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Oil Pressure/ Water temp Gauge

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Superwrench

Superwrench

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Anybody buy a new Oil Pressure/Water Temp Gauge from one of the parts suppliers ? Helping a friend with his BJ8 and it looks like his capillary tube leaked and now water temp doesn't work. He contacted Nisonger and he needs 6 to 7 weeks to repair it. He doesn't want to lose the drive time and might buy a new one ? Is there a good replacement out there ? thanks !
 
Moss has a replacement, but it's slightly cosmetically different than OEM. I think there's a tech sheet on the Moss site about it (but it looks like their tech tips page is inop).
 
Superwrench said:
Anybody buy a new Oil Pressure/Water Temp Gauge from one of the parts suppliers ? Helping a friend with his BJ8 and it looks like his capillary tube leaked and now water temp doesn't work. He contacted Nisonger and he needs 6 to 7 weeks to repair it. He doesn't want to lose the drive time and might buy a new one ? Is there a good replacement out there ? thanks !
Click to expand...


I had a similar customer service experience with Nisonger. I used https://www.momamanufacturing.com/ .

Joey ( jlobo@momamanufacturing.com ) did a great job, fast turnaround, with excellent service. No financial interest, just a happy customer!

Thanks,
Duane
'58 BN6
 
Superwrench said:
Anybody buy a new Oil Pressure/Water Temp Gauge from one of the parts suppliers ? Helping a friend with his BJ8 and it looks like his capillary tube leaked and now water temp doesn't work. He contacted Nisonger and he needs 6 to 7 weeks to repair it. He doesn't want to lose the drive time and might buy a new one ? Is there a good replacement out there ? thanks !
Click to expand...
You might try Palo Alto Speedometer (in California) (https://www.paspeedo.com/) they should be able to repair it but I have no idea how long it would take. Worst case, I am sure they can get you a new one.

Cheers,
Dan M.
 
West Valley Instruments in Reseda, CA (www.westvalleyinstruments.com) rebuilt a couple gauges for me, including repairing a leaky ether tube for the Oil/Water gauge and did a good job. The owner is Morris Mintz, who is the "Mo" of "Mo-Ma".
 
I'll add my thumbs up on Morris Mintz. He's done great work for me. I think he can do whatever you might need for any British car. I have no interest other than just being a satisfied customer.

Bill Hoyt
 
You can repair these fairly easy yourself. Found an article several years ago on Plymouth site:

https://www.ply33.com/Repair/tempgauge

Basically, go buy a cheap mechanical gauge (Harbor Frt., PEP boys,....last I bought was NAPA to get the wire wrapped look on capillary tube....think it was $22...).... system is filled with ether...you condense all into the bulb with ice...with bulb in ice, cut the capillary line close to the gauge on both, using a brass tube/sleeve (from hobby shop) solder them together (have to keep id open for fluid). pull bulb out of ice... can test by putting boiling water and checking reading...

The key is you're working on saturation curve for the ether... at a given temp it has a pressure, will be constant until all the liquid is boiled off. If you don't boil it all off, press/temp will track the sat. curve, be repeatable.. any other "gases" are minimal, mostly non condensibles and insignificant to overall pressure, act as "fillers/spacers" in vapor space...just have to have enough "pure stuff" in bulb not to all boil off...

Works pretty trick. I'ved saved about 5 or 6 Smith's gauges since finding that article. Much cheaper than buying new gauge, and keeps the original face.

Bob L.
 
Elva150 said:
You can repair these fairly easy yourself. Found an article several years ago on Plymouth site:

https://www.ply33.com/Repair/tempgauge

Basically, go buy a cheap mechanical gauge (Harbor Frt., PEP boys,....last I bought was NAPA to get the wire wrapped look on capillary tube....think it was $22...).... system is filled with ether...you condense all into the bulb with ice...with bulb in ice, cut the capillary line close to the gauge on both, using a brass tube/sleeve (from hobby shop) solder them together (have to keep id open for fluid). pull bulb out of ice... can test by putting boiling water and checking reading...

The key is you're working on saturation curve for the ether... at a given temp it has a pressure, will be constant until all the liquid is boiled off. If you don't boil it all off, press/temp will track the sat. curve, be repeatable.. any other "gases" are minimal, mostly non condensibles and insignificant to overall pressure, act as "fillers/spacers" in vapor space...just have to have enough "pure stuff" in bulb not to all boil off...

Works pretty trick. I'ved saved about 5 or 6 Smith's gauges since finding that article. Much cheaper than buying new gauge, and keeps the original face.

