Triple Gauge Pod Install

[DAMON]

okay guys Im going to use this thread as info on how to install a triple gauge pod and gauges, but first I have a question. When I install the pod onto the a pillar cover, do I need to screw into the actual metal of the car's pillar or just through the plastic cover? any help is apreciated, Ive searched with no results. thanks

Damon

[TheWhiteKnight]

I remember seeing a TN member's post on his a-pillar guage pod install some time ago. The TN member did actually secure the guage pod to the plastic a-pillar trim and used body filler (bog) to mold it to the plastic trim.

It looked quite professional indeed with no gaps and colour matched to the rest of the trim, actually from the pics he posted it looked as if it came from the manufacturer as an optional extra (but of course it wasn't).

I will see if I can find and post a link to it.


Cheerz

[nukem678]

I did this and i used an auto meter gauge pod. Its fit perfectly over the pillar. It brought these plastic rivits that hold it to the a pillar. Dont buy a universal one becasue if its not vehicle specific you will have to mold it in. Youll spend more but get a vehicle specific. mine was like 50 bucks. I used the gauges from advanced auto parts that have the led lights with like 6 colors. There like 25 bucks a peiece. the gauges hold them selves in the pods.

[DAMON]

i already have the pod in my hands right now, its the camry specific one from the group buy years ago, and i wont be molding to the stock one... i just needed to know if i should screw into the metal or not. I decided not to and Ill see how it holds up

[Eye8Pussies]

^ no, it only goes into hte plastic a-pillar piece

[DAMON]

thats what i needed to know, thanks bro

[acs72727]

what are these gauges gonna ready sk8? boost

[DAMON]

hahah maybe someday down the road... but no plans for boost anytime soon... if luis' turbo kit is pretty sweet that could always be an option

[acs72727]

yeh , id boost my car in an instant, if it was 10 years old and had 100,000 miles

[DAMON]

okay so part two... pod and gauges are in, now the nightmare begins... wiring.



my first question is do i have the senders i need? Here is a picture of what ive got, the piece on the left is a tee i bought from red phoenix with my oil pressure gauge and looks to already have the sender for that installed, correct? there is a thrid hole with a plug in it on this tee. can i just tap into that for oil temp? or will i not be able to read oil temp from the location of the oil pressure switch in the block?

the pieces on the right are what came with my oil temp gauge... this is the sender, correct? i know the two bigger pieces are adaptors, but the small piece is the sender right? how do i attatch a wire to this, do i buy a metal tab to go on it?

if i can just use this tee for the oil temp as well the install would be pretty easy... too easy im guessing my last gauge is the volt gauge but that is pretty easy to figure out. ill ask more wiring questions after i know for sure i have the senders i need. thanks for any input!

Damon

[88 LE]

Originally Posted by dysk8forlife

looks to already have the sender for that installed, correct?

Correct.

The metal can looking thing is the sender.

there is a thrid hole with a plug in it on this tee. can i just tap into that for oil temp? or will i not be able to read oil temp from the location of the oil pressure switch in the block?

It should work.

the pieces on the right are what came with my oil temp gauge... this is the sender, correct? i know the two bigger pieces are adaptors, but the small piece is the sender right? how do i attatch a wire to this, do i buy a metal tab to go on it?

The small piece screwed into the adapter is the sender.

Remove the sender from that adapter and screw it into the T (remove the plug first).


To attach a wire to the senders use a crimp connector (ring).




^ Make sure the hole is big enough to fit over the threaded stud on the senders.



P.S. Wrap some teflon tape around the threads on the sender before you screw it in.

Wrap it against the direction in which the sender screws it. If you wrap it wrong the teflon tape will come undone when you screw in the sender.

[DAMON]

awesome, i knew youd be the man for this 88, thanks a ton...

Im going to check out my hanes tonight to see if i can find good wires to tap into for power. I dont want to go through the cig lighter or ghetto rig it from the fuse box etc

[zoni]

This is a PM which i sent Damon this morning.. i figured i'd post it up here for everyone else's benefit.

The wiring is from a 94 electrical manual, if you have a different year, the colors should be roughly the same, and the position on the plugs should be roughly the same, but you cant quote me directly on other years. 94-96 should be exactly the same, 92-93 should be very close if not exact. The rest is up to you to figure out, but should be close in Gen 4 too.



I suggest you take the gauge cluster out and tap into the power, ground, and lighting wires from there.

The plugs for the combination meter are A-blue 13 pin, B-White 16 Pin, and C-Gray 10 Pin.

Power from 10A Gauge Fuse - B6, Red-Blue
Ground - A6, Brown
Triggered Illumination From 15A Tail Fuse - B16, Green

If you want to make it so the Gauge lighting dims with the stock interior light dimming control knob, ground the gauge LIGHTS only to:

Ground for Meter Illumination - A13, Black

The oil pressure sensor should have 1 wire which goes to the gauge. Not sure what you mean by "and volts just wires to the ignition somehow..."

Yes for the pressure you put it where the stock oil pressure switch is. If you arent going turbo, you dont T it.. just replace the stock one with the gauge one. BUT... you need a converter from 1/8" BSPT (british standard pipe thread) to 1/8" NPT which is the standard we use here in north america. It is different because the thread pitch is different. 1/8 BSPT i believe is 32 threads per inch or something, and 1/8 NPT is 27.
The part you need for this conversion is Autometer part # ATM-2269. you can get it from summitracing.com for less than 15 bucks. Also, other dealers carry similar products to this that arent sold by autometer. those are fine too.

If you are going to turbo, then you need this converter and a standard 1/8 NPT female Tee. One side goes to the pressure sensor, and one side goes to the oil feed on the turbo. You can get the Tee from home depot in brass, or summit in other finishes from various manufacturers. one sample is russell's RUS-661711 at summitracing.com. Now to convert this Tee's female fitting to the female fitting on the BSPT-NPT adapter, you need a 1/8" male to male fitting. this is found at home depot or any other hardware store.

The whole setup should look like this...

Here is a pic of the whole oil feed system on a 5sfe turbo setup. of course this manifold and downpipe is custom made by me, and the turbo is a garrett GT32. This setup will be on the 3sgte, but its still on the 5sfe right now.




I am not sure about the oil temp sensor... I dont know what kind of fitting is on it. If you know what kind of fitting you have on yours, let me know and ill help you out with that as well. If it is some sort of NPT fitting, it can be converted with reducers and other plumbing from home depot and worked into that same T system as the oil pressure.

[DAMON]

zoni p0wns n3wbs

thanks dave and 88, you guys are the masters

[DAMON]

it looks as though im in need of some more fittings...

here is the tee with the three open holes. one will be for the oil pressure sender, one for the stock oil pressure switch and the last one for the oil temp sender. the oil temp sender screws into this hole but then blocks the passage where the oil pressure switch goes... this makes me thing it wouldnt work properly, right?





if i screw it in this spot the threads are too tight, so im thinking it isnt a match:


so im guessing i need some more plumbign here right? it doesnt seem like the oil temp sencer can be blocking the passage in the tee, i would thing the stock oil pressure switch wouldnt work correctly right? thanks, sorry for all of the questions