In this tutorial I will show you how to install some Auto Meter Gauges. The Three types of gauges we will be working with today are, Boost/Vac, Pyrometer, Oil Pressure.

The Boost Gauge "Kit" comes with MAP Sensor, Plug & Play wire for the MAP Sensor to the Gauge, Hose, Misc Plugs, "T" fitting, And Light Bulb.

The Pyrometer Gauge "Kit" comes with the Probe, Shrink Wrap, Misc Bolts and Screws, Signal wire for the Probe, Light Bulb, And a Clamp.

The Oil Pressure Gauge "Kit" comes with the Oil Pressure reader, Misc Bolts and Screws, Light Bulb,

Tools Needed:
Allen Key Set.
Socket Set
Wire Stripers/Crimper’s
9/16th Openhead Wrench
Jack
Jack Stands

Supplies Needed:
(2) Mini Add A Circuit Fuse Taps by Little Fuse(Or any other brand)
18 Gauge Wire
16 Gauge Wire
18 Gauge Butt Connectors
16 Gauge Butt Connectors
18 Gauge O-Ends
16 Gauge O- Ends
Electrical Tape
14 Gauge Wire Connectors
Universal "T" Fitting. ( Picture below under "Boost Gauge/ "T" Fitting:")

Optional:
*ENGINE OIL FILTER BLOCK ADAPTER* (Link below in tutorial)

Depending on your what type of gauges your installing you may need some other things.

CF Cups:
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First Start off with the package that comes with your cups.


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Now grab your center brace


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Slide your clamp over the cup


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Place your clamp on the mount


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Get your screws


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Put your washer over it


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Now place your center brace in the center of the clamp and mount and insert the screws tighten them and BAM! You have a CF Gauge Cup :)


Boost Gauge:
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Run your power/ MAP Plug threw the Cup


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Plug it into the gauge


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Run your Lights Power and Ground outside the back of the cup


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Make sure you put the black rubber band around this end of the gauge


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Close it up and your done!


Pyrometer:
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Ok so now grab your Pyrometer sender wire (Its the big yellow one :wink:)


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Feed it threw the back of the cup and onto the correct terminals. Auto Meter Lables the Yellow and Red Terminals for you, So place the Right color on the right terminal

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Tighten down the Nuts using a 7mm socket and your done with that. Feed the Power/Ground for the Gauge (Red/Black) and the Power/Ground for the Light(White/Black) threw the back of the cup.


Now its time to get down and dirty, This is the point where you take a deep breath, Eat A sandwich, Get some Iced tea and relax. Why you ask? Well because this part is crucial One mixed up wire could mean *BOOM* Bye Bye tC! Heh not really but miswiring something could have some serious results.

Mini Fuse Taps
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Get your Mini Fuse Taps


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Cut 5 inches of 16 Gauge Wire and connect it to the Mini Fuse Tap



Power/Ground for Light Bulbs: Do this for all the Gauges.
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Connect your 18 Gauge Butt Connectors to the Power & Ground wires and crimp them.


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Now connect your extension to the other end of the butt connectors I would say cut 5-6 foot if your not to sure where you want to put the gauges, I myself am putting the Boost over my steering wheel, And the Oil Pressure, Pyrometer in the cubby hole under the clock.



But Hey What about the Oil Pressure?
I left the Oil Pressure out till now because it requires you to do all the wiring.

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Now on the Auto Meter Oil Gauge (Check User Guide if using another brand), The Power Is on the bottom Right, The Ground is on the Top, And the Sender Wire from the Pressure Reader goes on the left bottom.


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Now time to fab up some wires! Cut once again a 5-6 foot wire(If your not using speaker wire as I did, Mark the Negative wire with something you will remember)

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Using your 16 Gauge O-Clamps crimp them on to your wire and co
nnect the wires to the proper location. I had to bend these up so they would fit in the cup.



Pyrometer/Pyrometer Probe
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This is where Auto Meter recommends the Probe (Two Inches from the Head), They supply the fitting that needs to be welded to your manifold for this type of install. Being I am not using this method I’m going to show you the easier method.

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Unscrew your 1/8th NPT Fitting and remove it.

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Remove this nut


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Grab your Screw Collar

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Place the Clamp on to the probe.


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Then place the screw collar on


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Tighten the screw collar using an Allen key.


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Now your going to run your yellow sender wire for the Pyrometer down to one of the two bushings The first picture shows the main bushing under the steering wheel, The second one is behind the glove box on the passenger side.

