Fuel gauge & temp.

[Shaku]

Howdy... My 2011 RT did not have the aux fuel and temp gauges. The price for the two gauges from the factory is over $200.00 So, I did some research and experimentation and ended up with a fuel gauge and temp gauge from Speedhut. Mine has a little spider logo on it and when put into "night" mode the gauge face turns red with a red pointer. Daytime, black face with white markings. I currently have the night wire hooked to the fog light switch. The shop manual for the Spyder lists the fuel sensor as 80 ohms full, 280 empty. Not on mine. I ordered it pre-set to those numbers. Didn't work. Fortunately, the gauge has the ability to be set (push button) to whatever the tank is doing. Fill it up and set the full point, run it as empty as you dare and set the empty point. The microcomputer in the gauge will do the rest and you end up with a full sweep, stepper motor driven fuel level. This was done with the factory sensor wire. The temp gauge is in place but the temp sensor wire does not work. As soon as the weather gets bad, I'm going to cut the upper radiator hose and put the included temp sensor into the line. The Speedhut stuff is so customizable you can get just about anything you want for looks. The fuel level does not flop around because it is stepper motor driven. It will change on longer term things like stopping. If I ever find out how to post pics I will put some on. Oh, and with both gauges, the digital stuff is still there. Enjoy.

[Marker]

Howdy... My 2011 RT did not have the aux fuel and temp gauges. The price for the two gauges from the factory is over $200.00 So, I did some research and experimentation and ended up with a fuel gauge and temp gauge from Speedhut. Mine has a little spider logo on it and when put into "night" mode the gauge face turns red with a red pointer. Daytime, black face with white markings. I currently have the night wire hooked to the fog light switch. The shop manual for the Spyder lists the fuel sensor as 80 ohms full, 280 empty. Not on mine. I ordered it pre-set to those numbers. Didn't work. Fortunately, the gauge has the ability to be set (push button) to whatever the tank is doing. Fill it up and set the full point, run it as empty as you dare and set the empty point. The microcomputer in the gauge will do the rest and you end up with a full sweep, stepper motor driven fuel level. This was done with the factory sensor wire. The temp gauge is in place but the temp sensor wire does not work. As soon as the weather gets bad, I'm going to cut the upper radiator hose and put the included temp sensor into the line. The Speedhut stuff is so customizable you can get just about anything you want for looks. The fuel level does not flop around because it is stepper motor driven. It will change on longer term things like stopping. If I ever find out how to post pics I will put some on. Oh, and with both gauges, the digital stuff is still there. Enjoy.

First of all::welcome: & :congrats: your gauges sound cool. :2thumbs:Waiting for pics. I am not a computer wiz so I will let an expert chime in to help you load pics.:popcorn::popcorn:

[AntelopeSpyder]

:welcome: The gauges sound cool! Can you post a link.

[IWN2RYD]

:agree:

Watching with great anticipation.... :spyder2:

[Lamonster]

That sounds like the hot ticket right there :2thumbs:
How about some part numbers and a link?

Here's a link to posting pics on our board.
How to videos on using this board (http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8044)

[Lamonster]

Is this the fuel gauge you used?
http://www.speedhut.com/custom_gauge_description-gauge_type-Fuel_Level-auto_number-601.htm

[Shaku]

Yes, that is the one. They have a lot of options so it is easy to get lost. The more expensive versions have push buttons on the gauge itself for setting functions. I didn't want that so I went with a cheaper one. On the panel picture you can see a push button hanging out. I haven't gotten the empty setpoint down where I want it. As soon as it is set, the button and wire simply unplug from the back of the meter and leave a clean look. I chose the red night glow. I like the look and it's easyon the eyes. You can't see it in the panel picture because of the glare, but both the cluster digital temp and the digital fuel are still there. I did a lot of research on gauges and while there are some others (Autometer) with adjustable setpoints, these are the only ones I found that read anything from 0 to 290 ohms. The Spyder sensor also sends a "backwards signal"... less resistance when empty than when full. Not all gauges can deal with that. They will put about any custom logo on the face but I just picked their stock black widow spyder logo. Kinda hard to make it out in my "not so good" pictures but it is fun to see on there. As I mentioned before, the plan is to obtain a temp sensor adaptor for the upper radiator hose. I just need to work out how to slice the hose without losing a batch of coolant. The adaptors come in all sizes so it's just a matter of measuring the end of the hose. The gauge bezels come in several colors and styles. These are in "stealth" black. They fit into the stock holes with no filing or fiddling around. Just drop them in and tighten the ring on the back.
http://www.speedhut.com/gauge_products.asp?auto=speedhut

[cougar]

So these are "plug-n-play"?

