autometer gauges

[cb18201]

has anyone installed autometer gauges or any gauges such as oil pressure , air fuel ratio, or water temp and so on? are these hard to install? i have heard they can be a pain

 

[Kretz5.0]

do a search

 

[S/CBlack95GT]

They arent too bad. I have electric water, oil press, fuel press, and boost gauges on mine. I remoted located the oil pressure sender with an autometer braided line b/c their sender was too large to fit in the stock location. I tied the 12v lighting and 12v ign. wires to the factory cluster's right side harness. The ground wires went to a screw on the fuse box under the dash and of course the sender wires went through an existing hole in the firewall.

 

[cb18201]

what is the difference between the electric gauges and the mechanical ones

 

[red94fiveo]

what is the difference between the electric gauges and the mechanical ones

I would highly recommend getting electrical guages, unless you feel like having a fuel source intametely close to you. But I guess that isn't what you asked. Electrical guages measure electrical signals from a sender to give you their reading. Mechanical guages use tubes and such to measure signals. I know thats not terribly technically specific, but thats a breif explanation. I would go for electrical.

BTW-I have installed Autometer A/F and water temp gauges and they are not bad at all to install. Just do a search for 'guages' or something of the like. I know there are some old threads.

 

[94GTLaserRC]

They arent too bad. I have electric water, oil press, fuel press, and boost gauges on mine. I remoted located the oil pressure sender with an autometer braided line b/c their sender was too large to fit in the stock location. I tied the 12v lighting and 12v ign. wires to the factory cluster's right side harness. The ground wires went to a screw on the fuse box under the dash and of course the sender wires went through an existing hole in the firewall.

Shaun,
I have a ?? for you regarding your OP gauge.
Please see:

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?p=3693640#post3693640

Thanks
RC

 

[David R]

I recently installed an electric A/F ratio gauge, and an electric Water temp. gauge. They were actually pretty easy.

For the A/F gauge I just found the sender wire under my car in front of the oil pan and spliced in.

For the Water gauge I had to get a T-block so I could use both the Autometer and the stock sending units. This gause seemed harder because I had to find the wire which would light it up and dim it on my headlight switch.

 

[cb18201]

i dont understand how you would set up an electrical gauge, i somewhat understand how the mechanical ones work, like the oil pressure im guessing you would have a tube going right into the pan maybe to sense pressure?

 

[David R]

For example, say...a water gauge. For mechanical, you'd run a pressurized line to the gauge which would read that pressure. For electrical, there is a screw in sender which reads the pressure just the same and relays the information to the gauge via a wire.

With electric you run wires from the senders instead of running lines full of coolant, oil, and gas into the interior of your car.

Hope that helps some!.

 

[cb18201]

ohhhhhhhhhhhhh i get it thanks

 

[RIO5.0]

I used all mechanical for mine..F/P..water and oil...

I have and AM gage bezel for the water/oil and mounted the F/P on the wiper cowl...took me a Saturday to do them up...most of the day just plugging away at it...Ya, it can be a pain installing gages, but its worth the work..

Power and grounds...i ran all power/grounds into the engine bay... turned on the parking lights, found power, ground was that Green bolt by the battery....use bullet connectors....tie em all into 2 connectors, one, all powers, one, all grounds...then plug em in...was tit, all you have is White/Black wire.....i hate fishing for power under the dash...this way was easier to me...

Some background info...think ahead some...the water gage will need a special fitting (8.00) for the intake sensor...your factory will be dead once the gage goes in...i added a FMS thermo with the fitting for a sensor...swap your factory sensor in there...no more dead gage..

Oil...same as above...the gage rpelaces the stock sending unit....plan ahead, get the nipples/Tees...you can run both....no dead factory gage...

I ran with dead gages for a month...pissed me off looking at them dead...so i fixed them...like i say, if that matters, then think ahead...kill 2 birds with one stone...

 

[cb18201]

do you have to take apart your dash to run the wires?

 

[Slow5.0]

You can find everything about any gauges installation here http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/scagauge.html

 

[David R]

I ran my wires from the A-pillar into where the headlight switch is near the instrument cluster, and then down from there.

It's pretty easy to find that hole if you take off the A-pillar plastic and then take out the headlight switch (2 bolts) and push it aside.

Also since I got some of my power there for the lights it was most convenient.