I'm about to add some gauges to the van. After reading what everyone else has done, I've decided to take a somewhat different route than "normal"...a bad habit of mine. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif[/img]
First, the tach. As much as I like the simplicity of the AIC solution, I hate digital gauges. Add to that, I can't ever see using the idle controller, so it's a lot of money for a solution I don't like.
After doing a little research, I think I've come up with a nice matching 4 gauge solution (analog tach, pyro, boost, tranny temp).
On my truck, I've got Autometer Z-Series gauges. They're not fancy, but they're cheap and work great. As it turns out, they also make a Z-Series 2 1/6" tach with a 5K RPM limit (model 2697) - a little high on the RPM scale, but much more reasonable than the 7-10K limits on most gas engine tachs. The trick is to make it work on a diesel. According to a few posts I found, this is possible with a pretty simple hack.
First, you afix 2 magnets to the harmonic balancer or crank pulley - similar to some of the diesel specific tach solutions I've seen. I'll use a couple small alarm magnets; you can get powerful rare earth magnets that are about the size of a shirt button.
Second, you afix a simple and cheap 12VDC inductive proximity switch sensor (
here's a link to one for $10). You then wire the proximity sensor to the electronic gauge, but here's the twist - you configure the gauge for a 4 cylinder engine. The reasoning (quote from a Usenet post):
You have to set the tach to 4-cylinder mode because on a gas engine, the points fire one time per cylinder per 2 revolutions of the crank. That means that in a full 4-cycle cycle, the points fire 4 times for 2 revolutions of the motor. This means that the points fire twice per each single revolution. If you place 2 magnets 180-degrees apart on your diesel, it will simulate the points closing twice per revolution and will indicate the proper RPM.
So, with the technical part out of the way, on to the mount.
I don't like pillar mounts, and even if I did, I'm not willing to give up the grab rail on the 2003. I've got a Rockin S Pod in my '97 (link in my sig), and I really like the location (up high between the visors.) I'm thinking of building one of these with 4 holes, if it will fit between the visors. Basically, it's just a box that's covered to match the interior color, and you drill a few holes in the headliner trim to run the wires through. I'll model something up out of cardboard to see if it fits and how good the visibility is.
Other than aesthetic opinions on the gauge location, anyone see any fatal flaws with the above?
Bill
Linear Mode
