Oil pressure gage

[inspectorudy]

I added an oil pressure gage today and I have a question for anyone who can help. I hooked it up as per the instructions but when the key is turned to on the gage goes to full pressure and only comes down to the actual pressure once the engine is running. Did I do something wrong? I was afraid to swap the power wire with the sender wire for fear of zapping the gage. The gage has three wires going to it; power from the ignition key, one wire from the sender and one wire from ground. The only thing I could think of to vary was the power and the sender wires. BTW, I moved the hour meter next to the oil filter under the side panel. It's not something that I need to watch as I mow. I also added some of that car edge moulding that is available at auto stores to the front side panel because it was constantly rubbing tha paint off. Since I had some of it left I added some to the side edges too. Next I'll put on a coon tail!
PS
That hour meter is the
new one I just bought
for $19

[dieseldan123]

Sweet 1811! It looks brand new! That moulding looks great on there, wonder how the solid black one would look? Got any pics of the dash with the new guage?

[R Bedell]

Can you post the Wiring Instructions that came with your Gauge and advise us on how YOU wired it up?

[inspectorudy]

The instructions that came with the gage reads that the three lugs should be connected to ground, ignition and the sender. It's pretty straight forward but I'm sure that the gage should not go to full pressure when it is turned on. I am using the idiot wire for the iginition source and the frame for the ground. I always assumed that a sender was normally open until oil pressure started closing it through a resistor to make the gage work. Maybe the sender is bad. Any ideas? Is there a problem using the idiot light power to use as the ignition source? I tested it with a volt meter and it stays 12 v even after the light goes out if you test to ground.

[Dalefan]

The gauge may be designed to move to the high end when energized as a way of letting you know that it is functioning. I know at one point GM was making dashes where all of the needles would go through their range of motion when the ignition was turned on but the engine not running.

[inspectorudy]

No one would believe me if I told you that universal senders are a rapily dying breed. Auto Zone where I bought the sender that I was using finally told me that their computer does not differentiate between on/off senders and pressure senders. Only the part number/car model supplied by the customer tells them which one to sell you. So if you are like me and are installing an aftermarket part they cannot help. On top of all that some of their senders are positive ground so they all work like the one that I bought and read the wrong way with power to them. After trying three different senders I traded the final one in on a mechanical unit. God it was so simple I couldn't believe it! Anyway thanks for the help. My engine is reading about 55 psi at half power and seems to stay there above that power setting. The gage has a black face with a bright orange needle and is really noticeable when it moves. I think the days of the old shade tree mechanic like me are numbered!

[inspectorudy]

Here are a couple of pictures of the new mechanical gage with the hour meter now mounted on the black panel that came with the gage.

[_DX3_]

That looks good... Looks alot like the one on mine:

[inspectorudy]

I like the layout you have with the three gages in a row. I looked under my dash and it has a big bolt there and a thick support piece. That's why I put the hour meter next to the oil filter since that's where I would be when I would read it for changing the oil/filter. I'm not sure why the manufacturer put the hour meter on the dash when they could have put a pressure gage instead. I suppose it's to remind us when to do the maintenance. I'm an old retired pilot and have never liked idiot lights. Give me a gage and I'll stare at it until something happens! Also, DX3 I see that you have the dual hyd system. Is there any use other than as the blad angle changer? I would like to install one on my 1811 but can't think of any use for it here in the South since we only have snow about twice a season. Is there enough power to run a hyd motor?

[_DX3_]

Not much else for the front that I can think of, but, you can buy a kit to T-off of the front lines and run some lines to the rear. I would think there would be a lot more options for rear mount hydro outlets than on the front.
There is a Website. www.xtrememotorworks.com they have some nice custom made implements that use rear hydro lines.