Smithers
01-11-2007, 09:20 AM
So at this point we are patiently waiting on out group buy to take place over at Lextreme.com. We'll be getting this ECU with a standard harness I believe which I'll be splicing for this application. Fun fun!
For gauges this ECU will be putting out a signal for use with any tachometer one would want to use. I have a leftover set of Autometer Titanium gauges from my old racecar so I'll be using those. If I didn't have them I would be buying an AIM LCD dash which displays everything you would need along with lap times and more. The speedo I use just hooks right up to the transmission itself so nothing will change there. The oil sensor just puts an on/off signal to the dash wiring so that can be sorted out without much trouble. I'll be picking up an oil temp gauge as I don't forsee any spikes in oil temperature with a regular 1UZ configuration that is not forced induction.
The factory temp gauge is a piece of shit and no one should ever trust it. They set those to go into the red zone at a very high temperature so when it gets to that point you're already screwed. You need to know exactly at what temp your engine is at or you just don't know if something is beginning to go wrong. I have, and recommend, an Autometer temp gauge that plumbs directly into the waterneck on the front of the engine. They have sensors that hook up with a wire from there to the gauge but I'll just be using a standard rigid line type gauge which is filled with Boron (i believe). You just can't bend the line too much and it doesn't disconnect. All this gauge install stuff is standard procedure on the race cars I used to work with and it's really not that hard. It's all detail work and is pretty fun.
If you want to ditch the speedo altogether anyone could wire a few new gauges in place of the dummy lights and stock gauges which really don't tell you much. My speedo is off anyways due to tire diameter so if I yanked it all out I wouldn't be bothered. I will be getting a Lowrance GPS in the near future and all the GPS units nowadays have very accurate speedometers built in. Heck, my friend has a Pioneer stereo in his Mitsubishi Evo that will display a digital tachometer needle which is pretty damn accurate as far as I can tell.
For gauges this ECU will be putting out a signal for use with any tachometer one would want to use. I have a leftover set of Autometer Titanium gauges from my old racecar so I'll be using those. If I didn't have them I would be buying an AIM LCD dash which displays everything you would need along with lap times and more. The speedo I use just hooks right up to the transmission itself so nothing will change there. The oil sensor just puts an on/off signal to the dash wiring so that can be sorted out without much trouble. I'll be picking up an oil temp gauge as I don't forsee any spikes in oil temperature with a regular 1UZ configuration that is not forced induction.
The factory temp gauge is a piece of shit and no one should ever trust it. They set those to go into the red zone at a very high temperature so when it gets to that point you're already screwed. You need to know exactly at what temp your engine is at or you just don't know if something is beginning to go wrong. I have, and recommend, an Autometer temp gauge that plumbs directly into the waterneck on the front of the engine. They have sensors that hook up with a wire from there to the gauge but I'll just be using a standard rigid line type gauge which is filled with Boron (i believe). You just can't bend the line too much and it doesn't disconnect. All this gauge install stuff is standard procedure on the race cars I used to work with and it's really not that hard. It's all detail work and is pretty fun.
If you want to ditch the speedo altogether anyone could wire a few new gauges in place of the dummy lights and stock gauges which really don't tell you much. My speedo is off anyways due to tire diameter so if I yanked it all out I wouldn't be bothered. I will be getting a Lowrance GPS in the near future and all the GPS units nowadays have very accurate speedometers built in. Heck, my friend has a Pioneer stereo in his Mitsubishi Evo that will display a digital tachometer needle which is pretty damn accurate as far as I can tell.