Well, today is the day...I'm going to install my Defi Red Racer gauge!

I'm going to try to follow the install guide that's posted in the how-to section on this site. I just have a few questions that I wasn't able to answer by looking at the how-to guide. I understand that using the white wire is optional, but the black wire (grounding) is not and it was unclear where this wire should go. The op of the how-to guide said that he routed it to a bolt, but which bolt? I'm pretty new to installing electrical addons so I'm going to need crystal clear instructions lol.

I'm also planning on installing the gauge pod on the a-pillar but I haven't been able to find any instructions for this type of install. Has anybody here done this? I'm just trying to figure out how to run the wires to the gauge inside the car without it looking ghetto lol!

I'm also a little iffy on the whole t-fitting/hose bit. Does anybody have any better instructions and/or pictures of this part of the setup that I can use as a reference? Again, I'm new to this so any and all help would be great!

Any and all help is much appreciated! Thanks in advance...

 

Sorry, my knowledge of wiring is about as extensive as yours, mainly because I hate it...

But as far as mounting the A-Pillar bezel. Is it just a snap over the factory one? If so, you prob will have to drill a hole in the factory pillar cover to run the wires and use good and strong 3M double-sided tape to hold it on.

The T-Fitting is used to intercept the line to your MAF i believe, thats how it was on my integra, pull the rubber hose off the fitting on the MAF, put it on one side of the top portion of the T, on the other side of the top portion of the T (horizontal line, not vertical in the T) will be the rubber hose that runs to the gauge itself, then at the bottom of the T (vertical part) run the rubber hose back to where the MAF was originally installed.

This way the Gauge can get an accurate reading of the amount of boost that will be read by the MAF. Just remember man, there is really nothing you can mess up here,as long as you remember where things go if you remove anything (ie the hose from the MAF), so dont be nervous, you will only fail if you are nervous. Trust yourself and your abilities. If you cant get it wired, hook everything back up to stock, no harm no foul. Whereas me ripping apart my headlights had me shaking in my little booties lmao.

 

Cool, that helps a bit! Oh, I don't doubt my abilities...this thing is getting installed, and correctly, today lol!

The hardest part for me is going to be routing the sensor wire. I'm sure once I get to the t-fitting and hoses I'll see what I need to do there. I don't really want to drill any holes so maybe I'll just mount the gauge on the steering column like everybody else Hopefully that won't be too difficult to do.

Thanks!

 

Ok. so I put the orange wire and the red wire (I'm not using the white wire) into their proper fuse sockets (orange is cig lighter and red is in power door locks) and I grounded the black wire to a screw just behind the hood release latch. I plugged the wire into the back of the gauge and started the car and nothing happened!!!

I haven't done the sensor stuff yet, but the lights and stuff should still turn on in the gauge, yes? I'm just trying to make sure that I have all the electrical stuff done properly before I continue on with the install.

Please help lol!!!

 

First, don't listen to slvrgsr.
Second, you can't put the black wire to any bolt. It has to be grounded. Make sure whatever bolt you place it on is touching the frame. Easy way to test that is with a test lamp.
Third, make sure the fuses you tapped into will work. Make sure you got constant power and ignition. Easy way to check is with a test lamp again. Ground one side of the lamp out and with the other end touch the fuse you believe is constant power WITH THE KEYS OUT OF IGNITION. if the light lights up then it's constant and will be fine to tap into.
Then find a fuse you believe to be ignition and use the test lamp on it. If it doesn't have power with the keys out and has power once you turn the key, it will work.

For the "t" do not tap into the line goin to your intake pipe. Tap it into a vac line on the intake manifold. Most people use the FPR line. Just cut it down the middle, place the t in place and run the gauge hose to it.

Edit: if you dont understand, theres a pretty good video on installing a prosport gauge. I'll look for it real quick and post it here.
Also, you should use the white wire. I never used it before untill recently. Much better, it dims at night so it's not blinding and during the day it's nice and bright. Wish I would have used it before...

 

Here you go. Fastforward to about 3:15 where he begins the wiring. Don't pay attention to the colors as those might be different then what your gauge uses just pay attention the te method in finding what to tap into.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB1rX...e_gdata_player

 

Thanks for the info and finding that vid, it helped!

I sorta gave up on the install yesterday so I'll start again fresh today. I should be able to test the gauge electronically without connecting any of the sensor connections to the gauge though, correct? Just to make sure that all the wires are in properly before I start running the sensor wire to the engine bay.

Also, which bolt did you use for grounding? It's pretty tight in that fuse box area, but there is a bolt or two that I could try using in there unless there's a better one that I'm overlooking.

 

I dont have an Evo 10 so I couldn't tell you. Almost any bolt you see back there that goes to a metal bracket should work. If you go to an autoparts store and buy a wiring kit it will make every thing easier and for future installs also. The kit I'm talking about is cheap but comes with connectors, taps, wire strippers/crimpers and a test light. The one i got was around 13$ and makes wiring much much easier, specially with that test lamp.

But yes, you can wire everything up with out the sensor hooked up and should work. What you can do is jut hook up the constant and ignition wires with the ground not hooked up. Then grab the ground and touch the bolt you believe to be a good ground and see if the gauge lights up. If not then try on another bolt.