Lazarus-F150

I've had my F150 for a couple of years and just love it, so I want to make sure that I'm not missing any indicators that something is going wrong, so I want to install some aftermarket gauges and I was hoping to get some thoughts. I have been thinking about going with an Autometer three gauge pillar with a water temp gauge, and an oil pressure gauge, but I'm undecided about the third gauge. Should I go with vacuum, fuel pressure, air/fuel ratio, a voltmeter, or something else????

Also, anyone have any videos/pics of installations or tips on installing the sensors? Any recommendations on where to bring the wires through the firewall?

Thanks!

Snaggletooth

I've been wanting to do this also. Pods on the pillar too. The dummy gauges in the dash just don't tell you enough.

Lazarus-F150

I'll be happy to take pics to document. Hopefully this will help keep my truck going for another 24 years!

Snaggletooth

I'd appreciate that. All the problems mine has had I'd like to keep a closer eye on it.

adabiri2

Mechanical guages are cheaper, more accurate, less prone to fail and usually straight forward install.

I bought housing plumbing stuff for water. I tapped into the heater hoses and ran the capillary probe through firewall easy. Buy a $3 pack of grommets as well at NAPA after you drill the hole in firewall, looks real professional and works handy since vibration will chaff the hard lines used in mechanical guage setups. Its a fairly large hole and grommet to be used, those mechanical guages have tubes that transmit the data. Buy a hard line copper tube, don't use the plastic line that comes with the oil psi guage, it bends easier and looks better, last longer. The copper lines are ususally a couple bucks more, sold seperately.

I bought a 3/8" NPT 3 way tee for the water. Just cut into the heater hoses and see what size plumbing stuff works best, it mite have been 5/16 NPT I cant remember right now but 3/8 sounds right. Off the Tee, I bought some 3/8(or wutever size it was) Unions. Unions just have threads on both ends with a shank in the middle, hollow tube with threads is all they are. Use the top port of the Tee for your gauge. Gauges come with a variaty of adapters in the package so you can adapt to it.

Oil pressure, I was lucky I kept an extension from my mustang engines in my tool box. Mustangs blocks are identical but for some reason, some 302's come with an extension from the oil port(for accesory drive clearance i think.)

Find your Oil PSI sensor directly beside the oil filter. You will need to unscrew it, it takes a large Metric socket to fit, its not typical 5 sided bolt/aparatus. Your gonna need the extension psi tube if you wanna keep your dash oil gauge and an aftermkt one too. If not, just use that port on the block for the new gauge.

I like to have both, so I used the oil port extension rube from mustangs and put a 2 tee on the end, fit the original oil psi sensr and the new mechanical guage one to it.

Its a 10" tube made of aluminum with flat sides on it so you can put a wrench on it to remove it. Idk why I kept it but I did. Some people just drill and tap these instead of my tee setup so they can run both gauges as well.


Lighting, you'll find in your headlight swtich, in the rear and white and blue wire(pretty sure) that dims your lights. Get a generic light tester and probe the back of the swtich till you find the right wire. That white and blue wire runs universal throught the whole dash for dimming lighting. Use that for your lighting wire. Your gonna need to make a ground yourself, I used a brace under the dash that fastens the dashboard to the firewall. I scraped the paint below to bare metal on the floor pan, stuck a round wire eye ring used for wiring on it and put the bolt back in. Soldered the ground to that wire i just setup. You can use 3m taps for wiring, its easier, I solder sometimes.

Get a vaccum gauge, it reads the health of the valve train. Again, tap into any line under the hood.

adabiri2

Get a Tee like this one with some unions on the ends and adapt your water gauge in the heater hose.

adabiri2

Here is the Oil Pressure Sending Unit Extension(official name), you can buy them new or find a JY or a mustang guy in local ads. It's a 1/8" npt port is all it is. This will allow you to use an adapter so you can use both gauges(dash and mechanical.) Otherwise the port on the block is too tight to fit a Tee into and your gonna use one guage or the other only.

Some people just drill and tap this for their gauge instead of putting a Tee on the end, less places for failure/leaks.