MX6.com - View Single Post - Indiglo Gauge How-To

Zeromus-X · 9-25-03, 19:20

After searching for quite some time for instructions on how to install the indiglo gauges into my MX-6 that I bought, I gave up and decided to just hack into the car and do it myself. I know nothing about cars, and will assume you know nothing about them either. This writeup is accurate for a 1994 MX6 LS ATX; I make no guarantees whether or not it'll work perfect for your car. But it should. I'll update this with pictures when I can.

I purchased a set of seven-color Indiglo gauges on eBay from procarparts. I think they were about $30-$40 after shipping. These are NOT the reverse Indiglo gauges that many people here seem to have, and I don't know if those are made the same! These came shipped in a blister package, with three round gauge faces (white) and a black transformer box. The transformer had four inputs for faces, so if you were to get creative, I bet you could light something else in the car with it. There are two wires coming off the transformer -- a black and a red.

To start, you'll need the following:

Short phillips-head screwdriver
Long phillips-head screwdriver
Jewelers phillips-head screwdriver (fairly small one)
Electrical tape
Razor or sharp knife
Approximately an hour of uninterrupted time

Step 1: Removal of dash.

Lower your steering wheel as far as it will go.

While sitting in the drivers' seat, look at your gauges. Glance up and you'll see three screws holding the dash together. Unscrew these screws and put them somewhere you won't lose them. This will allow you to (carefully) pull the trim part of your dash forward a bit. If your car has an airflow selector to the left of your center vents, you'll notice a cable connecting the lever to the inner parts of your car. Do not remove the screw holding this cable on! Doing so will result in another half hour of uninterrupted time trying to get it back on. Rather, there are four screws holding in the two vents in the center. Unscrew the ones at the top, then the bottom. The bottom ones can be tricky to get to; you'll need a short, skinny screwdriver to get them more than likely. If you have someone who can hold the dash out for you, things will go much smoother.

Once the screws are gone, pull forward on the dash as far as it'll allow. Unplug each connector (hazard lights, cruise, etc). Don't worry too much about which plug goes where; they all only fit in one place. The dimmer was the hardest one for me to get off, but be patient, as they're only plastic.

Open your ash tray to make things a little easier for the plastic to move. Lift up on the trim part of the dash itself; the whole assembly should come off without too much difficulty. Set it somewhere; now is a good time to clean it (or paint it).

Step 2: Removal of gauge cluster.

Once you remove the trim part of the dash, you'll see four screws holding in the gauge cluster. Two at the top, two at the bottom. Unscrew these carefully. Mine were in extremely tight; if yours are too, make sure you don't strip the screws! Pull the assembly out a tiny bit and unplug the tachometer, speedometer, and fuel/temp gauge plugs from the back. Slide the assembly out and bring it in the house.

Step 3: Installing new gauge faces.

There is a piece of clear plastic on the front of the gauge cluster assembly, and six tabs on the back to release it. These tabs are locked into place by quite a bit of pressure. Carefully push each one inward and lift the plastic pieces apart (you'll probably have it sitting upside-down for this). If you have a friend who can squeeze two or three together, this will be easier.

Once apart, unscrew the two little screws on each gauge face. Slide your new gauge faces on top of them, being extremely careful with the needles. The needles have a little bump at the back of them; in order to get your faces over this, you'll have to push the new faces under the round part that the needle is attached to. It's not as hard as it sounds. Be aware of the wires attached to your new faces; several times I managed to catch one of the wires tangled up in a needle, which would have caused it to break if I pulled on it.

Once everything's back in place, screw the new faces in (not extremely tight). Put the tachometer needle straight up and let it fall to the left; repeat and let it fall to the right (it's weighted). Make sure it doesn't get stuck on the face anywhere. Do the same for the speedometer and the temperature gauge. Don't do this for the fuel gauge unless you remember where it previously was; it won't go back on its own.

Now, you'll need somewhere to run the wires to get them out of the box. I simply fed mine out along the top edge of the casing and snapped it back together. There's not enough pressure to break the wires. One of my clips didn't fully attach (the top center one), but it was sturdy enough without it.

