Basic gauge installation help desperately needed!

[DJaquez]

Remove the passenger side fender well -

if you are placing your probe preturbo just above the fange on the rear side. It will make it much easier to get the drill motor in there and the tap operation will be smoother. They are realitively easy to remove and reinstall.



Good luck.

 

[rbattelle]

I keep a spare elbow that has no hole in it. For anyone out there with a 2003 truck (I think they changed the part in 2004. 5) I'd be willing to drill and tap the hole for you and exchange my elbow for yours. I'd drill/tap mine, mail it off to you, you install it, then mail me back your original elbow. I'd only ask that you pay all shipping charges.



MMead, I was going to offer that service to you, but like I say I'm pretty sure the elbow was changed in 2004. 5. If someone can show that it wasn't changed, I'll give you first cut at my offer.



-Ryan

 

[SRadke]

Great idea Ryan, I have a spare also. The elbow was the same until 04. 5 so if we're talking about a "600" it wouldn't work. If it's an 04 305/555 it would be the same elbow. In fact if you buy a direct mount exhaust brake it will come with a plugged hole already tapped in it for just such occasion.



-Scott

 

[MMead]

Ryan,



It sounds like it probably won't fit, but I really appreciate you offering to go through all of that effort. In the picture you attached there is a "tap handle" and a bottle of cutting fluid. Do I need a tap handle or can I just drill very slowly? It looks like the handle would be hard to fit down in the engine compartment. And secondly, will motor oil work in place of cutting fluid?

 

[red-rider]

MMead,

if you have a ratchet wrench find a correct size that the tap would fit and use that if you want, normal grease would work fine with the tap.



click on this link its on page 3

http://i.b5z.net/i/u/265866/i/2003_Dodge_Gauge.pdf

 

[rbattelle]

It sounds like it probably won't fit, but I really appreciate you offering to go through all of that effort. In the picture you attached there is a "tap handle" and a bottle of cutting fluid. Do I need a tap handle or can I just drill very slowly? It looks like the handle would be hard to fit down in the engine compartment. And secondly, will motor oil work in place of cutting fluid?

The tap handle is for the tap only, not the drill. There are different styles of tap handles, I believe the one I took a picture of is called a "T" handle. I am attaching a picture of a much smaller style that can be used in cramped areas. On the left is a 1/8 NPT tap inserted in the handle, on the right is a bare 1/8 NPT tap. Notice the end of the tap is square so it can be driven with a rachet if you have the correct size square-drive socket (as red-rider mentioned).



That tap handle also has a square drive on the back of it so it can be easily inserted on a 3/8 square-drive rachet.



Before I found those little cans of "Rapid Tap" cutting fluid, I used motor oil for all my metal cutting and tapping. I've never used grease, but there's no reason it won't work. I have used wax on sensitive items in the past when it was critical to keep chips out of the part (that's not necessary here).



-Ryan

 

[john3976]

My advice is for you to get some help or pay a good shop to install the gauges for you.



You seem to be lacking the tools and skills to do this your self.



The last thing you want to do is mess up your truck due to a mistake.



I am concerned about your drilling into your exhaust, and even more concerned about your lack of knowledge with the wiring system.



While gauges are not that hard to install, they do involve a couple of steps that are no return, I am not trying to scare you, but your questions are showing that you don't really have the tools or skills to this job on your own.



Either get help from someone who does have the tools and knowledge or pay a good shop to do the install.



I just finished up putting in my gauges and I can see where a person who does not know how to install them can end up with a very expensive repair and still have to have their gauges installed.



If you insist on installing them on your own, I strongly suggest that you go pre turbo for your exhaust gas temp gauge, you will have more manifold to work with then if you try to go post turbo and pre turbo will let you work on the top with plenty of room to avoid any mistakes.



What ever you do don't go into this if you are still having any doubts about the process for installing the gauges.



