Dakar09

Thanks for the info pbfz.

I had thought of hooking the two wires to the same source, but have never seen a gauge hooked up like that...hence my hesitation. I'll try it later.

But you noted an add-a-tap to your fuse box in the kick panel. Did you just insert a prong into the "hot-side" of the fuse opening for your ACC power choice? You don't think hooking up both wires to the ACC power for the 4x4 switch would be detrimental?

This should work though, then it's a matter of hooking up the blue wire for the gauge ligthing change at night.

Thanks again.

pfbz

Keep in mind that this is a MECHANICAL boost gauge. The only thing that draws current are the small multi-color LED lights in the gauge. The have a very low current draw. Almost nothing.... I don't know how many LED's are in the gauge, but small illumination LED's pull ridiculously low amounts of power, usually less than 20mA per led.

Further, it is really only the red wire that pulls any current. The LED's are bi-color that can run white or blue. The blue and white wires just 'trigger' the led to change mode and switch from white to blue.

So no, there should be zero problem hooking up to any existing switched 12V power source as the gauge will provide almost no additional power drain.

I'm not sure which wire you are talking about when you say "the ACC power for the 4x4 switch". Looking at the wiring diagram for the 4x4 switch, I see a violet/brown that should be switched 12V and o.k. to use. It's a 10A circuit and the LED's won't even be a blip for it.
There is also a violet/gray wire that is the dimmer circuit. DO NOT use this one.

I prefer not to use the prong-type wire taps if I can avoid it. They work great 99% of the time, but I've also seen them cause problems when they cut the wire a bit to far, especially if they are later removed, so I'll usually wire to the fuse box. But tons of people just use those squeeze-on taps with no problems.

If you do tap into the fuse box, yes, you use the before-the-fuse side to pull the power. Pull the fuse, turn on the ignition, and you can see which side has power without the fuse. Add the tap to that side.

There are a bunch of different style fuse taps, this is the kind I used:

Dakar09

Thanks for the help, dude. The 2 wires (red and white, in my case) tapping from the same +12v ACC worked perfectly. I am using the switched 12v power to the 4x4 switch, VT-BR, indeed, so there is no issue with the gauge's power now. I appreciate the input.

I knew this was a mechanical gauge, but forgot it was LED lit, hence the different wiring setup than I am used to for gauges. I'm pretty well versed in tapping fuses, running wires, grounding, etc. I was using the exact same thing you posted a pic of.

I had wired a Glowshift boost gauge into one of my other cars before, but that called for tapping the fuse for +12v power and the headlight switch for the lighting. So even that was a bit different than than the Roush one. I'm thinking they should change the instructions to indicate the Red and white (or blue) need to be wired together, as you instructed.

This is the cluster I built from scratch (before wiring in my fuel injection and ignition systems). These are all basic, backlit VDO gauges, except for the speedo, including the mechanical boost gauge. But even this one just needed a +12v and ground for the lighting, 2 wires. yes, it all works :

chrisg

I hope this doesn't come across as a dumb question.... will this works with the eco boost engine? Wouldn't mind getting one. Thanks

B2E2RUN

This is for the ecoboost.

TurboWeldEng.

Where did you route your vacuum tube through the fire wall?

Dakar09

There's a major harness grommet on the firewall below the master cylinder area...that's where I routed mine through. Just make sure to keep the vac light tight so it doesn't go near the steering column.

rphillips1217

This might be a stupid question, but does roush provide enough wiring from the gauge itself to get to the passenger side fuse panel, or did you have to twist the two wires (power and color choice) together, solder them to a single wire, and run that to the fuse panel/fuse tap?

Planning on doing this tomorrow lol

Dakar09

They don't provide enough wire to reach the fuse panel. I would just do a twist and crimp coupler there..it doesn't draw a lot of juice at all. But, soldering never hurt anyone...unless you burn yourself on the iron :P

On a side note...this gauge/pod grab a lot of attention from people in the truck....almost everyone thinks it's stock, that's how good the fitment is.

GTS FX2

Does the lighting on this roush boost gauge dim and or get brighter when you adjust the dimmer switch for the instrument panel?
Could this gauge be wired to the headlight switch wiring to achieve that?