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Installing an oil pressure gauge and voltmeter

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Installing an oil pressure gauge and voltmeter

I wanted to add an oil pressure gauge to the Boss and also a voltmeter. These are the two gauges that I miss the most in this car. The voltmeter is available in the standard gauge pack but navigating the menu all the time to get to it is a pain in the ass. It would be a nice upgrade if the gauge selected was the default every time that you start the car but I haven’t figured out how to do that yet..

I do like the Speed of Sound gauge pillar as the pods look good and the pods with these gauges look like miniature jet engine nacelles. Great look! The Pillar is made from a standard Ford Pillar with two plastic injection molded pods riveted to it so it matches the interior perfectly as the majority of this part is Genuine Ford.
Below is my installation.

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Parts:
• Speed of Sound Dual Gauge Pillar from American Muscle
http://www.americanmuscle.com/dualgauge-pillar-charcoal-1012.html
• Ford Racing Oil Pressure Gauge from American Muscle
http://www.americanmuscle.com/fordracing-oilpressure.html?source=igodigital
• Ford Racing Voltmeter from American Muscle
http://www.americanmuscle.com/fordracing-voltmeter.html
• Four colors of 18GA stranded wire from a local hardware store
• Mini fuse tap from Auto Zone
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Cooper-Bussmann-ATC-fuse-tap/_/N-25gq?itemIdentifier=32414&_requestid=526016
• 2013 Mustang wiring diagram from Ford
• ¼ Brass nipple and “T” from Home Depot
• Permatex Thread sealant
• Ring connectors
• Quick Connect terminals
• Heat shrink tubing
• Solder
• Braided Wire Cover

Procedure
1. DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE WIRE FROM THE BATTERY!
2. The first step was to determine how to run the wiring to configure this setup. My goal was to CUT NO WIRE! I have bought many cars in my day and to have an original harness cut into pisses me off. SO. I needed the following taps into the Mustangs wire harness:

• +12VDC switched
• Ground
• Panel illumination signal
• Oil pressure sender wire

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3. I ran red wire to the Smart Junction Box on the passenger side and used a mini add-a-circuit to tap into a switched power fuse that was not used but switched on via the key. This turned out to be Fuse F32 (Parking Aid Module power which the Boss does not have). The only problem with this method is that the fuse cover can’t be re-installed using the mini add-a-circuit so I will be ordering some pins to add a wire to connector C2280D (main harness connector which carries this circuit located at the bottom of the Smart Junction Box) so that I can get power out from that fuse without leaving the cover off. I’ll post an update when I get that done.

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4. Ground is had via a large ring connector and using a bolt under the steering wheel area to attach it to.

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5. The oil pressure sender wire was run from the gauge pod to where I mounted the sender which was on a “T” off of the oil pressure switch. This wire runs through the grommet where the sound tube was removed. I used braided wire covering to make it match the factory harness and protect it more than just the insulation.
I tried to use a sandwich plate to mount the sensor but I could not get that thing to seal correctly. It leaked like a stuck pig and YES I had it on the right way!!! I took it off and used a nipple and “T” to tap in where the original oil pressure switch is. It was much cleaner.

6. Installing the oil pressure sender that came with the Ford Racing oil pressure gauge was a bit of a chore but had to be done from above as there is NO WAY to get at it from below. To do this, I loosened the intake hose at the throttle body and at the air box and removed the air box cover. The lower air box is held in with one screw so that was removed next. I plan on covering this with radiant barrier to keep heat away from the sender.

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7. Once the air box is removed, the switch can be seen plainly and accessed. Disconnect the wire connector and use a stubby 21mm wrench to get at it. It was pretty loose so it came right out. I placed paper towels under it to catch the oil that drained out. Not much did though.

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8. I installed the nipple into the “T” using thread sealant. I then put the original switch into the end opposite to the nipple and planned to mount the oil pressure sender on the middle port of the “T” once installed. I tightened both the nipple and the switch at this time. There is no other way to do this as there is not enough room otherwise.

9. Apply thread sealant to the nipple and thread it into the block where the switch once was. This is difficult as you can't see and have your hand in there at the same time. At this moment, reflect on how easy the old pushrod 302 was to work on and curse the need for 444 horses.

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10. Once the “T” and nipple are engaged, twist until you feel the assembly tighten and then align the side port pointing upwards. This is where the oil pressure sender will mount.

11. Install the oil pressure sender in the hole facing up using the included adapter to adapt it to ¼ pipe thread. Use thread sealer.

12. Tighten by hand as much as possible which is tough to do in that area. I disconnected the large power wire to the generator to make space for this.

13. Using a stubby 13mm wrench, tighten the sender to the “T”. To do this, you have to use your left hand to hold the wrench onto the sender and the right hand to maneuver the wrench. This took a long time as I had to flip the wrench between each stoke which wasn’t much. A very SMALL wrench will be helpful here as the suspension arm is in the way.

14. OK, everyone is tight now, plug the switch wire back into the switch, connect the oil pressure wire to the sender and re-install the air box. I chose to run the oil pressure wire along the top of the engine along the harness under the black padding and secured with Tye Wraps.

