------------- Clip --------------------------
> >Here is a little test for you: Run your engine normally for about
> an hour
> >at the speeds you want to be driving at. Pull over and park your
> van on a
> >steep incline or with the drivers side wheels up on a curb.
> >Take a candy thermometer and drop it into your oil fill tube. Give
> it
> >about two minutes to register and check it against your oil
> temperature
> >gauge. (need the oil table up into the filler tube).
> >Since Candy goes crazy with + or - 5 degrees (f) these thermometers
> are
> >very accurate for the cheap price. (mostly less than $4.00).
> >The VDO gauges are *averaging the temp* that you read on your
> gauge. It
> >takes a long time to go up and about the same to go down.
> >My VDO oil temp gauge may say 100 (c) and if I want it to read
> something
> >else I just put in another of the same gauges and I'll have a
> different
> >reading, speaks volumes about their quality.
> >In addition the placement of the sender can give you various
> results. At
> >the sump plate location you are reading the temp of the oil that is
> being
> >bypassed back into the crank case after use by the engine
> bearings.
> >To farther confuse you the power supply for your gauge needs to be
> >powered from a terminal that has its feed from the voltage
> stabilizer.
> >(example: If you've got a Volt meter, the needle shouldn't bounce
> when
> >the flashers are on. If they do, you've got the wrong power
> source.)
> >An additional direct ground from the engine case to your ground
> multi pin
> >connector behind your dash will also bring more accuracy.
> >Summary: Don't quit working until you match the gauge to the candy
> >thermometer or you're just guessing at the oil temp.
> >CHT changes are almost immediate within one minute but I can change
> my
> >CHT by swapping gauges too.
> >If you added length to the CHT installation kit wires, its unlikely
> that
> >you got the exact copper alloy in both the VDO kit wires and your
> >extension wires, hence you're once again guessing.
> >I don't know of a fix for this but I found that giving the wires a
> good
> >insulation wrap at the solder joints keeps the joints from becoming
> mini
> >senders that effect your gauge reading.
> >I've done all the things I've suggested and I'm exhausted from
> *lack of
> >proper instructions*.
> >
> >Stan Wilder
> >83 Air Cooled Westfalia
> >
> >________________________________________________________________
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>
>

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