I have 97 F150 XLT ORP with all factory gauges.
What would cause the tach light to keep burning out?

Also I want to add an A-Pillar gauge mount. I have the factory gray int.
Whats the best paint to match the factory color and where do I get it?

As for gauges, I will be adding a trans. temp for sure. I want at least a 2 pod mount for looks or a 3 pod for function. How would you rate the following gauges for importance when towing:

Water temp.
Oil Pressure
Vac
Diff. temp.

Which of these should I get. If I dont 3 then I would prefer not to pay the extra $50 or so for a 3rd gauge. If I do need it then no problem but which 2 other gauges do I get to go with the trans temp.

Thanks for the help.

 

If you go with a Lo-Tek triple pod pillar you can get one that is already painted to match your interior. I just bought one from:

http://www.southfloridapulleyhq.com/...ek_pillars.htm

Don’t worry about it stating it is for a Lightning because all F150’s 97-03 (heritage 04) have the same interior’s, except seat material and some colored plastic. Also the price is about $10 or so more then if you bought an un-painted pillar pod.

Next, Autometer is an excellent quality gauge and the vast majority of people use them. They are very accurate. The best place for price to purchasing them is:

www.summitracing.com

You can either go with electrical or mechanical. It is best to go with electrical for a few reasons. One, they are easier to install then mechanical, two, you don’t have to worry about fluids coming into the cab of your truck, and third, they are just as accurate as mechanical gauges.

You mentioned you want to get a few temperature gauges. You can buy just one temperature gauge and then buy extra senders. The senders are what get mounted to the motor, transmission or differential and then the wire from the sender goes to the gauge.

If you look at the Autometer gauges you will notice that all their temperature gauges have the same sweep and temperature range. Thus you only need one actual gauge and then a switch to switch between the senders to read the temperature on one gauge.

I am going to install a water temperature gauge in my triple pod pillar. I am then going to install a SP3T (single pole triple throw) switch. So I will be able to select between reading the water temperature, oil temperature and transmission temperature. The water temperature gauge already comes with a sender and it cost me like $40. I bought two additional senders for $13.88. So I will have three temperature gauges for $68 or so.

For towing I would recommend water temperature, transmission temperature and if you want the differential temperature or you could go with oil temperature.

Oil pressure is a good one as well. For my Lightning I bought an oil pressure, water temperature (two extra senders for trans. and oil temperature) and a modified for WOT A/F (air/fuel) gauge.

If you go for buying extra senders you will want (if you buy Autometer gauges) part number ATM-2258.

Here is a good write up on gauge installs if you’re interested:

Gauge install

Here is a picture of two temperature gauges so you can see what I mean about the same temps and sweeps:



This is what an extra sender or what a sender looks like:

 

To give you a better idea of what I am talking about as far as wiring a SP3T switch for reading 3 different temperatures here is a rough schematic I drew up for my installation.

Note, there is another switch (SPST) for the lights. That way if I am driving at night and the gauge lights bother me I can turn just the gauge lights off.


* Updated schematic in post below.

 

That is excellent info. and exactly what I was looking for.
Thank you
Where did you get the additional senders. Did you buy all gauges and senders from summit?
Where did you buy lo-tek pod?
You also mentioned some paints for the autometer pod. Where can I get those. Local Autozone of through Ford?
Where did you get the diff. cover?
Thanks again for the info.

 

You’re very welcome…

I bought the extra senders and gauges from www.summitracing.com because they have the best price and very fast delievery.

I have a link in my first post for the Lo-Tek pillar pod:

http://www.southfloridapulleyhq.com/...ek_pillars.htm

Those pods at the website come already painted so you don’t need to paint them.

If you do need to paint it or a different pod then “Dupli-Color Vinyl and Fabric Color, VS-8 Medium Gray” seems to be the paint of choice by those who have painted there’s and they have been very happy with the color match.

I haven’t installed mine yet but read that using a hair blower to soften the plastic on the pillar pod might be needed to get it to fit nicely. I’ll have to wait and see but many have already done this so it shouldn’t be to much of a problem.

I have just the stock differential cover and I don’t plan on monitoring the differential temperatures. A few have done that and bought aftermarket differential covers where you could screw in the sender.

 

The wiring schematic is perfect. I have a couples of question though. Where did you pick up the ign. power. I see you got the power for the lights from the blue and red wire off light switch.
If you dont mind, I would like to copy your setup exactly. It is everything I need. I dont think I will go with a diff. temp gauge. By switching to 4.10 and using syn. lube it should be fine.
I will be using the 3 in 1 temp gauge set up as you did along with a vac gauge and an oil pressure gauge. do you find the oil pressure gauge to be more helpful over the stock one?
Is the oil pressure an electronic gauge or mech. like the vac and where did you install the sending unit?
The only real concern I have is installing the senders. The link you gave me stated there is already a hole for the trans temp in the pan. Is this the one you used.
Yours came out very good...would you mind driving down to CT to do mine for me. haha

 

Sorry I missed your post. I will try to answer some of your questions. First, I have not yet installed any of the gauges or wiring. I am currently putting everything together. I do have my gauges but still awaiting for the Lo-Tek pillar pod, SP3T switches, and brass fittings for the oil pressure sender install to arrive.

I am working on another schematic for the wiring diagram to make it, hopefully, a little more user friendly in how it depicts the actually wiring. I am also working on a drawing layout for all the brass fittings that I will use in order to use the location where the stock OEM oil pressure sender is and with the fittings I plan on installing to utilize that location for the OEM oil pressure, the Autometer oil pressure and Autometer oil temperature senders.

