Fitting Boost Gauge

[ddmgti]

Hello after fixing a few problems on the Car, 1995 T5, I,m looking to go down the Manual Boost Controller way, but first i want to fit my Boost gauge, read a few posts on here, can anyone confirm its easiest to tap into the line which goes to the Stock guage in dashboard? ie under steering wheel, more importantly where to wire Gauge into? want to see what she is boosting too as i still think i have a boost problem does not go very far into white segment especially in 2nd Gear any help appreciated

[p fandango]

personally i'd run a longer pipe in & plumb the boost gauge into the a spare outlet on the vac tree (connected to the inlet manifold under the throttle wheel cover)

as for wiring i assume you mean the backlighting for the gauge? the positive wire goes to the pink wire on the headlight switch, & the negative wire can just be earthed anywhere. This will dim the gauge with the slider like all the other dash lighting

[Rnash2002]

Hi there people use the vac pipe going to the stock one or others take a connection from the vac tree under the throttle body housing,its upto you.
As far as placment ive got one in the airvent on my side,or you could try and get a pod for the piller, again upto you.

[ddmgti]

Thanks for replies would any spare connection on the Vac tree do? think i have 3 wires on gauge dont have it to hand, have to check tonight, a pod on A post would be preferred

[p fandango]

Thanks for replies would any spare connection on the Vac tree do?
yeh the vac tree has several ports which aren't used & just got a rubber sleeve on the end

[stephenevans99]

When mine was fitted a while back it was t-pieced into the vac pipe (white iirc) just above the brake pedal under the dash. Dead easy.

[Johnny5]

When i fitted mine, i used a "T" piece quick connector. Cut the standard pipe going to the dashboard guage and inserted the "T" peice, the i ran the pipe from the "T" piece up to a windscreen mounted guage pod. As for the guage illumination i found a sidelight feed under the dashboard, tapped into that as a positive supply and used an earth point down on the right hand kick panel. Works a treat! I have an M.B.C and i can get mine to boost all the way to the top of the white on the dashboard guage, which according to my screen mounted guage is just about 1 bar (14.7psi) of boost! And boy does it make a difference! You will need to spend some time setting up the M.B.C to get it just right, it took me about an hour to set mine, stopping to adjust it at regular intervals to stop it "overboosting" and cutting the fuel out! Do it in small increments (or decrements) untill its good! HTH?

J5

[DuncVolvoTurbo]

Sorry to highjack this thread, but what size of tubing did everyone use to connect their boost gauges to the vac tree/t-piece?

[ddmgti]

The Pipe with my kit is approx 4 mm Internal Diameter for a tight fit i imagine, as for wiring in guage, i have 3 wires 1 Black (Earth), 2 others, one for 12v Lighting, 1 for 12v Ignition, am i right thinking these 2 are joined together and Spliced into Pink wire on Headlight switch? also daft question maybe, does battery need to be disconnected when splicing into switch? hope not as i dont have radio code, any help appreciated.

[mexybhouy]

Anyone of the vac tree will suffice! or cut in with a t piece to a vac pipe!

[ddmgti]

Thanks for replies think i,ll tee off original under dashboard seems easiest, any ideas on wiring? i,m reasonable with spanners but no good with electrics

[p fandango]

as for wiring in guage, i have 3 wires 1 Black (Earth), 2 others, one for 12v Lighting, 1 for 12v Ignition, am i right thinking these 2 are joined together and Spliced into Pink wire on Headlight switch? also daft question maybe, does battery need to be disconnected when splicing into switch? hope not as i dont have radio code, any help appreciated.
no i'd wire it as the instructions say, the only reason i can think it needs an ignition is if its a stepper motor gauge (uses a motor to move the needle) in which case it need an ignition even when the lights are off. There is an ignition supply also onto the headlight switch but can't remember what colour it is. As for disconnecting the battery no you won't, if you remove the headlight switch & disconnect the plug the power feed can't get to the wire you'll be connecting to

[p0xy]

i didnt cut anythin the white peipe near the brake peddle just pulled apart and i connected mine to that. It stops the boost gauge in the dash from working though....

[ddmgti]

Thats what i,ll do, not bothered about dash gauge working, just the wiring to figure out as i cant understand the instructions, it has a button to change backlight colours which i,m not bothered about, just want normal light, i read on another forum to connect to Pink wire on headlight switch but his guage had only two wires, any advice anyone?

[p fandango]

Thats what i,ll do, not bothered about dash gauge working,
you can do the same as me then & fit non-turbo gauges (mine has 8000rpm on the scale now lol)


just the wiring to figure out as i cant understand the instructions, it has a button to change backlight colours which i,m not bothered about, just want normal light, i read on another forum to connect to Pink wire on headlight switch but his guage had only two wires, any advice anyone?
the pink wire goes to the positive lights wire on the gauge, the earth for the gauge can go to any metal on the bodywork, the other which i think you said was ignition needs to go to an ignition feed i'msure there is one at the headlight switch but can't remember the colour

[ddmgti]

Morning Folks, i,d really like to give this a go at the Weekend, think i,ve got vacum pipe sorted, if i T into Vacum Pipe under dash do i need to blank off the outlet to original Boost gauge on Dash? also regards wiring not too sure where to wire into on Headlight switch so was thinking,

1) Splice 2 Wires together then Splice into feed wire to Cigar lighter?

2) Wire up both wires direct to Positive Connection on Battery?

Earth wired up to handiest Bolt etc, as ever any advice appreciated.

[Nico20V]

I just installed my stepper gauge last night. It had a sender so need to connect the vacuum pipe through the cabin.

Regards the wiring (mines P1-97'V70) my harness had four wires - ground / live 12v / ignition 12v and one for an led light (not bothering with).

Using the h/light switch selector, after testing with voltmeter I tapped the permanent live from the black/red wire, and used the green one beneath it for the ignition one. i then just use the black for the corresponding black ground (no merit in using the chassis when there's a black already there is there?)

Rather than splice I used a sharp blade to remove 5mm of sheathing from each of the wires to the switch and then just wrapped and crimped the gauge harness cables on and sealed with insulation tape.

Works like a treat! I just need some insights into how the readings might help me determine the condition of the engine and running efficiency now!? anyone care to elaborate?

I know I've got one split on one vacuum hose, that along with the PCV overhaul and vacuum / boost hoses will be replaced this weekend. Had a re-map done while ago and have always found two dodgy points under acceleration (showed a bit on the original roller sesh too). I'm guessing if i see the boost gauge fluctuating like I see the performnace and acceleration doing high up the revs, that this will surely be a sign that these two points at which I reach unsmooth running, are directly linked to the split hose (at least one). No yet given a hard run yet though to test this.

True test will come after the wknd I guess when I've replaced the vacuum hoses and hopefully it'll be nice smooth running all the way!

[ddmgti]

Thanks for that, but i,m getting confused now with conflicting info on various sites, best i can get up to now is, on the headlight switch 1995 855 t5,
1) 12 v Ignition to Blue/Yellow wire, position 5 on Switch,

2) 12 v Lighting/Illumination to Pink wire, position 1 on switch,

3) Black Earth to Earth , position 10 on switch,

i,ve tried reading Wiring diagrams on Haynes but would be as well reading The Beano. if anyone could confirm these positions i would be grateful as i,d like to do this at weekend, really want to see hows she is boosting as there is a steep hill near where i live, if i boot it in 2nd she goes so far then seems to hit a brick wall, just like stops? its not cutting out or anything, but boot it on level and she flies, very strange? or, have i just not got the hang of driving her yet, last car was a vtec prelude and she flew up that hill!! any advice gratefully accepted