OIL temp and pressure

[pgarner]

looking at fitting a few gauges to the dash to include boost oil temp and oil pressure just on question if the car doesnt have these as standard how and where do you fit the senders for them

i know how to fit the boost gauge but still struggling to find a grommet through the bulk head heatshield, supposedly there is one beside the recirculating valve but am dammed if i can find it :evil: found the slight cut out in the head shield but thats it no hole through the bulk

 

[obi_waynne]

Oil is easy - you could replace your drain plug with a temp sender! As long as the thread matches you should be ok. The oil pressure usually replaces the factory fitted oil pressure warning light switch and instead of an on/off it gives a graduate reading.

Those turbo head shields are a nightmare. Theres even less space in an A3 engine bay so think yourself lucky you have a bigger car! :wink:

 

[pgarner]

yeah i thought the pressure could be done through the drain plug but wasnt 100% sure

i wouldnt say that theres a lot of room in the boras bay so would hate to look in the A3

 

[HDi fun]

The ECU must know the boost pressure to regulate it. Maybe you can attach something to the ECU diag port and use that as a source for information.

I'm pretty certain that you can fiddle with the climatronic head and get all sorts of information from that too.

 

[pgarner]

ive got a list of codes for the climatronic only 3 that dont have anything to do with the aircon are actual speed coolent temp and engine rpm
got apy of vag com but aint got a lead for it yet all wait and see if that can tell me anything

got quoted £188 for boost pressure and vac, oil temp and oil pressure with all fittings, guages, lights, senders and a din sized panel

 

[HDi fun]

Does that include fitting? If so, I'd grab it quickly.

I have an oil temp guage in mine, which is standard factory fit in the instrument panel. It's amazing how much oil temperature varies according to driving style and conditions.

I am cautious to let the oil cool to around 90 celsius before shutting down the engine. This is essential with tubocharged cars, diesel or petrol as the turbo relies upon oil for the bigger part of it's cooling. You don't want to be turning off the engine when the turbo is close to red hot as is totally shafts the bearings. For comparison, oil temperatures can get close to 120 degrees under extreme use. That's the downside of turbochargers - they create LOTS OF EXCESS HEAT.

 

[pgarner]

yeah that was with all fittings and senders
seriously thinking about it it was 270 euros which worked out at roughly £188

thats what was worring me after i get it remaped am a bit worried about the extra heat causd by the increase in boost, the turbo being on boost longer etc.

 

[HDi fun]

yeah that was with all fittings and senders
seriously thinking about it it was 270 euros which worked out at roughly £188

thats what was worring me after i get it remaped am a bit worried about the extra heat causd by the increase in boost, the turbo being on boost longer etc.

You have to consider that any remap will 'take up the slack' that is built into any cars' maintenance schedule and operating schedule. If you do, as I do, use more of the available performance and then extract more by means of a remap then you do need to be cautious. Turbochargers run hot - hotter still with a power/torque remap.

I get my oil changed every 6000 miles and use either Millers XFD or AMSOIL DEO. Both are fully synthetic 5w/40 oils. Excess heat kills turbochargers. Best to drive gently for the last 2-3 miles and then let it idle for 2-3 minutes more before pulling the key out.

Oil temp is not turbo temp. Oil at 120 degrees can mean turbo(s) at 500 degrees. Idle down time is vital after a performance remap.

You'll wreck your engine (turbochargers first) if you yank the key out after a spirited drive.

 

[pgarner]

yeah understood that the remaps took up both driver and car slack ie poor fuel, servicing if any

as for the driving the last 2 or 3 miles easy always have done normally due to being in the town. that as well as normally leave it at idle for a min or 2 after parking up while getting stuff togeather taking cd face off etc

as for oil i normally change it around 5-7k miles. i dont care if audi say this oil last 36k it still will be getting changed

didnt relise that the turbo ran quite that hot knew oil sat at around 100-130 degrees

 

[pgarner]

[I get my oil changed every 6000 miles and use either Millers XFD or AMSOIL DEO. Both are fully synthetic 5w/40 oils. .

where abouts do you get you oil ?


found the millers for 5 ltrs fully sythetic 5w 40 £36 not bad

the amsoil for the same spec was £47

just wanting to know how much you pay for yours £47 seems a little steep for around 5 months wear (supposidly lasts 26k miles not a chance )

how good do you find it. i know you pug is in a relitilvy high state compared to standard.

oil due for a change in 3k miles full service by VW in 16 so itll be changed at twice before VW get hold of it not willing to put some in them have them take it out after mabye 1000 mile

 

[HDi fun]

AMSOIL is pricey and I pay about £46 as well.

Best I've done on Millers recently was £32 from a local independent motor factor.

I'm inclined to think that AMSOIL is a better product as it has an API-CJ4 rating whereas Millers XFD manages CH4.

