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Inexpensive engine monitor?

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cluttonfred

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I have had my eye out for an inexpensive engine monitoring system for a four-stroke engine. Minimum requirements would be: tachometer, oil pressure, oil/water temperature, voltage gauge, fuel gauge. A single CHT would be nice for an air-cooled engine. In all cases, I would want a user-defined alarm indication for each gauge function.

For a long time, the cheapest option has been the monochrome LCD MGL Avionics Velocity E1 EMS (3-1/8" diameter, $345) or Infinity E3 EMS (2-1/4" diameter, $310). Add about $175 for the senders and you've everything covered except the fuel level but you'll need to go elsewhere for that as they don't offer a simple, basic fuel gauge, just a fuel computer almost as expensive as the EMS. Call it about $600 all in, though I am concerned that even the 3-1/8" one is a little bit too small and hard to read. It does also have a built in hourmeter, which is nice.

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There are some automotive gauges that will do the job for the same price or less. Speedhut, for example, offers programmable custom gauges with warning lights and, if you go with the 3-3/8" quad gauge to group four functions at once, plus 2-5/8" tach and CHT, it works out to about $650 all in. That's going to be a little heavier and a little more work to install than the MGL, but a lot clearer, though it does not include the hourmeter.

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Does anyone know of any any other options for affordable engine monitoring with alarms at these prices or less?
 
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