Sunpro, Equus, or Auto Meter Gauges/Senders?

[batook]

I'm adding OP and OT gauges/senders to my Toyotas. This is not a crtical racing application, I just want to play around with different oil viscosities. I want to use electric senders so I don't have an oil tube running into the car.

The Sunpro has pretty cheap senders ($24 for both) and a tri-gauge cluster for around $25, so I can get the whole thing for around $50. I'm concerned about the quality and accuracy of these parts though. I've read a few reviews where people reported the senders broke off when trying to install, and that they seemed cheaply made. Still, if these would do the job, it's probably fine for my limited oil viscosity testing purposes.

The Auto Meter stuff looks like a higher quality product and the gauges that I've found look cool, but will exceed $100 for everything I need. That's fine, but not really necessary if the Sunpro kit will do the job.

The Equus gauges look alright and are priced right in between the Sunpro and Auto Meter. Anyone have any experience with them?

I was also looking at the Summit Racing brand of gauges, which are also reasonable priced, but not sure about their quality/accuracy. I've also only been able to find water temp and oil pressure gauge kits, but I assume I could use a Summit oil temp sender with the water temp gauge and it would still work.

I'm also assuming that I need to use the same brand sending units as I select for the gauges for compatibility reasons, but if they are cross-compatible, I'm not sure how to tell what would work together. Anyone know what to look for to determine compatibility between senders and gauges, or just stick to the same brand of everything to be safe?

Thanks for any help on this.

 

[ag_ghost]

FWIW, I have Sunpro mechanical gauges in my Mustang. The oil pressure looks good to my engine builder and I've verified the coolant temperature with an infrared thermometer. BTW, no leakage with my copper lines in over 30 months on the Mustang. Even the classic Stewart-Warner gauges in the Galaxie 500 haven't dripped in over 40 years.

 

[Garak]

The Equus gauges aren't as highly regarded as the Auto Meter's in my discussions about gauges over the years, too. However, my experience mirrors yours - you go for Auto Meter, you're going to be spending a pile of money.

I haven't used any Equus temperature gauges, but I've used their voltmeters in various applications over the years and had very good luck. All necessary components and connections are included. The instructions are clear. And, most importantly, they work just fine and don't cost an arm and a leg.

 

[cp3]

Interesting topic. I've been looking at gauges too and wondered some of the same things. Although most of what I was looking at came with sending units, which would be nice. I think a basic gauge will be good for our uses unless you are planning to cut it really close on viscosity. We're not racing where the oil is going to get really hot. Well I am assuming you aren't.

I know one site I was on listed the range that the sending unit had to work in to be compatible with the gauge so based on this I don't think you "have" to use the same make. It probably would be easiest though.
I know I won't be going with Auto Meter unless I stumble on a huge sale. I consider this almost like a toy and I'm not going to blow a bundle on them. Glow Shift is another company that has some nice stuff, maybe a bit cheaper than Auto Meter. I had found an OT gauge from Summit, needle sweep was to the side of the gauge not the top,maybe they no longer have it.

I was even looking on Ebay and found cheap digital gauges but they are only in blue, dashes are red. They also have needle type for about the same price but I do wonder about the quality of them. I may go that way and see, a lot of this stuff is likely made off-shore anyway. Could be the same guts with a different face I guess.

I'm also wondering about how and where to mount them so they don't look too out of place, especially in the wife's car. I'm considering cups or pods on the top of the dash by the A pillar.

Let us know what you decide and post up some pics of the install!

 

[meep]

i have used sunpro gauges over the years and generally see them as a near-generic line. they used to have better build quality than they do now.

i installed 3 last year in our fixer-upper family hauler... volts, temp and pressure. the pressure sender failed in 6 months of weekend-only use. the temp gauge sticks ever so slightly. the volt gauge is fine. The standard line has backlighting that is way too bright... bulb covers or led conversions may be in order.

the oil senders have a stairstep pattern.... like a step every 7 psi, so they are jerky. the older sunpro stuff was smoother, however, the last car I had with a sunpro pressure sender eventually ruptured internally = fail.

I have a set of their upper line gauges (styleline?) waiting for another car... but I've been disappointed with the set i'd put in the van. if you do use an electric sunpro pressure gauge, make sure the sender is easily swap-able... run nylon hose to it if you need to.

Gauges are supposed to tell you if something is about to break. it is very annoying when they break themselves. For the $, you may be better off with autometer, or even some of the marine brands, which tend to be of stouter stuff, and equally stylish. i think autometer is a little pricey due to the name. equus is good stuff, but the name costs too.

 

[batook]

Thanks for the replies. I'm leaning away from Sunpro. Most of the Equus gauges are mechanical, at least in the combo kits, and I would prefer to get a tri-gauge cluster rather than individual ones. There's a decent tri-gauge Auto Meter (well, it says Auto Meter in the description but the gauge says "Auto Gage"...are they the same?) for about $70, plus the electric senders will put me at $110 or so, but if they are good quality and wont break in 6 months, that's worth it.

Don't think I'm allowed to post links to products here, but if you search amazon for "Auto Meter 2391" you will find the one I'm looking at.

The pressure senders are either $30 (0-80) or $35 (0-100). On a van that rarely revs over 4k, the 0-80psi sender should be fine, right?

 

[4ever4d]

Autometer! That's an easy one.