But wait How do I get to the second one?
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Push Both sides of the glove box in at the same time and pull forward


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Unhook this mini shock

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Remove the glove box from these clips

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Behind the ECU is the bushing I have small hands so I got the wire in with a little effort, those with big hands might want to remove the bolts for the ECU and move it out of the way (There are two 10mm bolts)


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Your wire will exit here, Its your choice how you want to run the wire (Being some of you may want to relocate a gauge or just like to do things your way), Make sure your wire is ran in a way that will not conflict with any other parts (Moving Parts, etc)


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You have this much wire to work with.

Installing Probes, Senders etc

*First your going to need to jack the car up using a floor jack and place it on jack stands from there carry on to the next step.

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Drill your 1/4th size hole 6 inches from where the Manifold and S.Pipe Meet. (There is a shell around the S.Pipe so you will actually drive threw two pipes)
*You would want to place this probe in the hottest pipe on the header/manifold before the turbo. Being there is DC headers on the car the pipe work is very small. If you want to install it in the header you will need to take it to a weld shop and have them weld on a spacer or two.

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Grab your Ceramic Washer


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Place it on the probe


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Place the probe in the hole


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And tighten your clamp


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Place the shrink-wrap over your wires if you haven’t already.


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Unscrew the screws from the nuts.


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Place the O-Ends together and place the screw in them both and tighten down using the nuts. Place the shrink wrap over these joined wires, Get a hair dryer to shrink the wrap (Or if you live in The Fla like me and its 100 degrees already just leave it the exhaust pipe heat and natural heat should shrink it up.


Boost Gauge/ "T" Fitting:
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Here is your T fitting. Depending on how your installing this Boost/Vac. Will determine how you want to cut your fitting depending on the lines your using, In my case I want to Cut 2 pegs off the Left & Right, And one peg off the Top.

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It should look like this when your done.


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Remove this to access your vac line. Its under this plug.


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Remove the line from the bottom of the plug


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Place the T Fitting in the vac line and cut about an inche off the vac tube off


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Flip the T around and plug it into the vac line you just cut.


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Plug your Vac line into the plug.


Run your Plug for the MAP sensor threw your bushing choice I ran mine threw the Main bushing under the Steering wheel.

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Plug the "Plug n' Play" wire from the gauge into the MAP sensor


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Plug your line into the MAP sensor


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And plug the other end of the line to the T fitting


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I zip tied my MAP sensor here, If you have a serious race setup or extreme hp I would mount this in the fender wall, Or against the firewall to save it from extreme vibration that could cause it to give a inaccurate reading. *Note Vac lines may differ depending on setup (NA F/I)


Oil Pressure

For the oil pressure sensor you are going to need a Engine Oil filter block adapter. (If you want to make it easy on yourself)
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http://www.importparts.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=1641
(Please note* That this adapter didnt work out to well for me I was unable to tight in down without it coming loose, Im currently looking for a better adapter)

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There are four (4) port holes 2 on the front one on each side. Choose one that best works for you.

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Using your hand unscrew the port plug

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And plug this end of your sensor into the port, tighten it down using a 9/16th Open head wrench. You may want to use some teflon tape on the sensor.

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Perfect fit! Remember this adaptor can be used to run a oil feed line to a turbo if your car is F/I

Now your going to have to remove your cars oil filter, Time for an early oil change! Drain your oil, get yourself a new filter *Note the stock filter will not work anymore I had to use a filter from a Acura Integra its Mobil One # 104*. Place the Engine Oil filter block adapter on first using the supplied threaded bolt tighten down, Now screw on your oil filter hand tight. Hook up your sensor wire from the gauge to the back of the sensor using a O-End. (Pictured in blue). *Note you may need a 90 degree elbow to make the sensor fit depending on the mounting choice, Auto Meter sends you some with each gauge. I myself used 1 elbow and 2 extensions.

Wiring
This part is pretty straightforward, I take it that if your trying to install gauges you have wired some things before.

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Basically Your going to strip about 1/2 incheS off each of the power wire in this case there would be six (6) of them, Two (2) each Gauge One (1) to Power the Gauge One (1) to power the light in the Gauge. So being we have Three (3) Gauges there will be Three (3) to power the Gauges, and Three (3) to power the lights. Grab your Add A-Circuit Tap and the Three (3) power wires from the lights put them all together twist on your wire connector and crimp. Grab a new Add A-Circuit Tap and the Three (3) power wires from the Gauges put them all together twist on your wire connector and crimp.

