I'm looking into getting a guage for measuring voltage of the charging system. Saw some that are around $18-$35 and one that's has a numeric display of 0.1 increment. Not sure how readable is the $18 one but the pricing sure is appealing. Also how/where did you mount the guage? Did you have to get a housing for it? Thanks!

 

Not sure why you want to do this. But instead of spending money on this gauge and the gauge pod, go to a garage and ask them to measure the charging system. All they do is plug up a voltmeter(?) up to the negative and positive terminals of your battery with the engine running. This "voltmeter(?)" will then read what your alternator is pumping out. And this might cost you 2 dollars, where as 25 for the gauge pod, 50 for the gauge, and the un-needed labor is just not worth it. If anyone else thinks different, please post.

 

Yup I know about the charging system test at Autozone and couple of other places. I actually had it done couple of times while determining whether my electrical problem lies in the alternator or battery. I also have a multimeter but it doesn't serve the same purpose has a mounted guage.

What I wanted is a replacement or addition to the existing "idiot light" we have on the dashboard. It supposed to indicate a problem with non/low output from the alternator but it only lit up a second or two before my car died on the street because of a weak alternator and my battery that has been slowly loosing charge because of it.

I wanted to be able to keep track of the charging system at all time using the additional voltmeter guage. An ammeter would be nice also but non available to handle the 110amps output from the alternator. The guage would give me additional warning time about possible problems with my charging system so I wouldn't get stranded on the street again.

 

Ok, I got ya'. Go to Summit Racing and look for the Autometer gauges there. They sell a single gauge pod and also various voltage gauges. Go to www.autometer.com to look at the gauges and www.summitracing.com to buy them since they have good prices. Good luck.

 

Why not just buy yourself a multimeter so you can measure voltage, resitance, and all sorts of other things for diagnosing your car?

 

Dakota Digital has a few different versions...I have one of them. It's mounted where the clock used to be.

 

Yup I got the $30 one from Sears...pretty nice tool to have when I was diagnosing the problem related to my alt and battery. I actually was measuring people's batteries and their alt output at a recent mini meet in MA Now I'm done with the diagnosing and want a Monitoring device instead

 

Some of you don't know the diff from a GAUGE on the dash and a meter you hook up to look at something ONCE.

Just write FULL on a postit when you buy gas and put it on the dash! Thats the same idea as going to PEP boyz to check it one time.

*I* can appreciate putting a gauge on, idiot lights are named correctly. In the old days about all cars had an AMP METER on them. It didnt show the voltage on the system, but the current that the alternator was (or wasnt) putting out. Very useful. A voltmeter is not as good, (I think it is still possible to have 15v and not enough current), still a lot better than a stupid light.

I dont know where you'll put it in the Max. The dash is really not shaped right to put one underneath. Maybe somewhere under the radio? If you don't use that little pocket there under the radio a smaller gauge would fit there.

How to do it? EZ, You need current thats on when the car is on, a ground and a 12v source for dash lights. Tap off existing dash lights and it'll dim right along with the others. For the 12v source, find a wire that has 12v when the ignition is on, go from the fuse panel or just splice off the power to the radio. (You'd be better to try to gauge the voltage near its source so you dont introduce resistance of the wires to the gauge, so use a wire thats heavy enough to do the job) The ground can be off about any metal surface, or from the radio or fuse panel. Easy to find.

Good luck!

Jack

 

Autometer would be the best bet. You can get the ones the read in volts instead of .01. You do need a pod though.

 

I've got a Autometer single gauge pod with the "Phantom" Voltmeter. I did all the installation myself. It is very easy to do. I did take pictures of the install but have not developed the roll yet. As soon as I have it I will post pics & how-to's.

I did it primarily for cosmetic reasons. ALl other gauges needed to drill atleast one hole in the firewall and some required drilling a hole inside the oil pan screw or splicing inside your catalytic converter and what not...

This was very simple and gives my car a "NASCAR" look...

Just my .02

 

I have the autometer phantom one and it already died on me. I'm waiting for a new one... I don't even use it, I havge it because I wanted three gauges in the center and didn't know what else to get. I'm going to replace it with an A/F ratio gauge...

 

If you're gonna install the A/F gauge, please take some pics and post 'em. I would really like to know how you splice into the Oxygen sensor without screwing up the ECU? People have done it, but I think they got it done professionally...

 

"if" I do it then I'm not going to do the install myself

 

yah what I prefer is Both the volt and amp meter. Having only an ammeter can only tell you certain things. The good things are whether power is being drawn from the alternator or the battery and at what rate. Bad thing is there are couple ways to interpret the same needle position. The high charge rate needle position could either mean a low battery, which you hope for, or a bad voltage regulator, one you don't want. Or what if the needle is near the middle indicating not much charging is going on, but it could either mean battery is near full or either the voltage reg is bad or one of the diodes has gone, or simply a loose belt at the alternator. Plus another draw back is the wiring itself from the alt to the amp meter. It better be thick/good enough to handle all the current output from the alt, risking electrical fire inside the cabin.

dashingMax: please post those pics once the films are developed?

theblue: do you have pics of your existing guages?

max'n out: how do you like your digital gauge and how much did you pay for it?

Thanks all!

 

You Got It!!

 

You Got It!!