alright guys i have the older style interior, from 79-86 and i was going to order the dash plate from mental addiction, and it accomadates 2 5 inch and 4 2 3/8 inch gauges, how hard are gauges to install? should i go mechanical, electric? whats easiest, what type of autometer's would be easiest to work with, are the stock gauges all mechanical? i havea ton of questions and i am hoping for about 1000 responses, i have wanted to do this forever, please guide me fellas, i need the help
after market gauges in an 86 lx...please help
- Thread starter zeusmoto
- Start date
generally, gauges are easy to do. the factory one on 87 up are electric. most purist, old schoolers like mechanical gauge, though quality gauges like Autometer have pretty accurate electric ones. i prefer mechanical (no sender to fail). also, sans Autometers, most electric gauge have a lesser range of needle sweep (like 90* or 120* vs 270). really personal preference.
for oil, you would need to run a hard line into the car to your gauge. should not be bad - they can be a little bit of a pain if doin a pillar. if the tube/line breaks, you have oil in your interior.
good luck. i had not seen a thread from you in a day or two - i was wondering if you were ok. LOL J/K bud.
for oil, you would need to run a hard line into the car to your gauge. should not be bad - they can be a little bit of a pain if doin a pillar. if the tube/line breaks, you have oil in your interior.
good luck. i had not seen a thread from you in a day or two - i was wondering if you were ok. LOL J/K bud.
bmorrisj
Member
i just installed my new gauges yesterday... mechanical water and vacuum, electric oil pres. and voltmeter.... mechanical gauges operate all the time while electric gauges only operate with 12v (koeo/koer) and have no chance of a mess and easier to install......
Attachments
Bmorris, you got enough oil pressure? J/K.
im curious if that was where the gauge was resting with the car off, or is the stocker that inaccurate? (the stocker is at about 1/4 or so, in your pic).
nice pics.
im curious if that was where the gauge was resting with the car off, or is the stocker that inaccurate? (the stocker is at about 1/4 or so, in your pic).
nice pics.
bmorrisj
Member
yea im changing the oil...its kinda low... :o
that was with the sender unhooked....then i cut the sender wire on accident..... but all is well..the new gauge showed the same 1/4 or 25psi....
that was with the sender unhooked....then i cut the sender wire on accident..... but all is well..the new gauge showed the same 1/4 or 25psi....
86Cobra
Founding Member
In case you didn't know, Beau at Mental Addiction can get you good deal on the gauges to go with the gauge plate. Buy it all from him and he'll give you a great package deal.
1986LX2002
Founding Member
- Aug 15, 2002
- 317
- 0
- 0
joelliott
New Member
I have wanted to get a voltmeter for my 85gt. I want something thats easy to wire in, and fairly accurate. Im not looking for to the .00001 volt or any crazy thing. Justa a simple volt meter. Could someone please go through a simple explaination on hooking one up? Thanks
Joe E.
Joe E.
86Cobra
Founding Member
Hello! As far as gauges go they are very simple to install.You should always go with non mechanical if possible.Remember this is all new parts not old technology or old corroded sensors.Get all your gauges and then read the directions.They are very simple to positive,ground,and sending wire is the most you will have.Some have one some two.It is a is straight forward job.If you have problems while doing it post specific problem. Later Sub Goodluck P.S. I have a cyberdyne digital dash from summit that took a whole 2 hours to install tops.Lookinto all digital price has come down and my dash tells 0-60 and top mph.
Zeus, you should be able to do it yourself. try a search in here. i know myself and many others have outlined the steps many times. when you run into problems, that makes it a lot easier for us to answer, rather than shotgunning.
Joe, find a positive wire when the key is on. find a ground. tap into the dimmer for your pos lighting. use the previous ground for the bulb ground. your instructions with the gauges should be much more complete. post with questions. good luck.
Joe, find a positive wire when the key is on. find a ground. tap into the dimmer for your pos lighting. use the previous ground for the bulb ground. your instructions with the gauges should be much more complete. post with questions. good luck.
philly029
New Member
Alright, I'm not gonna push any products to you. I went with Autometer Ultralites because I thoght they looked cool. Also, I went all electrical because I could still hook them up to the factory harness. What you first need to do is get the Haynes Mustang repair manual from Autozone or someplace like it. Make sure it has the wiring diagrams in the back. It's Haynes manual #36050. Then pull your gauge cluster from your car. Look at the harness that attaches to the cluster and make a diagram of the colors of the wires. Then match those wires up to the diagrams in the book. Oil pressure signal is white w/red stripe for example. Fuel level will be yellow w/ white stripe and light blue for the positive and black w/light green dot on the negative if you want the console's on-board dummy lights to work. The tachometer signal wire is dark green w/ yellow dot. Also, get a voltmeter instead of an ammeter. You will not use the ammeter wires. To hook up the voltmeter just tap-in to the red w/ yellow hash mark as a signal wire. To retain the dimmer for the gauge lights, hook all of the gauge lights to the light blue w/ red stripe. Use a seperate chassis ground for all of your negatives. If you need any more help just email me at [email protected].
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
Zeus and Big Philly, my bad.
i did not understand that Zeus was goin to replace the whole cluster (until Big Philly's post). i was thinking he was adding a few gauges (i dont know what the plates and such are, that he was referring to).
well that does change things. im smart enough to offer my two cents worth when i know a little about something (or think i do), and to bow out when i dont. the latter applies here: i have not done the cluster swap (though i think they look awesome), nor am i conversant with the schematics on a 4 eye.
so i apologize for misunderstanding what was goin to be accomplished; good luck, Zeus.
i did not understand that Zeus was goin to replace the whole cluster (until Big Philly's post). i was thinking he was adding a few gauges (i dont know what the plates and such are, that he was referring to).
well that does change things. im smart enough to offer my two cents worth when i know a little about something (or think i do), and to bow out when i dont. the latter applies here: i have not done the cluster swap (though i think they look awesome), nor am i conversant with the schematics on a 4 eye.
so i apologize for misunderstanding what was goin to be accomplished; good luck, Zeus.
joelliott
New Member
Thanks guys for the info. Not much on electrical stuff here, meaning my ability. I give the voltmeter a shot here real quick. Have a ncie holiday!
Joe E.
Joe E.
bmorrisj
Member
i believe that all of the stock gauges are electrical....meaning all of the gauges run off of electrical senders.... and they only operater with 12v on.... you could plug the elec gauges to batt. + to make them always on but i think that would run down the battery after a while.....with mechanical gauges you have a constant reading because you have oil/fuel lines running straight to the back of the gauge.... basically mechanical run without power, electrical need 12v...... accuracy between both is negligible....
Similar threads
