[striker99]

Hi all,

I am wanting to fit a transmission temperature gauge to my Jimny, but would rather just install a digital gauge rather than mechanical, the ones I am looking at on ebay seem to have the sensor screw into a test port on the side of the transmission can anyone confirm these are compatible with a Jimny?

Also, I notice this particular one supports dimming when the headlights come on through the +12v to the headlights.. with the negative switching on the Jimny the only work-around for this would be to install a secondary switch is this correct?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/52mm-DIGITAL ... b9c&_uhb=1


Thanks

Matt.

[Gwagensteve]

No, you won't need to do anything special to get the dimming to work- the dash lights are switched normally.

I have/would install the temp gauge on the outlet to the cooler, using a tee from a hose/fitting shop like pirtek. I have no experience with fitting via the test port and don't know how that would work for a jimny.

Remember that if you install the sender on a tee on the cooler line you'll need to ground the tee to the transmission, body or chassis or the gauge won't work.

[Gwagensteve]

Just to add, there is nothing unique about a transmission temp gauge (other than "trans temp" on the face) I'm using a water temp gauge for mine. Water temp gauges are often cheaper. Mine was a drift brand or something with a dark face, and is helpfully "redlined" at 100C, which is pretty handy at a glance.

Steve.

[atari4x4]

this is my set up, autometer trans temp gauge & trans temp sender manifold with speedflow fittings for extra bling.

[Gwagensteve]

I'm fine with feet and inches (fractional and decimal) but can't for the life of me get my head around Fahrenheit.

Steve.

[tanshi]

all i know is -40 is the same for both temps

[striker99]

Thanks for the advice guys, I might have a look later and see if i can find that test port anywhere, if not may have to get it mechanically fitted..

Atari4x4 your setup looks nice, though I don't want to have to remove an aircon vent to mount it... and with a new Jimny that doesn't seem to leave much space :S

[JrZook]

°C = (°F−32) 5/9 ; Tis a bit retarded....

[Gwagensteve]

I'd be more worried about unscrewing random stuff on the side of an expensive and rare auto transmission than cutting a hose and doing up two hose clamps.
There is very little tech out there on the jimny auto as it is unique to the jimny. You'd want to be VERY sure. It's certainly not labelled. I have a jimny auto sitting a home.

Steve.

[atari4x4]

Gwagensteve wrote:

I'm fine with feet and inches (fractional and decimal) but can't for the life of me get my head around Fahrenheit.

Steve.

Once it the needle goes vertical, I take notice... Other than that a quick glance every so often to keep a check on it.

[striker99]

You have a point Steve,I shall have a look around for an inline one

[Gwagensteve]

You don't really need an inline one - buy whatever takes your fancy, check the size of your cooler lines (8mm, from memory) and take the sender to a Pirtek/Enzed or similar.

They will hook you up with a tee, some barbs and a bush to adapt the (likely) 1/4" BSP tee to the (likely) 1/8" NPT sender

Steve.

[christover1]

I'm using a glow shift trans temp guage.
Still working well.

[fordem]

From the little that I've picked up, the transmission "test" port is the last place you would want to put a temperature gauge - it's usually a "pressure" port for a connecting a pressure gauge and has no appreciable fluid circulation, so changes in temperature are displayed with some "delay" - there are different schools of thought, but there seem to be two or three recommended locations, each with it's own advantage/disadvantage - the pan or the cooler lines - some people prefer the transmission outlet to the cooler, other's prefer the cooler return line - mine (like Steve's) will be a water temperature gauge tee'd into the cooler line directly after the transmission outlet.

[cal213]

Going to bump this thread up, im wonderig where abouts people have wired the dimming/lights on for gauges? I tried to use the wire from the clock as it recieves 12volt when lights are on

The gauge is an autometer and uses a glibe for lighting. So no dimming

[christover1]

EDITTED.

My clock was digital, with a headlight on light.
My gauge is digital LED.
I used clock power for my gauge,
and the head light on globe wire to activate dimmer.
It is working, though dimming is not dramatic.

[Gwagensteve]

Just so we know we're all talking about the same things here.

