So I ordered myself a 4454 trans cooler and a remote thermal bypass, same as many many many people before me. Now I'm looking for gauge recommendations in the $50-$75 range, sender included. I searched around in a lot of old threads, saw Mt_Goat's link to the trans temp gauge he uses, and it looks good... but that was a while back and there's so dang many options out there and very few specific gauge rant/raves. I'd like to get some additional input from folks who have added them.

I see a lot of them operate in the 100-250 degree range, but considering (from what I've read, correct me if I'm wrong, please) the 3rd gen trans temp idiot light doesn't kick on until somewhere above 300 degrees, wouldn't it make sense to get something that reads up closer to that range?

Is any one brand more accurate/reliable than another? B&M, Auto Meter, Glow Shift (I shudder at the name, alone), Cyberdyne? VDO? From the bit of research I've done, it looks like Glow Shift products are hard to see during the day, and B&M has a very love/hate following.

 

Mine is an Autometer phantom electrical gauge, short sweep (100-250), 2 1/16". I bought it for $50 something bucks at autoanything. I was impressed by how fast it shipped, but then then i learned they're just 20 miles away from where i live. lol

the box includes 1/8" sender with 2 adapters (3/8" and 1/2"), it also comes with 2 rubber bulb covers (red & green). You could see my install here.

I'm happy with it so far, it does the job. I think I might install a fan on the cooler sometime in the summer as i don't want my transmission temp to go over 250.

 

Thanks! Clean install, looks great. I really like the gauge placement, but I don't know how it would look in my Limited against the wood grain. I've seen the phantom II online in my price range. Definitely in the running. Obviously I want the most reliable gauge for the money, but what are your thoughts on white face vs. black face? One easier than the other to read at a glance?


I got so far into reading about the trans cooler and temp gauge mods yesterday that I couldn't for the life of me remember what had sparked my interest in the first place. That's the thread! My question would probably better be served by merging in with that thread, since it's what got me started down this road. If there's any mods around that feel compelled to sweep up a bit, I wouldn't be offended

 

Autometer gauges seem to be the best in accuracy and quality from my personal experience and from talking to others who own them. B&M is OK but for the money go with Autometer. Cyberdyne lives up to the old saying you get what you pay for. I've had several Cyberdyne gauges and the LEDs burn out in them quick. VDO is quality stuff but for the price Autometer is a better deal. Glowshift is junk, no nice way to put it, just plain junk.

My only caveat with Autometer is their digital gauges and their stepper motor gauges. They are both EXCELLENT quality but their dimming lead doesn't dim them down much at all and you cannot put a external dimmer on them. I bought one of each (dimmer and stepper) and they were both blinding bright at night time.

If your concered about readability and not getting blindness at night go with the auto meter black face with white lettering RED LED backlit gauges. I have them on my pillar mount and they are very readable but don't mess with your night vision at all.

On a side night, when you mount the sender get a oil filter adapter that allows you to use a standard screw on type oil filter to filter your transmission fluid. They also have a port to screw in the transmission temp sender. This filter goes in line before the transmission cooler.

The stock filter looks like a piece of window screen and doesn't catch much of anything. But with the screw on type oil filter it gets stuff down to the micron level.


White faced gauges are totally about style not readability. If you go look in the cockpit of any airplane civilian, commercial or military all their gauges are black faced with white lettering. Numerous studies have been done and black face with white letting came out the best for both day and night visibility and accuracy. The studies also found that for nighttime illumenation that red was the best color to preserve night vision. During the day the daylight reflects off the white gauge face making it hard to get an accurate reading at a quick glance. At night they have the same problem the white face reflects so much of the back lighting it blinds the driver and reduces night vision.

So if your concerned with your night vision and easy readability go with the black face. The white faces started when a European high end car maker started putting them in to be different and then it started a fad. Same thing with bright blue back lit gauges, as above study after study found that red illumentation of gauges is the best for nigh visibility and for preserving night vision.

 

Awesome. All very good and useful information. I'm interested in the screw-on filter method. I've only seen it on a handful of rigs, but it seems like a good idea in the sense that I'm already going to be doing a bunch of other stuff in the name of improving the longevity of my transmission, what's one more safety net. Any idea why more people don't do it? is it cost-prohibitive? Hard to install? Space constraints? Does the screw-on filter restrict flow to any point that should be a concern?

 

Looks like this would work for the filter/sending unit application, yes?




The picture made me realize that it's essentially the same thing as making your own sending unit block out of brass fittings, only this way is pre-fabbed and adds a filter. The money that would have got to making the block can go towards the remote filter adapter, and in the end it's probably not all that much more expensive, with added benefit. Ding, the lightbulb just went off


Anyway, it's a Moroso 23760 for a Chevy V8, so finding filters for it should be easy. $33.69 on amazon (cheaper than Jegs and available to ship 14 days sooner), but I'll go check out my local spot since I'm sure there's something around here that'll do the job without additional shipping costs and wait time. I'd like to find something that runs a small-ish filter like a Honda Accord, so I'm not taking up space and exposing a giant v8 filter to potential debris and impact damage. Maybe I'll see what I can find in that vein.

