Making the Oil Gauge a real Oil Gauge

[BHanna]

I was wondering if anyone else has tried anything like this. I was thinking that the oil gauge in the 3rd gen dash is probably a real gauge being fed a signal from the ECM so why not just cut the right wires from the ECM and splice in a real oil pressure sender. It seems like you should be able to leave the oil pressure switch in place so you'd still have the chime warning and check gauges light too.

I haven't done any digging into the schematics yet. Just thought I'd see if anyone else already thought of this and found it wouldn't work.

 

[Road Dog]

The instrument cluster is electronic and receives data from the ECM across a data network. There's no "oil pressure signal" wire from the ECM.

 

[AH64ID]

Yeah it won't work. . It reads what the ECM tells it to read, just like fuel, coolant (always 2-4* off) and volts (usually a little off)... .

I installed a elec oil psi gauge to get pressure readings.

 

[WhiteSheep]

Agree with all that has been said about the dumb gauge that is really a light. Oil pressure gauges are not all that helpful. Once it reads low, it's over.

 

[brods]

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/1458782-post12.html post 12



And why I decided not to spend the time trying:



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/1452978-post6.html post 6

 

[Tinman]

I think the only way to do it would be to put a different pressure sender in the block and then have Marco re-program the ecm to use that sender with the factory gauge. That'd be a really nice Smarty feature that most would be willing to pay for, but it may not even be possible. I have a mechanical gauge and it is very nice to have.

 

[BHanna]

Wow, thanks for the replies. I figured I wasn't the first to have the idea but I didn't see that post when I searched so thanks for the links brods.

 

[nickleinonen]

I think the only way to do it would be to put a different pressure sender in the block and then have Marco re-program the ecm to use that sender with the factory gauge.

need to add some wiring too. . all the oem style pressure transducers are 3 wire. . the switch we have is a 2 wire

 

[Rams-n-Hogs]

I went old school and installed a mechanical gauge. Just installed a fitting on top of the oil filter housing. The factory gauge isn't even close.

 

[AH64ID]

need to add some wiring too. . all the oem style pressure transducers are 3 wire. . the switch we have is a 2 wire

My toyota oil psi sender was 1 wire, but if the Dodge ECM isn't set up for it I don't know if even Marco could do it.

 

[brods]

I think the only way to do it would be to put a different pressure sender in the block and then have Marco re-program the ecm to use that sender with the factory gauge. That'd be a really nice Smarty feature that most would be willing to pay for, but it may not even be possible. I have a mechanical gauge and it is very nice to have.

need to add some wiring too. . all the oem style pressure transducers are 3 wire. . the switch we have is a 2 wire

It sure would be nice, but it’s more complicated than that. The primary issue (an most likely the deal killer as AH64ID has pointed out) is that the ECM, or which ever module that needs to process the signal, needs a spare input that can allow the module to "see" the varying signal from the pressure sensor. Next is a question of where the program code that actually drives the gauge is kept. Is it in the ECM or in the gauge cluster module or one of the other modules?



As shown with the E17 recall, the dealers run the risk of trashing the gauge cluster when reprogramming it thereby requiring a complete replacement. If the oil pressure gauge programming is in the cluster module, who would want to roll the dice by reprogramming it with an aftermarket device?

 

[AH64ID]

As shown with the E17 recall, the dealers run the risk of trashing the gauge cluster when reprogramming it thereby requiring a complete replacement. If the oil pressure gauge programming is in the cluster module, who would want to roll the dice by reprogramming it with an aftermarket device?

Yeah, its just so much simpler to spend $150 and put a elec gauge in. (I am actually gathering the pieces to move mine to be in front of the OE idiot gauge, no need to see it anymore)