Project BRZ, Oil Pressure & Temp Gauge

Next on the list of things to quickly knock off, I wanted to install a proper gauge to measure oil pressure and temp.

I had planned to install a temp gauge in the Alto but never got around to it, so knowing that the BRZ would be seeing track time and I wanted to monitor it, I looked into my options.

I wanted something clean, simple and easy. The solution came in the form of an Saas Dual gauge

It’s really designed for oil pressure and coolant temp, which is a weird combo, but there is no reason it should have issues reading oil temp. I ordered a gauge and a couple of adaptors to mount the sensors on the FA20.

The next question was how to mount it. I wanted it subtle, and not sticking up in a pillar mount or something. Searching around, I came across vent pods, which allow you to mount a gauge in the right-hand dash vent, which seemed like a nice tidy way to do it.

I found one on Thingiverse and tried to print it on my ancient old printer, which didn’t go well. Thankfully, a friend has a much better printer and kindly ran one off his machine for me

I quite like this design as it still allows for airflow through the vent instead of completely blocking it.

To install it, the dash vent just pulls out. Stick your fingers in the vent and grabbing the outside edge, give it a sharp pull

As a small note, it fits back in with the large bit of the surround facing the cluster. I marked the top of mine to make it easier to refit without guessing which way it goes

Once removed and on the bench, the front ring just unclips

As does the retaining ring behind it

Now the vent flaps can be removed

The vent pod insert was a smidge too small on the outer diameter, so I wrapped some tape around it to make it a snug fit

I used some foam tape to pad the back of it out too

After a quick scuff with some scotchbrite to dull the gloss, I reassembled it all

Now for the less fun part, the wiring. I knew the under dash wiring would be easy, the option connector has everything I need, but getting the two sensor wires from the engine bay through the firewall was going to be a pain.

To power both the throttle controller and gauge from the option harness I needed to make a Y splitter, so I whipped one up

For the sensor wiring I chose to go through the main grommet, using the add-in tube thing

I snipped the plugged end off the tube above the main wiring harness

And using an old coat hanger, I fed the bundle of wires through

You’ll want to use a zip tie to seal the tube around the wires once you’re happy with their length.

I ran the wires to their relevant locations on the engine. I haven’t received the adaptor for the temp sensor yet, so I have just bundled the wires up where they need to go, but I could fit the pressure sensor.

That big round plug is where the temp sensor will go once the adaptor arrives.

I’m going to tee into the factory pressure sensor here, on the front of the engine

To access this, I removed the intake pipe and air filter housing

A ton of room with that removed

I fit the adaptor and the two sensors

This location gives heaps of room to clear the air filter box. The wiring for the stock sensor sits well below it.

Before refitting the intake piping, I removed the four 10mm bolts from the throttle body, removed it and cleaned it. It was caked in black sludge. I wedged the throttle pedal down and used brake clean and a rag to thoroughly clean inside it.

With the intake reassembled, I moved to installing the gauge into the dash. I ran the wiring through the vent, plugged the gauge in and pushed it into place. There is a bump on the LH side of the ducting behind the vent, this gave me room to feed the wires out without cutting into the ducting.

I pressed the ignition button and it all lit up

A quick first start to make sure it all worked and check there were no leaks. Pretty good pressure when cold. Without the temp sensor, the digital readout just sits at zero.

Good oil pressure when warm too. This is at 89c oil temp

Once the temp sensor is fitted, I will rely more on the actual gauge rather than Torque, but it’ll be interesting to compare the difference between the two.

Hopefully this will let me catch any potential oiling issues before they become a problem.