Intellitronix gauges installed
 

Hey everybody I'm not a frequent poster but thought somebody might like to see this. Trying out these gauges as they'll work with the coming LS swap and the old 350 that's in there now. Paid about $270 new on Ebay which included the metric thread adapters for the LS swap.

Turned out good I think. Did things a little different from their directions which are a bit confusing.

1. Plastic washers are between the circuit board and the metal overlay from the factory. Without them there, looks like I had a short that disabled the speedo and messed with the other gauges.

2. I thought I was low on oil pressure before, assuming the tick mark on the factory gauge was reading about 10 PSI as idle. Engine has 30-50k, hard to say, best guess based on what the previous owner told me when I bought it in 2013. Now it's showing 3-4 at idle. Either there's a gauge/sender problem or the engine isn't long for this world.

3. Speedo doesn't work at all. Need to re-check wiring, always shows 0 and odometer showing 4 (was like that on first startup).

4. Glued the smoked glass panels with silicone to the black metal overlay, don't think I'll put the factory clear piece back on per the directions. This thing will end up being way thicker than stock so I'm curious how the factory dash bezel will fit afterwards. Waiting to put that back until I get my new dash pad in and resolve the issues with the speedo.

5. Very strange, when I have the panel hanging out of the dash, everything is fine. Once it's set in the dash, none of the lights for the other accy work (wiper, hvac control). The headlights work fine, but the gauge panel doesn't dim properly - where it will dim if it's not placed in the dash. If any of that makes sense. I assume I have a short somewhere, going to check the connector I installed and the heat shrink.

6. I used Painless # 40011 connector to replace the factory connector. Works ok, but the pins move back and forth easily. For $12 some odd dollars I think this cheap plastic connector should be a bit better and include a couple of extra pins. If you ever need new pins, good luck measuring to get replacements (they're just some molex type).

7. I think this one was already calibrated for LS tach - sounds like LS is same as 4 cylinder output and that can only be changed by Intellitronix. That's ok since I'll have an LS in there before too long. However if I'm right about that, it would be nice to be able to change that with a switch or something. Maybe someone can confirm that for me, since Intellitronix doesn't appear to answer their phone or return phone calls for tech support.

Re: Intellitronix gauges installed
 

I don't have the answers, but the gauges look good.

Re: Intellitronix gauges installed
 

Thanks! I prefer normal gauges vs digital readouts but the price was right (assuming I figure out what's up with the speedo).

Re: Intellitronix gauges installed
 

Their directions are extremely flawed. I agree on ditching the factory clear panel and just hot gluing the smoke pieces on. Before doing that you should lay the dash bezel on to make sure the gauges are centered. If you had an idiot light cluster there is a lot more work to do to the housing. I used connectors to allow the cluster to unplug and remove easily. Be very careful as those solder joints on the board will short out to the metal frame as well as where the cluster touches the left hand side of the dash above the wiper switch. I ran a bead of hot glue over all of the solder joints and after it dried used electrical tape to have a good barrier. After I did my first set I later experienced the characters vanishing and flickering in the speedo. They sent me a replacement after a few weeks of waiting. After that the tachometer started doing the same thing. I contacted them again and they said they corrected the problem and warrantied it again. After the hassles it's debatable if the cost savings is worth it. My Dakota's haven't failed me knock on wood.

Re: Intellitronix gauges installed
 

How did y’all wire the new oil sending unit. Is it just one wire from the unit post to the Gauge cluster wire?

Re: Intellitronix gauges installed
 

Don't know about the Intellitronix, but for the Dakota Digital VHX gauge cluster, the oil sending unit has a weatherpack connection directly on the unit itself. There is a matching 3? wire connector that plugs into that and routes to behind the dash thru a grommet on the firewall. From there, it's bare ends and is put directly into the side of the Dakota Digital brain, color coded to make sure you put the right wire where is should go.

Re: Intellitronix gauges installed
 

You don't happen to have the wiring diagram for gauge cluster wiring do you? Or did u just run all new wiring or just jump off of the factory plug for the old gauges. Cuz I'm actually installing the same one right now in an 88 blazer which is the same wiring as your truck..

Re: Intellitronix gauges installed
 

As far as your question for the ls swap you'll have to pick up the tach signal wire from the ecu/ecm & then set the tach switch for 4 cylinder. It also says that you might need to order the intellitronix LS adapter kit for series 1,2 or 3 engines the part number is 8014LS. It's says that the LS kit will help pull a stronger signal for the tach unless it says your doing a 4 cylinder then you'll have to send the gauge back & they'll program it for free for the 4 cylinder.

Re: Intellitronix gauges installed
 

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=766914

For my Dakota Digital cluster, I cut my factory plug and wired what I can from that, which includes the 12v keyed, ground, fuel send, fuel negative, high beam indicator, parking brake indicator (ground), left turn signal, right turn signal, light dimming signal... and then new wires were ran for the oil sending unit, temp sending unit, speedometer sending unit, tach side of the HEI Distributor, and a constant 12v from the fuse block... there's also an additional wire set that goes to the left and right momentary switches (in my case, I have the more recent version which is a single rocker switch). I also ran (2) new grounds for the turn signal lights for my particular install, because I wanted to use the turn signals in the stock location.

I actually went from idiot lights to the gauge cluster, and mine is an 86... so your wiring might be a little different, obviously, but very similar.

I'm not trying to hijack the thread

Re: Intellitronix gauges installed
 

No thanks I appreciate it & I usually do Dakota digitals but my friend for this blazer being a 4x4 he didn't want to spend the money to beat it up off road. But one question cuz I'm trying to do this without a battery u don't know if the pink or the tan wire is for the fuel sending unit do you? And wouldn't know any of the other colors for the wires except power, temp, or oil I got those before the battery went out & he's not getting the battery til tomorrow. Id greatly appreciate it. Cuz all those years had almost exactly the same harnesses in them.

Re: Intellitronix gauges installed
 

Check out the link I posted previously. There’s a white image there which details all the colors in the stock harness, their location in the harness, and what cooor they should be.