Request: DIY Oil Pressure Gauge Install
 

I'd love for someone to post a step-by-step install procedure for placing an oil pressure gauge in the three gauge cluster (replace voltage or clock). Obviously, interested in pics of how to install the pressure sensor and wire the thing.

http://www.the370z.com/exterior-inte...placement.html

LOL just saw you posted in that thread :facepalm:

Yeah, but nobody has really done it and documented the process!

Yeah AAM did it on Lou's car, but they aren't sharing. They did say that it was difficult though.

What do you think it tough...installing the gauge or the sensor? I wonder if there is a way to rig the sensor into the oil cooler tubing.

The sensor looks easy to install, just a couple 1/2" NPT fittings.

Physically installing the gauge into the dash is the hard part.

Definitely want to use a remote sender to make it easier. Running an oil line through the dash would be a PITA.

And risky. LOL

I've had a line bust before on an old Chevy of my brother's. Made quite the mess very quickly. Strangely enough the oil washed out.

This makes it look straight forward but doesn't really address removing the old gauge.

Well, today I started the investigation....
The very top piece is held on by 2 plastic pieces... IT IS NOT MEANT TO COME OFF, AND TAKING IT OFF WILL BREAK THE PIECES
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMAG0006.jpg
*THE NEXT PICTURE IS THE PIECE YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO REMOVE*
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...07modified.jpg
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMAG0007.jpg
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMAG0009.jpg
So the diagram from the book is wrong, what you actually want to take off via 2 plastic clips and the metal piece is the 2nd part down... stupid 370 book. This piece was easy to take out with a flat head screwdriver putting it in the crease between the plastic piece and the dash and just pushing up.

From there its very difficult to make progress w/o either taking the dash out, or coming in from where the stereo is. All the plastic clip on pieces (the grey inside liner, and about 2 or 3 more layers deep) all have clips on the top *and bottom*, and none of the bottom ones I could get off.
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMAG0008.jpg
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMAG0010.jpg

Here is a diagram showing clip locations, and possibly where the hidden ones are. I did not find a screw or clip in behind the gauge to hold it in, so that part is still a mystery.
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...08modified.jpg

Also included is a size comparison... Looks like a little custom work would be required to get my autometer a/f gauge to sit flush.
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/IMAG0012.jpg

This may help clarify where you should and should NOT lift on so you dont break the top part like i did.
green = good.

http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/Untitled.jpg

Eww sucks to learn the hard way like that.. At least it looks like you may be able to epoxy that top portion back on there.

+ Rep for doing all the R&D and taking one for the team! Hopefully Courtesy Parts has those top pieces so you can just replace them rather than glue.

Thanks for the photos! Is it possible to fully expose the gauge faces and LCD display (i.e., pop off the needle and remove the faces) without removing the entire gauge assembly?

I'm going to get some custom gauge faces made and change out the LEDs, so I'm hoping that popping off the cover is all that's needed.

Thanks!

not very easily. The problem is that there are usually 3 clips for each 'layer', of which 2 you can get to and 1 is on the bottom side. I just ordered my navtool, and will be taking out the nav unit, i'll let you know if you can get to the 3rd clip on the under side that way.

As of right now though and to the best of my knowledge, it would be quite a challenge.

We need an install for the defi 60mm's like Forged did. Those are the best looking ones one the market.

Oh yea, I never got around to looking inside the navi area. Please let me know how it goes. I'll probably change out the LEDs in the clock first. Too bad this is nowhere as easy as the 350Z. :mad:

after taking a look at the AAM install, it looks like all they did was remove the navi area... so this may be a win!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/...a8a2ccb429.jpg

Now as for getting it to mount in there, that may take a little work if your *only* removing the clock as per the depth issue and making it look similar to the others.

Taking a look at this, it looks as if the gauges are all 1 unit. epic fail?
http://www.courtesyparts.com/images/z34/z34_248-2.gif

Yea, I remember seeing that in the service manual that the gauge assembly is one piece. IIRC, AAM had to get into the dash to remove the gauges. I may be wrong on this one if one can get access to the screws from inside the navi area.

So get into the navi area to pop the 3rd latch of each gauge face? Hopefully that's enough to pop off the needles and gauge faces. I'm going to have Black Cat Custom work on the gauge faces.

This is definitely a summer project... let me know how yours go, and perhaps you can make a DIY on your own! I'll do the DIY LED gauge face swap :)

... thought i posted this earlier, but apparently not...
Contacted autometer about an A pillar gauge pod (not my first choice, but this is looking like a big pain).

Last weekend I took the screen out. Found one of the bolts that holds in the gauges and removed it. The entire unit did not budge at all. I think there is a second bolt way to the left that also would need to be taken out then who knows what else.

Frustrated and giving up on this one for the time being.:shakes head:

Are you trying to pull out the gauges from inside the navi area? I'm not sure if there's enough wiggle room. Is the first photo a single wire harness for the gauge cluster? We need to see if one of the guys from AA posted a DIY for the gauge clusters.

Also, were you able to peek underneath to see if you can get access to the bottom latch for the gauge bezel?

It's a pain... too bad it's nothing compared to the 350Z.

I was wiggled trying to see if the whole cluster was free at all. It wasn't, so looking at the Nissan drawing I think there is a screw/bolt on the left end, and that is prob very hard to get to. The picture of the white harness could be the wiring for those gauges, it was more of a 'let me stick my camera in here and take a pix to see whats up there' type of thing. I felt around to see if it was indeed the bottom of the gauges. I couldn't tell, so unfortunately no definitive answer on that. I think we need AAM to write something up since they have done it before.