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Now take your Three (3) ground wires from the Gauges put them all together using your O-End and crimp. Then take your other Three (3) ground wires from the Lights put them all together using a new O-End. Then mount these two O-End's to this bolt (Under the steering wheel (10mm bolt). Nows the time to clean up your wires, I used Clear Zip Ties, If you would like a picture of this please let me know. Basicly clear your wires up the way you like.


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*Note the copper wire in the fuse is my REM wire for my amps.

Plug in your Add A-Circuit taps and plug in the appropriate fuse. (The OEM fuses will not work because their legs are to short, But the Add-A-Circuit kit comes with some) Being these are full sweep gauges, they require at least 8volts or more during engine cranking (aka starting the car) When you start your car it requires a lot of power so most cars (Yes Our tC's) will grab power from other sources, this is why you might notice your radio and gauges dim during a start up, So what I did and what you should do is hook up the Gauges power to the ECU fuse, Your going to take out the OEM fuse plug the holder in and place the FUSES in. Notice I said FUSES? You need to put 2 Fuses in each holder, one to make the connection to the Add-A-Circuit wire and one to make the connection witch you just removed (In this case ECU) The fuse I used for the lights power is the Panel fuse (Or any fuse that shuts off with the car) And your all done!

All Done!:

Review:
The Auto Meter Gauges are good quality for sure. I myself got the full sweep Gauges that calibrate at every engine start up. The install was done with simple hand tools and wire connectors. The instructions Auto Meter supply could be a little bit more informative. They miss some key steps and suggestions, Other then that it was a good, easy install. Install time for me was about 2-3 days, You could probably do it in one day but I like to take my time. I took the first day to wire and preplan and the second day to install (Of course stoping to take a photo everystep of the way). Be it that the instructions were unclear In certain areas, I contacted one of Auto Meters Techs, He was very helpful and got me the information I needed. As for the Boost Gauge, I will be putting a Turbo on my car soon (I hope) The Boost gauge was installed in this tutorial for Informational use only. The oil Gauge needed a Engine Oil filter block adapter for it to work on the tC (Without removing the stock sensor or drilling holes in the oil pan). All and good product could use better instructions for new installers.

Update: For a while now my pyrometer has been going crazy. The needle would just move all around here and there, I noticed when I would go over a bump it would do this. So I took the gauge out a noticed that one of the pegs are loose in the gauge so its not making a good connection. Now the pyrometer doesnt want to work at all it clicks in whenever it touches down where its supposed to. Im going to check today to see if it can be fixed.

I was told to contact the tech/service department about getting the gauge looked at to be replaced. I talked to a nice lady named Sherry, She said to send it back and they will look at it and replace it for me. I sent it back Friday August 12th.

just breezed throught it looks pretty detailed. Pretty nice write up from the look of it.

nice install. but i assume you're going to get a turbo/sc otherwise you wouldnt have boost gauge. Also what leds are you using for your center console? i swapped out the leds in the console and theyre kind of dim. but yours looks bright as hell. thanks

do you have any day pics of the bottom 2 guages? i wanna c how you fit it in there hehe )

No offense but why are you putting a boost guage on a N/A car? Looks like a very detailed write up though. I would clean those wires up with some loom and zip ties.

Do you have any daytime pics, so that we can the install better?

Hey to clear some things up these are tutorials used for the site, Yes I am getting Turbo Charged but even if I wasnt it wouldn't matter, I would still have to inform members how to install it. Ive been on a business trip for about a week or two so I havent finished this yet. If you noticed I said at the top of this topic that its not done... I do have all the wires cleaned up with zip ties I didn't think to take pictures of that step, I will take pictures if needed. Later

I will get day pics later on this week I just got in last night at 3am from New York so im a bit tired.

Duma, Yes ZPI Turbo Kit and the LED's are from Mouser.com I heard other people were using the "wrong ones" I have no Idea what model they are I got them a long time ago, Travis was the one that sent me the link.

~ Kaeon

Damn, that was pretty thorough. Good job, especially with the pics

Hey nice job. I'll be needing this.

cool, thanks

Good writeup. Two things, Get jackstands. Don't trust your life to any jack if you gotta get under a car.

And on those fuse piggy-backs, is that copper wire sticking out of it?

Good writeup. Two things, Get jackstands. Don't trust your life to any jack if you gotta get under a car.

And on those fuse piggy-backs, is that copper wire sticking out of it?

I always use jackstands. The jack is there for getting the car off the stands. I had 2 stands on the side I was working on. The copper wire is my REM wire for my Amps, Yes its kinda sloppy kill me lol.

