Hi Lennart and others, after a long time of reading this forum only, I decided to register and join the discussion
Possibly also with the ability of showing just one of the readouts in huge, (friendly?) digits, so you can see them while driving.
Now what would we like such a system to show us?
* Coolant-temp near engine
* Coolant-temp near radiator
* Coolant-temp near heater matrix (?)
* Inlet air temp
* engine oil temperature
* engine oil pressure
* gearbox oil temp (?)
* Voltages - several places
* fuel-gauge
* speed
* engine revs
I was thinking of getting/building a digital system like they fitted in the Tagora V6 models. It fits the era of the car nicely. From my experience as an electronics engineer, it must be possible to make something out of that.
My in-dash voltage meter only reads when I knock on it. It is usually stuck and so is the temperature gauge sometimes. The oil pressure meter is for informational purposes only, it reads 8 bar when the engine is cold!
By the way Lennart, I've got TWO digital multimeters and an analogue one, so I really know for sure which part is failing
Risks of fitting electronic readouts- The Murena is a bumpy car. It is easy to crack printed circuits and soldering connections. Home-made stuff is likely to fail.
- The temperature range of automotive-grade electronics is definitely better than consumer-grade electronics! Things really can get hot, especially in the engine bay, but the temperature inside the car on a hot summer day is enough to degrade consumer-grade electronics as well.
- The information must not distract the driver. The Espace JE does have a digital speed readout, but lacks a rev meter, probably for that reason.
What gauges are usefulExcept from the obvious speed, rev and fuel gauges, I think the following gauges are useful:
- Coolant temperature (measured at the engine)
- Coolant flow (Especially with a Murena this can save your car's life!)
- maybe coolant level?
- Fuel consumption (requires fuel flow sensor and some processing)
- Oil pressure
- Oil temperature (which gives the best indication of your engine's current status)
- Oil level?
- Battery voltage
- Alternator current
- Digital clock and (if a speedo signal is present) a trip computer
All these can be fitted at the centre panel, where currently the analogue clock and the parking brake, rear fog light, rear window heater and oil level indicators are located. Because I want to keep the rest of the dashboard the way it is, the display does not need to show everything at the same time, simple pushbutton operation of going through all the functions is all I need. Maybe just a few extra warning lights.
At all means I would like to keep the original dashboard as much the same as it is when it left the factory, or maybe change it in such a way that everything can be retrofitted.