AutoMeter/AutoGauge Quality: NOT!

[JimmieD]

Well folks, old Rollin' Thunder almost bit the dust today!

My '67 Dodge Town Wagon/Cummins 4BT swap was a low-budget boogie and the short bucks syndrome just about took out her highness! Made the run up and over and down the mountains into the nearest town today, and just as I rolled in the smoke suddenly rolled out! From under the dash dense black clouds of billowing acrid smoke erupted and filled the forward cab. Pulled over, jumped out and threw the hood open and pulled the battery quick disconnect [wing-nut on main lug]. Looked back in and still smoking and sparking so had to run and grab a wrench to undo the other hot post on the marine battery. That gets a wing nut tonight!

All wiring is brand new and load centers are circuit breaker protected. Also wiring was a major part of my career so no bumbling and fumbling there. What I NEVER expected happened. Make a note of that somewhere... A friend gave me a matched 3 gauge set of used AutoMeter AutoGauge instruments to help me on my insolvent Cummins swap. So far I've had to replace the Temp gauge, then the Oil gauge died. Today the Voltage gauge attempted to kill the whole truck! Some sort of internal short?

Volts gauge was wired off of the 2nd load center, to sense voltage after all loads were drawn: hot from 2nd panel to gauge, to ground. The wires that fried were the hot feed to AutoGauge Voltmeter and the Main Battery feed wire to my ignition switch. Ignition switch comes off of circuit breaker protected Primary load center, after it, with no load except to switch. All individual circuits are breaker protected. Never thought to fuse the switch wire [will tonite]. Then again, I never thought to fuse a Voltage gauge!??! Huh?!

I was 'fortunate' that the Ace hardware was 300 yards away, so picked up some crimp terminals and a hank of 16 ga [all they had!]. Proceeded to rewire as needed [you diesel wiseguys will know that I could have cut wires and driven home, only needing to switch on fuel solenoid for it to run]. Also found why all the smoke: burning wires had sliced thru the mechanical oil gauge Parker nylon tubing, oil everywhere! Went back to Ace and bought a 1/8 NPT plug and disco'd that gauge. So, got her running and made it a mile to the bank and parked. More fresh oil all over the carpets!

True Value Hardware was about 300 yards away [Hah!] so got another 1/8 NPT plug to disco my secondary [redundant sytem] mechanical oil pressure gauge. 5 different people stopped and I made 2 new friends :~ )

AutoMeter/AutoGauge quality: NOT! See pic...

[Charles Talbert]

Glad you were able to handle the situation that could have been disasterous. That's why we use top of the line gauges in our rebuilds & I must say I have even wondered about their quality at times. A few months back a guy basically told me I was full of it when I recommended he not use this type of gauge. They just aren't designed for heavy duty applications, vibration, etc. I hope he will read about your near miss before he has a similar mishap.

[JimmieD]

Thanks, Charles!

I'll be happy to mail him the gauge and burned wires if he's a real hardhead haha! From now on it's ISSPRO for me, no more Auto Meter. They've already got a bad rep on some of their Pyrometers, and also some of their alternator type diesel tachs.

I had a 3lbs fire extinguisher on board but tonight I got out a 10 lbs that gets mounted in there tomorrow!

[CGarbee]

My guage of choice is DATCON... Owned by the same company that owns Stewart-Warner (the OEM supplier for the guages used in the M37 back when...). Datcon supplies gauges to companies like Caterpillar and Komatsu and has a line of gauges that look just like the OEM units in the M37 without the extra National Stock Numbers silk screened on the dials...

A page on my website discussing Datcon guages (including part numbers for both 12 and 24 volt versions and instalation in both my truck and those of some friends) is located at:
http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/speedometer.htm

Glad to hear that you didn't have a complete disaster while on the road...

Good luck.

[Gordon Maney]

Glad you were able to handle the situation that could have been disasterous. That's why we use top of the line gauges in our rebuilds & I must say I have even wondered about their quality at times. A few months back a guy basically told me I was full of it when I recommended he not use this type of gauge. They just aren't designed for heavy duty applications, vibration, etc. I hope he will read about your near miss before he has a similar mishap.

What brand????

[Charles Talbert]

What brand????

We typically use either Datcon or Stewart-Warner, similar quality. Both offer severe duty lines, Stewart-Warner's line is better in trucks where high quality detailing is specified, more to chose from when top quality appearance is an issue. I've had equally good service from both lines. Stewart-Warner still offers mechanical speedometers & tachs also, Datcons are only offered in electronic versions.

[JimmieD]

I fully agree on Datcon & Stewart Warner. I'll add Isspro to that list as they currently have a very good reputation also, but a relative newcomer I think?

I had my heart set on a full compliment of Stewart Warner gauges for my truck when I did the Cummins swap. I spent weeks on the phone and the internet trying to get hooked up and by the time I finally found a place that was actually willing to sell me S W without a wholesale number, tissue samples, 3 pieces of picture ID and a valid license to buy S W gauges the money was spent. From my end of it I ran into nothing but jerk marketing and a marketplace full of jerks! Prices were through the roof: like nearly $800 for a 6 gauge set that VDO sells for $300. Plus I found only one supplier of S W that offered an assortment of diesel gauges. In addition only one supplier had any knowledge of the product line after contacting about 6 to 8 listed suppliers in CA. I tried.....!

