Recommend me a CHEAP Temperature gauge.

I need a cheap aftermarket temperature gauge for the $100 Fiero. 

Needle broke off:

Any recommendations?

eBay.com

Sunpro gauges, for all your cheapass gauge needs! Although I bet you could super/hot glue that needle back onto whatever was turning it.

How does $6 sound?

https://www.harborfreight.com/electronic-triple-auto-gauge-set-41017.html

i was also going to say Sunpro, i got one of there generic 'set of 3' gauge panel things with oil pressure, volts, and coolant temp for around $25 on Amazon. The coolant temp gauge was mechanical which i did not realize, not much harder to run then an electric gauge but requires slightly more attention to routing.

You don't need a temp gauge, if it's not steaming it's not over heating.

Look at similar vintage GM's for a gauge donor? S10 might be a good donor.

Installing aftermarket gauges is so cheesy when the factory stuff is there it only takes one wire.

It appears by the crack in the lens someone has violated it, you may need a whole gauge panel.

bentwrench said:

You don't need a temp gauge, if it's not steaming it's not over heating.

Unless it's an aluminum block engine, in which case the first sign of overheating is your block getting gooey enough to ruin the flatness of the block-to-head seal.

In reply to Professor_Brap :

OEM gauge is high $$$

GameboyRMH said:

Sunpro gauges, for all your cheapass gauge needs! Although I bet you could super/hot glue that needle back onto whatever was turning it.

I'll check them out. Not gonna try to glue it on. 

Robbie said:

How does $6 sound?

https://www.harborfreight.com/electronic-triple-auto-gauge-set-41017.html

 

That link shows $17.99 for me.

edizzle89 said:

i was also going to say Sunpro, i got one of there generic 'set of 3' gauge panel things with oil pressure, volts, and coolant temp for around $25 on Amazon. The coolant temp gauge was mechanical which i did not realize, not much harder to run then an electric gauge but requires slightly more attention to routing.

I should have said, cheap AND easy to install.

bentwrench said:

Installing aftermarket gauges is so cheesy when the factory stuff is there it only takes one wire.

It appears by the crack in the lens someone has violated it, you may need a whole gauge panel.

 

This is literally a $ 100 car. Looks don't matter. And yes, YES a lot on this car has already been violated.

is this a challenge car? Would be cool to use some type of cooking gauge instead of a regular car gauge.  

Indy-Barely Functional-Guy said:

Robbie said:

How does $6 sound?

https://www.harborfreight.com/electronic-triple-auto-gauge-set-41017.html

 

That link shows $17.99 for me.

But you are getting 3 gauges, soooooo

grover said:

is this a challenge car? Would be cool to use some type of cooking gauge instead of a regular car gauge.  

It's basically just measuring a resistance (or voltage drop across, but same thing), so you could dig up one of the free HF multimeters and hook it up. Or, go find an old school style multimeter with the swinging needle and use that, but replace the faceplate on it.

All of this feels like a lot of work though.

grover said:

is this a challenge car? Would be cool to use some type of cooking gauge instead of a regular car gauge.  

Interesting.... How would you pull that off?

OK, so school me the difference between mechanical and electrical gauge?

Indy-Barely Functional-Guy said:

edizzle89 said:

i was also going to say Sunpro, i got one of there generic 'set of 3' gauge panel things with oil pressure, volts, and coolant temp for around $25 on Amazon. The coolant temp gauge was mechanical which i did not realize, not much harder to run then an electric gauge but requires slightly more attention to routing.

I should have said, cheap AND easy to install.

They aren't necessarily hard to install, just a little harder to route the metal line vs. pulling wires where you want them to go

also forgot we're talking a fiero here, not sure if the mechanical temp gauge has a long enough lead to get to the engine. you could do like they did on Roadkill with the mid-engine dragster and mount the gauge behind the seats facing forward where they could see it in the rear view mirror. you can see the 2 gauges just over Freiburger's head.

Robbie said:

Indy-Barely Functional-Guy said:

Robbie said:

How does $6 sound?

https://www.harborfreight.com/electronic-triple-auto-gauge-set-41017.html

 

That link shows $17.99 for me.

But you are getting 3 gauges, soooooo

Oh, understood. 

Indy-Barely Functional-Guy said:

OK, so school me the difference between mechanical and electrical gauge?

for coolant temp not that much. but the idea is mechanical gauges actually measure at the gauge, and electrical ones just measure a voltage or resistance reading taken by a sender. Most oem stuff will be electrical if made in the last say 50 years. Cheap gauges will tend to be mechanical.

Mechanical coolant temp means there is a copper conductor that you need to route from your engine bay to your dashboard (one end is threaded into a coolant port like a temp sender, and the other is threaded into the gauge). You cannot cut or splice this conductor or the gauge will not work.

In reply to edizzle89 & Robbie:

Thanks for the info.

Bosch install package

This one is $23 from the Zon.  But (1) it works great (2) it comes with a mounting bracket (3) it comes with an extensive set of adapters for the sensor (4) it's dead easy to install.  So, you're pretty much guaranteed to get it installed for nothing more than the $23 entry price.

I use it to monitor the intake water temp on the Fubari at the track, where the oil pan temps are running as high as 250-260F.

In reply to JBasham :

That's a great deal on an electrical gauge. I'll have to remember that.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CIU4DW6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526486332&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=prosport+temperature+gauge&dpPl=1&dpID=51R5GH9Qt-L&ref=plSrch

put this in the celica. Back light, electrical, multiple color choices from one gauge. 

On a Fiero I'd spend the extra on a electric gauge so routing is easier.  If the gauge uses a separate sensor from the one the ecu uses (assuming it is an efi car)  replace the factory sensor with the aftermarket gauge one and use the factory wire running up to the cluster.