Gauge installation - electrical tie-ins

Hello all: Hoping I can get a little help from the group on this one. I will be installing EGT, boost and tranny temp gauges on my 06 Ram with CTD. The three gauges will be going in an A-pillar mount. The two questions I have are 1. Where do I draw ignition-on power from? and 2. Where can I tie in to the dash lighting for the dimmer circuit? There does not seem to be a fuse panel inside the truck to run back to...at least not one that I know where to find. And I believe the dash lights are all controlled through the computer so I don't know if tieing into the dimmer wheel is the anwer. Any help/advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Kevin

Reply to
kvand
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I always prefer to tap the cigarette lighter power wire for ignition-on power, since I never use that circuit (this way, if it blows, I can still drive the truck). On an '06, it's the pink/yellow wire. For the dimmer output, tap the orange/brown wire coming from pin#2 of the headlamp switch connector (be careful - there's another orange/brown on pin #4).

I run 6 gauges off of the dimmer signal wire on my '03 - not a problem.

As for actually tapping the wires, I really like the Posi-Tap connectors from Posi-Lock. They're easy to put on, don't mangle the wire, can be removed easily, and let you run multiple wires from the same tap. Any auto parts store should have them. They look like this:

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Reply to
Tom Lawrence

Tom, Thank-you for the concise answers to my questions. I wasn't sure if the lighter worked only with the ignition-on or not. I've never used it, but of course it would be simple to check. As for the dimmer circuit, I'll tap in just as you say. I have seen those posi-lock connectors you mentioned at Geno's Garage, but have not seen them yet in Canada. No matter, I was planning on soldering the connections anyhow. Thanks again. Kevin

Reply to
kvand

Tom, Another question I thought to ask after I made the previous post. Did you remove your turbo prior to drilling and tapping for the pyro? Or, did you use the grease on the drill bit trick? I've actually been leaning toward removing the turbo and placing it off to the side, leaving the oil line intact. The only potential problem with that is that I don't have another turbo flange gasket, which may not be an issue since the truck is only 3 months old. Later, Kevin.

Reply to
kvand

Kevin:

I can't speak for Tom, but when I drilled mine, I greased the drill bit and then the tap. After tapping, I took a small pencil magnet and stuck it down the hole several times until no shavings came back out, then hooked the shop vac to the hole for a few seconds. I seriously doubt that there were any particles left that amounted to much.

Mike

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Reply to
Mike Simmons

i asked a similar question a while back and ill copy and paste the response i received from Tom L. i used this method and it worked well. hope this is the answer your looking for.

below is his response on my query for suggestions on mounting and probe location.

For a single gauge, the Mopar SRT-10 A-pillar is a good choice. Available from Geno's Garage

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it will replace the stockA-pillar trim with one that has a molded-in gauge holder (this is used fromthe factory on SRT-10 Rams to hold an oil temp. gauge). It retains yourgrab handle, so there's no downside to using it. To match your truck's gauges, either a DiPricol (although some, myself included, don't like the big white center cap) or an ISSPRO EV-series are the closest match to the factory gauges. I personally run an Autometer Phantom, but that's because I went with a full compliment of Autometer gauges.

As for mounting the thermocouple, you want it in the exhaust manifold, where it will do the most good. Drill/tap a hole right above the turbo mounting flange, in the rear-most of the two passages. This will measure the EGT's from the rear cylinders, which run a little hotter than the rest. Start with a cooled-off engine, and duct-tape off the exhaust tip, then poke a small hole through the duct tape. You want to create some backpressure. Next, start the engine, and while wearing gloves and goggles (or a faceshield), drill a 21/64" (or 11/32", or even 5/16" will work - but 21/64" is the closest to the 'correct' size) into the manifold. All the chips will be blown back out at you, so watch yourself (but better at you than into your turbo). Now you can shut the truck off, remove the duct tape, and let it cool a bit.

Get a 1/8"-27 NPT pipe tap, and load up the flutes with grease. Now carefully tap the hole you drilled. You'll probably want to go 5-6 full turns on the tap to get the thread depth correct. Turn the tap until it gets a bite of the metal, and you feel good resistance to turning it. Then back it off 1/4-turn, and go forward again. That will break the chip off, and embed it in the grease. You want to tap deep enough so that the probe threads in 3 full turns.

Once that's done, just put the probe in, and hook up it's wiring to the gauge. Do NOT cut the probe wires to length - coil up the excess underneath the dash.

For lighting, you can tap the larger-of-the-two orange/black wires from the headlamp switch (this is the dimmer circuit). For a switched +12V, you can tap the red wire from the cigarette lighter. For ground, you can use the grounding screw on the lower dash frame, behind the knee blocker panel.

Reply to
Chris Thompson

Ummm.... yeah, what he said :)

Reply to
Tom Lawrence

Chris,

Perfect! I appreciate the effort you took to dig up that old reply. And I thank Tom as well as I understand from your post he provided you with that information originally.

By the way...I've think I've seen your sig before...maybe on DieselRam.com. If you happen to see a "Dodgethis" that would be me.

Thanks again, Kevin

Reply to
kvand

I figured you would be partial to that old post Tom.

Reply to
Chris Thompson

yea I frequent inlinediesel.com and I believe the sig line is the same.

Reply to
Chris Thompson

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