Gauge Pod Re-Wire

With the thunderstorms going on making the weather all dreary I didn’t really feel like crawling around on the garage floor so I decided to take it easy.  Instead I decided to work on the wiring for the gauge pod.  It looked like a rat’s nest when I pulled it out.  And this is with only 2 of the gauges, one had already been removed so just imagine another couple feet of 5 additional wires all mixed in there.

Gauge Pod Wiring Mess

 

There are a few reasons that I wanted to do a little work on this.  One is that when trying to install the thing, having 15 wires going every which way makes the job more difficult while trying not to pinch any and cause future issues.  Another is that I think some of the butt connectors that were crimped on did not establish the best of connections.  Lastly I was having issues with one gauge in particular not really working and would bounce around a lot which makes me think it is a grounding issue either in the harness or on the senders.  This next shot is one of the reasons that I wanted to get rid of crimps.  It had pulled right out of the bullet connector to the sending unit.  Had no idea until I saw it hanging under the car while removing the transmission.

Failed Crimp Connection

 

So I cut all the lame crimps off.  Huzzah!

Crimp Connectors

 

Stripped the wires down and soldered them together for a connection that will be just as strong as a single wire.

Soldered Joint

 

I then wanted to tame the nest a little bit and make it a little more streamlined.  So I grabbed a roll of electrical tape and started wrapping.  Here is the before and after of the main gauge harness.

Wire Wrap Comparison

 

And here we go with the gauges wired into the extension harness.  All connections are now soldered with heat shrink wrap around them.

New Wiring Connections

 

I then went back to wrapping with the tape until I got to where everything joined into the main lines that need to be wired into the car harness.  I left a good bit of that unwrapped for now since they will need to go to various places under the dash.  I’ll do the final wrapping once the gauge pod is back in the car.

Gauge Pod Wiring Harness

 

On a final note, I believe I have found something to fill the empty hole where the trans temp gauge was at.  I am considering putting in a vacuum gauge to monitor the draw in the intake to make sure that I am not springing any leaks.

 

 

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