So I pulled a gauge cluster out of a v8 camaro and put it in my base v6 1985 2.8L camaro, to replace the idiot lights. I got the oil and water senders put in. My oil pressure shows as a little over 30 on the gauge. Is there a difference in the v8 gauge or do I just have a serious problem? I know the v6 gauges go up to 80 and I was wondering maybe I really have 40 oil pressure. And is there a difference in the water temp? I am hitting like 260 and I am wondering if I am overheating or maybe its just a difference in the gauges. My fan just may not be working. My radiator does not feel that hot after driving it around a while. And is there a way to change the resistors on a v8 gauge to work on a v6. I have not seen a post that tells exactly how.

 

When ??? .hot /cold /idle /cruzin /max revs ???????
Have you ever checked the actual oil pressure by other means?

The tacho ?
prob similar to this

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/elec...oeter-fix.html

 

FYI The oil sender is the same no matter the engine size
http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/pr...ird-V6-V8.html

 

The Temp, Volt, and Fuel gauges should all work in the same in any 82-89 camaro cluster.

Sell or swap your tach for the V8 version, I think a member or 2 here are re-building /re-selling them now too.

There are 2 versions of the "canister" type oil pressure sending unit. 1 is for V6 cars and the other is for V8's. Many old ( original?) sending units have a rating on the nut ('60' & '80' maybe ??) but most aftermarket sending units Don't. ACCURATE Engine temperature is a SIGNIFICANT factor in reading an engines oil pressure. My 86 SBC will read 45-50 @ start up and drive at 40-45 all the time. Once the engine reaches 200 (or so) the oil pressure will read 30 @ Idle and jump to 40 when driving. EVERY ENGINE IS DIFFERENT !

These sending units are pretty much ALL the same. If your temp gauge is reading 260 - AND IT WAS ACCURATE - then your coolant would be boiling over into the overflow tank. The first thing you should do is check the mix of your coolant ( so you KNOW! ) and then start looking for a replacement Temp gauge.

 

That's a later (88+?) style,... and some of those later sending units are 2 wire - while others are 3 wires.

 

It is showing 30-35 psi of oil pressure at cruising speeds and at idle I think it was like 10-15. I have checked the oil and I need to add like half a quart or more oil so that may be causing some issue with the oil pressure. As for the cooling gauge. It is making it all the way to about 260 but the radiator does not feel really hot and I do not see any signs of overheating. It may just be that I bought a $10 sender from Nappa. Oh buy the way I get no engine RPM on the tach. I dont know if that is normal. The oil pressure switch I bought was http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...ressure+switch

The temperature switch I bought was

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/de...1&keyword=s996