Tom M'Guinn

Here's my latest electronics project on the car. I made up a panel to fit in place of the ashtray using Front Panel Express, the same place I discovered many years ago as a good place for custom gauge panels under the radio. Turns out they are not limited to rectangles, who knew? Not sure if I can post the outline file, but I can share if anyone wants it.

I originally made this to monitor coolant system pressure (i.e., a blown head gasket meter) both real-time and max, but then ended up adding the knock counter, outside air and oil temp. Still looking for the right sensors for the temps, and on what else to include. There's pretty much no limit to how many inputs to add (maybe I/C input/output temps? Tranny temps?) so open to ideas on that. Just thought I'd post it up...

911lnv87

Look pretty cool Tom!

Paulyy

nice!
IMO If you can do it all on a OLED display. That would be great. at night, no need for back lights or anything.

My PLX at night runs on a OLED screen, and looks pleasing to view at night as you just see the gauge/numbers ect. not the whole unit.

AlphaOmegaPower

That is pretty sweet.

Tom M'Guinn

So funny you say that. I was tempted when I ordered this LED, but they cost more and I figured I'd go with something simple until I had it all worked out. Do you have any pictures of your OLED screen in action, and does it combat sun glare when driving in the day? That alone would push me over the edge...

Humboldtgrin

I like this idea a lot. Put me on a customer wants list if you decide to make some kits.

333pg333

Invaluable member Tom strikes again!

ab54666

Impressive, where is the screen itself from??

Jay Wellwood

+1

nick_968

Looks great Tom. Post intercooler/ air intake temp is always a nice one to have to see the difference between ambient and intake temps.

On the HG pressure monitor that is a really cool idea, is your threshold the psi shown in the vid i.e. 10.5 psi? Where do you mount the pressure sensor...in the coolant cap?

Tom M'Guinn

I wasn't planning to make up kits, but happy to help others make them. Right now, it's running off a clunky arduino but once I have it all the way I like it I'll do a dedicated circuit board and can post that up.

I'm attaching a zip file with the template for a blank panel. This fits like a glove in my car. Front Panel Express provides free software that you can then use to add holes and cut-outs for whatever you plan to put in it.

http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/

The screws at 1.5" #6 with 82 degree flat heads, like these:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#90033A168

I have 98 left over screws if anyone wants a few.

The display is just a standard 16x2 LCD panel available at most electronics places, driven by an arduino, but I'll probably switch over to OLED as Paulyy suggests.

For the coolant pressure sensor, I put a port in the coolant neck and used a spare Zeitronix pressure gauge. Zeitronix says it is fine for use in the cooling system. There are probably easier places to put a sensor, but I'm always looking to ways to practice TIG welding. Still mulling options for the temp sensors.

Tom M'Guinn

Sorry missed that question. The top line is the current coolant pressure and the Max line shows the highest coolant pressure recorded each session (or since it was reset via the buttons). My idea was to have something of a tell-tale to show how high the coolant pressure rises under boost, etc. I haven't driven hard with it yet to get a baseline, so time will tell how useful it proves as a diagnostic/health check. It's kind of a clear, hi-tech way of checking to see if it is blowing out coolant under boost.

nick_968

Ok - I look forward to seeing what kind of baseline pressure you get at full operating loads as it would be very easy for me to run a sensor like this into my ECU and log it along with all the other data. I am currently in the process of wiring in an oil temp sensor and also the knock sensor readings into the data logging setup so this would be of interest too.

KVDR

Subscribed! Cool project and I book-marked 'Front Panel Express' for my future needs.

mtnman82

Dig it Tom! Will this be open source? I bought a couple Arduino kits a while back but haven't had a chance to dig into them since I got a new job. I'd really like to find some time to hop on this kind of stuff and contribute...