I came out to a nice surprise sitting on my hood today! The previous owner dropped off the lower gauge pod for my truck that he found in his garage last night! I was actually just about to buy the one that's on eBay right now.










Only problem is that the PO removed all the wiring and the plugs for the guages (he did so much stupid crap to this truck!). Does anybody know what I need to do to connect the oil pressure gauge and volt meter? The block has the oil pressure sending unit installed already without any plugs or wires attached to it (probably should be replaced) but do you guys know where I could get some plugs to tie into the factory gauge plugs and sending unit? What power sources should I tap in to? I assume that I can just run lead from the main ignition power switch but I'm not sure. I'm really good with mechanics, but I know enough to be dangerous when it comes to electrical stuff and would probably manage to electrocute myself on 12 volts of power.



I'm thinking that I'm going to replace the gauges with AutoMeter guages anyway, do the AutoMeter kits come with everything I need so I can abandon my search for plugs?



Any suggestions? Thanks guys!

 

Judging by your pics you probably have 4 wires coming off the volt meter and 3 coming off the oil pressure. 2 wires for each gauge will be for illumination. The other wire on your pressure gauge is for the sending unit. The other 2 wires for the volt meter is + and -. If you get Autometers it will come with everything you need, although some don't come with wire. I just installed 3 Autometers in my Frontier and they all work great. My Cobalt oil pressure gauge did not come with wire for the sending unit, no big deal. I installed B&M coolers with remote oil filter mounts so I tapped off of that for my autometer pressure sending unit. I did not touch the factory sender, Autometer advises that you do not do that and I'm not sure if the factory sender would work with an aftermarket gauge. I wonder if the resistance levels are different between different brands of sending units.

You can't electrocute yourself on a 12V, only an ignition coil can give you a nice jolt. If you get autometers it won't be a hard install, plus they look way better then factory gauges. You can tap off the wire that is used for the factory stereo. One will come on with the ignition and there is another wire that is always hot, this is used for the memory in the stereo. I tapped off the one that's keyed to the ignition in my Frontier. I would use an inline fuse too, 1 amp glass fuse. Or if you want you can just run a wire from the battery into the cab and use that wire to power all or any accessories you have or will add later. Be sure to use fuses and distribution blocks when you can and to have good grounds for all accessories. Look on autometers web site, you can download the instructions for all gauges, that way you can see the schematic and know what you will have to wire up for each gauge.

 

Thanks Hilux, I appreciate your input! I was thinking that I could tap into the instrument cluster feed so that the lower gauge pod would dim with the instrument cluster. I imagine that when I get into this project I will find the leads that the PO cut out when he decided to remove two perfectly functioning gauges. We'll see though.


Hopefully I'll get to this project this weekend - my wife is nearly 9 months pregnant and ready to pop at any moment so my time with my cherished truck may be limited in the near future.

 

There's several ways you can do it, I choose to have the illumination come on with the gauges so I have no option to dim them, it makes them easier to see in the day time and it's not too bright for night. I just plugged the illumination lead into the same 12V input for the gauge. I suppose if you have LED gauges or switch out any bulbs with LED's you could just tap off another light socket, like your cig lighter or ash tray light and use that to power your illumination for your gauges. LED's will draw very little current and should dim with the dimmer knob as it's tied into that circuit now.

Never mind about your wife, your truck mods are more important now!

 

I'll see how it all plays out, but thanks for the advice for certain!

You're lucky that she doesn't read these forums... a 9-month, hormonal, pregnant lady will hunt you down and inflict severe pain for comments like that! LOL

 

This may help a bit.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f114...e-swap-164182/


Especially one of my last posts towards the end, with a blown-up view of the oil & volt image from the FSM

 

haha yeah I know, she'll beat me senseless

 

If the gauges were originally on the truck the existing wiring should be there. You can buy 4 pole plugs at Radio Shack. If you need the wiring color codes PM me and I will send them to you. The gauge illumination comes off the dimmer circuit, the same as your dash lights.

 

Is there a quick way to identify that circuit? I want to hook up the back light for my sun super tach II and I looked around under the dash and it was hard to tell what was what.

 

Oil Pressure Gauge

Red / Blue Gauge Power +
Yellow / Red to Oil Pressure Sender
Red / White Gauge Light +
Red / Black Gauge Light - (Dimmer)

Voltmeter

Red / Blue Gauge Power +
White / Black Gauge Power -
Red / White Gauge Light +
Red / Black Gauge Light - (Dimmer)

 

I know this is off topic, kinda, but I just had to laugh at an experience I had...working on my 95 Ram, trying to figure out intermittent spark issues, I was leaning against the fender when the 25000 volt coil discharged into the grounded fender through my 3rd leg...ouch!

 

Hahahaha that's funny. I have heard people peeing on a car battery and getting jolted pretty good.

 

I just got one of these bezels but without the guages and im not home to measure so does anyone know how big the hole is and or what size guages to put in? i want to order some and have them waiting on me when i come home in march!

thanks
-Todd

 

2 1/16" or 51MM gauges will fit in your bezel.

 

What Don said x2