I don't think I made this clear enough but....
Credit goes to Chris (MSP2746 ) for this informative How-To...in other words, he is the one to ask the questions to.
This how-to is intended to help people install a mechanical Autometer boost guage in a Mazdaspeed Protege, and assumes replacement of the nylon hose with real vaccum hose. If it doesn't work with your turbo MP3 or P5, please don't come to me and ask why, 'cause chances are I won't know
. The Autometer full pillar pods replace the factory pillar, so I highly reccomend getting them. That way, you won't have to drill holes in your factory plastic.
Parts needed:
- Ace Hardware: 1) Barb fitting with 3/16" barb on one end and 1/8" female pipe threads on the other (I checked every hardware store in my area, and Ace is the only one that had this). 2) Industrial Velcro. 3) Small black zip ties. 4) Teflon Tape.
- Auto Parts Store: 1) If using an A-pillar pod and splicing into the intake manifold hose, you'll need about 6' of 3/16" ID vaccum hose (You could get away with 5', but you won't have much flexibility as far as mounting locations go.) 2) A vaccum tee with three 3/16" barbs
- Radio Shack: 1) A 3-color (red/green/black) pack of small guage wire. 2) Wire Taps. 3) Ring Terminals. 4) Crimp Caps.
Install the stuff in any order you'd like, but here's what I did:
1) Pull the factory A-Pillar off by pulling it towards the passenger side of the car. Be careful not to apply undue force, as the plastic clips could break.
2) Take the U shaped section off the underside of the dash by pulling outward on the "ends" of the U. Next pull the side panel off of the dash using a tip from Dr Sound and Rocketspeed: "It just pries off with a screwdriver. I just started from the bottom and it popped off with a little effort." Thanks for that one guys!
3) Look for an easily accessable nut under the dash that threads onto a bolt in the body. Crimp a ring terminal onto the end of your black wire, slip it over the bolt, and crank the nut back on. Route your wire under the dash and up to the A-Pillar.
4) Reach behind the dash and push the tabs holding the dimmer switch in together (one on top, one on bottom), and push the switch out of the dash. Tap into the green wire w/ black stripe with a wire tap. I used green (go figure! ) wire for this. Run that wire under the dash and into the a-pillar. That won't dim your guages, but it will light them up with the parking lights. Previous attempts to dim the guages with the dash lights have resulted in failure, as the guages would get brighter as the dash lights got darker.
5) Find the grommet in the firewall that has your skinny yellow amp power cable coming through it. There should be plenty of room to the left of that in the grommet to run your vaccum hose. I just stabbed it repeatedly with an ex-acto knife, and the vaccum hose went right through. Stick the hose through the hole, and run the inside length to the a-pillar.
6) Find the other end of the hose in your engine bay, and route it along the firewall to the intake manifold. There's a U-shaped vaccum hose on the top right hand side of the intake manifold. Snip that bad boy in half and shove the opposing ends of the tee fitting into the factory halves. Shove the boost guage hose over the 3rd end, and use some zip ties to make everything look nice and neat. If you're paranoid, you could use zip ties to make sure the hose won't slip off the barb connector.
7) Use crimp caps to hook your black wire (ground) to the black wire coming off of your light fixture. Hook your green wire (light 12v) up to the white wire coming off of your light fixture. Use Teflon Tape when threading your barb fitting onto the back of your Autometer guage.
IMPORTANT!
Make sure you run your vaccum hose through the hole in your pod before sliding it onto the barb fitting. Use another zip tie to hold the hose onto the barb if it'll make you feel warm and fuzzy. Stick your light bulb in the back of the guage at this point too.
8) Unpeel the backing off both sides of your velcro and stick it to the very left side of the metal brace that your factory A-pillar mounted to. Line the pillar up as best you can, and slap it in place. That industrial velcro holds like no other, so do your best to get it right the first time.
9) Again, that industrial velcro holds like no other, so do your best to line up and insert your guage into the pod straight the first time.
