Fitting boost gauge to the Astra H

Mark_Dj

I know Matt fitted one so how hard is it to do? Will I have to remove my radio to run the wires around behind the dash? I plan to use the live from the 12V port near the handbrake. This will be my first time fitting a gauge into an Astra H. I plan to fit this tomorrow :razz:

Matt

It's very easy Mark, took me about an hour. I took the live feed from the cig lighter. You'll have to remove the stereo, and then the heater controls, as you need to pull out the ash tray section to get behind it.

Mark_Dj

Hmm that will be a pain for me then as I never got the car pass with my car so I don't have the radio code notsure.gif

Matt

That's the joy of full can. All the parts are already coded to the car, and even if you remove the stereo, you won't need the code. The stereo is matched to YOUR car, so can't be used in any other unless it's un-paired with tech2. :thumbup:

Mark_Dj

Thats good news then lol. That makes things much better for me. Cheers 🙂

Mark_Dj

Matt what wire did you use to put the live on for the boost gauge light? I can't get mine to light up yet notsure.gif

MikeS

try cigarette lighter wiring

Mark_Dj

I may have popped the bulb that lights up my gauge notsure.gif . I had it joined to the earth wire and it should have been a live wire for my light. Could this have popped the bulb? The rest seems to be ok but I have no light. I now have the light wire on a main live wire but no light dunno.. . Here are the instructions for my gauge...

MikeS

oki

a decent earth just drill a hole into the bulkhead and rub the paint off and put a screw in there with the wire attached alternatively look for an earth wire for the cig lighter or interior bulb - this is to create a circuit
permenant switch 12v so the gauge does a start up check when you put ignition on as some cars cut the circuit when u try crank an engine lol - this is to power your gauge
12v connection [ignition on] [ciggy lighter] that is fused and only createsd a circuit when u switch on ignition or your lights - this for your illumination

it does not have to be fused however it is good working practise to do so so in the event of an electrical shortage you dont start a fire as their is no fuse to pop and cancel the circuit

so if i was you for testing purposes run a long earth wire & 12v wire direct from battery to make sure the gauge moves and the illumination works before you install then u can decide on the wiring - you could even run an earth direct from battery and used an fuse holder and wire from the 12v battery connection also

Mark_Dj

Right something is wrong for starts lol. I have power to the gauge, when starting the car the needle moves as it should ie sweeps. Now it's all wired up as I think it should be but when the car is running my boost is too high, it should be sitting below 0 at about number 2 notsure.gif . When i give it a little rev it's nealy at 10psi straight away, this should not be til it's on the roads driving at about 60 or 70mph notsure.gif . This is how it's wired up so far. My live is coming off the big red wire from the heaters control, this has been used on my car before for a live for some reason as it has been connected with another wire. The earth is to the cig lighter and the live for my boost gauge light is also joined up to the heaters big red live wire. Now what have I done wrong notsure.gif

MikeS

try running your live direct off the battery and check

your gauge does a calibration check every time u switch on ignition

Mark_Dj

I might try it on the cig lighter live as it was done this way on my Vectra T. It won't take me long to try it as it all come apart very easy :razz: . Its had a boost gauge fitted before. I found the pipe work still in the car :roll:

Mark_Dj

How it looks now:

Video link:
https://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v318/markmk/?action=view&current=IMG_0437.mp4

Or click image for video play:

Mark_Dj

Could this be the problem, the black standard vac pipe going into my blue hose?

Mark_Dj

Right I now have it at it's good point at 20 below 0 when at idle. I now have the live wire on my cig lighter. I still have no light on my boost gauge and I am not getting the sweep thing it should do when you turn the ignition on. The needle is at the right point now, I just dont have the sweep or the back light

Matt

Did you ever get the gauge working properly Mark?

Mark_Dj

Just noticed your last reply lol, well it's working and calibrating on start up ok, but I have no back light still :roll: . Might buy the same gauge again and put it straight on, as I have the wiring all done fitted. I am using the gauge but at night I can't see it lol

Matt

Yeah, would be easier to just swap it with the same one if it's already wired in.