Autometer Boost Gauge Install?

[spriggitizor]

I performed the boost gauge iinstall and tied it in with the bov ran the car for a few mins while I cleaned up and now I have a flashing check engine light. Cars a 07 wrx what do I do now

[Impreza2.0]

I performed the boost gauge iinstall and tied it in with the bov ran the car for a few mins while I cleaned up and now I have a flashing check engine light. Cars a 07 wrx what do I do now

This is the beauty of a forum which has allowed most of it's best information to become outdated or unavailable. I am becoming kind of frustrated with the number of dead threads with daily visits, and none of the photos in them are supported.

It would be very helpful if folks would use a method which does not eventually time out and die. I have been trying to learn about my car's BPV so that I don't hurt it installing a boost gauge, and NONE of the threads on this forum have pics anymore... When mine is done, I will have a series with install information, and I am going to be the cop of it. If it vanishes as long as I have a Subaru, I am going to repost it with fresh pic files. I don't want to seem like there is anyone in particular at fault, I just want the convenience to be available to all of us of having info where we KNOW it is. Our forum can be better than the rest, and this is how we get it going.

[bschr287]

That would be great because i have no idea the correct/best location for the t-fitting of my boost gauge line! I need to know before i install it!

[Impreza2.0]

I found a slew of threads on this topic, to the point that you could build the whole thing from the ground up with no previous experience. If you wanted to learn how to make tubing, etc...,that much info...

so Google Web Search the following:

'WRX Boost Gauge Install'

and start looking at the pics. Most pics have a pretty deep explanation as to what it is that you are looking at, those that don't seem self explanatory after a bit of exploration.

I found that AutoMeter provides everything needed to make their gauges FUNCTION (and properly, given all conditions are at optimum), however, doing it with style and class, using AN-4 steel braided hose and fittings and so forth, is beneficial in many ways:

Less loss of pressure (more accurate readings due to zero expansion of hose or couplings, and no loss in boost)

Longer lifespan (!)

Tighter fitting (more reliable connection with the option of adjustment of fittings, and no rattle noises from plastic bits)

Serviceability (no replacing the capillary when your BPV or BOV needs work)

Looks (there's no argument that stainless hose looks nicer than cheap white plastic capillary tubing)

Peace of mind (you know those parts are way tougher than they have to be, leaving no chance of ever having to worry about the system)

This doesn't mean buying stainless hose and just clamping it onto the bits involved. It means taking the time to measure optimum length for efficiency vs. durability, then fitting proper threaded ends. This creates a significantly more useful component, as it will last for many years, and remain serviceable during that time. Replacement of single pieces of the system becomes easier, since threading is much cleaner than clamping, and provides less opportunity for anything to fail. Just my honest opinion... but probably a fact.

Edit:
First, thanks to the guys here and at NASIOC for helping me get the right goods for a boost gauge...

So I find that I have a VF34 turbocharger, and the up and downpipes are Titanium... thought I had stainless... oh how I am sufferring...

Basically what this is boiling down to is that the mystery car that I bought has some really amazing tuning done to it, though it is hard to find. It has a Borla Hush stainless exhaust, and it is catless, turbo back, and stainless, but I couldn't tell what mods were done up front, so didn't know what the stuff was. I got under the car, and saw where the stuff has names stamped into it... and the rainbow "discoloration" that occurs in Titanium has occcurred at the lower fittings into the midpipe.

When I went to find the place where the t-fitting we are discussing, it had already been cut...

weird? yeah, but this is weirder. I got the car from some guys who have this little used car lot here in Maine, out in a rural part. They said it had a few upgrades, but I didn't know what they were. I test drove it for 3 hours, and asked how much to leave with it. I got it for 10K. No worries. On the way out of the lot, the CEL comes on... no blinking, just ON... argghhh!

I figure this is simple. It's a bad neg on the batt...?
Nope... me and Subie go to the mechanic that owns the dynomometer. It's an "evap code" according to some ancient code book for all Subaru engines. There's also this weird chatter... OK, so I go to install this boost gauge... the line to the BPV was cut by the previous owner (I see age on the cut ends, and nothing has touched either in years (it's an 02)). More "OK" here, the lines left were adequate for an AutoMeter Boost Gauge T-Fitting (official sounding enough?). I tried that. I had no idea what boost I was getting... It blew the little plastic "T" into schrapnel. So, with a whining BPV line, a flashing CEL (I unpinched the pinched return line from the BPV), I go to Home Depot, follow your (the great "you" made up of all NASIOC and CWRX members) instructions. I get in, fire it up, and 17PSI VAC... steady. I gun it... 24PSI boost.

