Ok, so I was going to have my gauges installed by the shop that was going to Dyno my JK, but it's been almost exactly a month and I haven't heard anything from them, so I'm doing it myself, but I could use a hand when it comes to the wiring for lighting the gauges.

I'm going to remove the gauge cluster and wire everything in back there, unless someone thinks that's a horrible idea, but it was as close to the pillar pod as I could think of. I'll be taking pics and doing a write up of the project so that a future dummy will have an easy go of it.

I've got 4 wires, the main one I'm wondering about is the ground. I'm sure that's probably the easiest one, but I've never installed gauges before so I want to make sure I get it right (see my PIAA 540 install for why I want to get it right. lol).

So, where's a good place to ground out the black wire?

Red is constant 12v and I figured I'd just use a test light to find this, but if anyone knows which wire behind the cluster is constant, let me know.

Amber gets connected to an Accessory power source, again feel free to let me know which that would be, but I've got a test light so I can always stumble through it. This one I think is orange and grey now that I'm recalling things, but feel free to correct me.

White gets connected to the head lamp/wires. Again, if anyone knows what color wire, let me know.

Thanks.

 

It's a good idea to use a Volt-Ohm meter to find your power sources and NOT a test light. You could inadvertently trigger an interstellar war inside your computer system by probing unknown wires with a test light.

Well, maybe not, but when installing electronics in later model cars, it's been advised to not use a test light for probing.

That's the only tip I can provide on this subject.

 

Under the steering wheel is a large cast aluminum bare metal box/brace/mount thing. There are bolts on just about every surface. Pick one. There is ground.

X2 on the voltmeter. Even a cheapy Radio Shack one is much more useful.

You're changing out your entire gauge cluster? Are you going to rip apart the old one or do you have a prototype to replace it?

The only Orange/Grey wire I know off the top of my head is behind the HVAC. There it is for illumination.

I would suggest you not connect ANYTHING unless you KNOW for a fact what wire you are splicing into. If you accidentally connect +12VDC or ground directly to one of the CANBus lines...Your Jeep is going to start to experience siezures. Not a figure of speech.

 

what kind of gauges you wiring? have you looked at the aeroforce at all? It reads SO many things and can display two parameters at once and you just plug it in to the OBDII port under the dash

 

Thanks for the tip on the volt meter. I've actually got one here somewhere and haven't ever used it. lol Which isn't really surprising since I don't know anything about electronics and wiring. And I appreciate the info on grounding too.

As far as the gauges go, I went with ProSport. I wanted Oil Pressure and Boost because of my RIPP SC. ProSport makes an Oil Filter Adapter plate that allows for easy install of Oil Temp and Oil Pressure gauges, and I was originally going to go with AutoMeter Phantom IIs when the shop was going to install them, then AEM's when I was going to do them on my own, but went with ProSport because of the Oil Filter Adapter plate and decided I liked how they looked, they were a great deal and aside from having to wire up 4 wires are plug and play.

Edit: No, not changing out the gauge cluster, just adding two gauges that will go in a COP 4x4 pillar pod. I've got to update my SRT6 thread on the gauge pod.