Both are good oils but if pushed I'd have to vote for AMSOIL as the engine runs 5-10 degrees cooler overall.

 

[pgarner]

cheers for the advise al have a look into getting it shortly

whats the ratings your on about ? API-CJ4 and CH4

 

[HDi fun]

cheers for the advise al have a look into getting it shortly

whats the ratings your on about ? API-CJ4 and CH4

API is the American Petroleum Institute rating, which covers things such as detergency and dispensancy. Along with the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) ratings you should be able to determine the best oil for your engine.

Lots of manufacturers have their own ratings. VW is an example with the 500.x and 505.x ratings which supposedly removes the need to check all the others.

Generally you can assume that pricier means better, although there are some overpriced brands out there such as Castrol.

Also take a look at Royal Purple, Motul, Morris and, interestingly, Halfords own brands which are made by Exxon Mobil.

With synthetics you need to be careful if you need to top up between changes. It's important to use exactly the same oil.

There's basically two types of synthetic base stock. Both, strangely, are still derived from mineral oils base stocks. Those two are Poly Alpha Olefins (PAO) and Polyolester. The two must not be mixed.

I'd recommend synthetics to anyone running anything other than the most modest of machinery.

 

[pgarner]

OK time to open this thread again for a little while

so nearly 5 months has passed since i started this thread and im glad to say ive finally got my gauges from " newsouth performance " not bad took around a week to arrive from the good old USA. really like the way they look, as they match the rest of the dash lights

boost guage has already been fitted to the vacuum pipe from the fuel pressure reg. oil temp and water have been fitted into the dash however still have to fit the senders hopefully tomorrow ( im begging that i been sent the correct filter adaptor and theres not much oil to lose by taking out the filter to install )

will try and get a few pics up tomorrow


on the oil front have chaged to amsoil 5w - 30, on HDI's recomendation, and quite happy with it. seens to have gave me a few mpg better (has now done 1000 mile since the change and still averaging 34mpg on a 30mile journey)

 

[old-git]

looking at fitting a few gauges to the dash to include boost oil temp and oil pressure just on question if the car doesnt have these as standard how and where do you fit the senders for them

Back in the 70s we started fitting gauges for oil pressure - They were generally known as worry gauges

 

[pgarner]

yeah ive found out that 1 of the main reasons of engine failure in the vag 1.8t is that sludging blocking the oil pickup is a common problem even with regular oil changes. the problem is that the sensor in the engine only gets worried at a very low pressure, normally before there's no oil going through the bloody thing.

but thanks for the concern

 

[obi_waynne]

Maybe I should get me one of those their Worry Gauges. (I've been using the Audi long life oil which is 5w30 but its extremely expensive, mainly because of the problems I heard about with sludge!)

 

[HDi fun]

You could try engine flush before an oil change.

I'm surprised to hear that sludge is still an issue - I thought that went away in the 1980's (yep, them again!!!).

Short journeys probably promote the sludging.

 

[obi_waynne]

I guess that switching off a turbo before its called down also helps with sludge.

 

[pgarner]

i dont usually bother with flush as take the car for a decent run ( around 20 miles ) before changing it to make it a lot easier

would it make it any better ?

 

[pgarner]

the 3 gauges installed

nice and looks like it will match nicely with the rest of the dials in the car.



but what a pain to fit the senders.

took no time to remove the oil filter, very carefully so not to lose much oil, and bolt on the sandwich adaptor nice and tight so not to lose as this is where i thought i would have any leaks. getting the senders in place was easy as id been smart enough to remove 2 bolts so it was just a case of bolting them in place yeah all done or so i thought.

started the bloody thing up and watched the dials spin right around to show they were working and kicked it over. pressure immediately jumped to 70 psi ( 5 bar ) went and had a look for leaks and ohh yeah i found 2. The 2 spare bolts were leaking even after being done up as tight as possible. so out with the PTFE tape and wrapped around 7 or 8 times each and hey all stopped. ok me thinking i had stopped all leaks i left it idling in the drive for 5 mins while i went and washed the oil off me. came out and the filter hosing and filter itself was still dry so off for a quick drive ( 10 miles ) came back jacked it up again and yes more oil was leaking. from where ????????????? tightened up the senders, wrapped a rag around the filter and done it up as tight as i could with hands and tightened up the spare bolts as much as possible. another 20 mile run to pick some stuff up and yeah so far no more oil anywhere 8)

 

[obi_waynne]

Looking good. They do fit really nicely.

 

[pgarner]

yeah a bit of vercro was needed to secure in the RHS as there was no clips for them and i didnt bother with the U brackets as the gauges were tight enough not to need them.

seen them for the 1st time in the dark last night and they look really good. identical to the rest of the dials