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Harbor Freight Gauges

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Old Mar 12, 2010 | 10:34 PM
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Harbor Freight Gauges

Just letting folks know...I checked my oil PSI against a friend's Greddy gauge and they were real similar. The cheap gauge is obviously cheaply made...but, with the 20% coupon, they're $20. The big thing is that the sensor is 1/8 BSPT...which matches the FC stock oil sensor bung. You still need a tower, though...
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Old Mar 12, 2010 | 10:39 PM
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I just Installed My prosport gauges - Look sick. I wouldnt want to use harbor freight gauges for anything serious - maybe for looks.

175 For Oil Temp w/ Sender, Oil Pressure w/ Sender, Water Temp w/ Sender and Oil Filter Sandmich plate.





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Old Mar 12, 2010 | 11:58 PM
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Not everyone can justify putting such an expensive set of gauges in a $500 car...and it's not the topic at hand. The topic is I checked the harbor great gauge against one that cost noticeably more than your setup and got similar readings. It's a good buy for someone on a tight budget.
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Old Mar 13, 2010 | 12:08 AM
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I have harabor freight boost guage on my 98 volvo s70 t5 and stock ecu, harbor freight guage shows me boosting at consistant 15psi wen stock ecu doesnt allow more than 9psi.
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Old Mar 13, 2010 | 12:12 AM
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I didn't pay any attention ot the boost gauge...seems like vac/boost should be pretty straight forward and reliable. Don't know...
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Old Mar 13, 2010 | 12:15 AM
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Cool

Originally Posted by Makenzie71
Not everyone can justify putting such an expensive set of gauges in a $500 car...and it's not the topic at hand. The topic is I checked the harbor great gauge against one that cost noticeably more than your setup and got similar readings. It's a good buy for someone on a tight budget.
What's wrong with your old gauges? if you get good readings out of your old gauge then don't change them and save the money for a more worthy purchase.

if your current gauges are not working then go ahead and buy them.
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Old Mar 13, 2010 | 01:44 AM
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Originally Posted by TOOSHORT_88
I have harabor freight boost guage on my 98 volvo s70 t5 and stock ecu, harbor freight guage shows me boosting at consistant 15psi wen stock ecu doesnt allow more than 9psi.
AWESOME TOWN!


What colors do they light up in? I'll buy six!
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Old Mar 13, 2010 | 07:10 AM
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i wouldnt buy harbor frieght gauges from harbor frieght. I love harbor frieght but just for the tools and other little things you can get there but as for theyre guages I wouldnt use them
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Old Mar 13, 2010 | 08:00 AM
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Originally Posted by Chuck Norris FB
What's wrong with your old gauges? if you get good readings out of your old gauge then don't change them and save the money for a more worthy purchase.

if your current gauges are not working then go ahead and buy them.
Stock oil PSI gauge does not work. The sender or something was screwed up...it was between a $55 sender for the stock gauge, which is known to be inaccurate when working, or $20 for this gauge to play with. Like I said, it's read accurately (lots of people think the greddy stuff is the bee's knees)...I'l check it periodically to see if it degrades, but now I at least know the is SOME oil pressure.

I may get the temp gauge, too. My stock temp gauge only works some of the time.
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Old Mar 13, 2010 | 08:06 AM
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Originally Posted by TOOSHORT_88
I have harabor freight boost guage on my 98 volvo s70 t5 and stock ecu, harbor freight guage shows me boosting at consistant 15psi wen stock ecu doesnt allow more than 9psi.
I did a search and found a number of hits for the gauges...including a few for the boost gauge (with this one )...and the consensus is about the same as mine. They're not great gauges but general accuracy is there out of the box. I would take yours back and get a new one...or maybe there's something about that gauge and the S70 that just doesn't mingle?
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Old Mar 13, 2010 | 08:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Makenzie71
The big thing is that the sensor is 1/8 BSPT...which matches the FC stock oil sensor bung. You still need a tower, though...
Why is this a "big thing"?
Since that sending unit lacks the extension necessary to mount in the stock location, it's going to need the pedestal adapter anyway and it's more common for those to be tapped 1/8 NPT.
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Old Mar 13, 2010 | 09:09 AM
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Because the RX7 block is tapped 1/8" BSPT. Like I said, though, you still need an extension so it's not so big a thing, I suppose.

I ended up cutting the pedestal off the stock sending unit and tapped it for the new sending unit.
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Old Mar 13, 2010 | 01:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Makenzie71
Because the RX7 block is tapped 1/8" BSPT. Like I said, though, you still need an extension so it's not so big a thing, I suppose.

I ended up cutting the pedestal off the stock sending unit and tapped it for the new sending unit.
But since you had to tap one end you could have tapped it for any thread you wanted.
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Old Mar 13, 2010 | 02:00 PM
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Yup...which is why it isn't such a big thing, really...however, some people may be able to mount the sensor without a tower/adapter. I had to use one because the aftermarket temp sensor in the car is too bulky and rubbed the base of the oil pressure sender.
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Old Mar 13, 2010 | 03:18 PM
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Originally Posted by TOOSHORT_88
I have harabor freight boost guage on my 98 volvo s70 t5 and stock ecu, harbor freight guage shows me boosting at consistant 15psi wen stock ecu doesnt allow more than 9psi.
Lots of boost gauges do that. Buddy of mine has an AutoMeter ProSport boost gauge that reads a couple PSI with the engine off... And the gauge sitting on the passenger seat not hooked up to anything.
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Old Mar 14, 2010 | 12:30 PM
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I have had harbor freight boost guage for about a year with perfect accuracy.

7 psi all the way to 6,000 rpms and it drops to 5 psi real quick ater 6k rpms.

I hate how the color resets itself though. I wish you could pic a color and it will always stay there. It is a el cheapo and bigger in size than every other boost guage i seen. It is longer and probably would not fit in a guage pod. BUt there is no denying its function.

I wanted to try the oil press because it is electrical. But so far i only use the boost guage.
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Old Mar 14, 2010 | 09:44 PM
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lol apparently not the most resilient gauge. I banged it against the side of the radio bezel and it tached out and stayed there. Tip in case this happens: buy another gauge from HF and swap the gauges, then return. Otherwise you have to completely uninstall the original for a warranty return.
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Old Mar 15, 2010 | 01:58 PM
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Dude.. Even an autometer will go kookoo if you bang the **** out of it..
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Old Mar 15, 2010 | 02:01 PM
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nah I didn't hit it very hard. Or it didn't seem so but the impact could have been misleading. Hard to say.
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Old Mar 15, 2010 | 04:28 PM
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Originally Posted by florotory
i wouldnt buy harbor frieght gauges from harbor frieght. I love harbor frieght but just for the tools and other little things you can get there but as for theyre guages I wouldnt use them
Me either. I was being sarcastic in my post. I'm buying baller stri gauges. Not because i'm rich....far from it. It's because i dont want to second guess the accuracy of something that's supposed to monitor ENGINE VITALS.
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