EGT guage doesnt work

[RoasT BeeF]

Just installed a brand new autometer phantom EGT guage. It doesnt work. I know I hooked it up right. What I dont understand is the two black and red wires that come out of the guage. It says in the directions that the black goes to ground and the red to 12v Pos. I tapped the black wire into the ground for the dash lights and tapped the red wire into the yellow 12v wire off my stereo. I thought this was maybe the problem so I ran the red straight to the batt and ran the black straight to a seperate ground and still nothing. I dont know what to do from here.

 

[Laguna739]

im having the same prob, i did what you did, but i am thinkin it lies more in the probe than in the guage. test your wire running from the probe to the guage to see if its a good ground, mines iffy thats why i think this. also have you tried turning on your lights. i dunno why but when i do mine works for a little. just ideas

 

[Devicex]

I've never gotten my egt gauge to work either, hooked up exactly as it should be...

 

[BrokenTsi]

i have an rre probe. way better than autometer's shitty probe. That's where the problem lies. I bought it off my buddy and works good.

I think you know how to install gauges correctly, so the only problem it could be is the probe, right?

 

[apgeclipsegsx]

my autometer phantom didnt work either... then a couple weeks later it did [for about an hour] then it never worked again, and i sold the car

 

[ryanman]

Did you put the felt washer underneath the base of the probe? If not it's probably grounding itself out.

 

[BoostedTalonTS]

For all you guys that run after market guages in your DSMs...

The factory "ground" wire (black/yellow) on the illumination circuit IS NOT a true ground!!!

...The way the DSM illumination circuit works is by supplying 12 volts on the green/white wire when the Parking Lights are on. The dimmer (or rheostat) then potentiates the ground via the selected setting on the dimmer, meaning that if you have the dash illumination turned down a little bit, you will be getting a percentage of ground, NOT a full 100% chassis ground.

-Go ahead, grab your ohm meters and find out for your selves (I'd start with a continuity setting and measure resistance from the blk/yel to a good chasis ground... Then while it is hooked up, go spin your dimmer knob. THAT'S NO GROUND WIRE!

As long as you run JUST the aftermarket guage's illumination off of the green/white & black/yellow wires, then the illumination aspect will work fine. But for the ground wire of the guage itself (in this case an EGT guage), you will have to run it to another ground point (use any of the metal of the unibody & file the paint off before making your connection).

Try wiring the EGT that way and see if it works! -Let everyone else know what you find

-It is a common mistake to combine the ground from the illumination bulbs and the guage's ground wire.




Hey Beef,
I take it that you got your timing belt issues taken care of. (?)

 

[Devicex]

i have an rre probe. way better than autometer's shitty probe. That's where the problem lies.

I'm using a TRE probe so I'm not so sure the only problem is autometers "shitty" probe.

 

[Bigglesworth87]

Double check the grounds. I have a few gauges too (not egt) I couldnt get them to work properly and come to find out it was my ground. Make sure you have the metal to metal contact. Then the power is the green/white stripe wire found under the plastic panel near the door.

 

[BoostedTalonTS]

Double check the grounds. I have a few gauges too (not egt) I couldnt get them to work properly and come to find out it was my ground. Make sure you have the metal to metal contact. Then the power is the green/white stripe wire found under the plastic panel near the door.

That will work (but your guages will not dim via the OE dimmer control).

 

[Bigglesworth87]

NO, they will not dim. THey will work though. You just need to tap into any sort of 12v power source. I wouldnt recommend the constant, or the switched because of the obvious reasons. I have my boost gauge hooked up to the green/white wire i said before and it comes one when i turn on my parking lights. The air/fuel gauge is hooked up to the power at my ecu and it turns on when i start the car and turns of a couple seconds after i turn off the car.

 

[RoasT BeeF]

Well yeah. The first thing I did was try different grounds and powers to see if that was the prob and it still didnt work.

...I think you know how to install gauges correctly, so the only problem it could be is the probe, right?

Could be. The more reading I do on here about EGT's the more I learn that the Autometer probes are junk.

Did you put the felt washer underneath the base of the probe? If not it's probably grounding itself out.

No I didnt. I thought you only had to use the felt washer if you were using the "stainless clamp method" which I am not.

...Hey Beef,
I take it that you got your timing belt issues taken care of. (?)...

I posted this way before my belt went. And yes, I had it running for about 5 min and then the belt slipped and bent all my new SS valves. Doh! I havent looked into it yet to see weather it was something I screwed up or if a part failed. Kinda discouraged at this point...

I bought this guage from Machv so I ended up calling them about it. The guy told me to hook up the guage directly to a 9v battery and see if the needle jumps to test the guage. I havent tried this yet though.

 

[ryanman]

I've used autometer probes for years and never had a single problem with any of them.