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Old fashion Oil Pressure Gauge

lenny

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Vermont
What i would like to do is find a oil pressure gauge that was used back in the 50's till the 70's I think.
there was an oil line made of copper (thin) that ran to a oil pressure gauge, that would sit on the dash.
Do they still make them and is this a good idea to go this way? to use it on a 89 Comanche 4.0L
any feedback, and what not to do and what to do?

lenny
 
Somebody here removed the stock gauge and put the manual (metal tube) one in its place, inside the gauge cluster. The write up and pic was posted fairly recently so if you look around here you should come across it. I'd first try another sending unit and testing w/ the multimeter though.
 
lenny said:
thanks for the reply!
you have any feelings one way or another about this idea?

lenny
I like the mechanical ones, no problems, they just work.
Summit has some nice looking Mopar Performance gauges.
 
One thing to point out is when (not "if" on a 4 wheeler) the line breaks, you either run out of oil (under the hood) or you can get 3rd degree burns from it squirting on your leg before you notice it. $17,000 in medical bills to back that one up! I'll go electric from now on thanks.
 
carnuck said:
One thing to point out is when (not "if" on a 4 wheeler) the line breaks, you either run out of oil (under the hood) or you can get 3rd degree burns from it squirting on your leg before you notice it. $17,000 in medical bills to back that one up! I'll go electric from now on thanks.
Cheap gauges with plastic lines should be avoided. Use copper, support it every 5" leave a 2" dia. loop where you go from the engine to firewall. There is no reason for a line to break unless you get careless or sloppy.
 
Mechanical gauges are great but the nylon tubing that most of them come with are crap. When you buy the 3 gauge package, oil, water temp, and volts at the parts store it will probably come with nylon tubing for the oil gauge. Spend the extra $10 and get the copper tubing kit. Use grommets to pass thru thru the firewall and I'll last you as long as the jeep will. Inspect the tubing every now and then if you are concerned. I got into a 3 gauge package with mount for $39 + $10 for the copper kit.
 
Bouncing around offroad flexs the copper line (the coil at the firewall does help cut down the hardening of it from flexing) and broken/sloppy mounts (body/motor/trans) all add up. Just lucky he wasn't commando at the time or it would've REALLY hurt!
 
langer1 said:
Cheap gauges with plastic lines should be avoided. Use copper, support it every 5" leave a 2" dia. loop where you go from the engine to firewall. There is no reason for a line to break unless you get careless or sloppy.
There is no reason why a lot of things might happen but ... "stuff" happens.

I ran a race car for several years with a copper line to the oil pressure gauge, but electric gauges are a lot better now than they were then. I wouldn't do it again.
 
Eagle said:
There is no reason why a lot of things might happen but ... "stuff" happens.

I ran a race car for several years with a copper line to the oil pressure gauge, but electric gauges are a lot better now than they were then. I wouldn't do it again.
No doubt your right but for some reason mechanical is still popular, reason being the guess work of whether it’s the gauge or the correct reading is somewhat eliminated with Mechanical.

Most of the above statements not true of course.
 
I'll admit to a fair amount of faith in my mechanical gages, but they also get back-checked quarterly during my regular inspections. Granted, I cheat - I've got QD fittings plumbed into the oil supply down by the sender, and I can just pop the test gage on and off...

I also double-check my temperature gage with a known good thermometer - I tend to catch senders before they fail totally.

I've run mechanical oil pressure gages (engine oil and transmission) and while I like the simplicity of the design, those lines somehow always manage to fail in the place they're designed not to - usually, that means somewhere around your right knee. Ouch.

With the improvements in electrical gaging and sensors, I'd prefer to use the electric (especially since I'm paranoid to a fault about gages.)

Oh - watch out, most of the mechanical pressure gages now use Nylon tubing - nothing bad there, but it's a little more sensitive to abrasion and a little less to vibration. I'd sleeve it with some oil-resistant hose at critical points, but that's just me. All else being equal, I'll stick to the setup I've got now - electrical gage double-checked at intervals. It's worked for more years than I'd care to admit to...

5-90
 
langer1 said:
No doubt your right but for some reason mechanical is still popular, reason being the guess work of whether it’s the gauge or the correct reading is somewhat eliminated with Mechanical.

Most of the above statements not true of course.
I think it's a good idea to keep a quality mechanical gauge in the shop for diagnostic use. I just feel that I'm old enough now to not need the experience of driving around with oil dripping on my right foot any more.
 
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