firesquare

so yesterday i got my self ready for a 1300 mile round trip to NY. over the past month i put new tires on, plugs, Powerslot rotors and Toyota pads and little items here and there.

i had Toyota change the belts at 99,600 miles approx and i now have 130,300. after putting the brakes on and drinking beer, doing plugs in the xB, drink beer, and try to pull the head off a ford contour. no compression in 1-3 cyl and it shot water during the compression test. woopee. :-(

anywhoo after pumping the brakes and pumping up the HEAVY METAL, i drive off and get the brakes worked in. about 200 feet after i leave (semi hard) the battery light comes on and the overheating light comes on. so i pop the hood and i see the alternator/water pump/A/C belt is gone missing. i limp it back to where i was and the belt is less then 10 feet from where i took off. separated in half and not one crack in it.

called the advance auto parts that was walking distance from where im at, of course they don't have any. out of the 5 AAP's in town the one that's far away has ONE. i limp it 4 miles to my house. cutting the car off mostly and coasting. then realizing i hope my auto zone battery doesnt die :-/

i get home, coolant is all over the place naturally and im just aggravated now because the stupid engineers of the NCP-31 decided it would be just fine to only have a speedo, tach and gas level gauges instead of a temp gauge. added somewhere in the mix. its 80 degrees out its hot and i got the defroster on full blast and it doesnt feel that hot coming out the vents, so i fugure its all good. untill i got home.

i take my moms corolla and go to one of the two AAP's a mile apart on the same road. i go to the one i was told to go too and the dumbass behind the counter said it wasn't in stock. i go tot the other one and they said they had it and they shouldn't have sent me there. i got a free beef jerky out of the travel and trouble i endured. went back to the AAP i started at, got my belt from the manager and got home. put the belt in, did a shot of Crown, and drink half a beer then continue my night of chillin.

my last belts lasted me 90+ thousand miles, i figure belts are only good for at least 50K and this thing epic failed on me hardcore at only 30K miles. i call Toyota and they say its due for changing at 30K

i now have a Dayco Belt on there. 15 minutes tops to replace.

i dunno just venting.

i like the look of the Defi and HKS gauges but don't have that "super hot JDM" cash money. whats the "most accurate" gauges avalable?

i plan to do a 3 pot pillar with water temp, oil pressure and vac/boost (for fall or next spring shhhhh...)

i had faze gauges in my Focus ZX3 and they looked too ricey. i like needle indicators and good night time visibility with dim control. i don't know whats out there anymore.

brownfaux

you drank and drove?

frogbox

Just get a SG II without the extra gauge and you should be good to go.

Or try and find the original SG

TypeX

What does all that stuff have to do with the gauge cluster?

firesquare

i wasn't drunk or buzzed. their for i was not drinking and driving.

that i didn't know how hot the car actually got and all i got for a "gauge" is a blinking red light. and thats its annoying to have no temp gauge in a car.

i love what it does but i cant find a location that would keep everything looking neat. I've seen placements where you have to actually take your eyes off the road somewhat. if only it had a HUD feature, that would be soo sweet but soo expensive...

frogbox

Small cubby just above the steering wheel worked with mine. Could still see it when driving , can be dimmed to not make it too distracting.

And if you look around , you might find one of the originals ( used) but still working.
And the new ones wouldn't be more than an entire cluster, adapters and such needed for install of a good set of traditional type.( about 160 bucks)

burstaneurysm

Yea, the SGII filled that void nicely. I have it mounted just above the wheel, it's unobtrusive and very convenient. Plus, it's way easier to plug that in than it is to wire up gauges.

nachobox

My vote is for the SGII.

firesquare

what is the difference between the 2? i'm intreiged

burstaneurysm

Just smaller.
Here's mine sitting just above the steering column in that cubby.

firesquare

how is the display in sunlight? it would look great where the radio is now. does it read out manifold pressure/vac on our vehicles? too bad it doesn't have an oil pressure gauge.

Siepel

You did the right thing. I always recommend a shot of Crown in dire circumstances!

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:D

Siepel

MadMike550

the little flashing irritating red light

means pull over and check stuff out..like belts and coolant levels
the fact that your idiot light was working and you made a choice not to acknowledge it is a bit of a puzzle???

firesquare

see!someone understood my agony.


i DID acknowledge it. that's when i saw the belt was gone. what i stated very clearly before, is that i had to limp it home and i would have liked to have a gauge of some type to actually see how hot i was.

MadMike550

let me ask you this

if you knew your box was 260 degrees...would you have still driven it the 4 miles?

the light worked as it should..it told you your box was too hot
I understand wanting to know just how hot...but when it comes to dummy lights

if it comes on...immediately assume it's too hot

will save you in the long run

jct

don't do a boost gauge if your not boosted get a simple vaccum gauge and other gauges from autometer

burstaneurysm

The light came on. He stopped. That's what he did... point is, there should be a better indicator so you can see the engine temp rising so you know something's wrong before the warning light comes on.

MadMike550

"The light came on. He stopped. That's what he did... point is, there should be a better indicator so you can see the engine temp rising so you know something's wrong before the warning light comes on."


Oh I totally agree..I just think he made a mistake driving it 4 miles after knowing he didnt have a belt..

burstaneurysm

Yea, well, sometimes gimping home is better than waiting 17 hours for a tow truck.

firesquare

and nobody has flat beds down here. plus i needed to get home so i can watch my son because my mom had him and she had to be somewhere at a certain time. im just glad an auto parts store had something in stock for my car.