Do I need Oil and Coolant Temp Gauges?
 

First of all, thanks for the greats posts!

I'm getting a 3 gauge pod soon. I know that fuel pressure will fill one of the holes. So I'm trying to decide what to put in the other two spots. The reason, I want gauges is to better monitor the engine and hopefully catch problems before I have a catastrophic failure. (Again!!!) Right now, other than the BulletProof stuff, everything is stock. I'm going to do gauges, AirDog2, and studs when I put a new motor back in. I'll most likely put some performance parts on once my wallet and wife) has recovered from this round of repairs...

I have a BulletProof ERG and Oil Cooler. If my understanding is correct, the importance of monitoring oil and coolant temps is to determine if the oil cooler is blocked. Since I've replaced the stock oil cooler, the oil and coolant temp aren't link together anymore.

If that is correct, what else would those gauges tell me?

For my set-up, would there be two other gauges that would give me better information?

Thanks again for the help!

You going to be using a tuner at any point? If so, get an EGT gauge, if not, I'd still get oil and coolant temp.

Back in the day when I first got gauges, I got trans temp, boost, and pyro (EGT), cause all the cool kids were doing it. Knowing what I know now, Fuel pressure, EOT and ECT would fill those spots. Now I'm a gauge addict. Up to 5 in the truck with 2 more sitting on the table waiting to go in...

yea i would get EOT, ECT fuel pressure and if you do any tunes a EGT is a good idea you want your EOT and ECT temp to be within 15 deg of each other under normal conditions.

So engine oil temp is better to have than trans oil temp? If engine oil temp is better, I'm guessing the best place to put that is in the oil pan.

If you have a BPD kit the EOT and ECT aren't as important. FP, EGT and tranny temp are still important

Have you decided on what brand of gauge to buy?

I don't want to loose my handle yet, so I was thinking a 3 pod under the dash. I was thinking Auto-meter Z series. I saw some pictures some where and it almost looked like it came from the factory like that.

The Westach dual gauges are pretty cool, but I was having a hard time finding prices and pictures.

I want to spend what it takes to get good quality, but not more than I have to. Basically I as tempting as it is right now, I don't want to cheap out...

Get the Edge CTS and enjoy the display without all the clutter. Use the EAS version so you can run additional sensors.

Another option is going with Glowshift, it's a very popular, very well made gauge that is just as good as the bigger name brand gauges for a fraction of the cost. I've got a few examples on my site however we carry the full line of gauges and pods for any setup you can think up. :tu:

Ford 6.0L Powerstroke 03-07 - Xtown Performance - Your Modern Day Performance Authority

GlowShift Performance Gauges & Pods

Let me know, thanks.

You couldn't pay me to run glowshift... they don't do full dimming like the better gauges out there. They have bright, and not so bright. Their quality seems to be hit and miss, but I have not personally used them. My $.02