2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Fuel Press Guage Mounting Help

[Gene-C]

Just ordered a westach fuel pressure gauge from Genos and want to put it in the cubby hole. What are you using for a face plate and how do you attach it so that it looks good???

I read in an earlier post that Genos would get a 30psi guage for the same price as the 15psi. Andy at Genos said they will not do that any more. They will not take any special orders. Said they end up with a lot of odd stock. Just a heads up.

 

[cdpsrjc]

Installed a Westac fuel pressure guage (16PSI) from Genos in the cubby hole to the right of the radio two weeks ago. I called Genos and requested the insert plate they offer with the boost/EGT combo guage. They agreed and sent it along with my FP guage at no additional cost. I ordered Ray's banjo bolts ( full set) and installed the sender on the end of an 18" grease gun hose, zip tied to the wiring harness along the firewall. Had to seal the npt fittings, they never really sealed right without the compound. Guage looks great. Plate installs using 3 screws (supplied) into the same holes the pod was anchored into. Tapped the 12V cigarette lighter wire for power and tapped the cup holder light for dimable lighting. complete install took about 4 hours and it was first guage install. 12-14 PSI idle, 12 @2000 and 8-9 WOT. Original lift pump. 50K miles I thought the pump was fine, Now I know.

 

[Lazy-Boy]

How'd you hook the hose to the sender?

cdpsrjc, or anybody with the answer,

I also ordered the banjo bolts and got an 18" grease gun hose from the parts store.

I guess the hose will screw right into the banjo bolt. And then the banjo will screw into the bottom of the filter housing (I have a 2001). That seems easy enough.



My question is on connecting the hose to the sender. The sender, and both ends of the grease gun hose match. What has been the best solution for you guys doing this?

 

[Gene-C]

Lazy Boy: Are you saying the guage has a 1/8 male fitting and the grease gun hose also has a male fitting???? If so then we need a double female 1/8 npt coupler. Is that correct???

CDPSRJC: Or anyone else that has put in a fuel press guage. Do we need to bleed the air out of the line at the guage. ??????

Gene

 

[badinfluence]

Just did this install

Gene, I just installed my gauges last week. I used the the 45 degree fitting (comes with gauge from Geno's) in the banjo on the bottom of the filter housing, screwed grease gun hose into that. To attach sending unit to hose I bought an 1/8 npt coupler (female) from parts store. Then used aircraft tubing anti- vibration clamps to mount sending unit. Oh and make sure you have a good ground when you do your install.

Brett

 

[Lazy-Boy]

Where can I get a female 1/8 npt coupler

badinfluence,

What kinda parts store would I get a female 1/8 npt coupler from? I couldn't find anything like that. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place.

Thanks

 

[dresslered]

Lazy-Boy-

Any decent auto parts store should have a female-female NPT adapter. I also like to put thread sealant on all the threads.



Gene-C-

I prefer to leave the air in the hose. This adds additional dampening and will not degrade the readings.

 

[cdpsrjc]

I bought my female coupler ar Home Depot. Bled the line by bumping starter and letting fuel spray into old quart oil container . Not sure if it was right or wrong, just what I did. Time will tell with my sender. Working fine so far. Good luck and most of all, have fun! (leaks are no fun, seal 'er up the first time. ) Also... I thought I'd save some $ and buy my wire at HD while there. HD told me to get the wire at auto parts store cuz all they had was AC stuff. Didn't know there was a difference, so back to auto parts store for the wire I went.

 

[Dr.Kayak]

I did the same setup others describe with the grease gun hose. Watch out for grease gun hoses with silver ends (from Napa). I got 2 of theses (pre and post filter) and they would not seal in the banjo bolts. The thread taper is wrong, never got tight enough even with permitex sealer. Go with grease gun hoses with the brass ends.

 

[Walker]

cdpsrjc,

I was wondering the same thing about the wire. The gauge has silver braided (I guess AC), but I bought 22g. copper braided for my connections. Anybody know the difference or if the copper will work just as well?



dresslered,

Is the air in the hose trick a significant help? Can the air escape back into the system? Anybody else use this idea?



I'm getting ready for my install this weekend. Would like it to be a "one timer".

 

[dresslered]

Walker-

If the fuel sender is mounted upward from the point that you have tapped into the fuel line (i. e. banjo at the bottom of fuel filter), the air will never get back into the system unless you end up upside down.



If you are using rubber tubing such as the grease hose method, you probably don't need the air in the line for the additional dampening. If you are using stiffer hoses, it might be necessary to further dampen the pulses created from the injection pump (it would always be very easy to bleed off the air if you weren't happy with the results). The "air-in-the-line" method was introduced to me by a mechanical engineer that builds his own experimental airplanes. He says that this is a common technique that they use for fuel pressure gauges. And come to think of it, he spends quite a bit of time upside down!



Dr. Kayak-

I experienced the same thing you did from the grease hose fittings from Napa. If you look real close, even though they call it an 1/8" NPT fitting, it is NOT tapered????

 

[RustyJC]

A Lesson Learned!

Gene-C,



If you're installing your sender post-filter (i. e. , putting the tapped banjo at the bottom of the filter housing) and using the Westach sending unit, just a word of caution.



I have a Westach 2DC3-201 dual-combo fuel pressure gauge with pre-filter and post-filter senders. I plumbed mine with teflon-core, stainless steel braided hose and AN fittings. Within the first 1000 miles after installing the gauge, I had lost two (2) post-filter senders. Apparently this braided hose is so stiff that it can't dampen the pressure spikes from the VP44 - the grease gun hose doesn't look so "trick", but it apparently does a better job of dampening the spikes.



After installing a gauge snubber on the post-filter sender, I haven't experienced any more problems.



Rusty

 

[Gene-C]

guage snubber

RustyJC: Where did you get the guage snubber? If the pulses are bad enough to destroy two sending units then I would like to install one on the intial install and be done with it.

Thanks for all the help guys. It will make my job a lot easier



Gene

 

[RustyJC]

I got mine at Grainger. You can go to http://www.grainger.com and do a search for "gauge snubber" - it should take you right to it.



Rusty

 

[Walker]

"cdpsrjc,

I was wondering the same thing about the wire. The gauge has silver braided (I guess AC), but I bought 22g. copper braided for my connections. Anybody know the difference or if the copper will work just as well?"



Anyone know about this one?

 

[cdpsrjc]

Walker,



I'm hot the person to ask about automotive wiring! T thought wire was wire. I bought copper strand (20 G) at auto parts store and soldered to the silver wires on the guage leads. works fine. I was hopeful someone could explain the difference between AC and DC wire to me. I thought the Home Depot guy was pulling my leg. BTW, I did have a silver ended grease gun hose. that was probably my problem with sealing. I'd give the brass end hose a shot if you can find one. I didn't know there was a difference.

 

[Lazy-Boy]

Gauge Snubber fittings?

Rusty,

I just ordered the Gauge Snubber from Grainger. Seems like a good idea so I'll try it out. I want to be ready with parts when this thing arrives. What kind of fittings does this thing have? Female or male? Is it 1/8 npt?

Thanks

 

[WMeyers]

Grainger cancelled my order for a snubber -- they won't sell retail and wanted business license information before they would ship. I'm looking elsewhere!

 

[Lazy-Boy]

They cancelled mine also. Let me know if you find one.

 

[WMeyers]

Lazy-Boy: I ordered a snubber (PS-4E) from omega.com (in omega.com, under "Pressure, Strain, and Force", then under Accessories I think). I also found snubbers at gaugestore.com. I did this after trying to buy one locally and no one had them in stock.