This place is great! So many knowledgable people willing to help!
I have a few questions you may be able to help with:
1) Where do I tap in to turbo to get BOOST pressure for gauge? I bought the gauge kit and cannot find any information. I am guessing on output from turbo unit?
2) I am looking for dimmable dash light power source (+12v which dims with dash light switch, for the above gauges internal lamp) wiring harness, location, color of wire appreciated
3) Where can I grab +12v (ignition) To power gauges? only on when engine is running. Wiring harness, location, color of wire appreciated!
4)I bought a new drivers side "pillar mount" plastic piece. My research on the net has revealed the following information: You can remove the old plastic, and replace with new. Or you can just put new plastic over the old. Anyone with experience in these methods? Which is better?
You can remove the intake horn from the left (driver's side) of the engine, and drill/tap it for a fitting (11/32" drill bit, and an 1/8-27 tap, for an
1/8"-NPT fitting). Or, you can get what's called a "boost bolt". This is a hollow bolt with a large head, already tapped for the 1/8" fitting. You remove one of your intake manifold bolts, and replace it with this boost bolt, then just hook your fitting and tubing up to it. You can get one of these here, among several other places:
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(it's the 11th item down in the list).
Well, you can tap the wire right off the back of the headlight switch. In my '99 FSM, it shows a tan wire. That may have changed in '01. The easiest thing to do is take a multimeter or a test light (safe to use in this instance, because you're probing +12V lighting circuitry), and find the wire that varies voltage/brightness when you operate the dimmer. The dash bezel is easy enough to remove (it just pulls off), and the headlight switch is only held in place with three screws.
An alternative spot is right at the fuse panel. Fuse #5 is a 5A fuse that gets it's power from the dimmer output of the headlamp switch. You could tap here as well (although I recommend tapping the headlamp switch wire - that way, all the external wiring is nice and hidden behind the dash). I also highly recommend the Swenco Posi-Tap connectors for this type of work
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I just installed three more gauges in my truck this weekend, and all my taps are made with these connectors. Really fast, really secure, and (best of all) easy to disassemble and add more wires (for future gauges). Most auto parts stores (NAPA, AutoZone, etc) carry these connectors.
I like using the cigarette lighter power wire for this - it's got it's own
20A fuse, and at least in my truck, goes completely unused. You can tap this when you have the dash bezel removed, as well. The red wire to the connector is the hot side (verify with meter/test-light to be sure).
It depends on what you bought... the full replacement pillar is just that - a complete pillar with molded-in gauges. It would have a solid back, and spring clips to fit into the steel A-pillar. The other type is a shell with an open back, that's meant to fit over the existing plastic pillar.
On my truck, I didn't use the pillar, mainly because I didn't want to have to hack off my grab handle ('03 and up trucks have a driver's side grab handle, just like in the passenger side).
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