One last thing, when you get the gauges installed if you do it on your own, remember that the turbo boost gauge will not show any boost in your driveway, you will need to drive your truck down the street for it to show boost, and when you are traveling in town at a steady 45 MPH you wont see any boost at all. Even traveling 70 MPH you will only see 5 to 7 pounds of boost, it is when you are taking off and the turbo spins up that you will see a max of about 32 pounds of boost before the waste gate kicks in and drops you down to 24 to 26 pounds of boost. Boost only comes up when you work the engine and get the exhaust gasses flowing, like pulling a load or going up a hill. I would just hate to see you keep messing with your boost gauge while sitting in your driveway revving your engine wondering why the darn boost gauge is not working.

 

[JVolpe]

I would agree with john3976. This is my first diesel and although I did a lot of performance work with engines in the past, this is a little different. I found a shop with people that new what they were doing and had all of the tools necessary. I watched and learned. Now I believe that I could do the installs, but I still dont have a performance shop, lift, tools and it helps to have a helper. A couple hundred dollars, compared to the potential cost of a screw up was an easy decision for me.



The processes are pretty simple if you have the tools and experience using them, if not a $40,000 truck is not the place to learn. Just my . 02.

 

[TX Gooseneck]

This is an awesome time to invest in a full tap and die set!



The install is the easy part for me, it's the electrical side that is my kryptonite

 

[john3976]

The electric is not really hard at all, for power just tap into the cigarette lighter and for your ground on the bottom of the dash in front of your right knee as you are sitting in the drivers seat is a factory ground, just unbolt the large cap screw and run all three of your grounds to this same ground spot and you will be fine.



The panel that covers this ground just pivots open if you pull on it, I think it drops down ward like its hinged, so if I remember correctly you will need to pull it loose from the top side of that knee bolster panel.



As for the cigarette lighter I tapped that right behind the lighter in the center dash panel. I made up my own three gauge harness and taped it up nice and neat.



I have a diprocal three gauge harness if anyone needs that style for their gauges, the rear gauge hook ups are different then for the ISSPROs that I bought.



For your gauge lights you will need to pop out the head light switch panel, it just pulls out, you will need to locate the orange wire with the brown stripe on it, there will be two of them, you want the one on the bottom row of wires, it has more wires on that row then the top row, the orange with brown stripe wire can be tapped with a T-connector, you local NAPA should be able to get it for you.



I suggest you buy a test light as well so you can check this wire for power and watch it dim as you turn the dimmer dial, from what I under stand both of the orange/brown striped wires will dim with the dial but only one works properly with the gauge lights, so if you are having problems with the gauge lights working properly, try the other orange/brown striped wire.

 

[JHardwick]

Once I get the elbow tapped, do I understand correctly that the probe should only be hand tightened into the hole? Seems like it would vibrate out pretty quick in that location.



JHardwick,



I noticed you said the hole should be "taper reamed". How do I go about doing that?



Thanks again.

As SRadke pointed out right below this question, the hand tight statement only referred to obtaining the proper thread depth. 3-3. 5 turns of handtight thread engagement should put you right on the money. After proper thread depth is achieved, and probe is installed, you will need to snug it up with a wrench. Depending on thread quality, it could take anywhere from 1/2-1 full turn ... ... ... just don't armstrong it



I didn't mean to confuse you on the taper reaming thing. The minor diameter on the tap will cut the taper in the hole for you. The only time I take this step is when I am working with high temp and exotic alloys and other low machinability rated materials. The tapered reamer removes material so the tap doesn't have to and lessens the chances of tap breakage.



Ryan, the first picture showed a tap handle and the second picture showed a "T" handle. A lot of the "T" handles have a ratchet build right in them.



MMead, motor oil will work fine. This is a really powdery gray iron and could be tapped dry to be quite honest. The oils job is to eliminate galling which will "weld" the tapped material back onto the tap material. Iron is not ductile enough for this. Aluminum, stainless and some steels are really bad about galling. I remember tapping some exotic stainless for GE Aerospace and having a terrible time with it. Tapping in a machining center doesn't give you the opportunity to back the tap out, it just taps to a preprogrammed depth and thats it, you get what you get. Ripped up threads, broken taps etc etc. Well, this old boy over in the manual mill department was watching me ... ..... never said a word. He walked into the break room and came over and handed me a tub. Told me it was chicken fat that he kept in the freezer for times like this. I shrugged and lathered the tap with this stuff ... ... I had nothing to loose at this point, Id already tried every tapping fluid in the plant. Sure enough, that stuff was the bomb!! Worked like a champ!!