 

Interesting info on the gauges, Fog.

As for my gauge, i dont have any issues on the readability during the day/night but I would advise you to tap the ashtray light or the cig lighter light for your gauge lights so you can control the brightness, the gauge bulbs are big and they can be blinding if you turn the dimmer all the way up. Mine is set halfway.

I also bought that remote oil filter bracket but i didn't install it. I will install it some other day, and if you're going to install the sensor in a t-fiiting make sure the sensor doesnt block the flow of the fluid.

 

Most people don't for several reasons. The first is it just doesn't occur to most people, they think it has a filter so is doesn't need another one. Its not really hard to install at all. If your putting in a transmission cooler in front of the radiator its even easy to install because the lines are already out there and you can just mount it up under the bumper below the headlight (that's where mine is).

Any filter that is effective is going to cause some pressure/flow drop. A normal screw on type oil filter is designed to cause a very minimal drop so as not to starve the engine of oil flow. When used for transmission fluid a standard oil filter can be changed at 30,000 mile transmission fluid change intervals and even at that they still have life left in them.

I have a aviation oil filter cutter which works like a really big pipe cutter and spins around the filter to cut it in half. I've cut open a oil filter after 30K miles in transmission fluid service and it virtually no contaminates in it and probally could have gone another 30K. But since oil filters are cheap why risk it. And with that kind of interval don't be cheap, use the mobile one $10 filters they are worth it!!!!

I could not agree more, I don't know how many bone heads I've seen screw a sender in a t-fitting that BLOCKS 50-75% of the flow of transmission fluid !!!!!

As far as the dimmer goes, I found that most aftermarket gauges are much brighter than the dash lights and when dimmed down with the dash dimmer to a comfortable level the dash lights are way too dim. So what I did is got the autometer with the LED back lights and the autometer dimmer control and wired it into the dash lights.

I drove to a nice dark spot and put the dash dimmer at full and adjusted the Autometer dimmer down till the autometer gauges were on par with the light from the dashboard gauges. Then when I turned the dash dimmer down the auto meter gauges followed the light levels nicely.

BTW go for the Autometer gauges with the LED back lights, they beat the normal light bulb in several ways. Since LEDs are very small Autometer put a bunch behind the gauge to make it light up very evenly with no dark spots.

They also have a very linear dimming curve so instead of them all of suddenly getting really bright or really dim when adjusting the dimmer, they slowly get brighter and brighter.

The other good thing about LEDs is they will last a lifetime so you never had to pull the dash or pilar mount down to change a light bulb.


FOG

 

I know it is slightly higher than the price range you gave, however the ScanGuage II will give you what you are looking for and a lot more. Might be worth looking at. It's between $139 and $159.

 

Ruckus, you have to know that the sc2 codes in the link i've provided above works only in 99 & above models of t4r..


dont ask me why i know..

I agree on the led lights too, use em if you have em.

how about wiring a "smart" led light on the dash, set to 250 F? anyone? that would be

 

I went out and picked up the Auto Meter 3357. Black face, green bulb cover, will probably look like all the others that have been done. $50 locally was a good enough price to forgo internet prices w/shipping. While I was there I asked about the remote filter adapter, no go at that shop. I'll look around a bit more and see what I can find. I've got a couple days before the cooler and bypass arrive anyway, and really... it's a cold, wet winter right now. I may wait for a warm-up before I start installing everything. That'll give me time to get it all rounded up properly.

 

Ahhh..... didn't get the messages on the LED gauges until after the purchase was made. But hey, it's still in the box.


Scangauge is a definite future possibility. I was looking into it but figured I could drop $50 unnoticed right now, whereas $150 would have drawn the attention of.... her.... (lol, baby on the way... can't get away with playing with money so much anymore!)

 

I have one lying around somewhere

 

OH, so those models ARE tapped for a sensor! In the crap pics on summit/jegs/amazon, they don't show that or mention it really it all, so I was ignoring them. In their shots it looks like there's just inlet/outlet. Another option in the bag, thank you man.


EDIT: wait, is that you sending unit in the middle, or is that just a plug? Now that I look closer, I'm unsure.

 

that is a plug.

 

Yep.....
http://forum.ih8mud.com/95-gen-toyot...uto-trans.html

Plus it does so much more.....that is definitely the way I'm headed.

EDIT: Currently working for 99-02 Runners

 

Ray, have you bypassed your stock cooler yet?

If not, I would be interested to see what your tranny operating temps are with the stock setup..

Can anyone help me wire a led "smart" light on the dash set to 250 F. Please

 

Check out faze gauges on ebay. Dont have a trans temp gauge, but I've got water temp, oil pres, and voltage and I LOVE the way they look and work. Very cheap, for the money they are amazing.

Wish i had a better picture

 

I have not bypassed the stock cooler and I don't currently have a SGII, sorry not much help.

AFAIK the stock idiot light comes on at about 300 degrees.