Which Firewall Grommet?

[sd1800]

Hi Guys, sorry for the really simple/stupid question but I've searched endlessly and can't find the answer I'm looking for. I bought 3x52mm guages the other day to mount where the tissue box is, but I couldn't find which grommet to route the wires through for Boost, Oil Pres and Oil Temp without damaging it! I didn't think it was a good idea to be drilling through them in case water gets in the cabin in the future, but is that the only way? In auto cars people talk about using the grommet for the clutch, but with mine being a manual that is not an option...

 

Last time I did this stuff was installing a stereo in my EB about 12 years ago. I seem to remember it being much simpler...

Edited 16/07/18 10:03 PM by sd1800

[k31th]

you mean your's is "not a manual"?

either way, you can go through the brake grommet on the drivers side or you can go through a grommet on the passenger side that you can easily see if you stick your head underneath the glovebox. It's easy to access if you remove the glovebox.

 

To get the wires through, drill a hole slightly smaller than the total diameter of the desired wires/senders to go through. Then pull them through until they seal around the edge. Use some sealant around the edge of the wires if you're concerned there will be any leakage.

[arronm]

Just use the clutch grommet. that's what I did... My car is manual. Just squeeze it on the side.

[sd1800]

Thanks lads. I feel like abit of an idiot - after your replies it took me about 5 seconds to lift up the floor mat and find the grommet underneath the passenger footwell. Didnt even need to remove the glovebox. My mistake the other day was trying to find it and remove it from the engine bay as that's how I remember it from the EB, not realising it was so easily accessible from the cabin!

While we're on topic, anything I should be aware of or tips regarding wiring them up to the 12v? They are just $50 SAAS Guages so I didn't plan on fusing them seperately, especially since the cig lighter circuit is fused anyway.

[k31th]

yep, wire up illumination to the 12v source (cig lighter) circuit. You might find they're too bright at night, so a quick trip to jaycar for a potentiometer wired inline to lower the lighting voltage so that it dims the lights themselves.

[sd1800]

Thanks for that!

I've come across another snag. Guages work fine, but to wire them up properly I need to find the easiest constant 12v and a 12v light circuit. For the short term I've got all three just wired to the cig lighter, but the backlights remain on during the day and it doesn't save my settings when I turn the car off. Both expected.

Anyone have any tips about where I could find the easiest circuits to tap into? I didn't really want to have to pull out the ICC, but it's kind of looking that might be my only option....

[k31th]

the "easiest" is the mobile phone/aux constant power, if you want to save settings. leave the other bits wired to the cig lighter circuit.

[sd1800]

Thanks. I'll look into the aux.

The problem im having with leaving all the other bits on the cig lighter, is that the backlights remain on all time regardless of if the headlights are on or not.

[k31th]

yeah, the only way to fix that is wire into the headlight loom (via the fuse box is the easiest way to achieve that).

[El Andrew]

Mate I'm wrecking my BA and have the phone power adaptor plugged in under the dash. I always liked it because I could splice into it without cutting into factory wiring and could therefore unplug my own wiring if I was chasing a fault.

 

If you PM me your address I'll send it to you for free. Already has some wiring spliced into it that you can join too.

 

As Keith says, it doesn't help with on with headlights issue though.