I happened to just do another search for S W gauges in the past couple of days. Found only 2 'local' distributors: both are 'WHOLESALE ONLY' and aren't even listed anywhere in the Yellow Pages under any automotive or truck or gauge/instrument heading! Yep, Stweart Warner, that's the way to sell them allright.

I ended up with the Autogage junk simply because S W wouldn't make their gauges available or even close to reasonably priced. Even for free the Autogage 3 gauge set wasn't worth it because all 3 in the set have had to be replaced within 9 months! I'll try to post a detailed description about what went wrong with this particular Autogage Volts gauge in the next few.

[MoparNorm]

I already emailed you but for the sake of the public record, Summit and Jegs both have SW at reasonable prices.

[Charles Talbert]

Jimmie,
I believe what you will find with Summit & Jegs is they only deal with the cheaper lines of S-W, likely little if any better quality than what you originally used. The S-W Heavy Duty Plus line is what we have used, around $400 for the complete set up with senders. There are some dealers on your coast who handle the good stuff, I believe marine outlets. I know this because my local dealer has found items for me in stock on the west coast to keep from special ordering from the factory & having a 4-6 week wait. Do some searches from Marine dealers, I believe you will hit on something. If cost is to high that way, I have the full line catalogs of both S-W & Datcon, can get anything you want, will do it for you at the best price possible on my end. Prices tend to be a good bit more on the west coast. Good luck.

[MoparNorm]

Charles,
The SW gages at Summit vary from $41, to $114 ea.
Is there a serial number, model number, model line name, etc. that distinguishes the low end from the high end, other than price? (price can be an indicator of mark-up as much as a sign of quality)

[Charles Talbert]

Charles,
The SW gages at Summit vary from $41, to $114 ea.
Is there a serial number, model number, model line name, etc. that distinguishes the low end from the high end, other than price? (price can be an indicator of mark-up as much as a sign of quality)

Norm,
There are several S-W lines that cover literally hundreds of gauges. As soon as I get a chance I'll post the product lines & you can check out some on your end as far as availability & price quote.

[JimmieD]

Thanks very much, Charles, I appreciate the offer! I'll check around out this way to see what's available.

Norm, I was looking for gauges for a diesel swap as you recall. JEGS and Slummit didn't offer any diesel specific gauges at the time, such as pyrometers or diesel alternator tachs. I have the CSS 6 gauge dash so want 3 3/8" speedo and diesel tach, plus Pyro, Boost, Oil and Temp gauges. Figured to do the fuel gauge in a small add-on panel.

Almost everybody going to JEGS or Slummit uses the AutoMeter gauges it seems. Neither vendor could give me any useful info on SW gauges, and even less on SW Diesel gauges, because at the time neither company had much to do with diesel, just HP gassers. They also had no product knowledge about SW because they rarely sell them. Calling around the state and visiting SW website only netted some wholesalers who were reluctant to sell to me. Also there was about a 100% markup on prices except for wholesalers. I really worked hard on getting Stewart Warners for my truck because that's OEM on Town Wagons but they simply weren't available to me, or else they were so over-priced it was ridiculous.

I'll check marine vendors as Charles suggested. Too bad I didn't post a year ago.....!

[OLD DODGE]

Fyi

Assuming things haven't changed from years ago....
Auto Meter = made in usa
Auto Gauge = made in ???

I believe the AutoGauge line was an import line that AutoMeter was marketing. I'm shocked that 7 year old chinese kids can't build a reliable voltage meter.

[Charles Talbert]

Thanks very much, Charles, I appreciate the offer! I'll check around out this way to see what's available.

Norm, I was looking for gauges for a diesel swap as you recall. JEGS and Slummit didn't offer any diesel specific gauges at the time, such as pyrometers or diesel alternator tachs. I have the CSS 6 gauge dash so want 3 3/8" speedo and diesel tach, plus Pyro, Boost, Oil and Temp gauges. Figured to do the fuel gauge in a small add-on panel.

Almost everybody going to JEGS or Slummit uses the AutoMeter gauges it seems. Neither vendor could give me any useful info on SW gauges, and even less on SW Diesel gauges, because at the time neither company had much to do with diesel, just HP gassers. They also had no product knowledge about SW because they rarely sell them. Calling around the state and visiting SW website only netted some wholesalers who were reluctant to sell to me. Also there was about a 100% markup on prices except for wholesalers. I really worked hard on getting Stewart Warners for my truck because that's OEM on Town Wagons but they simply weren't available to me, or else they were so over-priced it was ridiculous.

I'll check marine vendors as Charles suggested. Too bad I didn't post a year ago.....!

I've got availability on hundreds of diesel specific instruments from S-W & Datcon. I'll get more info posted as soon as time permits.

[MoparNorm]

Norm,
There are several S-W lines that cover literally hundreds of gauges. As soon as I get a chance I'll post the product lines & you can check out some on your end as far as availability & price quote.

Thanks!
I'd hate to guess and then find out for a few dollars more I could have a better quality gage.
When ever you find time, I'd appreciate it...= )