bump.

 

I would go oil temp you can usually get a good indication as to how hot the turbo is runnig based on the oil temp, if you stock or even modified slightly with even a K04 i still think that you would get a better indication form an oil temp gauge.

 

on a DD that isn't tracked, i'd go with oil pressure for sure. your oil temps won't get that hot under normal driving, unless you do lots of heavy accelerating in your daily driving.

 

thanks! yeah, i can be a fairly aggressive driver.
question about oil temp: will it drop as fast as the turbo will cool? with the turbo having so much less mass, it might shed heat a lot faster (and heat up faster?). the less time i have to sit waiting for things to cool, the happier i am

 

oil temp will drop slowly after aggressive driving, for the most part what you wanna do is let the car idle for a min or two to let the oil and coolant flow through the turbo to cool it a bit before shutdown

 

yeah, that's what i've understood is a good routine to have. the ambient temp here (wisconsin) varies considerably between seasons (winters go way into the negatives and summers can break 100F) so i guess i just want to have a visual indicator. plus, then when i have a curious/doubtful passenger, i can point to the gauge and say "i should wait until this drops below XXXdegrees before i can shut down" so they won't look at me with quite such a strange look

 

they'll still give you that strange look either way

 

good point :lol:
anyone else care to chime in?
will an oil temp gauge be the best solution?
thanks!

 

oil temp & oil pressure both provide valuable information. if you have to pick just one, I'd recommend the oil pressure gage.

oil temp & pressure will be measured at the heat exchanger (where the oil filter screws in); however, this may not give much information regarding the turbo's temperature, since the oil returning from the turbo will have plenty of time to circulate with the rest of the oil in the pan before getting pumped to the sensors' location.

just remember to always drive gently for the last two miles / five minutes of your trip & you'll be fine.

 

my oil temp sensor is located in the drain plug so that way it gets the oil that is dumped from the turbo right into the pan.

 

I'd go with oil pressure first. If the oil gets really hot, it's not a big deal. If the oil loses pressure, it is a big deal.

 

Moved to GD - not a Garage topic.

I'd go with both temp and pressure. If you can only do one, then I'd go with temp, because there's already an idiot light for pressure.

You guys that say oil temp is not a big deal in these cars must not have an oil temp gauge. Oil temp most certainly IS a big deal in our cars. I've seen 280F in hard driving. It's also very conducive to engine longevity to know when it's thoroughly warmed up before you stomp on it. It's also conducive to engine longevity to see how on short trips it doesn't get warmed up.

EGT is a neat thing to know, but IMO not critical except for very highly tuned cars. My biggest problem with EGT is that you'd have to drill and tap (or weld a bung into) your cast-iron exhaust manifold. This can cause cracks.

 

great! thank you everyone for your help. i'm definitely doing 3 gauges: boost, oil pressure, and oil temp, and i have an idea for modifying the 3 gauge mount made for the new beetle, so i'll see how it goes and let you know!
rusty - sorry about the wrong choice of forum, i'm still getting the hang of this