As part of my continuing 100K mini rehab/restore, I added pillar mounted water and trans temp gauges to my '99 XL 4X4 4.2. What follows is not necessarily a step-by-step procedure, but more of a general guide on how I installed the gauges.




I chose the Autometer GS electric full sweep water (#3855) and trans (#3857) gauges mounted in an Autometer dual pod pillar (#17304, fits '97-'01) for this project. The sensors were mounted in Autometer's 5/8" Heater Hose Adapter (#2280) and Temperature Manifold Adapter for 3/8" OD trans lines (#2286). The pillar was painted with Colorbond #115 (Med Prairie Tan), which is a good match for the light tan in my truck's interior. I installed a 9-pin plug in the harness at the dash, so the pillar/gauges can be easily removed.




Mounting the gauges

The Autometer gauge pod is designed to fit over the stock A-Pillar cover, which it does very nicely. The gauges are a press fit into the guage pod, but I had to cut off the two brass mounting screws from the back of the gauge to get them to seat properly in the pod.

The gauges are a little too long for the pod, so it was necessary to notch the stock cover for the upper gauge, and cut away part of the stock cover for the lower gauge. The hole cut for the lower gauge was cut a little oversize to allow room the the gauge wiring.

Wiring these particular gauges was a snap, as they came with connectors which plug 5 wires (2 for sensor, 1 each for power, lights, ground) into the back of each gauge. I ran the five wires from the top gauge down to the bottom gauge, where I connected the power, lights and ground wires from the two gauges together. This left me with a total of 7 wires leaving the pillar (2 wires for each sensor, 1 for power for both gauges, 1 for lights for both gauges, and 1 for ground for both gauges).




Since the wires supplied with the gauges were too short and were the same color for both sensors, I cut the harness at the lower gauge and spliced on longer wires, also changing the color (blue/black for water, brown/black for trans).

After numerous test fits to make sure everything would assemble properly, I removed the gauges and wires and painted the pillar cover. Prior to painting, the pillar cover was washed several times with soap and water and lightly scrubbed with a scratch pad. Adhesion Promoter (2 light coats) and Colorbond Leather, Vinyl and Hard Plastic Refinisher (4-5 light coats) was then sprayed.

Autometer supplies 6 "christmas tree" plugs to hold the two pillar covers together, but I decided I wanted something a little more solid so I used some 3M Body Moulding tape.

 

Installing the sensors

The sensor for the water temp was installed in the heater inlet hose. I used the Autometer adapter because it is so clean looking, although an adapter could also be made up at the hardware store for less than half the cost.

When I went to install the sensor into the adapter, I noticed the probe on the sensor was slightly too long for the adapter. I fixed this problem by drilling into the adapter to give the probe more room. I put a threaded sleeve into the adapter and drilled through the sleeve to protect the threads of the adapter (9/32" drill fit perfect).




On the 4.2, the heater inlet hose is on the top front of the motor and very easy to get to. After draining the radiator, I cut out a 1" peice of the heater hose and installed the adapter.




The sensor for the trans temp was installed on the trans fluid output line. I chose a spot where the line runs across the truck, just behind the lower radiator brace. There's room to work at this location (after the skid plate is removed), and the radiator brace is close by to mount the sensor manifold to.

The sensor manifold seems a little heavy to be just hanging on the trans line, so I bent up a quick bracket out of some aluminium I had laying around.




I used a General 123 mini tubing cutter to cut a 3 3/4" piece out of the trans line. The first cut was made under the truck (watch out for trans fluid when the cut is made), the second cut was made out of the truck. Disconnecting the trans line at the top of the radiator prior to making the first cut will give you a little more room to work.




The bracket was then screwed to the radiator brace, and the lines were tightened into the manifold.

 

Wiring Harness

As usual, it's a good idea to disconnect the neg cable at the battery before messing around with any wiring ...




All the wiring for the gauges was put into a harness, so the install would be as tough and reliable as the factory wiring. The pic below shows the back of the completed gauge pod, a nine pin plug (only 7 pins used) to separate the pod from the harness, and the harness. The red and white wires are for gauge power and lights (not in a loom yet), the green tape on the harness is where it goes through the firewall, and the loom stops where the harness goes behind the harness cover on the engine side of the firewall. The harness then T's with wires running down to the water sensor (the spade is for the "good engine ground" called out in the Autometer installation instructions). The other part of the T are the brown/black wires for the trans sensor (they hadn't been put in a loom yet when this pic was taken).




The harness was fed down through a hole at the corner of the dash ...




through the rubber plug in the firewall, next to the brake booster ...




across the firewall w/ the main harness ...




and out to the sensors ....

 

Finishing it up

The gauges are powered by putting an add-a-fuse (w/ 2A fuse) in fuse #8 (radio ... on w/ ignition) and connecting it to the red gauge power wire. The fuse box cover had to be trimmed slightly to clear the add-a-fuse.




The gauge lights are powered by tapping into the lt. blue w/ red stripe wire at the headlight switch, which will allow the gauge lights to dim with the rest of the dash lights. I added a 2A fuse to the gauge light wire.

When I tested the lights, I discovered that while the gauge lights dimmed with the rest of the dash lights, they were way too bright.




MGDfan suggested I add 1N4001 diodes to the gauge light wire until the lights were dimmed to my liking (Thanks MGDfan ). I ended up using 11 of the little suckers before the gauge lights were more in line with the rest of the dash lights.




Project Notes:

My goal on all mods to my truck is to make them appear (as much as practical) like a factory option.

Performing mods to my truck is a hobby to me and I very much enjoy the whole process (planning/getting parts/installing). As a result, I spent several weeks (off and on) on this installation ... I'm sure these gauges could be installed in an afternoon.

Ford goes to great expense to make the electrical systems on our trucks tough, reliable and safe. My goal was to not compromise this system when adding to it, hence the use of fuses, soldered connections, shrink wrap, wiring looms, dielectric grease in connectors, etc.

 

Thanks for another great write-up and contribution to our site! I have copied it over to the Articles and How To forum and indexed it.

Thanks again!

 

WOW! Great write up. You could have saved me some headaches if this would have been done couple monthes ago.

 

OhMann , you suck


Great work as always Fairlaner, -your an inflammation for my "to-do" list.

Uhh, I think that was suppose to be Inspiration ^^

 

Very nice writeup!! I have debated adding a tranny temp gauge just because this inquiring mind wants to know..

 

Sir, you write some of the best how-to's I have ever seen. Thank-you for a very pleasurable read .

That installation looks outstanding!

( 11 diodes, lol! I've never had to use more than 3 or 4. Those must be some wickedly bright gauge illuminators ! )


MGD

 

Looks good, Nice writeup as always.

 

What a nice job, those look great

 

great write up!!

 

Thanks for all the kind comments ...

Jbrew, ... those gauges sat on a shelf in my closet staring at me for almost a year. They were an inflammation, uhh inspiration on MY to-do list

MGDfan, thanks for your help and the kind words about the how-to's. I'm basically a lazy guy, so if I plan on posting pics of my work, I'm motivated to do a little nicer job (trying not to embarrass myself on a public forum )

I knew I was in trouble w/ the gauge lights from the start when I tested them in broad daylight and they glowed like big green orbs. I cleaned out Radio Shack's supply of diodes in two towns ...

 

U-know, every-time I see an old sewing machine at a garage sale, - I think of your seats... Is that ate up or what!!

 

Pretty sad I've gotten the reputation all across America as a limp-wrist wuss