Where did you guys wire up the lighting for the guage? I bought a Sport Comp II from Autometer, I first tried the stereo 12V, but that made the stereo not work. Im not too thrilled about going dash diving for wires in that tangled mess. Any idea of a simple location to splice into that is on when the key is on?

 

Hook it to the cigarette lighter light.

 

+1 for cigarette lighter light.

 

Ahaha, brilliant. Damn I didnt even think about that. I even looked at the wires for a second and moved them aside. Thanks for helping my worthless *** out. i couldnt think of a light source near that area for nothing.

 

Got it hooked up and test drove it. What does 15 in/hg idle, 25in/hg in gear off throttle and 5psi sound like. sounds about right for me on the boost side but not sure what average vacuum is like. gauge works well though, looks great at night too. wish it was orange/amber to match the factory gauges, but oh well.

 

You could do the cigarette lighter light - I actually ran it to the positive battery terminal.

 

I pull out the glove box and run a wire from the Blue connector up above... I also have an A/F gauge and EGT, so a bunch of wires in the radio area aren't exactly ideal for me.

 

Sure you can if you don't mind the light staying on all the time. Kind of like a night light.

I say a rewire is in order. Wire it to the blinkers!

 

Use the red cup that Autometer includes with the gauge over the bulb. The Sport Comp is pretty damn close to looking stock that way.

 

website says white led, none changable. dunno if that means the actual bulb is housed in a way you cant get to it, or they are just saying that. i know they sell a led light cover kit with green, blue and red i think it is. its the sport comp II, so im not sure if it is or not. only complaint i have is its REALLY ******* bright. it being on the a pillar about even with my steering wheel, makes it hard to see especially when my headlights are pretty dim

 

i hooked mine up to the parking lights...

 

I just got some tinted prosport guages and it says to hook to the parking lights. The amber that they light up is right there with the stock color.

 

Where are you tapping into the parking light wires?

 

yeah I need to do the same. and hook up my damn turbo timer and all 5 gauges. been lazy wire tucking the engine bay.

I do need a light source and dont wanna shove the wire into the parking light fuse like I used to do in H.S.

 

Sounds like a relatively happy motor to me.

Rat

 

I apologize - I should have elaborated - you run a new fused positive line from the battery to a junction box under the dash, then control when it comes on with a relay. Have you not heard of this before? I was pretty sure it was the 'right way' to do it. It's at least better than hacking into your parking lightt wires, wrapping the whole thing in electrical tape, and then blowing all your lights one night when you're driving down the interstate at 80mph because your tape came loose.

 

Well ummm, yeah...your way certainly seems bulletproof but also seems like total overkill to run a lightbulb.
Besides, didn't you have to tap into a harness wire somewhere just to trigger the relay?

 

That's true, but it only takes on the order of 50 mA to pick a relay - how many amps does it take to power your boost gauge, EGT gauge, Oil temperature gauge, lambda, etc. . ? How many extra amps do you have on the parking light branch of your circuit? Or on your cigarette lighter light?

You're right, it's probably overkill to run one gauge, but most people adding a turbo to their car will add at least 3 to be safe. Plus now you've got power for a LCD screen or 5, 1200W amplifier, heated seat warmers, led/neon, videogame and a margarita machine.

Just try explaining the margarita machine to the police.

 

When I installed my guages in my other car, I spliced into the dimmer switch so I could dim the gauge lights too. Wondering if I can do the same for the 7. Anyone know? I'm too lazy to take off the cluster surround to check.

 

Just make sure you only dim the key on positive, not the battery positive, if your gauges have both.