Has anyone explored adding aftermarket sensors and displays for oil and water pressure? I'm thinking that watching water pressure would be better than water temp as far as spotting a coolant pipe leak before the engine cooks. Cheap insurance that JLR should have provided.

The sensors themselves would be cheap, and installation should not be hard or intrusive.

Where and how to display the readings in an attractive way without doing anything non-reversible is the question. Wires could be run thru the firewall, but where do you mount the displays? Or, is it possible to do some kind of bluetooth connection from sensors under the hood to an app on your phone?

Your thoughts?

 

You can get apps such as Torque or Dash Commander which display a huge range of data on your phone, via Bluetooth and an OBD2 dongle such as an Elm 327.
You can get these apps in either android or iOS.
You can also update them and add PIDs.
You would just need a decent phone mount if you haven't got one already.
I haven't checked but I would guess that oil pressure and water pressure are two things that could be displayed.

 

Would this approach mean that you would have th option to display those parameters on the screen using CarPlay?
Also, can you leave the dongle in place without discharging the battery?

 

VDO-Instruments Germany makes one of the best after market gauges around. Do not drill a hole. Use a gauge suction mount.
https://www.vdo-instruments.com/inst...mperature.html

 

I added a dongle to my '17 for my auto insurance(AllState). My battery kept discharging. Is this something that can be overrode?

 

Yes, connecting things to the USB may cause the port to remain enabled even after the car is shut of, and even after the USB device is disconnected. The constant battery draw can eventually run it down, and the solution is to disconnect the battery for ~10 seconds, then reconnect. There are Many threads about this here.

 

I'm not sure that's the same thing - if the dongle is left connected and never shuts down it's bound to drain the battery. BTW, I think you mean OBD, not USB.

 

The solution to your problem. I got it on my 2018 XF for the use of my DashCam and it never drained my battery. It is connected to OBD port onto MiniUSB. Make sure you have a MiniUSB port on you phones or you may need a converter to make it work. It has 2 modes. Make sure it's in the OFF position. It is OFF when the engine is turned OFF.


EDIT:
I need to do an edit. I just realized this device is just to power ON. But not read data from OBD. Please dis-regard this comment. Thank you

 

I would expect enjoying the car with more frequent drives may do the trick. That will keep the battery all topped up and keep it from going Flat.