Well, all I know is that the previous owner had $4K into exhaust components, at least $2K into a bored vf34 on a rotated mount, and the intercooler is somehow alot wider than the other WRX ICs I have looked at. It is powdercoated silver, so if you know what it is, or if it is stock, let me know.

I am about to go take some pics of this stuff... If I am mistaken about what I am seeing, tell me. I am still a newb. All I know is that the mods in this car outcost the sale price of the car itself, and how he got 24PSI boost is not something I want to pay to learn, but as I do, will inform you.

Windy as this post got, it leads me to this... next edit will be a "cut out the fat", and "here's the pics"
as keeping this thread alive serves no more purpose than to explain BPV/gauge installation information, so you will get just that... so copy/paste if you are as nerdy about this stuff as I am...

and: Thank you for helping make it possible.

[Impreza2.0]

I performed the boost gauge iinstall and tied it in with the bov ran the car for a few mins while I cleaned up and now I have a flashing check engine light. Cars a 07 wrx what do I do now

You get PTFE tape, a pair of wrenches, one torque and one standard adjustable, and create an airtight seal. If the MAF suspects a boost leak, it will generate any code necessary to warn you. It is the brainiest freakin' MAF around, and it works like a charm, but you MUST be vigilant to create a tuned system, ahead of AND behind it. There is vac pressure in the intake, especially if you have CAI or SRI.

I suspect you've got boost leak.

You might want a Tactrix cable and a good tuner's mapping program... something to tell you WHAT the mass air flow readings are, both really, and what the ECU is getting. If you can fake it to run even at idle, then at WOT, you have an intake that will not bug you for having installed it, your CEL will go away (after a reset), and you will get accurate boost/vac readings (most likely better throttle response and a few HP as a result of smoother engagement of the turbine). If you get a CEL at either end, you have either created aresonant intake vibration reducing atmospheric passage, or you have actually restricted air passage. Too short an intake does what a cut in the BPV line does. It bogs the car down in a rich condition. If you have intake restriction, you go lean. A gauge should do literally nothing at all. I'd investigate "T-Fittings", and make sure all your connections are really tight. Otherwise, see to it that the rest of the system is still tight... it can happen that something this simple can knock something else loose.

[Wrinklechops]

I found a slew of threads on this topic, to the point that you could build the whole thing from the ground up with no previous experience. If you wanted to learn how to make tubing, etc...,that much info...

so Google Web Search the following:

'WRX Boost Gauge Install'

and start looking at the pics. Most pics have a pretty deep explanation as to what it is that you are looking at, those that don't seem self explanatory after a bit of exploration.

I found that AutoMeter provides everything needed to make their gauges FUNCTION (and properly, given all conditions are at optimum), however, doing it with style and class, using AN-4 steel braided hose and fittings and so forth, is beneficial in many ways:

Less loss of pressure (more accurate readings due to zero expansion of hose or couplings, and no loss in boost)

Longer lifespan (!)

Tighter fitting (more reliable connection with the option of adjustment of fittings, and no rattle noises from plastic bits)

Serviceability (no replacing the capillary when your BPV or BOV needs work)

Looks (there's no argument that stainless hose looks nicer than cheap white plastic capillary tubing)

Peace of mind (you know those parts are way tougher than they have to be, leaving no chance of ever having to worry about the system)

This doesn't mean buying stainless hose and just clamping it onto the bits involved. It means taking the time to measure optimum length for efficiency vs. durability, then fitting proper threaded ends. This creates a significantly more useful component, as it will last for many years, and remain serviceable during that time. Replacement of single pieces of the system becomes easier, since threading is much cleaner than clamping, and provides less opportunity for anything to fail. Just my honest opinion... but probably a fact.

Edit:
First, thanks to the guys here and at NASIOC for helping me get the right goods for a boost gauge...

So I find that I have a VF34 turbocharger, and the up and downpipes are Titanium... thought I had stainless... oh how I am sufferring...

Basically what this is boiling down to is that the mystery car that I bought has some really amazing tuning done to it, though it is hard to find. It has a Borla Hush stainless exhaust, and it is catless, turbo back, and stainless, but I couldn't tell what mods were done up front, so didn't know what the stuff was. I got under the car, and saw where the stuff has names stamped into it... and the rainbow "discoloration" that occurs in Titanium has occcurred at the lower fittings into the midpipe.

When I went to find the place where the t-fitting we are discussing, it had already been cut...

weird? yeah, but this is weirder. I got the car from some guys who have this little used car lot here in Maine, out in a rural part. They said it had a few upgrades, but I didn't know what they were. I test drove it for 3 hours, and asked how much to leave with it. I got it for 10K. No worries. On the way out of the lot, the CEL comes on... no blinking, just ON... argghhh!