Many new gauges are a copy of the Defi-Link style of gauge, which have a tinted face. These need to be illuminated constantly, or you couldn't read them. They need to be fed a dash light wire (normally red/yellow on suzukis, from memory) in order to "dim" them for night use, otherwise they are far too bright.

If you are talking about a regular analogue gauge that requires a dash light to light it for nighttime operation, then that's but of a different thing. I guess the "dimming" you're referring to in that case is that you'd like the gauge to adjust it's level of illumination along with the instruments. To do that, you'd need to find a dash light that dimmed with the instruments, and that's not necessarily easy - it's pretty normal that only the instruments are adjusted by dimming - the heater controls etc rarely adjust. You may need to dig into the back of the cluster to find a feed to the dash lights that is controlled by the dimmer circuit.

Steve.

[cal213]

Thanks for the info guys, cancel the request haha, night time she lights up well. The gauge light is quiet dull which i like as it isnt blinding

[Yossiamoyal]

Hello! Want to bring it up again.
I really need help because no one knows to tell me the cruising temperature and the off road temperature and the dangerous temperature for the trans fluid of a suzuki jimny? Someone with a gauge ?

[Gwagensteve]

Cruise temp shouldn't exceed about 85 degrees. Off road it will climb, but shouldn't exceed about 105. Staying in high range too long will heat it right up. My auto runs hotter on fast dirt than in actual offroad conditions, but I have very low gearing.

You'll notice the temp climb quickly on road on the highway if you are on a long gentle hill and the converter unlocks. If you have larger than stock tyres and stock gearing I think this is the killer- the converter won't stay locked on the highway due to the added load/lower revs of the larger tyres so the temp soars.


If you're over about 115- 120 I'd stop immediately and let it cool, with the engine and the trans in park.

[Gwagensteve]

Note when I say cruise, I mean flat roads and steady speed. You will see the temp fluctuate a lot with hills, overtaking etc, even whilst cruising. I'd expect 60-95 degrees as a normal operating range.

[frysie]

plx devices. great for daisy chaining gauges

[Chop]

Gwagensteve wrote:

I'm fine with feet and inches (fractional and decimal) but can't for the life of me get my head around Fahrenheit.

Steve.

There seems to be alot of digital type in celsius, I didn't want one of those but finally found a mechanical oil temp gauge in celsius that wasnt on the expensive side.

[atari4x4]

Chop wrote:

Gwagensteve wrote:

I'm fine with feet and inches (fractional and decimal) but can't for the life of me get my head around Fahrenheit.

Steve.

There seems to be alot of digital type in celsius, I didn't want one of those but finally found a mechanical oil temp gauge in celsius that wasnt on the expensive side.

yeah the old degrees fahrenheit is bloody confusing as hell, but once you know the operating temp range of the trans it's essentially the same as looking at a gauge with degrees celsius on it.

[Chop]

This is what I'm about to use in the GV. $12.50 for fittings to make T piece.

[Dan85]

ok bit of a resurrection but I've assembled most of my bits. I've got a speco gauge with a similar sender to what chop has for the gv and a smallish cooler sitting on my bench. I just want to check my understanding is correct before making up a cooler bracket and installing the gauge.

1-Im planning on installing the gauge sender on the outlet of the transmission before it gets to the stock cooler is this right?
2-Im planning on installing the cooler between the outlet of the transmission and the inlet of the existing cooler after the gauge sender is this right?
3-The transmission outlet is on the passenger side of the vehicle and the return is on the drivers side?(this one is probably important to my installation ideas hahaha)
4-Where is the best place for the cooler? I have seen some mount them at the front behind the bull bar and was going to do the same but I wasn't sure if this was the best spot in the event of an animal strike or accident in a remote area(breaking the cooler and draining the trans oil) but the stock is on the bottom of the radiator?? so I guess its not to bad.
5-Would there be any benefit from adding an external trans oil reservoir to increase the volume of trans fluid?
6-Should I bother putting an electric fan on the auxiliary cooler? I have a spare one and was thinking about putting a switch in the cab and manually switch it on if it gets hot.
7-And lastly do I keep the stock cooler hooked up or bypass it?I was going to leave it connected and simply put the new cooler in line.

Thanks for your help I know there has been a few threads floating about on this I just wanted to make sure that my plans are aligned with reality haha.