I want an Oil temp gauge in my F1

My mechanic states that the oil temperature sending unit is on every car, but the question remains how much will it cost to change out the stupid (what the F*** were they thinking) clock for a functional oil gauge. I will let you know in a couple of years when my major is due because i share your frustration every time i look at the clock. To add insult to injury the dam thing keeps perfect time!!!

 

Some F355s do have an oil temperature gauge. Surprised me when I discovered not all of them do. On my car, that is the most useful gauge I have for normal driving, because it tells you when you can finally get on her after warming up all that oil.

 

Wait... what? The 355F1 didn't come with a oil temp gauge? Seriously? This is the most referenced gauge in my 355. I stay out of the throttle until this is up to temp and that takes a looong time with 10 qts of oil in the system. If I'm only going a few miles it surely does not make it there.

This is crazy that it isn't a joke. Just when I thought I had heard it all about Ferrari engineering.

 

That is really annoying, I never knew that they dropped the Oil Temp gauge in the F1 equipped car. Well I bet if you look at the schematic on Daniel's Ricambi site you would find the wiring location you need to hook up an external Oil Temp gauge.

 

I didn't realize this either... they never cease to amaze...

 

The lack of an oil temp gauge is the second worst thing about the F1 model. I had this looked into, the gauge is not expensive, but i was advised that my car didn't have the wiring or even a provision for a temp sensor in the oil tank. Sure enough my assembly number also starts with a 3, great find.

And in case you're wondering, the worst thing about the F1 is the square peg in a round hole gear indicator.

 

Sorry, I'm having to think about this a bit. What is the "square peg" you are talking about? AFAIK, there is nothing bad about the 355F1... ;-D

I have been thinking about this little "tweak" to the F1 since I got it 8 some years ago. Getting back to the original concern of the OP, it doesn't really look like a huge undertaking to install a factory oil temp gauge into the spot where the clock is right now. Knowing now that we probably don't have the sensor bung built into the oil tank (thanks to Eric for posting that pic, I have a later model F1) there's nothing to stop a semi-talented fabricator to install one. Or, an even easier solution would probably look at a Russel Performance catalogue and get a proper T-fitting to install between the hose and the tank, and place the oil temp sending unit in there.

I am wondering, too, whether anybody has done this yet, as I would be surprised if there isn't yet. The gauge and sensor are readily available on the Ricambi site, or even on eBay.

FWIW, I just purchased an oil temp gauge and I will be playing with it in the next couple weeks.

Cheers

 

Exactly my point. How bad can F1 be if its worst part is the retrofit of the square gear display into the round space designed for an analog gauge?

Now if anyone is tempted to answer this question, please keep in mind there are many F1 opinion threads already, while this thread is actually breaking new ground.

 

You're halfway there already! Just bring the tank to a good welder or race car fabricator and they'll put one in there. Here's a link to where the bung is supposed to go, though I don't even think that's critical as long as it is submerged in oil:

http://www.ricambiamerica.com/parts_catalogs.php?V=diag&I=1459

#28 in the diagram. There's some baffling inside the tank, but I don't think it will be a problem.

Will do.

 

I have looked at this some time back, yes if we all work at this it can work. I am in! All we have to do is add the oil temp sensor #28 and wire to the dash clock add some voltage.

That will be the real challenge but, I for sure need a Oil Temp Gauge!

ciao,

SRR

 

Hi all.

Just an update on this project... I am in the middle of it as we speak, and is looking real good! My car just finished a major (finally!) and we were able to study different scenarios on how we can most easily make the change from clock to oil temp gauge... and I think we found a good solution! Our goal is to have the minimum of modification to anything, and that includes the dry sump tank, wiring, etc., and most importantly, is easily reversible.

Before I spill the beans and get way ahead of myself, I need the lamp and socket that illuminates the gauge, that goes behind the gauge itself. It turns out that the lamp socket in the clock is a twist to lock type that connects to an internal PC board, while the one on the oil temp gauge is a socket with external wiring, so I cannot transfer the lamp and socket from the clock to the oil temp gauge as I had originally hoped to do. The gauge I got did not come with a lamp/socket, so, any idea where I can buy or get that piece without having to buy the whole gauge over again?

Thanks in advance,

Alex

 

So they got rid of the sensor bung and doubled the price !?!

 

This may be the most asinine mechanical "thing" I have EVER heard. EVER. Truly idiotic on Ferari's part. I'm almost speechless.

 

it could be worse. I could name at least a handful of other idiotic things they have done over the years. ;-)

So here's what I think went through their minds at the time: when they were ready to introduce the F1 system the timing did not coincide with a model change, so they introduced it in the then current 355. They had to place a gear indicator, in a very visible spot, and without having to redesign the interior completely. So, they thought, why not just sacrifice the least important gauge and substitute it with the gear indicator?

So let's see, they thought that oil pressure was far more important than the oil temp guage, the reason being a loss of oil pressure is far more catastrophic than an increase in oil temp. How many modern cars can you think of has an oil temp guage as a standard feature, even the higher performance ones? Half the cars I've owned don't even have an oil pressure gauge as standard, much less an oil temp gauge.

What other gauges are there? The fuel level gauge? Don't think we can live without that. The water temp gauge? Hmmm... Last (but most certainly the least) is the *CLOCK*. Now certainly 99% of all modern vehicles have one. Why? I don't really know, for convenience perhaps? But Ferrari probably felt the need to follow this norm, even though the rest of the car didn't.

Fact is, if the clock was missing, a different group of owners might be complaining about it.

Ciao.

 

I am about to do the same. I was planning on buyng a VDO series (Supposedly mada by Veglia) to put in my car. Luckily my car is an early F1 and i have the sender ;D I'll tell you all how it went... I will put it in my clock and since i converted my car tu manual.. I'll put a voltage gauge where the gear indicator goes.

 

My gauge arrived... Bought it on ebay for $90. I installed my new gauge next to the fuel and oil pressure gauges... Only thing is the oil temp gauge has three connectors. One leftm one middle (down) and one right. I have NO clue to wich is what... 12V, Signal from sender and ground. DO any of you guys know how to wire it...LUCKILY my car is a n early F1 and has the sender mounted on the tank. I also don't know where the cable from the sender ends in the harness.... Tomorrow I will try and sort everything out with my master electromechanic/mechanic... ;-)
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http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=382211

 

Got it working easily... thanks for the link. Just waiting to finish the wiring for the voltage gauge instead of the gear display.

 

While I don't disagree that this may have been the thought process... perhaps one might have considered that most people do *not* have an oil temp reading readily available on their left wrist. Hmm.

The 355 is a beautiful thing, and we all have to learn to love its flaws as much as its strengths. All part of the experience.

 

I was going to post a question on this...

But used the search tool (on google) and found this thread.

Good info. Soaking it all in. Thanks to the OP.

Robb

 

+1, but I'm surprised it didn't trigger another, "2.7 vs. 5.2," debate. Anyone, anyone?????