[Lamonster]

Looks like your fuel gauge is reading empty and the cluster fuel is reading half full. :dontknow:

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13452&d=1309996975

[Shaku]

I am in the middle of setting the empty setpoint. I've got to put some miles and burn some more fuel. I set the empty point with the fuel siphoned out as far as I could. Apparently the shape of the tank must interfere with getting the hose all the way to the bottom. On the other hand, I don't want to run dry 50 miles from nowhere? Perhaps I'll just drive around and around a gas station? I've been looking for an excuse to buy one of those leakproof gas cans... Entering the setpoints is a one-time thing. You can change them anytime. As for it being "plug and play"... Yes and no. The gauges are supplied with connectors with bare wires. I just stripped back the insulation just before the stock plugs and left the plugs. Orangy color is +, darker one is - and the blue is the sensor wire. On the temp side, I won't be using the OEM sensor wire. I will run my own wire from gauge to sensor installed in radiator hose. Connecting the wires could be done in many ways but I just soldered them. Some might ask why go to the trouble? IMHO, the stock gauges are ugly and not full sweep. These gauges are easy to see at a glance and slick in the dark. Besides, they're cheaper than the OEM. YMMV.

[Shaku]

That's what I thought too. But, even with the temp sensor hooked to the new gauge (doesn't work) the bar graph displays remain. My theory is that the gauges have such a high input resistance that the OEM computer doesn't "see" them. Supposedly, even having one gauge hooked up is supposed to cancel the bar graphs. Not so with this set up. I have a lot of duct tape....

In mentioning hook ups, I forgot to mention that the night backlight function (which on a car hooks to the dash lights) must get 12 volts from somewhere. You could either skip the backlight entirely, put a small switch somewhere or hook to the fog light switch. I hooked to the fog lights.

Also, if you could get the tank completely empty and then put a gallon or so in there, you could then set the "empty" setpoint. This way when the gauge reads empty, you still have a small reserve. Just a thought. I don't know yet whether the OEM low fuel light still triggers. I will find out soon.

[clueless]

nice so the autometer programmable fuel guage would not work? it wont go low enough on the resistance?

[WaltH]

I would like to have a voltage gauge and an ambient temperature gauge. I cannot find anything for the ambient temperature. Got any suggestions?

[eddieshep999]

You could try Ddakotagital Gauges

See link below

http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm?ptype=product&product_id=315&category_id=-1&home_id=-1&mode=prod&prd315.htm

You may have to search on the website to locate the gauges as they
offer quite a range

I had fitted their Voltmeter and Ambient temp gauges to a BMW K100LT
and was well pleased with them

Eddie Sheppard
Reading UK

[Lamonster]

I would like to have a voltage gauge and an ambient temperature gauge. I cannot find anything for the ambient temperature. Got any suggestions?
http://www.google.com/search?q=ambient+temperature+gauge&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

[cougar]

So. Do we have a verdict on this fuel gauge? Does it work 100% properly on the Spyder?

[NorthStar]

Cyberdyne carries digital ambient air temperature gauges. I bought mine from http://www.egauges.com/Cyb_main.asp

They are relatively inexpensive so I thought I would give them a try. There are other units out there, for a price, but overall I am pleased with this purchase and their performance.

I would suggest going with the black bezel because the aluminum bezel is less than attractive. I mounted hooded chrome bezels over mine and like the results.

I have the air temperature the digital voltmeter gauges installed in my dash. The temperature sender sits in the lower air scoop of my RT.

FYI: I have found that the OEM air temperature readout is generally around 10% higher than the actual air temperature on my RT. It gets really hot under the tupperware and that is why I have the sender mounted in a location that has outside air running directly over it.

[Shaku]

Cluless: actually the other end. It won't go high enough. What I was told in an E-mail was that being 10 ohms short might be a good thing as you would have more gas than you thought. I don't think the guy understood that Spyders are backwards. In any event, I couldn't get a clear picture from Autometer's web info as to what, exactly, could be set and generally how it worked. I was left a little unsure. I exchanged around 8 E-mails with Speedhut and felt pretty confident it would do what I wanted. Perhaps the Autometers would work too, but the info I got was kinda "squishy'.... Among other things, I never did find out if it could deal with backwards sensors.

As for settling the question of functionality, I'm not sure exactly how to prove that on here. Perhaps I will go for a ride this weekend with my camera and take pictures? (Twist my arm) As for long term questions such as "will the cluster explode"... I make no guarantees. Anytime you start changing things on something as complicated as a Spyder, the law of unintended consequences applies. However, I spent 20 years as an electronics tech and found that if something electronic is gonna fail from an unhappy connection, it dies right away... not 3 months later. If interested, look for pix on Sunday.