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I need advice on how to set up the wiring for “classic instruments” oil pressure and amp gauges. I am getting the proper signal, I.e. a warning light from the oil sensor. Where does the oil pressure gauge hook up to? Also the amp gauge says it doesn’t use a sender. Does it get its reading (signal) from the hot lead in the circuit? I am using a vw harness and a vw 8 fuse setup. Almost finished with the rewiring project and ready to get on the road.
Mike NebenMike, I’ll try.
Just because you have an oil pressure warning light does not mean that you have a signal for an oil pressure gauge. The gauge usually requires a separate sender mounted on the engine although there are senders that send two signals, one to the light and the other to the gauge. The sender is usually located just forward of the distributor and below it. If there are two wires going to it, you are in business and probably have the correct sender. If you do, then you need to locate the other end of the wire that is not hooked up to the light. You may be lucky and be able to read an identifying number tag or it may be color coded that same on both ends. Send us a good picture of the sender.For the ammeter: Most of these kits came with an amp gauge. It, electrically, sits in the hot (usually red) wire between the battery and everything else except the starter motor (the great big lead on the battery). The amp gauge actually measures the amount and direction of the current through it. If current is flowing into the battery, it is charging and vice versa. So, there are some big wires (probably red) under the dash that comes directly from the battery and hooks to the gauge and the other hooks from the gauge to supply the fuse panel. You may be able to find a wiring diagram in the assembly manuals that are available here on the home page of the forum.I’m afraid that’s all the help that I can offer without more information. Good luck.with one post and a blue w/green stripe wire coming from it. I hooked that to the oil pressure idiot light and it works fine, on when key turned and off when rpm’s come up. Would it make sense to replace that with a two-pole sensor and run that to both the idiot light and the gauge? As for the amp gauge, do I really need to have it working if the idiot light from the alternator is functioning?
I’ve spent two months getting the wiring to work and hesitate to monkey with it now. Nobody that I know has any real knowledge about auto electrics and they all throw up their hands and say “I give up.”I appreciate all the advice and help I can get.Mike,
They sell a “T fitting” that allows you to use a sending unit for the idiiot light and a pressure gauge from the one opening in the engine block.Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...Mike. As I understand the system, the gen/alt light comes from the voltage regulator. With a generator you must have the bulb working (not burned out) as it completes the charging circuit. Not the case with an alternator. Can you connect the wire from the voltage regulator directly to the amp gauge in place of the warning light? That I’m not sure of. I have a generator system and I am using both the warning light and the amp gauge just in case I need that generator warning light to complete the charging circuit. But the sheet that came with my gauges shows the connections better. I’ll PM you the sheet that came with my gauges.
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackA slight digression…but this answers a question that has come up here several times, never with a crystal clear answer.
From the aircoole.net listing for the t-fitting:“The stock VW sender is set to trigger at 2.5-3.0 psi. Low pressure like this is NORMAL for the VW at hot idle.”If I can find the thread on VW oil pressure, I’ll move this note.Meanwhile, for those of us with pressure gauges, we can all relax at the next stop light! 😉Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
An oil pressure gauge is a fun thing to have but a oil TEMP gauge is far more useful in a Volkswagen! Many people spend lots of time and money chasing a oil pressure problem when they really have an oil temperature problem, especially in an air-cooled engine. ( anything you do to increase oil pressure if the problem is actually oil temperature will usually make the problem worse!) Even if you have a oil pressure gauge, don’t get rid of that idiot light! You might drive for many miles with the oil pressure gauge at zero without glancing that way but you probably would see the light right away. Yes, type 1 engines have low oil pressure and will run for years that way.
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