How to: Oil Pressure Gauge Installation

I decided to get an Autometer electrical gauge to keep an eye on my oil pressure. The electrical gauges have a separate sender unit and you only need to run wires into your car while the mechanical ones require you to run oil lines into your car. Mechanical gauges are generally  more accurate though.

What You Get

Autometer Pro Comp 4327

1x gauge

1 x sender Unit

3 x spring Washers

2 x spike Washers

1 x rubber Grommet

1 x bulb

1 x red bulb cover

1 x green bulb cover

5 x brass nuts

2 x screw knobs

1 x metal bracket

1 x brass fitting

1x stickers

1 x instructions

Wiring

The gauge I chose is an Autometer electrical 2 1/16" electrical gauge, you can find an instruction manual here: http://hp.autometer.com/instructions/004327_instruction.pdf

The terminal on the left with the red tag is for the sender unit, be sure to not connect it to a positive power wire. Run this wire through one of the rubber grommets in your fire wall to the place where you plan to mount the sender unit.

Connect the middle terminal to a ground, find a bolt which is connected to a part of the cars chassis and screw it down, you should sand down the metal if there is any paint to ensure a good contact.

The one on the right should go to a positive acc wire. Find a wire which has 12V only when the key is on.

For the bulb, ground the black wire. You can connect it to the gauge ground wire if you like. Connect the white wire to your park lights or to a dash light, you want the gauge to light up when your gauge cluster does.

Now just find somewhere to put it, here is where I put mine.

Plumbing The Oil Lines

When connecting the oil lines, it is not just a matter of screwing the sender unit into the block, the sender is quite heavy and the vibrations of the car may cause it, or even the block to crack or break.

The method I used it to run an oil line from the block (next to the oil filter where the pressure switch screws in) to a T-joint where I will connect the sender unit and the factory oil pressure switch.

What you need

You need some flexible oil line, two fittings to go at either end of the oil line, some hose clamps and a t-joint. The fitting which screws into the block should be 1/8th BSTP, I have heard these can be difficult to find and you are able to use 1/8 NTP without any problems.

The T-joint should have one 1/8 Female NTP fitting for the Autometer sender unit to plug into, one 1/8 female BSNP fitting for the oil pressure switch to screw into and the third female fitting should be the same as the thread on your flexible hose.

Jack the car up high enough so you can slide underneath and put it on jack stands. Unplug the wire from the pressure switch and unscrew the switch. My socket set didn't have the right sized socked but I think it's a 26mm.

Apply a small amount of instant gasket to the threads of your oil line fittings and install one  of them into the block. Be careful not to over tighten. Install the other fitting into the t-joint with a small amount of instant gasket. Insert the tube on each end and clamp them tightly. The clamps you see in the picture are tightened using a pair of side cutters to squeeze the ends together.

Connect and tighten the sender unit and the pressure switch to the t-joint after applying some instant gasket.

Now you need to make some kind of bracket to hold the t-joint and sensors to the firewall of your car. I made mine out of some shiny sheet metal and two hose clamps. After this you just need to re-connect your pressure switch wire and connect the wire you ran earlier to your sender unit.

I will be taking some more close-up pics soon.

 

 

This website has been gradually growing since I started it in early 2002. Originally I was simply documenting modifications and repairs to my car but I decided to publish it when I began to discover others were interested in the information. If you need help or have a how-to relating to Honda B series VTEC engines, or DA or DC2R Integras you can
email me.

While all care is taken to provide correct information, mistakes are occasionally made and I cannot be responsible for any damage that occurs to readers vehicles.