I need help with Autometer Wiring...!

[latham83]

Can someone help me out on this thats done it before..im putting in the gauge cage with 3 electric gauges...volts, oil pressure, and water temp...
i took out the vent housing today and its pretty tight in there....what i was going to do was run all the wires out through that little black grommet in the firewall, and then tap into places...but that thing seems hard to get too from the vents there..and i dont know if all these wires can fit through?!... can somebody walk me through where the BEST or easiest place is to route all these wires im going to have..and where to tie each one off?? i want to do this the right way..thanks guys

 

[ram360]

I usually run the wires throught the gromet on the driver side of the engine compartment, and they come out by the clutch pedal. I would zip tie all the gauge wiring together and so they don't get mixed up w/ everything else (ie.... the raidio)

 

[latham83]

anyone else?

 

[latham83]

ok what i was going to do and this seems the easiest.....is link all the grounds together...link all the power wires together, and a link all the igntion power wires together..from all 3 gauges..and then just have one for each set..u know what i mean..
is that ok to do???

 

[HISSIN50]

ok what i was going to do and this seems the easiest.....is link all the grounds together...link all the power wires together, and a link all the igntion power wires together..from all 3 gauges..and then just have one for each set..u know what i mean..
is that ok to do???

that is the preferred method. otherwise, you end up with a rat's nest. good luck.

 

[latham83]

thanks dude...alright so.....with me having the gauge cage... wheres the best and easiest place to tap the grounds too...the one ignition/power wire ill have for the gauges, and the one 12v power wire ill have from all the lighting....?
and the 2 sender wires ill fish the firewall...

 

[F8Lstang]

Not to hijack your thread, but wont linking them all in series to a single source result in all of them receiving less current?

 

[jerry beach]

They are not in series, but really in parallel. They are just branching off a common source, but none of them are pulling any signifigant amps.

As far as knowing what will be a good ground nearby, I use my meter now. If I have less than 1 ohm to ground, thats great.

 

[HISSIN50]

Jerry is right on. for lighting, tap off the headlight switch or the ISO fuse (so your lighting dims with the stock instrument cluster lighting).

F8L, i think you are thinking of the sending units. say for instance, someone tried to run 2 oil pressure gauges from one sender, but using two wires off the sending unit (one per gauge). given that both wires have equal resistance, etc, then the signal would be split in half, and each gauge would be off.

 

[F8Lstang]

They are not in series, but really in parallel. They are just branching off a common source, but none of them are pulling any signifigant amps.

As far as knowing what will be a good ground nearby, I use my meter now. If I have less than 1 ohm to ground, thats great.

cool, I am taking an electrical engineering course right now, trying to flex my knowledge

 

[latham83]

haha i have a degree in electronic engineering...been awhile though...
i forget alot of 'Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me''Kiss Me'..i have books but im lazy to read them lol! hey hope u find a good job afterwards man its not so great..well not where i live anyway.

 

[latham83]

well for the dimming lighting i was going to tap in the a/c knobs right below the vents there that would be perfect!? how do i know which wire it is?!! lol quite a few...i cant turn anythign on right now cause my engine is on the stand and eevery is disonnected..so....so if i do that...wheres a good place nearby to tap into the ignition/power source for the gauges..and all the gounds?
ALSO for the volt gauge...should i run the power and ground for the gauge straight to the battery? or can i just link it with eveyrhting else..

 

[Blue89gt]

you can link it to any powr source, the voltgauge, and the ground i used was by the radio, i tapped a screw into the metal support bracket. i also tapped my lighting off of the AC controls, or you could use the wire on the radio harness.

i'd go outside and look but my car is trapped under the snow in the drive way.

 

[latham83]

is the lighting for the a/c controls 12 volts?
which wire is it man?

 

[latham83]

alright so i decided i think ill tie all the ignition/power lead together and tap into the radio harness...RED WIRE which is ACC...tap all the lighting 12v power into the a/c control..and tie all the grounds off in one location..where thes best???
is there a problem with any of that? which wire for the a/c controls is the dimmiing one>?

 

[latham83]

hmmmm

 

[ram360]

ok what i was going to do and this seems the easiest.....is link all the grounds together...link all the power wires together, and a link all the igntion power wires together..from all 3 gauges..and then just have one for each set..u know what i mean..
is that ok to do???

yeah, that's what I did w/ mine. no need to run individual power, and grounds for each gauge.

 

[r6bullet]

May I recommend a multi meter..they are extreamly helpful (only if you know how to use it). You will be able to find the high and low sides of the circuit and determine how much voltage it actully in the wire. Ex You can hook into a wire and when you turn the dimmer switch the voltage will go down. Then you know for sure that is a dimmer wire. Lots of uses for it
Just my .02

 

[latham83]

lol well i would liek to test wires like that right now but i cant cause i have no engine..and the battery ground and acouple other grounds are dangling in the air...is there a temp place i can hook them too so i can turn on my ACC. power?

 

[latham83]

bump