Miata gauge pod/temp gauge?

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

Who all has put a REAL water gauge in their miata? where did you buy it? what is the best brand for the money? where did you mount it and if applicable, where did you get the gauge pod?

TIA!

 

[Orthonormal]

The water gauge is real. It always stays in place once the car is up to temperature because there is a thermostat regulating the coolant temperature. Before the engine is up to temperature, you can watch it slowly rise to the operating temperature. And if your car ever overheats, you can watch the needle creep up and up beyond the "normal" position. If you switched to a lower temperature thermostat, I bet you would notice that the needle reads lower.

It's the oil pressure gauge that's really just an on/off indicator. There are kits to replace the pressure sender with one that sends an analog signal, and you wire it right up to the stock gauge.

 

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

I know what a thermostat does...(smash)

I probably didn't explain myself well about what I am after but a quote from miata.net:

Note: The stock water temp gauge on the Miata in a way is linear. It's just that between 180-210F, it will stick to that 11AM position. If you ever climb over 210F, you will notice the needle will climb up slowly. At about 210-220F, it will sit at the 12 oclock position. At 230F, you can see the gauge start to move to the 1/2 oclock position.

When my car was getting hot from the thermostat seizing CLOSED, the gauge NEVER moved until the engine was BOILING hot! I mean, the gauge PEGGED completely over to hot in a matter of SECONDS from the "normal" 11 o'clock position when it overheated.
Who knows how long it had been getting hot before it finally overheated one day. This is unnacceptable for me, as I would have checked things out much sooner, had I known it was getting hot.

I want an accurate gauge with specified temperature markings to tell me EXACTLY what temp the engine is running at. Call me a control freak, but I would rather watch the normal fluctuations of engine temperatures than to have an "idiot" gauge tell me everything's peachy until all hell has broken loose.

BTW, when I replaced my thermostat at a 65K, it was completely seized shut. I did the old "drop the thermostat in a pot of boing water" trick to check it out.

 

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

BTW, the reason I am wanting the temp gauge is because I think my water pump is in the beginning stages of failing. It's the only thing I didn't do when I replaced the timing belt (kicking my own ass about that 1).

I am losing coolant (I smell it leaking, but it's not dripping on the ground) and I have already replaced the thermostat, the radiator, and the hoses (including the tricky throttlebody coolant hose). That only leaves one culprit!

I have a trip to Austin I need to make for my autocross school/autocross this weekend. The two have already been paid for and I am hoping the this will hold out till I get back to Lubbock. (dunno)

 

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

Actually, I have found every gauge you would possibly need at Flyin Miata! And I like the looks a LOT better than the Jackson Racing gauges.

 

[Orthonormal]

Weird. When I had overheating the needle made a gradual climb to the right. It could be that you had a faulty gauge, or it could be that when the thermostat siezes closed, the engine heats up really fast...

 

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

Very true. That may be. I still stand by my view that if I had seen the temp higher than normal the whole time the thermostat was not opening all the way, I would have been suspicious and checked things out.

i did find some GREAT gauges though, made for the miata by Flyin Miata. Check em out, even if you are not to get them: http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?action=departments&parentid=1616

I still want the temp gauge. I am anal and controlling i guess.

 

[night rider]

it was freakin hot today in lubbock! better get that water pump taken care of!

 

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

Oh yah, i guess I forgot to say, we did the water pump last night. damn aggravating too!

but at least it is done and I am ready to go down to Austin. it's almost 100 degrees outside!!!

 

[night rider]

auto X event diane? btw how did you do at that event that Stans audio put on a few weeks ago?

 

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

yep, I have an autocross in Austin. Me and my sister and her bf are gonna tear it up! GO MX-5s!!

I didn't enter the Stan's contest cuz I was running the autocross. i am just happy that my hubby set the course record in my miata. I was busy keeping the times.

You still in Lub or have you moved back home for the summer?

 

[night rider]

na im in lubbock for the first half of summer, but i will be in austin for the second half talking classes and visiting my girlfriend.

 

[night rider]

and enjpying the hill country twisties!

 

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

Oh yah! me and my car have a date with Lime Creek Road, and I'm bettin she's gonna PUT out! (lol2)

 

[KpaBap]

The water gauge is real. <snip>

No it is not, the water gauge goes from operating temperature to boiling too quickly to be helpful in avoiding overheating.

How do I know? At the end of my ES100s' life, my friend and I decided to spin some donuts to finish off the tires. We must have been doing it for too long because as I was spinning around I was keeping an eye on the temp gauge and at first it was in the middle, where it should be and then I checked it again and I saw it quickly shoot up and pegged at hot. If you weren't keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge (checking it every 15-20 seconds or so) you do run the risk of blowing a headgasket or causing who-knows-what other damage. After I let the car cool down for a bit, the gauge returned to operating temperature quickly. So, above operating temperature the gauge is pretty useless as it will go from operating to Hot without slowly creeping up. To put it simply, the gauge doesn't work in a linear fashion.

I was lucky and got away with some cold sweat </snip>

 

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

Werd. i think the $103 investment for the Flyin miata gauge is well worth it and my next toy to buy.

 

[StratoMX5]

Hey NightRider....where will you be staying in austin? We can hook up and hit some of those twisties while you're down here in Austin....BTW I'm Mazdaspeeds sistah! So I'm just as cool

I was curious why MSGirl put my name in the original post....WEIRD (crazy)

 

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

TIA=Thanks In Advance, silly!