All of my gauges have arrived.

I have a tach, water temp, oil pressure (and a useless ammeter)

I want to hook them up this weekend.

The water and oil guages are mechanical.


So, where's the preferred place to hook them up?

Also, where is the easiest place to puncture the fire wall to get these things into the cab?

As for the tach, I chickened out and didn't want to hook it to the wrong wire.

Mine is supposed to be hooked up to the negative wire on the coil, but I don't know where that is for sure.

Do any of you have a photo of the underhood area to illustrate which one to splice?

this is a '94 F150 with the 302 I'm working on.

Thanks for all the help,

Luke

 

Luke,

the tach is super easy to hookup. If you have a stock ignition system, hit the Neg wire on the coil. It is black. If you have an MSD 6 series there is a tach output on there already. The coil is on the drivers side of the motor by the TAD/TAB smog valves. Did you go with an AutoMeter 5" monster tach like I did?

water temp. There should be a small ~ 1/2" threaded sender screwed into the lower intake on the drivers side. There is one wire running to it. That is where I'd install the sender.

oil pressure. By the oil filter, there is a single wire running to the sending unit. It is about 2" long and screws right into the block. I believe you need a special tool to remove it. From what I remember it is a 1/4" thread.

Hope that helps somewhat. If I had a digital camera you'd have some pics.

 

I t'd off the oil sender, so both my mechanical and dash gauge work.
My water i tapped into a already drilled hole on the driver's side under the #8 exhaust port close to the bottom of the block.
As for getting it through the firewall, I drilled a 1 inch hole next to the accelerator enough over where it could not be seen and would miss plates in engine compartment.

 

For runnig wires through my fire wall here is what i did. Right beside the brake booster there is a blockoff plate that covers the hole for the clutch master cylinder. I noticed you have an auto so this will work. Remove the plate and dril some large holes theough it. Then inset small donuts made of rubber hose. not those cheep rubber donuts you can buy. right now i have 4 sets of holes drilled for differnt wires. I have my KC, fog light wies run through i and my amp power run threw one. and two extras i got caped with a bolt.

 

Sounds like a plan.

We'll see if I'm nimble enough to not destroy the copper tubing for the water temp sensor.

Zip ties, wire loom, and rubber donuts... I think I have all 3 out in the garage somewhere.

I'm mainly concerned with oil pressure and water temp for the time being, but the Tach should be easy to install while I've got things apart under the dash.

Oh, one more thing...

Which spot in the fusebox, or what wire do I tap into for onboard illumination (with dimmer controls)

Nevermind.. I just remembered I have unused wires on my car stereo harness for the dimmer.

 

I prefer electrical gauges for one reason...they are so much easier for me to install. I'd prefer not to worry about fluids leaking in my cab. I can pretty much wire up most things for automobiles.

Just take your time, and do it right the first time. No point in doing something halfassed.

You can use the radio, ash tray light, or anything else you easily tap.

 

Another positive about electrical gauges is that the water temp sender doesn't protrude into the block so far.

But they cost more. I paid 9.99 for my triple guage set on actron.com (garage sale area)

 

They are insanely more expensive but also more accurate. $10 for three vs $60 each...

Just let us know how it goes.