Hey guys,

So I got a triple pod the other day.. To fill it, I decided to go value priced and get the triple gauge set from Advance.. They're all black Sun Pro gauges in coolant temp, volts, and oil pressure..

Right now they're in the pod, in the car, but nothing it wired in.. I at least want to illuminate them first.. It's a basic positive/negative wire set up.. The negative obviously goes to a ground.. But what will the positive go to..? If I run it to the battery, it'll always be on.. I obviously only want them to come on when the lights do.. Fuse panel..? Add-a-Fuse too..? Help appreciated!

Also, what wires in the ECU loom of the car do you have to splice into to get the actual readings to display? I've always wanted a mechanical temperature gauge in the car because I mostly leave my DIC on my mileage / outside temperature readout.. And a voltmeter is always pretty helpful..

I was originally just going to have them in for dummy lights, but I decided to just wire them and replace them only if I decide to go boost in which I will then obviously need a boost gauge and a wide-band instead..

Thanks for the future help..!

The gauges in question:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FJQWYO?...0&linkCode=asn

 

for power just tap intoo a acc fuse like sunroof or cig lighter

 

So just slip the positive cord into one of the prongs on the sunroof fuse? Wouldn't the lights be a better one to do? I only want the gauges to light up when the lights are on.. Or do you ALWAYS need power going to it because it controls not only the illumination, but the actual reading as well..? And these CAN be illuminated even without the gauge actually functioning, correct? I've heard that just sliding the cord into a fuse panel isn't a good idea..?

 

yea just tap the sunroof would be the easyest

 

what i do for pwr, is i run a wire to the 20a fuse under the hood, the one for the ign, that way whenever i turn the key the gauges light on, from there, i split the wire into however many gauges need power, like when im done wiring my wideband, boost, and oil gauge, they will all power from that fuse, and all ground same place

 

Yeah, I'm familiar with wiring from setting up my second set of fogs, but I just did a basic positive terminal and ground for it since there was a toggle switch.. Cool guys.. I'll try this and see what happens..

 

i have the same gauges, what i did was tap sunroof for power and taped into the the wire that goes intother hvac controls for the light, now the gauges actually dim with the dimmer.

 

I leave my lights on max bright, but thanks for the tip! They look nice at night? I figured that for $40, what the heck..

 

If they're a bulb style gauge, you can tap in to the dimmer wire so they'll light up only when you turn your lights on and they'll dim with your dimmer switch.

If they're LED gauges, DO NOT, wire them in to a dimmer. You will blow fuses.

 

Where's this dimmer wire? Optimum scenario: They'll only turn on with the lights..

 

like i said i taped into the hvac controls, i cant remember what color the wire was.

 

Yeah, not good with pin-pointing what wires are what.. But if someone mentions it, perfect. But honestly, since the gauges aren't technically reading anything to me, I can just plus the positive into the corner light fuse since then they'll only come on when the corners are on.. I mean, I'm not getting readings, I only want them lit up at the moment..

 

il let ya know what wire it is in the morning

 

Cool, man. I tried to wire them up last night, but I need to buy another package of cable. But I did try them out real fast, and they did illuminate. I just put the positive into the fuse with the corner lights, and as I expected, they only illuminated with the corners on. Success. I'm gonna try to actually put them in tonight..

 

its the grey wire thast leads into the hvac controls. i use the sunroof fuse for the power.

sunroof fuse

 

Never use t taps/Scotch taps please... they fail all the time and are a bad connection.

 

Got the wiring in today. Lights lit up quite easily. It'd be nice if they were a little brighter, but they're not back lit, but lit from the outside.. A nice addition regardless..

I've used the twist-n-tape method for every bit of wiring I've ever done. If you do it right it's just fine.

 

I always wondered how you get accurate measurements for water temp easily without removing the stock sensor. You can put a sensor coupler in-line on the outlet hose, but if your thermostat were to stick closed the gauge wouldn't show you overheating.

I use add-a-circuits instead of fuse taps, they are pretty expensive @ around $11 each though.

 

for my gauges, There wired VIA add-a-fuse to the sunroof fuse to theres power when the ign is on.