I have my car running now, it still has a few bugs to work out, but it runs and I can drive it again, so I'm content at the moment.

However, since I've had so many problems with the coolant system in general, I want to install a good temperature gauge to help spot issues before they become problems. The way I see it, the coolant system has cost me about $1500 so far, I'd rather buy a good gauge and not have to go through it all again. I've never liked using the stock one because it's difficult to see small fluctuations.

The problem is that I don't know what to look for in a gauge. I've checked out google, ebay, and the parts stores and looked at a few, but I don't know how good any of them would be. Autozone carries some that look decent for around $30-40, and you can get an obx water temp gauge on ebay for around the same, but I don't know what the quality is.

The only thing I now is that I don't like pillar pods very much, so I'll probably go with one of the ones that fit around your cluster. I'm not saying I wouldn't use a pillar pod at all, but I think I'd prefer that all my gauges be near the cluster to make it simple, and less cluttered. Also, I'm staying N/A, and I'm not doing any heavy modification in the near future, so I don't really need a ton of gauges, as far as I know anyway. If it helps, the extent to which I'm currently planning is to upgrade the muffler, cat, headers, intake, throttle body, and brakes. The only reason I mention the cluster is because I would need to look for a gauge that fits in it. I think the correct size is 52mm.

Bottom line is: I'm looking to spend under $50, preferably closer to 30 or 40, on a good water temperature gauge, what do you recommend? Am I shooting too low to find a quality gauge? I may be willing to go over 50 if I really need to in order to get something worth while, but I don't have a ton of money to spend, so I'd like to avoid that if possible. I'm not overly concerned with what looks good, mainly just quality and relative ease of installation, since I don't know anything about gauges. I would also need something that would come with everything I need for installation, since I wouldn't know what was missing.

From what I've read, oil pressure is a good gauge to pair with a temp gauge if you only want 2 gauges and you're never going to boost or go with a stand alone ignition. However, I don't know a lot about oil pressure either, so what would I expect to see in the readings, and what would I want to watch for as far as spotting problems, aside from obvious things like the needle skyrocketing up or plummeting down out of nowhere? Can I find a decent oil pressure gauge in the same price range as the water temp gauge?

Finally, would it be worth while to buy used, or would it be better to save up and buy new.

Any and all comments welcome, I'm new to this and I'm sure there's plenty of you guys that know what they're talking about.

My build: verttuner.com (hosted on my blog)

Why not spend a little more and get an OBDII reader + water temp gauge + approx 20 other gauges with the ScanguageII? I bought mine for ~140. Gives you a digital read out of the water temp (you can actually see variation as the stock gauge stands motionless).

You can get an inexpensive oil pressure gauge - but it's going to be a mechanical. Otherwise try to find a used short sweep autometer electric, but if you have to replace the sender that will still be another $25.

2gnt: '99 RS-T, killed by a toyota, pending rebuild...
Daily: Volt
Daily #2: '99 EVG ebike- STOLEN by PEDRO

Prosport

http://www.machv.com/prwatega.html

The three most basic "starter" gauges would be 1) Water Temp, 2) Oil Pressure, 3) Volt Meter.

You can tell alot just from those three gauges, plus the Oil Pressure and Water temp factory dash gauges are limited in telling you anything with acuracy.

I would strong suggest you purchase electric gauges over mechanical ones, unless you like the thought of hot oil coming into your cabin via a small plastic hose.

I'm a big fan of the Autometer lines, and like the poster above mentioned, you can get some Electric, Short-Sweet gauges from them for decent prices. I would look on Summit or Jegs to see what you like then head out to ebay to buy or bid. Their quality is usually pretty good and their customer service has always been excellent to me.

I also am running a ScanGauge II and absolutely love it. It has many of the gauges you might want all in one unit... I highly recommend that as well as an alternative--especially if you don't want to have a bunch of gauges in your car.

95 Avenger 2.0 - Hahn 16g, DMS 8 injector setup, UDP, Big FMIC, HKS SSQV, MSD Coil & Wires,
ZEX Nitrous System, QTP Cut Out, Mandrel 2.5" Exhaust with cat delete, MP 60mm TB...and tons of Carbon Fiber

Thanks for all the responses guys, It's a big help. Sounds like I definitely want to go with electric gauges, hot liquids in my car aren't my thing.

I'm interested in the scangaugeII as well, but I don't know much about it. If I'm to understand from their website, I just plug it in and go? How does it know the coolant temp and oil pressure? I understand that it interacts with the stock ecu, but if the stock ecu is using the stock sending units, how is it more accurate than the stock gauges? Probably stupid questions, but I'd like to know.

Also, how is it mounted inside the car? Where do you guys mount yours? Anybody got pics of it installed in a 2g? I'd like to know how practical it would be to use while driving. I definitely like that it can be used to read cel's, beats the key dance.

thanks again.

My build: verttuner.com (hosted on my blog)

It doesn't read oil pressure.

It is more accurate for water temp because it shows you the actual water temp instead of a needle on a blank gauge.