As for the wiring, I'm not real patient with stuff like that, but it went okay I suppose. My gages didn't need a constant power source, only power for back lighting. I pulled the head light switch out as far as I could and stripped about 1/4" of the orange/white wire (I think color changed in later years). Soldered my gage wires to it and taped it up.

 

[rbattelle]

I really like the Painless auxillary fuseblock. Makes wiring a snap... once it's installed.



I guess I need to start saving all my leftover chicken fat!!! :-laf



-Ryan

 

[MMead]

Is there any reason why I shouldn't run one twelve gauge wire from the cigarette lighter to the back of the gauge pod and tap into that for power on all three gauges? I was thinking about doing the same with the dimmer switch and the ground wires as well, except I was going to use 18 gauge wire for those. Any thoughts?

 

[SRadke]

Is there any reason why I shouldn't run one twelve gauge wire from the cigarette lighter to the back of the gauge pod and tap into that for power on all three gauges? I was thinking about doing the same with the dimmer switch and the ground wires as well, except I was going to use 18 gauge wire for those. Any thoughts?

That's how I do it You don't need 12 gauge for the power wire though. A temp gauge and pyro (non DiPricol) will draw an amp or less. 16-18 gauge would be sufficient.



-Scott

 

[MMead]

That's how I do it You don't need 12 gauge for the power wire though. A temp gauge and pyro (non DiPricol) will draw an amp or less. 16-18 gauge would be sufficient.



-Scott

Good. The 12 gauge wire is a pain to deal with. I did use 12 gauge to extend the wires coming out of the EGT probe. I'm using the 3 gauge mount over the rearview mirror and the wires that come with the new Isspros aren't long enough. Will three extra feet of wire interfere with accuracy of the gauge? I read the gauges are calibrated for a certain length of wire and adding more wire will throw the readings off. I used the 12 gauge to extend these wires thinking they would cause less interference with the readings??? Any thoughts? Should I switch them back to 18 gauge?

 

[SRadke]

Extend the thermocouple wires? Like between the probe and the gauge? No, that won't work.



A thermoucouple uses two diffrent types of wire with a junction at the end and it creates a milivoltage within itself that can be measured and plotted on a chart agenst temperature. That's how they make a reading. You can extend them but you'll have to use thermoucouple wire that is approprite for your thermoucouple type. We use K-type in this applicaiton, the wires are chromel and alumel. If you need more length in that wire I suggest you contact whomever you bought the gauges from and tell them you need a longer extension wire.



-Scott

 

[JAshpaugh]

gauge help

I just installed some Isspro's. I called Isspro regarding lengthening the trans oil temp gauge wires. They said you can add wire to the oil temp gauge sending unit, but NOT the EGT gauge, nor should you shorten the EGT wires. As far as the Isspro relay boxes. I used 3M double sided tape and stuck them to the aluminum brace under the dash where your left foot sits. There is plenty of room for both boxes and plenty of EGT wire to get through the fire wall. Like everyone else, I tapped into the orange/white wire from the dimmer and used the cigarette lighter for the power for the EGT. Everything works great. I pulled off the trim piece from the original pillar and added it to the new gauge pillar. It helped with the stock look and keeps the pillar from moving around on the window. I just duct taped it to the inside of the pillar. From the front looking into the windshield the new pillar looks stock. I have an Adobe file with pictures I can send to anyone who needs some assistance. It helped me, along with all the advice from the TDR members. . Also, Sears has high quality 1/8 NPT taps for about $5. 00. I stripped my cheap ***** tap the first time and had to buy the quality one.