Need help wiring Autometer electric gauges

[blcknspo0ln]

I'm so lost and I have no clue why? here's a pic of my autometer cobalt electric short sweep gauge. I have an oil pressure and a water temp that need to work correctly.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Top left is +12V, which goes to any power source that gets 12V when KEY ON

Top right is ground, ground

middle is labeled GND, I would assume that also gets grounded (does it matter physical location?)

left is labeled 'S', signal wire from oil pressure or water temp sensor?

right is labeled, 'I', does that mean ignition? I did research a while back and ignition means it receives 12V at KEY ON, but does not receive 12V during cranking?

any help? I can't believe I can't do this I grounded the middle GND to the chassis in the cabin, applied a 12V source to I (which doesn't receive power during cranking), and put the signal wire to S. When I hook up all three like that and turn the key on, the gauge jumps all the way to max (past 100psi). Is this normal? I have not turned the car on yet after this.

 

[snowborder714]

The top left +12V is for the lighting power.

The top right ground (male pin) is for the lighting. So you can either connect this to a normal ground for constant light output, or connect it to your dimmer.

The middle ground can be grounded anywhere. It's a normal ground.

You are correct on the bottom left stud (S) as it's for the sender.

You are also correct on the bottom right stud (I) as it goes to a +12V ignition wire or other switchable source.

 

[Zack Huffman]

http://www.autometer.com/download_instruction/1079A.pdf

 

[blcknspo0ln]

I started the car today with the coolant temp gauge and oil pressure gauge. Both of them are wired to the same black/white wire that gets 12V only when key is on (its the ignition wire). same ground.

The coolant temp gauge works OK, but is off by like 20*F?

oil pressure gauge: When the IGN and GND are hooked up on the gauge, the gauge will read zero like normal, but as soon as the signal wire is put on, it pegs the meter to max?

I'm beginning to think if I have a busted gauge.

 

[snowborder714]

That seems to be common with the Autometer Cobalts. I'm on my 2nd boost gauge and 3rd water temp gauge (2nd sensor). My water temp gauge is the full sweep electric and reads about 20* too high. I haven't had time to look into it more though. I have an Excel sheet from Autometer that gives me the relationship between the temperature and the resistance you should see from the sender. If you want, I can post it up or send it to you. I may check mine at some point soon because it's really bothering me. If you can't get them fixed, call up Autometer and see if they'll test or replace the units. They usually replace them for me.

 

[turbosax2]

The full sweep and short sweep use different senders, so you would think Autometer got at least one of them right. Brian forgot to mention that we also tried another harness Autometer sent us (which didn't fix the problem). The Autometer tech said that they had had cases of bad harnesses being shipped out.

Haven't you had these gauges for awhile now?


Edit: Brian, the chart we have is specific to the 2252 sender, which is used only by full sweep gauges. The short sweep gauges use the 2258 sender.

 

[blcknspo0ln]

Thanks Eric and Brian. I just spoke to the autometer tech and I'm just sending both gauges back in with senders for inspection. If at the least, they can tell me is wrong. I'm hoping they just give me new units, so I don't have to fudge around anymore. I'll report back when I get an answer. Oh and yea, I've had them for a while with the same stupid problems. I hate wiring so much, I just let the gauges light up and have no functionality

 

[turbosax2]

C'mon...wiring is fun

 

[blcknspo0ln]

C'mon...wiring is fun

I would sooner pull the engine out than go back and wire these damn gauges in

 

[VancTalonAWD]

I had a similar problem with my autometer C2 gauges not reading properly. When I contacted autometer I was told that the 12V power and ignition wires must maintain power during starting. Otherwise what happens is they recalibrate when power is restored, except that now the engine is running. So the clibration ends up being offset and the gauge does not read properly. Hope this helps.

 

[snowborder714]

So you ran a constant +12V supply to the gauge and that solved your problem?

 

[VancTalonAWD]

My gauge power lines are tapped into my turbo timer harness. So the power is ignition controlled but it is not interupted during cranking. So when you turn the key to ON the gauges power up and calibrate and then nothing changes for them when you turn the key to START.

 

[snowborder714]

Do you happen to know what wire in the main harness connects to that wire in your harness?

 

[VancTalonAWD]

The main harness diagram is as follows:
-
1 2 3
4 5 6

Where 1 is the 12V source
ACC Position 1 powers 6
ON Position 1 powers 2,4,6
START Position 1 powers 2,3,5

So the wire 2 maintains power during starting. I also tested this with a meter just to make sure I had the correct wires mapped on my car. So from there you can just find the joining wire for the TT harness and tap in without hacking your main harness. The actual diagram can be found in the DSM manual or something like a Haynes manual.

Before I did this on my car my boost gauge used to read off about 5psi relative to my boost controller.

 

[blcknspo0ln]

The main harness diagram is as follows:
-
1 2 3
4 5 6

Where 1 is the 12V source
ACC Position 1 powers 6
ON Position 1 powers 2,4,6
START Position 1 powers 2,3,5

So the wire 2 maintains power during starting. I also tested this with a meter just to make sure I had the correct wires mapped on my car. So from there you can just find the joining wire for the TT harness and tap in without hacking your main harness. The actual diagram can be found in the DSM manual or something like a Haynes manual.

Before I did this on my car my boost gauge used to read off about 5psi relative to my boost controller.

Very cool information, I remember reading about this a long time ago and nearly forgot. Once the gauges get back to me, I'll be running the IGN from this wire and see if it makes a difference

 

[blcknspo0ln]

Great news, I got my gauges back from autometer (warrantied!) and it turns out I just have really bad luck. Both gauges were BAD, hence the reason why I had so many issues. I ran the +12V/GND for the lights as usual, S for sender, GND to the same GND as lights, and the IGN I borrowed VancTalonAWD's recommendation and just traced the power of my turbo timer back to the main harness and tapped there. If i remember correctly it is a 3 pin harness with green, blue and red. I used the red wire for IGN.

 

[snowborder714]

They're both working well now Tom?

I may have to send my gauge back in after I check the sender. I don't know why I would get 3 bad ones, but you never know.

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

Sorry I have to insert a joke here:

How many wisemen does it take to wire up a gauge?

According to this thread 3!!

On a more serious note here is a link to the manual for the oil pressure gauge: http://www.autometer.com/productPDF/1079A.pdf

And the water temp:
http://www.autometer.com/productPDF/1079A.pdf

 

[snowborder714]

Sorry I have to insert a joke here:

How many wisemen does it take to wire up a gauge?

According to this thread 3!!

Actually, the joke is on you

When Tom started this thread, he was the only Wiseman. Since then, Eric and I have joined the group.

But when he posted back today, I thought the exact same thing

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

I just thought it was funny to see a thread full of red usernames. I had to comment on it.
Congratulations on the promotion!!

 

[Zack Huffman]

On a more serious note here is a link to the manual for the oil pressure gauge: http://www.autometer.com/productPDF/1079A.pdf

And the water temp:
http://www.autometer.com/productPDF/1079A.pdf

You realize don't you, that both of those links go to the same document ...that I already linked to in post #3 ... ?

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

Nope I didn't realize you did... My bad. I guess the user manual is the same for both gauges then... Since those were the links on Autometer's site.

 

[1992awdlaser]

Good to hear Tom.

PS, Now there is four Wisemen in here.