Hope this helps!
Credit goes to Chris (MSP2746 ) for this informative How-To...in other words, he is the one to ask the questions to.
This how-to is intended to help people install a mechanical Autometer boost guage in a Mazdaspeed Protege, and assumes replacement of the nylon hose with real vaccum hose. If it doesn't work with your turbo MP3 or P5, please don't come to me and ask why, 'cause chances are I won't know
. The Autometer full pillar pods replace the factory pillar, so I highly reccomend getting them. That way, you won't have to drill holes in your factory plastic.Parts needed:
- Ace Hardware: 1) Barb fitting with 3/16" barb on one end and 1/8" female pipe threads on the other (I checked every hardware store in my area, and Ace is the only one that had this). 2) Industrial Velcro. 3) Small black zip ties. 4) Teflon Tape.
- Auto Parts Store: 1) If using an A-pillar pod and splicing into the intake manifold hose, you'll need about 6' of 3/16" ID vaccum hose (You could get away with 5', but you won't have much flexibility as far as mounting locations go.) 2) A vaccum tee with three 3/16" barbs
- Radio Shack: 1) A 3-color (red/green/black) pack of small guage wire. 2) Wire Taps. 3) Ring Terminals. 4) Crimp Caps.
Install the stuff in any order you'd like, but here's what I did:
1) Pull the factory A-Pillar off by pulling it towards the passenger side of the car. Be careful not to apply undue force, as the plastic clips could break.
2) Take the U shaped section off the underside of the dash by pulling outward on the "ends" of the U. Next pull the side panel off of the dash using a tip from Dr Sound and Rocketspeed: "It just pries off with a screwdriver. I just started from the bottom and it popped off with a little effort." Thanks for that one guys!
3) Look for an easily accessable nut under the dash that threads onto a bolt in the body. Crimp a ring terminal onto the end of your black wire, slip it over the bolt, and crank the nut back on. Route your wire under the dash and up to the A-Pillar.
4) Reach behind the dash and push the tabs holding the dimmer switch in together (one on top, one on bottom), and push the switch out of the dash. Tap into the green wire w/ black stripe with a wire tap. I used green (go figure!
) wire for this. Run that wire under the dash and into the a-pillar. That won't dim your guages, but it will light them up with the parking lights. Previous attempts to dim the guages with the dash lights have resulted in failure, as the guages would get brighter as the dash lights got darker.
5) Find the grommet in the firewall that has your skinny yellow amp power cable coming through it. There should be plenty of room to the left of that in the grommet to run your vaccum hose. I just stabbed it repeatedly with an ex-acto knife, and the vaccum hose went right through. Stick the hose through the hole, and run the inside length to the a-pillar.
6) Find the other end of the hose in your engine bay, and route it along the firewall to the intake manifold. There's a U-shaped vaccum hose on the top right hand side of the intake manifold. Snip that bad boy in half and shove the opposing ends of the tee fitting into the factory halves. Shove the boost guage hose over the 3rd end, and use some zip ties to make everything look nice and neat. If you're paranoid, you could use zip ties to make sure the hose won't slip off the barb connector.
7) Use crimp caps to hook your black wire (ground) to the black wire coming off of your light fixture. Hook your green wire (light 12v) up to the white wire coming off of your light fixture. Use Teflon Tape when threading your barb fitting onto the back of your Autometer guage.
IMPORTANT!
Make sure you run your vaccum hose through the hole in your pod before sliding it onto the barb fitting. Use another zip tie to hold the hose onto the barb if it'll make you feel warm and fuzzy. Stick your light bulb in the back of the guage at this point too.
8) Unpeel the backing off both sides of your velcro and stick it to the very left side of the metal brace that your factory A-pillar mounted to. Line the pillar up as best you can, and slap it in place. That industrial velcro holds like no other, so do your best to get it right the first time.
9) Again, that industrial velcro holds like no other, so do your best to line up and insert your guage into the pod straight the first time.
Hope this helps!
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