Im installing new Autometer Guages, I need help please!

[Kdubslugga]

When i installed my BBK White face guages, i had to take the needles off, and there not even close to being accurate now. I put them back where they were but not even close to bein right. Anyways. I have the dual A pillar thing, and im going to be putting a Water Temp Guage and an Oil Press. Guage. My questions are, is this a hard job, im a newbie to all this stuff, so ive never done guages before, what can i expect in the difficulty category? Also what becomes of my factory guages, will i need to disconnect those? By the way these are 2 1/16 Autometer Pro-Comp Ultra Lite, Electrical Guages. Please make my day and tell me this is not a hard job!

 

[redterror302]

It shouldn't be too hard at all actually. The only thing is though, I don't really have any experience with running wires to the A-pillar, but the wiring of the guages is easy. Just find power somewhere when the key turns on, find a ground, and wire to the sender they provide. To have both the stock guages and the aftermarket gauges working, you will need to modify a bit.

For the oil pressure, I just got a t-fitting and put both senders in the stock senders location. There is enough pressure in the oil to get two accurate readings. For the water temp, I put the autometer sender in the stock location, and then moved the stock sender to the location in the back of the intake.

Sound good? If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask.

 

[RIXX93GT]

Just got thru running the same gauges but mechanical.
1. take speaker and grill out of dash
2. pop light switch toggles out and splice into hot wire going to the fog lights
3.run a single hot from there and splice into your gauge leads. run a single length ground cable down to the framing for the pedals, put an eyelet on then find or driilll a hole for the bolt for thr ground.

 

[Kdubslugga]

well it doesnt sound to bad, but im still kinda uptight about doing it, i have no idea what im doing when it comes to electrical stuff. Are the directions clear from Autometer??

 

[shorty1993]

i got a question in the same catagory, just a thought. if you spliced into the wire on the afterside of the dimmer switch would this not allow you to have the gauge lights on with the dashlights and the ability to dim. all the switch does is act as a resistor, i think....real factory look.

 

[HISSIN50]

yes, you can tap into the dimmer wire on the headlight switch connector, or simply tap into fuse 13 (ISO fuse). that circuit is controlled by the dimmer.

 

[HISSIN50]

oh yeah, for the coolant sender (the stock one is in the lower intake, just behind and to the driver side of the distributor - with one wire goin to it)...put your new gauge sender there, as said.
if you want to retain the stock gauge, you can stick it in the thermostat housing if it fits, or what i did is put it in the rear of the lower intake, like 5.0GT. that location is not the most accurate (radiant heating of coolant back there), but the stock gauge sucks anyhow. if you want more info, check out this thread. in particular, Mike has great pics of where the rear location is, and my last post kinda outlines how to get the job done without removing the upper intake.
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=354371

 

[Ozz]

yes, you can tap into the dimmer wire on the headlight switch connector, or simply tap into fuse 13 (ISO fuse

That's what I did, wires right into the fuse box and they dim along with the lights.

With oil pressure you might find it rough to get the braided line behind the dash and up to the A pillar. Other than that, the hardest part is snaking the wires down from the A pillar to the firewall area in which you run your wires through into the engine bay.

Everything else is simple.

Let me ask you, when you put your gauge cluster back in, did you knock it around? If so, that's probably why you're off. I did that too with my gas gauge and now I've got to take it back out and fix it The others are fine, thankfully.

As far as the stock water temp gauge, I thought I'd want it functioning as well when I put my Autometer in, but the thing reads 20-30 degrees hotter at operating temp, so it's better off (to me) not even having it. I Just aligned the needle at the bottom of the reading range, and it still looks good sitting there.