Now, you need to put the transformer somewhere. Plug the gauges into the transformer before you forget. There's plenty of room behind where the gauge cluster assembly sits; I stuck mine back there and used electrical tape to hold it in place. Run the two wires (red and black) out to the left; they should be long enough to hang out a hole in the left underside of your dash (but not too long). You can also run your color-changing buttons there too.

Before you put the cluster back in, you'll notice a screw which connects to the metal chassis of the car back where you're working. Unscrew this a tiny bit, and stick the black wire under it. Screw it in, making sure the exposed wire is secured between the metal screw and the chassis.

Screw the gauge cluster assembly back into place, remembering to plug in the three connections on the back.

Step 4: Powering the gauges.

Put your dash trim back into place, but don't screw it in yet. Screw in the four screws you removed when you took them out of the center vent area. I couldn't get one of them in (the bottom-left one when looking directly at it) but the assembly seemed secure enough. Some time when I get a few free minutes, I'll try again, but if you can't get it, don't be too concerned. Just don't lose the screw.

Plug all your buttons back in EXCEPT for the dimmer switch -- the little spinning cylinder on the left side. There will be four wires going into the plug for it. Cut the black plastic covering the wires a good amount, and you'll see an orange wire. Strip a small part of the orange wire's covering to expose the bare wire (be very careful not to cut the wire!!!). Strip some of the red wire connected to your transformer, and wrap the exposed part around the exposed orange wire. Use plenty of electrical tape to get everything back together and wrapped up tightly. Use the tape to wrap the four wires back together like they were.

Reconnect the switch and snap the dash trim back into place. Screw in the three screws you originally removed.

That's it!

Start up your car and turn on your lights. I personally think they look best when the dimmer is turned all the way down; it's pretty much opinion. Stick the color-changer button thing wherever you'd like. Mine is down by my left foot, where it's not blatantly apparent but I know it's there.

Now try and keep your eyes on the road, and off your gauges!!!

