Oil temp gauge install - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

did anyone here ever install an aftermarket oil temp gauge? If yes, can you give me hints which sensor and which gauge did you use? Thanks

I've thought about doing that myself. I hope somebody can answer your question.

Im interested as well. If there is a vendor out there we ought to do a group buy discount.

IMO this is a useless project since oil temp closely follows coolant temp & if the coolant temp is ok, oil temp should be ok. Oil pressure is another story & quite worthwhile to have a accurate gauge. I installed a oil pressure gauge on my rebuilt engine to monitor for initial startup & break-in. I can supply a metric to 1/8" pipe thread adapter to accept most standard gauges to mount on the camcover if you want to go that route. Gauges are fairly inexpensive so I wouldn't bother with the group buy just focus on doing this right the first time. I used VDO since they make OEM gauges for Porsche. Autometer makes a A-pillar mount for gauges.

I initially wanted a 996 cluster to get oil press and bat., but I like the unique Boxster gauge numerals. The 996 ones are not so hot looking; there also appears to be a lot of hassle in switching clusters. It would be nice to be able to take Boxster dials (gauge face nomenclature) and put them in the 996 to make the three mains boxsterish. Only the two small outside gauges would have different script. Or it would be nice to drop in the 996 oil and alt in the Boxster cluster. Neither of these options appear to be practical from what I can gather. Other options would yield a less than clean cockpit so I was currently considering displaying oil press and alt on a nav screen.....this will be expensive. Any suggestions on the sharpest cleanest way to display oil press and alt would be appreciated.

I think I would generally agree with you but not for track driving. There was a post earlier from Jake Raby where he indicated that he has seen engine oil temp on the track go as high as 250 degree and that's where the oil starts to fail. That's why I want to watch the oil temp. I understand that the Boxster has already a sensor for oil temp, does anyone know how to tap into it (I don't mean the mechanical part but how to hook up a gauge so that it reads correctly).

Yeah. That's what I was thinking about too. However, both gauges would probably be best. That way you can watch for spikes in oil temperature and drops in pressure due to oil starvation.

The Boxster does not have a dedicated oil temp sensor. The oil temp a calculated value based on the coolant temp. It is no where near accurate in my experience. High temperature oil is more susceptible to G force issues than oil that is cooler, it also loses it's ability to maintain film strength at these elevated temperatures. Oil temp in these engines does NOT closely follow coolant temp, especially in 5 chain engines where the friction is highest. Here are a few comparatives from one of our test cars on the street and on various tracks. The delta is much greater on the track, especially in high ambient temperatures.

I believe heads start to crack when the coolant temp goes over 235 degrees & it's alot easier to change oil than heads.

That's great info Jake, I did not see this post before I did mine. Looks like oil temp runs about 36 degrees higher than coolant. I'm guessing this test car had 3rd radiator, S heat exchanger & low temp termostat as the only cooling improvements?

Previous to my Boxster S I had a 944 Turbo. I added the VDO oil temperature gauge, and plumbed the sensor into the oil return line coming off the turbo into the sump. On track, temps would get to 150C / 250F consistently. Prior to the 944 I had an E36 M3 which I also put in an oil temperature gauge. On track, never above 110C / 230F. I suspect Porsche tested the oil temperature behavior of the Boxster heavily and found that an oil temperature gauge was redundant. Likewise, BMW probably found the same with the US-spec M3 engine (the Euro spec E36 and all subsequent M3's, which have Euro engines as well, have oil temperature gauges). Frankly, I don't get why these gauges aren't included anyway on Porsches, but I suppose one has to cut costs any way they can. Hence the Boxster's 4-gauge instrument cluster rather than the 996's 6-gauge IC. Another use of an oil temp gauge is to determine whether the car is warm enough to push hard. Water temperature comes up quickly, but oil temperature lags. One trick is to monitor oil pressure; until warm, the pressure will stay at max even at idle. Once warm, it will begin to fall at idle. Me, I'd put in a VDO gauge in the center console (oil and volt) if I were really concerned, but I bet it's a waste of $100.

There is a spot to add an oil pressure sender, or a T where you can add a pressure and temp senders, on the upper, left side of the engine. It's just above, and slightly in front of the most rearward coil pack on that side of the engine (too lazy to look up cylinder number). From what I hear, that is where oil pressure is checked at the factory or something. I also think that is where the 996 pressure sender is located (though it would be on the right side with the engine installed in the 996). I'm just going to mount the gauges in the GT3 console delete panel.

Mike, thanks for keeping this thread alive. I asked the same question on the Pelican board and got two good pieces of information, which I want to share here: a) " actually you have one inlet port on each side one is already occupied but the other one ( on the drivers side) can be used for an oil pressure sender. " b) The T-piece won't work as the oil sensor must be where the oil flows not where it basically is static So, I keep looking....

I assume they mean the oil pressure requires flowing oil. Or do they mean temp? Pressure should not need flow. Pressure is pressure and it exerts force in all directions. I could see oil temp needing flow though. Not sure how you could rig that. Have you tried on the NASA forums? Have you tried contacting any of the teams in the Continental Tire Challenge Series that run Boxsters? I'm sure they have oil temp gauges.

Hi Mike, yes, they meant that they need oil flow for measuring temp Good idea about contacting them