I should know better to disclose this, but sitting here thinking
about it is driving me up the wall.
I installed my new Auto Meter boost gauge last night and all
went well, except for one thing.
There are only 2 wires, 1 black (ground), 1 white (hot).
Hooked them up, black to ground, white to fuse box, NO
LIGHT. Pulled white and ran to hot side of battery, leaving
ground where it was, and , you guessed it, LIGHT WORKS.
Tried every fuse in fuse box, NO LIGHT, removed and ran to
hot side of battery again, and yep, LIGHT WORKS.
I know this sounds strange, but no matter what I tried, even
starting the truck, NO LIGHT, when attached in the fuse box.
Ever heard of such a thing ?

Marc

 

You sure your making good connection in the fuse box? It the truck runs, you'll find a "few" that have 12V. Unless ofcourse your ground is somehow tied to a coil circuit that is at 0V when the truck is off, +12V when it's on thus giving you a 0V potential across your two leads. You do have it grounded to a piece of METAL right? Not depending on a ground "wire" you found...

Just tie the ground wire to the frame, and pick upo your 12V lead from the back of the ash tray light. This will dim the lights in you meter along with the dash lights.

 

Ground is the the frame. I tried every fuse in the box, even pulled
the one for the insturment panel lights, with it out the lights
would not come on, thought good, found one, stuck the wire in
good, reinstalled fuse, insturment panel lights came on, but
NO BOOST METER LIGHT...
Removed hot wire from fuse box, ran to battery, METER LIGHT ON.
Impossible I know, but factual.

Marc

 

Do you lights in the dash come on but not you meter light with the wire attached to the dash light fuse?

 

yes they do
Marc

 

Have you got a volt meter? If so, probe the wires to see what voltage you are getting across the two wires and then from chassis ground to the hot wire. It better be 12V from chasis to the hot wire IF your dash lights are ON. If not, you don't have a good connection to the fuse.

 

It sounds as though your Auto Meter boost gauge may have a high resistance. The other circuits you're trying to tap into may have lower resistance and they're getting the voltage. Do the instructions indicate that the boost gauge can run in parallel with another circuit or does it need to have it's own circuit (run in series)?

 

Silver,

They are all parallel circuits. I honestly can't understand why a TWO wire installation (in which ONE of the wires is grounded) is causing a problem. Just hhook the HOT wire to the back of the ash tray light and see if that works. BTW, you don't happen to have the dash lights dimmed all the way do you? I know, I know, stupid question, but...

 

If all else fails, it is probably a loose wire or ground connection in the guage itself. Did you install any other guages with this one? If so, try the circuit that works for that one, if it does not, bad guage.

 

Under the dash is a plug for the brake control. Use it - it has a constant hot (black), a ground (white), a wire that goes to the brake pin on your plug (blue), a brake/stop light wire (red) and a dash light wire that should dim with your lights (brown).

Check your color code - I believe that's what they are. You'll have to use a factory harness/plug - aftermarket does not have the dash light wire. You may have to put the fuse under the hood for it so it has power - if you are going to use it for a constant power source.

The plug should be right about where your right knee is under the dash.

 

I wired all my gagues up with the same circut as the headlights. the switch thats behind the dash, just taped into it and it works great.
I've never in my life dimmed the dash lights, so thats not a big issue with me. I just want them to go on with the dash lights and the do.