Bob L.
Click to expand...

Bob - thank you for posting this! Very valuable!
 
My water temp gauge doesn't work either and am considering attempting this fix. At a minimum it looks like a cheap gamble. If the ether has escaped won't it just escape again unless you can find the crack? I've examined mine pretty closely and can't find any mechanism for the ether to have escaped.
 
You are correct. You have little to nothing to lose with the DIY repair.

I have repaired about a half dozen capillary gauges with the donor technique. It works well. I have the following comments and observations for those wishing to attempt the repair themselves.

  • Use dry ice for the cold source instead of the salt/ice bath. It is both colder and cleaner. Most larger groceries sell dry ice.
  • If the gauge needle is NOT sitting on the lower end stop peg BEFORE you start the repair... don't bother. Send it in for professional service.
  • Tin the capillary tubes prior to cutting.
  • When you are ready to solder, get the heat in quickly and then remove it quickly. Keeping the heat there too long will allow solder to plug the hole in the tubing.
  • Use a hot air gun immediately on the expansion bulb to test your repair and confirm the tube did not get plugged during soldering.
  • Have multiple splice tubes ready in the event that the first one does not work.
 
I'm definitely excited to try it. As I was contemplating this over lunch I realized that I have to change the way it threads in as well. I have an early BN4 gauge but have changed to a later head requiring a male fitting. It looks like I could use an adapter ( https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecID=80 ) but a male fitting would be cleaner if I can find it. It will also be a nice time to add a fresh new grommet. This will be a fun project.

Does this look like a reasonable donor? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ET4O5...olid=34JUJWO6HZUVN&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
 
Well, my dad tried it, and shot the brass bulb across the shop at a very high velocity. It's roughly the diameter of a 50-cal bullet.
 
Csarneson said:
I realized that I have to change the way it threads in as well. I have an early BN4 gauge but have changed to a later head requiring a male fitting. It looks like I could use an adapter ( https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecID=80 ) but a male fitting would be cleaner if I can find it. It will also be a nice time to add a fresh new grommet. This will be a fun project.

Does this look like a reasonable donor? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ET4O5...olid=34JUJWO6HZUVN&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
Click to expand...

Since you are splicing a new expansion bulb's capillary tube onto the old gauge's tube, what matters is what you have in the head and what you have on the gauge. Typically, British cylinder heads are tapped 5/8-18 for the sending unit hole. The modern donor gauge typically has a male threaded nut to push the sending unit down into the tapered seat hole in the head. Therefore, you shouldn't need an adapter UNLESS the tapped hole in the head is deep and the expansion bulb bottoms out inside the casting before the nut seats. In that case, you want the male/female 5/8-18 adapter used on A-series engines.
https://www.minimania.com/part/11K2846/Classic-Mini-Adapter-Temperature-Gauge

I cannot see the nut on the gauge you picked as a donor. However, most local parts stores will have a selection to pick from. A few years back Bosch bought the Actron gauge product line. You are likely to find them locally for lower cost than the Amazon donor you found. What you want to be careful of is selecting a donor that has the spring guard over the capillary tube. You don't want the vinyl covered guard.
See the links below for cheap Bosch donors.
https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-SP0F00...-spons&keywords=bosch+temperature+gauge&psc=1
or
https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-SP0F00...44609&sr=8-3&keywords=bosch+temperature+gauge

If you don't have the grommet yet, the folks at Britishwiring.com often have a good selection of plugs and grommets.


Bob_Spidell said:
Well, my dad tried it, and shot the brass bulb across the shop at a very high velocity. It's roughly the diameter of a 50-cal bullet.
Click to expand...
How did that happen? Was he using an open flame to do the soldering? The method calls for splicing the tiny capillary tube so no heat or flame should ever be placed on the expansion bulb.
 
Please don't take offense. However, if you are going to use the DIY method, follow the basic method as outlined in the web link posted above.

The salt/ice bath (or my dry ice) is used to cool the expansion bulb so there is virtually no vapor pressure for the ether inside. If you try to heat the bulb to solder it, the ether is going to boil out quickly which will render the attempted repair useless. As your father found out, it can also be dangerous.

If you are going to do the DIY repair, make the solder splice in the tubing... not in/at the bulb.
 
My DIY method:

1) remove gauge and oil and temp lines
2) send to Mo-Ma*, Nisonger, or West Valley
3) install gauge and oil and temp lines

Works every time, with the benefit of having the gauges calibrated; I gained 20PSI of oil pressure at idle with this method.

* what we ended up doing after we shot the bulb across the shop
 
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