Ok yes I know I'm a ricer here but please help me out guys. I got 2 autometer guages the small ones like you would put in a pillar or something. One is boost and one is water temp. Now I don't have a turbo but would like the boost one to do something. Don't laugh I got them for free.

It's vaccum operated so it would have to be something to hook it up to thats operated by vaccum. I also don't have a manual since they were used do you guys know which wires are which? For the water temp guage do I just splice into the wire that goes to the factory water temp guage? if so how hard is it to find it and where should I look?


Also do you guys know of any good looking guage pods that go on the door pillar or dash that are cheap? Do you have to drill holes to mount them? I don't really want to drill holes in stuff.

 

haha boost gauge for vaccum! thats classic! but if you really wanted it functional, yes, just T it into a vaccum line that goes to the manifold plenum, like the one for the fpr...
and the water temp, yes the signal wire taps into the oem water temp sensor, on the cylinder head, it is located under the distributer, right between the heaterhose outlet and the fan switch, it is a single wire and looks like a little nipple, simialar to the oil pressure sending unit plug...
the other wires are for the lightbulb to light up, so just splice into switched 12v source...

 

So do I need a sending unit or just splice into the water temp line?

 

no, you can use the existing oem one...
yes, just spice into it

 

Ok thanks. Thats good as I don't have a sending unit and don't really want to buy one. I'm thinking I'm just going to not hook up the boost one and I may hook the light up I can't decide if I want to do that or leave it off.


I was looking at Summit for guage pods and they only have black or Carbon fiber are these my only choices or does someone sell a tan colored one? My interior is tan colored and I don't think black would look so good there. Or does someone make a paint that would match?

 

Ok I looked at them and there are 3 wires other than the ones for the light on the water temp one. Where all do they go. One has a connector on the end like it would have a bolt through it and I think it was grounded to the engine bay when I took it out. The other was connected to a relay which I just unplugged and the last was just hanging there. Does it need power and ground also? Should I go get a relay for it or will it be fine just running it from the battery with a fuse?

 

Autometers site says this

Do I need a sender for my electrical gauge?

Electrical temperature and pressure gauges require the use of a sender matched for the type of gauge in use; the stock sender will only work with the stock gauges. Auto Meter gauges are designed to work with the Auto Meter sender that is included with the gauge. Extra senders are available; check out our

Will it still be ok to use the stock sender.

 

yes, i used the stock one when i too once had a water temp gauge...and it read just like it should...

 

You wouldn't have to have a picture would you? Is it the little wire you can barely see that comes out of a plastic nipple piece then goes into a little rubber piece right under the dist cap?

 

no, i dont have any pics but yeah your thinking of the right one, it is the only single wire plug/sensor around that area...

 

Ok thanks.

 

Wait on second thought arn't there two wires coming out of that nipple? If so which one do I want? Or is that the wrong one? Maybe it was only one but I thought it was two small wires.

 

Well I hooked them up and don't know if I hooked it up to the wrong wire or I need the Autometer sender or what. Anyways when I first turn the ignition on the guage neede drops a little but after that doesn't do anything. Any ideas? It was the only single wire I saw it had yellow shielding does that sound right?

 

yeah, its right under the distibuter, single wire, i think, if i remember correctly its grn/yel. yeah, you need to hook a power source and a ground..

i used my autometer gauge merely tapped into an oem sending unit and it would read temps correctly

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hometheaterman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Do I need a sender for my electrical gauge?

Electrical temperature and pressure gauges require the use of a sender matched for the type of gauge in use; the stock sender will only work with the stock gauges. Auto Meter gauges are designed to work with the Auto Meter sender that is included with the gauge. Extra senders are available; check out our
</TD></TR></TABLE>
yes you need the autometer sender to get accurate readings. the voltage output of the stock sender is not the same as the output for the autometer gauge. you can wire it to the stock sender but your readings may not be accurate.