If they had a reasonable (ie 100-150$) to take out the clock and put in my AF (i'll wire it, just mount it in there) I would go on over there for the day... AAM?

Triple Meter Follow Up
 

For anyone who is interested, getting to the triple meters is going to be a big pain in the butt. There are 40+ steps to take apart everything including the entire dash/console just to get to the triple meters. This is insanity compared to the 350Z. I haven't set aside time to take on this task, but definitely expect to have a few days of down time.

The attached graphic confirms that we need to get access underneath the dash (from behind) to remove the triple meters.

I think for the 370, something like this is the way to go as opposed to individual gauges-

http://www.zeitronix.com/images/dashdaq/DD.Display.gif

Zeitronix DashDAQ Display

It monitors all OBDII functions, wideband o2, and offers many optional additional sensors such as boost, egt, temp, pressure gauges, etc. Fits in the stock cubby, and the display is completely customizable. It even has a GPS option.

Digi, if you do get a good gauge mod done, I wanna see it br0! LoL I might try to beat 2theEx as your 1st customer LOL :tup:

Gauge modding is easy. Getting to it is the hard part.

I'd like to find something similar that will just plug into the video-in of my Kenwood HU. Now that would be sweet.

So does anyone know what the oil pressure warning light on our car is truly doing? A few people who have blown their coolers noted that the light either never came on or came on very late after the incident.

It would be nice if we could just use the stock input signal with an oil pressure gauge of our choosing. I'd happily put it on my A pillar or just to the left of the speedo cluster on my dash.

probably something like 5psi or below

We are doing a pretty trick setup on a customers 350Z Nismo TT install. I'll keep you guys updated on how it works out.

If all goes as planned, he will be able to monitor wideband a/f, boost, and all ECU-monitored sensors on a 7" Kenwood touch screen.

Does it involve HKS CAMP? That's the only thing I can think of. I like the Zeitronix 2 bar LCD, but it'll be nice if it was larger. I'm not a fan of fancy color displays because most of the designs are cheesy. I prefer simple bar graphs.

Anyhow, I'm looking forward to replacing the OEM cluster with Boost, Oil Temp, and Oil Pressure. The simple LCD display mounted in the cubby area would be nice for displaying other parameters like AFR and EGT.

dont the gauges run on canbus? did the lou set just extended and hide the 3 orginal gauge or did they actually cut the line to the 3 gauges?

Since I only have the 1 gauge, I decided to do some investigation.
In my last car I *hid* a gauge in the circle vent. It was great, still had air flow and I was able to close the vent to hide it when appropriate.
So I did some investigation on the Z, and although it would fit and mount nicely, you would lose the ability to hide it or redirection the air. The turny air redirector piece at the end of the vent is made so it screws into the bottom of the cup shaped holder. On my last car and I believe the mazda 3 it is a different design where it snaps into the top so it didn't have an issue like this. If I get some time and they have a mazda 3 or something else with circle vents at the junk yard i'll get a few and see if I can't rig something up. Dont hold your breathe though! Pix included.
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/SDC12562.jpg
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/SDC12563.jpg
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/SDC12561.jpg
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/SDC12560.jpg
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/SDC12564.jpg
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/SDC12565.jpg

Is the Mtn Dew helping? :D

Interesting... if I decide to go FI in about a year or so, I was thinking about boost, oil temp, and oil pressure in place of the stock gauges. As for AFR, I don't know where else to put it other than in the cubby holder or on the A-pillar. I've swapped LED colors for the combination meter, so it's probably better to get aftermarket gauges if I were to tear into the dash to get to the OEM gauges. It's the only thing that's still amber :-P

Well I decided to try and see if I could replace the stock triple gauges with some aftermarket gauges.

I can absolutely guarantee that the only way to access the triple gauges is to remove the entire dash and have access to the back of the dash. There is no room, no access to any of the screws that attach the gauges to the dash. It is a 47 step process that completely removes everything including the steering wheel, combination meter assembly and air bags.
Step 47 includes the removal of the triple gauge assembly. :eek:

The HVAC ventilator duct is basically in the way to have access to the rear of the dash, where the screws for the triple gauges are and it cannot be removed without removing the dash. Unless one destroys the ventilator piping to gain access to the rear of the dash, the dash has to be removed to gain access to the triple meter. Let me repeat, there is absolutely no room to do anything behind the dash without removing the dash.

Disappointing to say the least :mad:

Wow that stinks. I'm concerned about the tweeters since it's mounted to that whole dash panel. Did the wires get pulled when you lifted the dash? It definitely stinks the way things are designed there, and makes it hard to do maintenance work in the event of a failure of the gauges.

Never got that far into the project. Once I removed the stereo, front trim pieces and the passenger side trim parts, I realized that going any further was going to be a massive undertaking and abandoned the project.

I believe removing the tweeter trim pieces and removing the speaker can be accomplished without removing any other trim pieces on the dash.

Yea, I have aftermarket tweeters installed, so I was worried it would tug on the wire if I were to attempt to lift up the dash. When I worked on the combination meter, I didn't have to remove the steering wheel at all.

It'll be nice to be able to tilt the dash enough to get to the screws, but I've not done enough investigating to do so. I'm still determined to get the aftermarket set on (boost, oil press, and oil temp), but a shop will do that when the time comes :D

this was helpful as HELL..... How do you remove the Main cover over the Gauge behind steering wheel?