I figure this is simple. It's a bad neg on the batt...?
Nope... me and Subie go to the mechanic that owns the dynomometer. It's an "evap code" according to some ancient code book for all Subaru engines. There's also this weird chatter... OK, so I go to install this boost gauge... the line to the BPV was cut by the previous owner (I see age on the cut ends, and nothing has touched either in years (it's an 02)). More "OK" here, the lines left were adequate for an AutoMeter Boost Gauge T-Fitting (official sounding enough?). I tried that. I had no idea what boost I was getting... It blew the little plastic "T" into schrapnel. So, with a whining BPV line, a flashing CEL (I unpinched the pinched return line from the BPV), I go to Home Depot, follow your (the great "you" made up of all NASIOC and CWRX members) instructions. I get in, fire it up, and 17PSI VAC... steady. I gun it... 24PSI boost.

Well, all I know is that the previous owner had $4K into exhaust components, at least $2K into a bored vf34 on a rotated mount, and the intercooler is somehow alot wider than the other WRX ICs I have looked at. It is powdercoated silver, so if you know what it is, or if it is stock, let me know.

I am about to go take some pics of this stuff... If I am mistaken about what I am seeing, tell me. I am still a newb. All I know is that the mods in this car outcost the sale price of the car itself, and how he got 24PSI boost is not something I want to pay to learn, but as I do, will inform you.

Windy as this post got, it leads me to this... next edit will be a "cut out the fat", and "here's the pics"
as keeping this thread alive serves no more purpose than to explain BPV/gauge installation information, so you will get just that... so copy/paste if you are as nerdy about this stuff as I am...

and: Thank you for helping make it possible.

+1 Impreza2.0! I'm glad to see someone else is just as interested in keeping HELPFUL threads alive, and the pictures to go with them. I'm always looking for the best method of doing things, and like to research them before trying them. I am in the search of a good thread on how to install my brand new premium Prosport boost gauge on my 2005 WRX, and I will not rest until I feel good about what I'm about to do. I had no idea of stainless steel lines and threaded connections...definitely seems more stable and solid than the crap plastic tubing I got with the kit, not to mention the cheap T fitting. I will do some more research on this, and check out some Home Depot and Lowe's equipment...

[biggunraptor]

I reccoment tapping the clock for illumination, its easy to get to, and less expensive to replace if you make a mistake.

Joe

is it safe to run power for three gauges to the power wire on the clock? or am i better off using add a fuse to add power to all them

[Impreza2.0]

That depends on whether you are using gauges with LED or bulb illumination. Also, ONLY the illumination wires... don't expect accurate voltage readings from any of those wires. As far as what wire to tap, the clock illumination wire is OK for light use, maybe 5A but not more. The tiny bulbs being driven here are not expected to generate a lot of heat at the wire, so big lamp assemblies are not a good idea... I'd say the tiny charge required to run say, an AutoMeter Cobalt set of gauges is .1-.3amp at the last wire, whereas a Defi gauge set with incandescent bulbs will pull about 5A with 3 gauges in the setup. Either is a small charge and you can most likely get away with it on the 14awg wire provided in the stock clock.

As a professional installer for over 16 years, I'd say run all new wire, and tap the back of the fuse box with a new relay and trip it using a stock wire (like the clock wire - or - parking lamp wire on the column). If you want to dim it, the lighter ring is a good low impedance 12v source... 10A fuse and 3A draw... lots of headroom.

Hope this helps.

[biggunraptor]

[QUOTE=Impreza2.0;2822194]That depends on whether you are using gauges with LED or bulb illumination. Also, ONLY the illumination wires... don't expect accurate voltage readings from any of those wires. As far as what wire to tap, the clock illumination wire is OK for light use, maybe 5A but not more. The tiny bulbs being driven here are not expected to generate a lot of heat at the wire, so big lamp assemblies are not a good idea... I'd say the tiny charge required to run say, an AutoMeter Cobalt set of gauges is .1-.3amp at the last wire, whereas a Defi gauge set with incandescent bulbs will pull about 5A with 3 gauges in the setup. Either is a small charge and you can most likely get away with it on the 14awg wire provided in the stock clock.

As a professional installer for over 16 years, I'd say run all new wire, and tap the back of the fuse box with a new relay and trip it using a stock wire (like the clock wire -r - parking lamp wire on the column). If you want to dim it, the lighter ring is a good low impedance 12v source... 10A fuse and 3A draw... lots of headroom.

Hope this helps.[/QUOTE

Thank you! My gauges say to wire one of the wires to like the high beams or something because they have a dimming feature are you saying I can just run that wire to the ciggarette wire for the dimming feature? And how would I tap into it? I'm new to wiring