Aftermarket Gauges + Custom Sensor Bung DIY!

[HotDoggin]

VERY well done. i may be borrowing some of your ideas. I REALLY like the harness. mind posting up a schematic for it? i'll add this to the DIY forum as well! again, great job man!

Thanks for the props! Anxious to see this in the DIY zone!

The harness was a really easy setup - 3 individual "sensor leads" from the gauges to the sensors, plus a combined ground line. I chose to take my common ground line (between all three gauges) and ground it to the engine immediately at the xlr jack mount point).. Because you have 4 leads, if you wanted to make sure the gauges and sensors were all grounded to exactly the same point (to eliminate any rouge charge differences that may exist between one grounding point and another) you could easily run the ground all the way back into the driver's compartment.

That's all there is on the "engine side" for the gauge harness.

As far as what is in the gauge side that connects to the engine, look up a few posts - the gauge wiring requirements are listed, and this is exactly how I wired my pins (again, combining common elements such as 12v+, 12v+ accessory, ground, etc). I think you get 5 leads per gauge (if my memory serves me correctly), and all of the power/ground leads will be combined, with the unique signal line. So, total count for wires through your D-sub connector, should be in the neighborhood of 7 if I am not mistaken. (for 3 gauges).

If you want a specific diagram, I can sketch one up... pretty easy though!

[ducky328i]

i understand it, but a schematic diagram of the wiring would be pretty useful once in the DIY section for people in the future who may or may not be able to get a hold of you for questions. i'll go ahead and tow this there. you'll still be able to add to and edit your posts accordingly...

[m2pc]

+1 for a great seller. I received his oil distribution block last week and I got all the sensors from ProSport.

It's very well constructed -- I couldn't be happier!

[HotDoggin]

All -
This is for my prosport gauges and current setup.

As it stands now, I am having some very very minor issues that I need to troubleshoot in order to 100% finish this install (gauge color issue and "boot order" for gauges)..

A few points worth noting -

1) Pin denotations on the diagram are far less critical than keeping whatever pin you choose matched with the appropriate gauge all the way through your chain (4+ connectors!)...

2) Your 12V+ sources (both ignition and headlights) need to be a full 12V+!! There are far more 'dimmed' 12v+ lines in the interior of the E36 than solid 12v+ headlight lines... do not get these mixed up!)

3) In the case of these performance series gauges, everything but the individual sensor leads can be combined before leaving the gauge cluster. This includes both the 12V+ ign lines..

Any questions please feel free to ask. Hopefully my handwriting is legible!

Lastly - If anyone can help me remember color coding for the E36 wiring scheme, it would be greatly appreciated!

Ground: brown
12V+ Ignition/Switched: needed
12V+ Headlight Switched: needed

As always - questions, concerns, comments etc - Keep em' rollin! I am also still happy to make an oil distribution block to order!

[M3C]

Very well done and clean job.

[HotDoggin]

A quick update for those using prosport gauges with HIDS installed in the vehicle..

I am unsure as to the root cause for this problem (could be the line I pulled out of the dash), however when the prosport gauge are installed and switch colors from which to amber when your parking lights are on, they acted fine.
When I would flip the switch to headlight, the gauges would reset to white, and wouldn't cycle.

Bottom line I was having a voltage drop big enough to fool the gauges into restarting.

My solution? I added 1000uF 35v capacitor and a simple diode (to provide 'gauge exclusivity') inline in my power source before the gauges so that it would help bridge the initial voltage drop when the headlights and dash lights were all instantly powered on at the same time.

When wired in, this should alleviate any issues you may be having. Furthermore, you could step the cap up to 2500uF, 35v if you'd like to add any more protection or increase linger time after you turn the key off (There is essentially no linger time with the setup now...

[TR6 Rob]

Any tricks to drilling/tapping the head to add the coolant temp sensor? My concern is shavings dropping inside. My coolant pump is stainless so not worried about that but shavings could get stuck in thermostat??

[HotDoggin]

Any tricks to drilling/tapping the head to add the coolant temp sensor? My concern is shavings dropping inside. My coolant pump is stainless so not worried about that but shavings could get stuck in thermostat??

Oh god - Never drill the head...
There are plenty of adapters floating around to remove some of the unnecessary factory lines that run through the throttle bodies and replace the M10 thread in the head with the appropriate 1/8" NPT or whatever you choose for your gauges..
(like this: https://www.harrisonmotorsports.com/...r-adapter.html )