Oil Temperature in Clock? (!)

Started by Alex Knight, February 6, 2023, 14:28

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Alex Knight

Hi all,

I would like to put an oil temperature gauge in my car.

I would, however like to retain an OEM look.

I've got a bit of a left-field idea to adapt the OEM digital clock to also show the oil temperature.

This would obviously mean some custom electronics and a mechanical oil temperature sender which can be fitted to my EliseParts sump fitting.

I'm not capable of the electronics part though.

Does anyone know of anyone who would be capable of a custom job like this? A friend of mine mentioned that a Raspberry PI could conceivably do this.

bobbe

A Raspberry Pi probably could do it. There is software for Raspberry Pis that allows you to read OBD data, and you can get small lcd (or even OLED) displays which would fit in the space where the clock is. Hook the Raspberry Pi up to an OBD reader (USB or bluetooth) and configure the software to make it work, hook the display up to the Raspberry Pi and configure the Raspberry Pi to output to the display. You might need to fashion some kind of mount for the display to hold it in place, but that shouldn't be a big job.

I've often thought about replacing the clock with a combined clock and weather display powered by a Raspberry Pi of some description. It shouldn't be overly difficilt

Alex Knight

Thanks for the info.

I perhaps didn't make myself totally clear.

I aim to *retain* the OEM clock, but add functionality to it by piggybacking a Raspberry PI and retaining the original clock and display also.

AFAIK, there is no oil temperature output from the ECU/OBD in the ZZW30.

barchetta_ms

Someone has done something very similar with the clock in a Subaru BRZ - the clock in that is very close to the size/layout of the one in the MR2:

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75181

barchetta_ms

#4
This one uses smaller components: https://github.com/mg-arne/gt86clock
or you could possibly drop it down to one board: https://www.hobbytronics.co.uk/leonardo-canbus

There aren't many orange OLED displays the correct size to fit within the standard clock bu I have found this one:
https://uk.farnell.com/midas/mdob128032gv-yi/oled-display-cob-128-x-32-pixel/dp/3407292

Dev

#5
You have a great idea but it is going to be challenging. I tried to do the same but the opening of where the clock resides is too small but that was a long time ago so maybe there are more options.
 
What I did instead is cut a rectangular area that extends from the clock to the end of the passenger air bag indicator. I had to do a bit of fabrication and used slightly tinted cover screen that houses a digital volt gauge and my digital oil temp gauge digits which have been removed from its housing. 
 If I find the time I would tint the cover screen to be darker so only the digits are visible. 


barchetta_ms

I'm already working on a prototype - it won't be a quick project because of the lead time on some of the components but it should hopefully look very stock and be easy to fit when done.

Alex Knight

Thanks to everyone for your replies.

Seems I'm not the only one to have this idea!

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