Gary Knox

This comment is about my gauges, not about either the one Randy bought, nor the one Roger sells. I've had fuel pressure gauges on my '89 S4 track car and my '94 GTS street car for nearly 6 years. About 20K miles on each of them. I bought my gauges from Summit Racing, and they were listed as fuel gauges. I installed them with the help of a friend who had the right tap for the cap. We DID NOT use teflon tape, as I've heard from several places that this is NOT to be used with gasoline pressure connections. I DID USE the plumbers teflon paste when I installed the gauge into the tapped cap.

The glycerine in both of these gauges is still crystal clear (LOTS of high temp time on the track car, somewhat less on the GTS). There is no indication of leakage, and the needle always goes to zero within about 20 minutes of so after the engine is switched off.

I have removed the gauge from the track car after reading this thread, and am trying to decide whether to leave the gauge on the GTS.

I don't have a dog in this dustup, but wanted my experience with 2 fuel gauges, and the fact that I did not use teflon tape to be made available for all.

Gary Knox

NC928S4

This dustup could be the beginnings of a new reality TV Series - "Men of the Shark Tank”.

Continuous and randomly occurring part failures for 20+ year old cars should provide an ample stream of material for more “episodes”.

Chill Dudes

fredfox

Wow what a long thread to read.
After reading it, all I can add is this,
I work with hydraulics every day, I buy hundreds of gauges from Mcmaster Carr on a weekly basis. I work with pressure from 5 psi to 10,000 psi.
Now a gauge is only for reference, they can blow out at any given time as well as any sending unit. How many of us have had an oil sender leak?
I really feel bad for the person who's car was on fire.
But you can not put an ounce of blame on the seller.

Just my two cents, no feelings to either party.

Mike LaBranche

Fuel pressure gauges have been failing since they started making them, mtbf is what it is and installation quality is often hit or miss. I think you simply got bit by the odds if in fact it's the culprit. I've run one on the rail of my 84 for many years and it's been flawless. This battle has raged for years, since the early email list days, and it ends up being a to-each-his-own thing and how much quality can you afford.

That it didn't kill your beast is testament to your quick response, maybe add -turn off heater/blower to the procedure list, but otherwise, great save.

Randy V

Just so we're all clear -

This is not a 'dust-up' - sorry to disappoint any of the railbirds that are spinning it into one.

Roger just wants to know the details, and I've been trying to provide them.

There is no blame. The car will be repaired and this will end up being just another wee bit of history within the 928 community.

(had the interior detailed yesterday, Mike - yeah, that blower being on sucked for sure)

928mac

Randy if you need any stock parts I have some that I removed and will never use.

GregBBRD

There's a really good reason that every racing organization on the planet won't let you have a mechanical fuel pressure gauge inside the cockpit....

blown 87

Even with a isolator?
There is no fuel inside with one, I have ran several of them with no worries about that part of it.

hacker-pschorr

That reminds me, I really need to swap out the mechanical oil pressure gauge in the replica cobra. Kind of unnerving knowing that right behind that gauge is 4psi of hot oil.

blown 87

I just wanted to save that.

Courtshark

My favorite post of this thread. All is well, or will be soon. Randy and his car survived. It can be fixed. He, however, cannot be replaced. As I posted in my Kraken thread, I damaged a tire today, using a very dangerous piece of equipment on which I am not professionally trained but have used many many times before. Many people have seriously injured themselves using tire machines. I damaged a tire, but not me. Tires can be replaced. Fingers, feet, and arms... not so much.

Plus I really like what Roger has done here. He has nothing to gain and everything to lose by being an asshat. So don't assail him with villainy when there is none to lay. It was a pressure gauge, i.e. a non-stock diagnostic component that really doesn't need to be permanently installed. Many do. I once did (on my crazy modified SPG) but as soon as I got a feeling it was leaking (got a whiff of gas during a testing session that almost certainly came from the autometer gauge) I removed it and capped off the line to stock. And I'll never leave one installed again.

Mike LaBranche

Yep... you took the words out of my mouth. I mean, it's fuel for crying out loud. I was going to add that but wasn't sure about the 'every' part. Electrical... fine. Fluid... nfw.

Brent

Well I guess my gauge is coming off tomorrow. Now if I can just remember where I put the ball and cap.

T_MaX

Yea, what he said BIATCHes

gearz

I submit that the wrong sealing medium was used based on the evidence on hand.

If you install one of these gauges on you car you'd better do the research necessary to make it work; otherwise fires can happen. I thought it was common knowledge that tape was not suitable for hydrocarbon based liquids. Additionally, it never hurts to read the product label to ensure the installation will be acceptable and worry free--like mine has been since I purchased it from Roger Tyson years and many miles ago.
I won't be taking mine off. There are other diagnostic functions that can be performed with it in in place besides confirming you have specified pressure at the rail. I'm not at all worried about mine failing and will be keeping it on.

It would be very helpful IMO if the OP would provide the details of the installation in question so that we all could learn from his unfortunate incident; rather than speculation followed inevitably with the bashing, you said-he said, "there's a reason why"(idiot), etc. etc...