bobafett
02-19-2005, 02:41 PM
ok i went ahead and installed all of my gauges finally..
i have voltage, water temp and oil pressure, all electric, none are mechanical...
the gauges all have:
s: source from sending unit
i: 12v switched power
g: engine ground
as i understand it from the instructions these all came with:
the voltage gauge doesnt need anything hooked up to the S post, as it reads its voltage directly from the power source
the gauges need +12v positive power, i tapped mine from the radio power wire (this seems to be an acceptable spot for most gauge installs from what i have read).
for my ground however, i tapped into the black stereo wire, i think this is where i went wrong, as i think i need to ground to the chassis...
here are the symptons with my gauges:
when i turn ignition on my volt gauge comes alive up to 12v, working the way it should, and my water temp gauge need budges a slight bit, the oil temp sender is not hooked up, so that gauge does not respond yet.
when i start the car the volt gauge takes a few seconds and it settles down at 14v and stays there, even when im idling, and when i rev, it doesnt change at all, and when i turn on AC or headlights it doesnt drop at all... from what i understand this doesnt sound right, in my accord the gauge would idle at like 12v and when i had my subs pounding it would drop, and any other electrical load would affect the gauge, but it doesnt appear to.
my water temp gauge doesnt move even when the stock gauge reads warm and my fans come on. (electric fans)...
do you think that simply changing the ground could fix this?
also my lights get REAAAAAAAALY hot, so hot they browned the outside of the gauge case, this is not normal, because i have had the gauges hooked up in other cars and it didnt do that...
i have power for the lights and for the "I" on the gauge coming all from the same source (radio switched power), and the grounds are going to what i assumed to be the radios ground wire.
im hoping that by changing the ground it will fix it, but i want your input on the "proper" way to install these before i redo the wiring and then decide to redo it another time based on your suggested methods....
where did i go wrong? (other than using autometer gauges lol)
i have voltage, water temp and oil pressure, all electric, none are mechanical...
the gauges all have:
s: source from sending unit
i: 12v switched power
g: engine ground
as i understand it from the instructions these all came with:
the voltage gauge doesnt need anything hooked up to the S post, as it reads its voltage directly from the power source
the gauges need +12v positive power, i tapped mine from the radio power wire (this seems to be an acceptable spot for most gauge installs from what i have read).
for my ground however, i tapped into the black stereo wire, i think this is where i went wrong, as i think i need to ground to the chassis...
here are the symptons with my gauges:
when i turn ignition on my volt gauge comes alive up to 12v, working the way it should, and my water temp gauge need budges a slight bit, the oil temp sender is not hooked up, so that gauge does not respond yet.
when i start the car the volt gauge takes a few seconds and it settles down at 14v and stays there, even when im idling, and when i rev, it doesnt change at all, and when i turn on AC or headlights it doesnt drop at all... from what i understand this doesnt sound right, in my accord the gauge would idle at like 12v and when i had my subs pounding it would drop, and any other electrical load would affect the gauge, but it doesnt appear to.
my water temp gauge doesnt move even when the stock gauge reads warm and my fans come on. (electric fans)...
do you think that simply changing the ground could fix this?
also my lights get REAAAAAAAALY hot, so hot they browned the outside of the gauge case, this is not normal, because i have had the gauges hooked up in other cars and it didnt do that...
i have power for the lights and for the "I" on the gauge coming all from the same source (radio switched power), and the grounds are going to what i assumed to be the radios ground wire.
im hoping that by changing the ground it will fix it, but i want your input on the "proper" way to install these before i redo the wiring and then decide to redo it another time based on your suggested methods....
where did i go wrong? (other than using autometer gauges lol)