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15. Run the gauge backlight illumination wire over to the center console. Pull up the plate on the center console to access connector C307 (Automatic Transmission Shifter Selector Connector). This is one of the FEW connectors that Ford did not optimize out of the harness in the Boss and contains the wire for panel illumination circuit. I stripped the wire back about ½ inch and inserted it into pin 4 on this connector. If you acquire a 12 pin dual row header with .1 inch centers, you can plug directly in to this connector. I will eventually get the mating connector and use a crimp pin but this is good for now. I taped the wire down and then taped up the connector so that the wire could not come out and the end was covered. No wire cutting… This is the wire that you will connect to the "+" side of the gauge backlight. The gauges are a bit too bright when you connect both gauges directly to this signal so a 100 Ohm 1/4 Watt resistor should be added in series with this wire to allow the new gauges to more closely match the instrument panel brightness. You can solder it to the wire and then poke the other end of the resistor into the connector or solder it to your 12 pin header.

16. I ran all of the wires along the main wire harness and used tye wraps to secure. These ran over to the driver side and then up the “A” pillar to the new gauge pod area.

17. Remove the original “A” pillar cover by pulling down on it at the rear edge above your left shoulder when you are sitting in the car. It is held in with four clips and if you start at the rear edge, they will pull out as you go. The front has two fingers that plug into the dash so just pull down on the rear edge and then disengage the fingers from the dash.

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18. Run the wires up the “A” pillar and then into the new “A” pillar cover. I made two small harnesses for each of the wires that went to both gauges (power, ground and panel illumination). ALL connections to ring and quick connects are soldered and covered with heat shrink tubing. I did this by removing the plastic covering on each connector by cutting it off and then soldered the wire to the connector. Make sure to insert your heat shrink tubing BEFORE you solder as you will have to un-solder it to add if you don't. You might get lucky with the quick connect terminals as they are small enough but not so with ring terminals. You want heatshrink that will shrink nicely over the quick connects but bond nicely to the wire. NO CRIMPS for safety and reliability.

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19. Insert the quick connects on the rear of each gauge per the supplied instructions. I had to wrap a layer of electrical tape around each gauge to secure it into the pod as they were slightly too small to stay put.

20. Re-connect the battery and verify that the Voltmeter functions when the key is turned to “On”.

21. Start the beast and verify that the oil pressure gauge is functional. Starting this thing cold yields 95-100 PSI on my gauge. Warmed up and idling drops it to around 30-40PSI.

22. Time for a Hefeweizen or three.
 
jneary said:
3. I ran red wire to the Smart Junction Box on the passenger side and used a mini add-a-circuit to tap into a switched power fuse that was not used but switched on via the key. This turned out to be Fuse F32 (Parking Aid Module power which the Boss does not have). The only problem with this method is that the fuse cover can’t be re-installed using the mini add-a-circuit so I will be ordering some pins to add a wire to connector C2280D (main harness connector which carries this circuit located at the bottom of the Smart Junction Box) so that I can get power out from that fuse without leaving the cover off. I’ll post an update when I get that done.
Nice work. I'm in for the update on this as adding a oil temp sensor to my existing Aeroforce gauge is on my Winter III mod list.
 

jneary

Performance Fords
323
0
Norcal
Ford doesn't sell the pins for connector 2280D. Looks like a wrecking yard item. Ill keep looking for the manufacturer but the Ford parts guy said that he has to order large quantities of these type of things and even then, its tough to figure out what the exact part number is. I guess they dont have many harnesses go bad these days.
 
I tried to use a sandwich plate to mount the sensor but I could not get that thing to seal correctly. It leaked like a stuck pig

Nice writeup and pictures! Which plate did you try that leaked?
 

jneary

Performance Fords
323
0
Norcal
I bought it from Glowshift racing. It appeared to fit correctly but I just couldn't get it to seal to the water to oil cooler properly. I like the "T" fitting much better for the pressure gauge and switch sensors. There might be something that I am doing wrong but I could not figure it out so i bailed on that plan. The part looks correct, the seal has no cracks but....


John
 
Excellent post and great photos for a "how to." Thanks for the effort.

It does look very nice. Please update with the resistor value for the lighting.


JJ
 

jneary

Performance Fords
323
0
Norcal
jjgi5150 said:
Excellent post and great photos for a "how to." Thanks for the effort.

It does look very nice. Please update with the resistor value for the lighting.


JJ


Looks like 100 Ohms 1/4 Watt will do the job.
 

jneary

Performance Fords
323
0
Norcal
Sorry, i have been out of town. It does not have a brand on it. it is a 12 pin dual row (6 pins X 2 rows) .1 inch centers connector. A dual row header will work if you wrap in in tape. The one that I really want to find the pins for is connector 2280D on the Smart Junction Box. I plan on buying a wrecking yard harness to get the pins from. I might also buy the Automatic shift lighted console also to get the mate to the center console connector.

John
 

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