Once I get all this completed I plan on putting together, what I hope, will be a nice “How to” for installing aftermarket gauges. There is some real good information floating around here but nothing that is a complete how to with diagrams etc. it’s more bits and pieces.

However, I would note that Tim Skelton, a member here, has the best one I have seen to date here: Gauge install

Once I do get this complete, sometime this spring when it’s warmer out, I will post it here on F150online. Ok I’ll try to answer some of your questions:

I plan on picking up power with fuse #30 in the Passenger Compartment Fuse Panel. I noticed that Autometer recommends a 4A fast acting fuse for their A/F (air/fuel) gauge but not the others. Regardless I plan on using one 4A fuse between the fuse box and gauges. This will protect not only the gauges, which is important, but more important to insure your electrical system does not get damaged if you were to have a short. Easiest way is with a simple fuse holder you can purchase from Radio Shack.

I don’t mind at all and there is many combinations on gauges that work for what different people want.

*** Continued next post...

 

Some would argue that an oil pressure gauge is not really needed. They would state that since there is already an oil pressure gauge in the cluster there is no need for one. Some would also state that an oil pressure gauge is basically worthless because if you lose oil pressure what are you going to do anyway.

I would have to disagree and here is why. First, the oil pressure gauge in the cluster is nothing more then a dummy gauge. If your oil pressure is above, I believe 4 or 5psi it registers good. If it is below it registers bad. Personally I feel that oil pressure in the range of 5psi is pretty damn low to begin with and by the time it is low enough to register bad on the cluster you will more then likely have engine damage.

With an oil pressure gauge (mine is electrical) I will be able to monitor the “actual” oil pressure and after a little time will get to know what is a normal range. If it appears to be falling or out of what I might consider a normal range I will have much more advance notice of a problem before the “dummy” gauge in the truck tells me.

This is the same for water temperature. The water temperature gauges in our trucks don’t move very much at all. They either appear to be at normal operating temperature or cold on start ups. Monitoring oil temperature, oil pressure, water temperature and even transmission temperature can help let a driver know if there is a potential problem well before the “dummy” gauges in the cluster.

Granted, the newer trucks have a fail safe for overheating which shuts down half the cylinders but I would rather know, by monitoring a real gauge, that there is a potential problem before my motor kicks itself in to a failsafe mode.

I figure I will have about $200 or so into this complete install, some would consider it a waste of money while others, myself included, consider it very cheap insurance.

My Lightning has the 4R100 transmission and there is a location to install a sender. I would imagine all the Ford transmission would have this option and you may want to post a question in the “Transmission” Forum asking where that location may be for your transmission.

I’ll update this post when I get some more information and drawings completed but please remember that I haven’t yet installed these and any diagrams or drawings I may post could be changed. I plan on getting a lot of digital photos to help explain and show things to make it easier to whom ever may want to do a gauge install in the future.

 

You may be wondering which type of gauge to go with as far as electrical or mechanical. I can tell you from a lot of reading I have done as well as personal experience in electrical that electrical gauges are just as accurate as mechanical when it comes to tolerances.

Now, the advantage of a mechanical gauge is they generally have a bigger sweep then do their electrical counterparts. Therefore, mechanical gauges are easier to read and read more accurate. In other words, on an electrical temperature gauge you may not be able to read a temperature of 205 degrees but rather either 200 – 210.

The advantage of electrical gauges is first they are much easier to install, they don’t have the tubes etc that are hard to route. Second you don’t have the possibility of oil, water or fuel entering your cab should one of the mechanical tubes rupture inside the cab. Granted the better brands come with braded hosing but nonetheless the possibility still exist.

Back in the 60’s and 70’s mechanical gauges were more accurate then electrical. However, in the 80’s and 90’s with advances in electrical components electrical gauges are now on par with mechanical and it’s really just a matter of choice.

 

Hey 01
When you get yours installed and the article wrote up send it to me and I'll post it on my site! Thats some pretty good thinking with the "3 in 1" temp. gauges. I had never thought about that before...
Sounds like it should work...If it don't, then we will always think that it should have!

 

I have done that 3 in 1 before on some test equipment I designed at work. However, with the gauges I have to give credit where credit is due and that would be Tim Skelton, a member here.

Here is his link - Gauge install

He has a lot of other excellent information as well. You should check it out…

Once I am done I would be happy to forward you what I have. Nothing better then sharing information with others. I have learned a lot from this site and others so its always great to give something back…

The three in one temperature gauge will work no problem. Tim has it in his set up. The temperature gauges, the senders, are doing nothing more then sending and electrical voltage and with the switch you simple selecting which voltage to view on the gauge. Since the Autometer water/oil/trans gauges are all the same ranges it works out great. You not only save money but have the ability to have more gauge readings then would be possible with just individual gauges…

That is also the other advantage electrical have over mechanical...

 

Thats a nice article Tim wrote up. I have learned a lot form this place too...It is unknown the hours and dollars that I have saved from here!

 

Very nice article, however I have to disagree with you on the comment: "It is unknown the hours and dollars that I have saved from here!"

Actually, it's unknown the dollars spent by me because of this site...

 

Here is a better schematic that I think makes it easier to understand the wiring:

 

Boy, are you gonna hear about it once a certain member here reads this "blasphemy". No way electrical gauges can be as accurate or good as mechanical - he said so !!!

Seriously, the Autometers are good and easy to install. They also make a series of electricals that have the 270* sweep, just like the mechanicals.