Installing Autometer Gauges and keeping the factory connections

[josephpatrickgray]

I would like to install an oil pressure gauge and water temperature gauge while keeping the factory connections on a 1990 22re pickup. Does anyone have some pics of where they connected and what fittings are needed.

Thanks,

Joe

 

[bryan89]

do you mean where on the truck the sensors are located?
if so, i dont have any pics on hand, but the oil pressure sending unit is located on the passenger side of the block near the oil filter / starter. it is a plug looking thing with a single spade connector coming out of the top of it. if your rig hasnt been abused by mechanics, it will still have the factory orange rubber boot covering the connection.

as for the water temperature sensor, it is a little more complicated to find. its on the front of the lower half of the intake manifold. it too has a single spade connector built into the top of it. i think its got a green connector on it if im not mistaking, but dont hold me to that.

now, are you planning on simply connecting the aftermarket gauges to the oem sensors? i would be a little weary of this because it may not read accurately. the aftermarket gauges are designed to work with the sending units they come with. therefore, the resistance of the oem sensors may not necessarily be the same, and the accuracy of the reading may be incorrect.

can it be done? probably. but you might have to add some resistors or some other form of circuitry to get the calibration curve to read correctly.

 

[bryan89]

on second thought,
if it were me i would just use the Sr5 Gauge cluster. it has both of the read outs you want, plus voltage. its a stock plug in and play. much cleaner and simpler in my opinion.

 

[Combat Chuck]

on second thought,
if it were me i would just use the Sr5 Gauge cluster. it has both of the read outs you want, plus voltage. its a stock plug in and play. much cleaner and simpler in my opinion.

X2.
Not to mention all the sending units will bolt on easily, and the cluster is about 60 bucks at u-pull.
You can also calibrate the gauges easily with a meter and a load, so if you don't trust them, you can either A. learn what they're really saying, or B. make them honest.

The cool thing about oil pressure and engine temperature is that all you really need is something that says "Cold/Low, Hot/High" and a field in between, not any exact numbers.

 

[josephpatrickgray]

I don't know know I didn't investigate that alternative first! I have a 1990 4runner SR5 parts vehicle in the driveway. I am assuming I will need to swap the sensors and wiring back to the cluster? Are you saying I can just plug what I have on the current cluster into the SR5 cluster? If this is true it will be the easiest Toyota mod ever!

 

[bryan89]

first off, you need to swap your oil pressure sending unit off the Sr5 truck onto the DLX one so you dont burn it up.
the dlx just has a dummy light. on or off. if you put the sr5 cluster on with the old sending unit it will smoke it up, and maybe your dash too.

so hold your horses on that one. also need to make sure the clusters are compatible. i think the 90 is too late model. need an 86-89 i think.

just search . there are like a billion threads bout it.

 

[Combat Chuck]

The cool thing is that everything is 12v, so the correct sender connected to the correct gauge is all it takes. Otherwise a wire is a wire, you can switch the harness out, but really all you need is a source at the gauge, and a lead to the sender, the body of the sender grounds on the manifold (water temp) or block (oil pressure.)

 

[toy4xfun]

here are my two autometer gauges, i used a mechanical oilpressure and electrical temp gauge, i prefer the mechanical gauges.

this is where your stock temp gauge sensor or sending unit is.

i was luck that i had a intake that had a plug under the stock sending unit, so i left the stock gauges and sending unit alone. for the mechanical oil gauge there is another plug in the oil galley right near your stock sending unit, you will need to find an adapter to adapt the SAE end to Metric. no pics but once again i left the stock oil pressure gauge and sender in tack, the second plug is right behind your passenger side engine mount.

 

[KLF]

I am doing the same thing, my plan is to have a "doghouse" of 5 gauges on top of my dash eventually: mechanical oil pressure and coolant temp, vacuum, voltage, and air pressure (for the on-board air setup). I already bought the gauges, I'll try to post the AutoMeter numbers when I get home.

IMO, I wouldn't bother with the SR5 gauge package. I have them, they are notoriously inaccurate, pretty worthless. I want them to be correct. My OEM temp gauge starts out in the C position, then after about 2 mins it hops up to the middle of the gauge, then never moves. I don't trust it.

The oil pressure is easy. I'm leaving the OEM gauge hooked up and functional, not messing with the stock sender either. If you look on the engine in the center of the pass side engine mount, where it bolts to the block, you'll find another little plug screwed into a hole tapped into the oil galley, the same galley that the stock gauge measures the pressure from. The AutoMeter mechanical gauges uses a little brass fitting that screws into a 1/8" NPT hole. The hole in the block is very close to, but slightly smaller than this size. The thread pitch is darned close to exactly the same. All I had to do was take a 1/8" NPT tap and run it in this hole about half way, with some grease as some cutting aide. This captures the cuttings, but as a safety I also stuck a vacuum into the galley so suck out any cuttings (my timing cover was not installed yet). It might take a few test trials to get the threads cut deep enough, but it was really easy cutting.

Here's a shot with the brass fitting installed, along with the OEM sender. Note also the OEM block heater installed in the forward freeze plug.

I think this is totally doable with the engine still in the truck, BTW. You'll probably have to put a jack under the engine and remove that engine mount.

For the temp, I found a spot on the very front of the lower intake manifold, just behind the two forward green and brown sensors. I'm gonna drill and tap that spot for 1/2" NPT for the mechanical gauge. I haven't done it yet, but I'm certain it will fit.

That's my plan...

 

[toy4xfun]

that is looking good KLF! i did the same with mine but was told you can get an adapter, some people do not like doing that to there block.