Bump to a follow up - How is your EGT gauge doing now? I'm just curious how well it works in the S pipe area. I always placed the probe before the turbo on the hottest cylinder pipe if possible. Placing it where you did would be alot easier.

I just got a new one sent to me by Auto Meter, Works fine. Being I just got the DC sports header I didnt want to chop it up. The gauge reads fine. For a boosted car or any other car with larger pipes (DC's are small) I would do as you said. Use the hottest pipe before the turbo...

Nice write up. Looks like you used alot of speaker wire though.. Hope you dont mind if I make a suggestion. I would take the wires that you ran behind the ECU and put them through the rubber boot. If you leave it the way it is now you will have some issues down the road. The boot will push the wires against the metal and cause the wire to short out at some time. Once again though nice write up though.

Nice write up. Looks like you used alot of speaker wire though.. Hope you dont mind if I make a suggestion. I would take the wires that you ran behind the ECU and put them through the rubber boot. If you leave it the way it is now you will have some issues down the road. The boot will push the wires against the metal and cause the wire to short out at some time. Once again though nice write up though.

The metal has rounded edges im pretty sure. Its not sharp or anything. Atleast thats the way it is on the drivers side. I will double check.

ty, i needed this, i will be installing my gauges soon, and needed to know how to do the oil pressure

Damn, now I know why the nexus gauges were so expensive, that looks 100x more invloved than what I had to do

when installing the oil pressure gauges on the tc, do we have to use the adapter? and use a different size oil filter?

one more thing, what size is the adapter? is it one size fits all or is the one in the link u gave fits the tc? thanks

the one in the link u gave fits the tc? thanks

Thats the only one I KNOW works... You can try another one don't know if it would work..

I am selling that adaptor for $50.00 SHIPPED. it is the polished one. PM me for more details

bump so i can have this in my posts!

Great install! Will add this to my collection.

con - fu - sing

con - fu - sing


As a whole or just my instructions? I thought I did an ok job on this one... Hmm

take your Three (3) power wires from the Gauges put them all together put on your O-End and crimp. Then take you other Three (3) power wires from the Lights put them all together put on your O-End and crimp. Then mount them to this bolt (Under the steering wheel (10mm bolt).

Don't you mean the gauge GROUNDS should be connected to the bolt under the steering wheel?

take your Three (3) power wires from the Gauges put them all together put on your O-End and crimp. Then take you other Three (3) power wires from the Lights put them all together put on your O-End and crimp. Then mount them to this bolt (Under the steering wheel (10mm bolt).

Don't you mean the gauge GROUNDS should be connected to the bolt under the steering wheel?

good eye didnt even notice that... Fixed it just now...

just want to have this for future reference.

great tutorial

I don't like how you ran the wires through the firewall... they should be INSIDE the gromet, not on the side... when that rubber melts, and the bare wire touches the chassis (ground)... ____ you are screwed man... hope you have a great fuse inline with those wires :eek:

I don't like how you ran the wires through the firewall... they should be INSIDE the gromet, not on the side... when that rubber melts, and the bare wire touches the chassis (ground)... poop you are screwed man... hope you have a great fuse inline with those wires :eek:
The firewall is coated in paint so I don't see that being an issue. Also this is why I said

Its your choice how you want to run the wire (Being some of you may want to relocate a gauge or just like to do things your way), Make sure your wire is ran in a way that will not conflict with any other parts (Moving Parts, etc)

So if you want to put it in the gromet go right ahead... I myself never have any luck with getting a hole started in one of those things!

the problem isn't that it is "bare metal" vs. painted. The problem with putting a wire there is the grommet pushes the wire into the edge of the metal and eventually wears through the insulation on the wire. So down the road the wire is bare and can short.

for that problem, id heat shrink the wire, its a rubber like tube you hit with a heat gun to shrink around the wire or you can just split loom the wire and tape the loom, this will prevent any wear and tear. also id highly recomend soldering and heat shrinking the wires. crimp caps come loose after time and only cause problems.

Had the same problem with the adapter, but i bought one from glowshift. I heard greddy makes perfect ones

Did the glowshift oil sandwich plate work fine?

for the first gauge(the boost) is it required of you to drill into your downpipe, or can you just only do the "T" tap into the vac lines?? please answer ASAP i have to get this done by thursday

All you need for boost is the t tap, for a mechanical gauge. But for boost you will never be drilling into the downpipe, so no you dont have too.

in depth write up