Makes sense. Thanks

My build: verttuner.com (hosted on my blog)

The ScanGauge II plugs right into your OBD II port under your dash and can be remove mounted in many locations. I know ScanGauge II has an optional mounting bracket for under your rear view. I have mine mounted in my center vent delete panel along with two gauges.

The ScanGauge II gets its information directly from the ECU via the OBD II ports and shows the readings digitally. You can any view 4 features at once on the display, out of the many features that it reads. You can also change the backlighting to several different colors for best viewing.

I usually keep my SGII on: Water Temp, TPS, MPG (instant), and MPH.

But often which to other features as necessary.

95 Avenger 2.0 - Hahn 16g, DMS 8 injector setup, UDP, Big FMIC, HKS SSQV, MSD Coil & Wires,
ZEX Nitrous System, QTP Cut Out, Mandrel 2.5" Exhaust with cat delete, MP 60mm TB...and tons of Carbon Fiber

+1 on the SGII-nuff said.

I'm curious as to what the hell went wrong with your cooling system?
That bites. I've had to do the thermo, gauge sender, and a couple hoses but otherwise it's great.

Hoses went bad all the time, but I replaced them until the waterpump gave out going down the road. The car overheated and warped the head.
Had to put a whole new engine in it. That put me down for about 1000 by the time I got a block, paid someone to help me put it in (I can do minor mechanical work, but I'm swamped when it comes to a whole motor swap. I'm getting better though) Then my crank sensor went bad. Of course, I have a 95 so I had to buy a sensor and new plug from Satan, plus pay them to hook up the plug so I wouldn't screw it up and cost myself even more money. All said and done, that one sensor cost me around $400.

But that's all old history now, I got the car on the road again and I'm stoked about it. It's got a few issues still though. Sometimes it takes 2 or three times to start. It turns over and sparks every time, it just falls on its face. Most of the time it starts right up and runs like a champ though. I'm thinking maybe a bad battery connection, but i just changed the battery a few weeks ago and I was pretty sure I made the connection plenty tight.

And now the car starts to get hot, but then the fan kicks on and it cools right back down again. The temperature just keeps bouncing up and down. I'm thinking the coolant system has air in it and it needs to be burped. I also have a slow leak in the coolant system, it's possible its causing the system to lose pressure. I got the new hoses on order, but they don't shift till the 15th, so I got my car parked till then. I'm gonna burp it later to see if that helps.

The big issue right now is that water is getting into the passenger side of the car some how. Every time it rains I find a puddle of water in the passenger floor board, but nothing else is wet. I've felt all around the door, figuring maybe the door seal is bad, but it's bone dry (It was raining when I checked) Luckily the interior is completely stripped right now, so there's no carpet or passenger seat to get moldy on me. Hopefully I can figure out where it's coming from so I can buy my new carpet and put everything back together. Any ideas where that could be coming from?

My build: verttuner.com (hosted on my blog)

Is it us every time it rains? Does it happen when you wash your car?
Do you have a factory Sunroof?

Water could be from the heatcore leaking as well if it was coolant/water mix on your floor. But more likely you have a bad seal somewhere--be it windshield or something under the cowl.

With your interior stripped out, you should have somebody spray your ride with a hose while you lay inside (you'll probably need to remove the front seat as well) and watch for the source of the water. Thats probably the only way to find the leak, if it isn't super obvious.

I mention the sunroof because sometime the sunroof drain tubes get clogged up and water finds a new way out....

Sounds like your cooling system has air in it like you said, due to the fluctuations you are seeing, so you should burp the system--I assume you know how.

95 Avenger 2.0 - Hahn 16g, DMS 8 injector setup, UDP, Big FMIC, HKS SSQV, MSD Coil & Wires,
ZEX Nitrous System, QTP Cut Out, Mandrel 2.5" Exhaust with cat delete, MP 60mm TB...and tons of Carbon Fiber

I don't have a sun roof and it doesn't smell/look like antifreeze. I haven't washed the car since I found the leak, but it's every time it rains. I already have the passenger seat removed. At the moment the only thing in my car is a dashboard, steering wheel, shifter, driver's seat, and seat belt. No lower dash, passenger seats, carpet, etc. I was experimenting with some roofing rubber to use as cheap dynamat since I had the interior stripped already. It's admittedly ghetto, but it should be effective. Plus I got the stuff for free, so I figured, what the hell. Unfortunately, it rained all night the first day I glued down the passenger area and the water got in the car and mixed with the glue. So now I got glue water sloshing around there. That's how I found out water was even getting in. It's never been a problem till now. So now I got to rip that stuff back out and clean up the glue mess. Then I'll probably drive the car to the car wash and take a pressure hose to the outside while someone lays inside.

For burping the system I just take the cap off the thermostat housing and run the car for a few minutes right? Been a while, probably 3 or 4 months, since I read about it, but I'm pretty sure that's what you do.

My build: verttuner.com (hosted on my blog)