9-25-03, 19:20	#1 (permalink)
Zeromus-X Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Virginia, USA Age: 27 iTrader: (0)	Indiglo Gauge How-To After searching for quite some time for instructions on how to install the indiglo gauges into my MX-6 that I bought, I gave up and decided to just hack into the car and do it myself. I know nothing about cars, and will assume you know nothing about them either. This writeup is accurate for a 1994 MX6 LS ATX; I make no guarantees whether or not it'll work perfect for your car. But it should. I'll update this with pictures when I can. I purchased a set of seven-color Indiglo gauges on eBay from procarparts. I think they were about $30-$40 after shipping. These are NOT the reverse Indiglo gauges that many people here seem to have, and I don't know if those are made the same! These came shipped in a blister package, with three round gauge faces (white) and a black transformer box. The transformer had four inputs for faces, so if you were to get creative, I bet you could light something else in the car with it. There are two wires coming off the transformer -- a black and a red. To start, you'll need the following: Short phillips-head screwdriver Long phillips-head screwdriver Jewelers phillips-head screwdriver (fairly small one) Electrical tape Razor or sharp knife Approximately an hour of uninterrupted time Step 1: Removal of dash. Lower your steering wheel as far as it will go. While sitting in the drivers' seat, look at your gauges. Glance up and you'll see three screws holding the dash together. Unscrew these screws and put them somewhere you won't lose them. This will allow you to (carefully) pull the trim part of your dash forward a bit. If your car has an airflow selector to the left of your center vents, you'll notice a cable connecting the lever to the inner parts of your car. Do not remove the screw holding this cable on! Doing so will result in another half hour of uninterrupted time trying to get it back on. Rather, there are four screws holding in the two vents in the center. Unscrew the ones at the top, then the bottom. The bottom ones can be tricky to get to; you'll need a short, skinny screwdriver to get them more than likely. If you have someone who can hold the dash out for you, things will go much smoother. Once the screws are gone, pull forward on the dash as far as it'll allow. Unplug each connector (hazard lights, cruise, etc). Don't worry too much about which plug goes where; they all only fit in one place. The dimmer was the hardest one for me to get off, but be patient, as they're only plastic. Open your ash tray to make things a little easier for the plastic to move. Lift up on the trim part of the dash itself; the whole assembly should come off without too much difficulty. Set it somewhere; now is a good time to clean it (or paint it). Step 2: Removal of gauge cluster. Once you remove the trim part of the dash, you'll see four screws holding in the gauge cluster. Two at the top, two at the bottom. Unscrew these carefully. Mine were in extremely tight; if yours are too, make sure you don't strip the screws! Pull the assembly out a tiny bit and unplug the tachometer, speedometer, and fuel/temp gauge plugs from the back. Slide the assembly out and bring it in the house. Step 3: Installing new gauge faces. There is a piece of clear plastic on the front of the gauge cluster assembly, and six tabs on the back to release it. These tabs are locked into place by quite a bit of pressure. Carefully push each one inward and lift the plastic pieces apart (you'll probably have it sitting upside-down for this). If you have a friend who can squeeze two or three together, this will be easier. Once apart, unscrew the two little screws on each gauge face. Slide your new gauge faces on top of them, being extremely careful with the needles. The needles have a little bump at the back of them; in order to get your faces over this, you'll have to push the new faces under the round part that the needle is attached to. It's not as hard as it sounds. Be aware of the wires attached to your new faces; several times I managed to catch one of the wires tangled up in a needle, which would have caused it to break if I pulled on it. Once everything's back in place, screw the new faces in (not extremely tight). Put the tachometer needle straight up and let it fall to the left; repeat and let it fall to the right (it's weighted). Make sure it doesn't get stuck on the face anywhere. Do the same for the speedometer and the temperature gauge. Don't do this for the fuel gauge unless you remember where it previously was; it won't go back on its own. Now, you'll need somewhere to run the wires to get them out of the box. I simply fed mine out along the top edge of the casing and snapped it back together. There's not enough pressure to break the wires. One of my clips didn't fully attach (the top center one), but it was sturdy enough without it. Now, you need to put the transformer somewhere. Plug the gauges into the transformer before you forget. There's plenty of room behind where the gauge cluster assembly sits; I stuck mine back there and used electrical tape to hold it in place. Run the two wires (red and black) out to the left; they should be long enough to hang out a hole in the left underside of your dash (but not too long). You can also run your color-changing buttons there too. Before you put the cluster back in, you'll notice a screw which connects to the metal chassis of the car back where you're working. Unscrew this a tiny bit, and stick the black wire under it. Screw it in, making sure the exposed wire is secured between the metal screw and the chassis. Screw the gauge cluster assembly back into place, remembering to plug in the three connections on the back. Step 4: Powering the gauges. Put your dash trim back into place, but don't screw it in yet. Screw in the four screws you removed when you took them out of the center vent area. I couldn't get one of them in (the bottom-left one when looking directly at it) but the assembly seemed secure enough. Some time when I get a few free minutes, I'll try again, but if you can't get it, don't be too concerned. Just don't lose the screw. Plug all your buttons back in EXCEPT for the dimmer switch -- the little spinning cylinder on the left side. There will be four wires going into the plug for it. Cut the black plastic covering the wires a good amount, and you'll see an orange wire. Strip a small part of the orange wire's covering to expose the bare wire (be very careful not to cut the wire!!!). Strip some of the red wire connected to your transformer, and wrap the exposed part around the exposed orange wire. Use plenty of electrical tape to get everything back together and wrapped up tightly. Use the tape to wrap the four wires back together like they were. Reconnect the switch and snap the dash trim back into place. Screw in the three screws you originally removed. That's it! Start up your car and turn on your lights. I personally think they look best when the dimmer is turned all the way down; it's pretty much opinion. Stick the color-changer button thing wherever you'd like. Mine is down by my left foot, where it's not blatantly apparent but I know it's there. Now try and keep your eyes on the road, and off your gauges!!!