Mazda 3 Gauges

[protegeric]

I`m trying to figure out exactly how to hook up 1. volts 2. vacuum and 3. brake fluid temp. gauges on a Mazda 3. Does the brake temp. need to be hooked up at the stock sender or somewhere else? Is there one or two wires on the stock sender, which one? Vacuum would go to any good vacuum source goin into the head? And is there a best/easiest place to read volts from for a gauge? Are there ECU wires I can tap into? If so, pin #s and wire colors would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: Oil Temp. nothin to do with brakes, sorry... oil temp., volts, vacuum

 

[goldwing2000]

For crying out loud... does NOBODY read the sticky post at the top of the How-To Forum??

Thread moved!! (bang)

1. There is no factory brake fluid temp sensor. You'll have to design something.

2. Yes.

3. The cigarette lighter is wired to key-on power and is the best place to attach a volt gauge. Don't mess with ECU or PJB wiring.

 

[protegeric]

sorry sorry, the MAZDASPEED section doesnt even have a how-to. never wandered into the 3 area. I will double check on that brake fluid temp. gauge and make sure i have it right, but that kinda sucks about the brake gauge...

For crying out loud... does NOBODY read the sticky post at the top of the How-To Forum??

Thread moved!! (bang)

1. There is no factory brake fluid temp sensor. You'll have to design something.

2. Yes.

3. The cigarette lighter is wired to key-on power and is the best place to attach a volt gauge. Don't mess with ECU or PJB wiring.

 

[protegeric]

oil temp. no brake gauge, oil temp. would it go to the stock sender? where is that and if so which wire?

 

[protegeric]

oil temp., volts, vacuum... anyone with any specifics? which wire is it on the cigarette lighter and can I hook the 12V for the gauges up to the cigarette lighter also? i dont know hardly anything about a Mazda 3. wats the best way to get access to the cigarette lighter?

 

[protegeric]

bump for the volts and oil temp.

 

[goldwing2000]

Not very patient, are ya?

As far as I know, there is no factory oil temp sender, either. There's an oil pressure sender on the front of the oil filter adapter but that's it. Any temps other than coolant or intake air (and trans oil, if you have an auto) are going to have to be custom.

There are only two wires going to the lighter. Shouldn't be that difficult to figure out which is power and which is ground (hint: the center of the lighter is +, the outside is -)
It's a 10A circuit, so as long as your gauges don't draw a lot of power, you should be able to use it for that.

The lighter panel comes off with a couple screws and a gentle tug. Pull out the ash tray and it should be fairly obvious.

Do you check these things out before asking questions or is this always your first stop?

 

[protegeric]

i dont have a 3. someone else is asking me about gauges for their 3 and im tryin to help `em out and i was gonna install them for free. ive only seen the car up close once and never had a chance to start workin on it. someone on heer had an oil temp. gauge on their 3, im tryin to find out how they hooked theirs up. if there`s no temp. sensor then i guess no go on that one, cause im not sure i wanna do a couple hours worth of work and custom stuff for free. ill be hooking up 3 gauges to the cigarette lighter wires then, im gessing it should be fine since i have all of my gauges to the same place on the pro. i dont know cause i havent inspected the gauges, but wat about a wire to turn on the gauge lights in conjunction with the headlights? has anyone ever hooked that wire up to the 12v also and the gauge lights r always on?

Not very patient, are ya?

As far as I know, there is no factory oil temp sender, either. There's an oil pressure sender on the front of the oil filter adapter but that's it. Any temps other than coolant or intake air (and trans oil, if you have an auto) are going to have to be custom.

There are only two wires going to the lighter. Shouldn't be that difficult to figure out which is power and which is ground (hint: the center of the lighter is +, the outside is -)
It's a 10A circuit, so as long as your gauges don't draw a lot of power, you should be able to use it for that.

The lighter panel comes off with a couple screws and a gentle tug. Pull out the ash tray and it should be fairly obvious.

Do you check these things out before asking questions or is this always your first stop?

 

[goldwing2000]

That's a little more difficult proposition. The headlights and IP lights are powered through a computerized circuit inside the fuse box (along with 90% of everything else in the car). Tying into anything in that monster can cause bad things to happen. The only thing that I would suggest is tapping into an actual power wire for the running lights.

You could run the gauge lights always-on but that would seriously decrease bulb life.

You're a better man than me if you're doing this for free. The electrical systems on these are a pain in the ass.

 

[protegeric]

aww man, dont say that now. i already told him i would help him... ahh! oh well, ill still help him. everyone asks me to do stuff cause ive done it all on my pro. but thats a pro. ok, so let me double check about this volts gauge, i can hook the signal wire for the gauge to read the volts to the 12V of the cigarette lighter and bam? i had NO idea about the wiring mess fuse box stuff...

That's a little more difficult proposition. The headlights and IP lights are powered through a computerized circuit inside the fuse box (along with 90% of everything else in the car). Tying into anything in that monster can cause bad things to happen. The only thing that I would suggest is tapping into an actual power wire for the running lights.

You could run the gauge lights always-on but that would seriously decrease bulb life.

You're a better man than me if you're doing this for free. The electrical systems on these are a pain in the ass.

 

[goldwing2000]

Yeah, the PJB/Fuse box is a real pain in the ass. The lighter power isn't computerized, so it's one of the few "safe" circuits to mess with. Especially if you don't have the electrical manual (but really, even if you do).

Also, be sure you don't take vacuum from one of the solenoids on the front of the intake manifold. Those are switched vacuum sources further up the line. Find a true vacuum source. Like from the brake booster or PCV, for example. Look out for check valves.

 

[protegeric]

ah, i dont like the sound of this now... i was expecting to just get "oh yeah, this is a good place to tap into, no prob." the 3 sounds complicated though...

 

[protegeric]

someone on the forum had an oil temp. gauge on their 3. anyone know where to connect for that gauge?
also, the 3 reads air intake temp.? to the manifold? the MAZDASPEED Protege appearantly doesnt read intake manifold air temp. i tried reading it with an OBD II datalogger and it gave me "not supported"

 

[BLAM]

oil temp you have to tap the oil pan.