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Thread: Oil Pressure Gauge Conversion Part 1 of 2

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    Las Vegas, NV (Henderson)
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    877

    Oil Pressure Gauge Conversion Part 1 of 2

    Auto Meter Marauder Gauge Conversion

    I converted my stock oil gauge to a working one with the correct face plate. Here’s how. The pictures will be in the Gallery. I bought an extra gauge and sender to work with. You don’t have to and can use the ones in your car, but I learned with my Shelby that it’s not a bad idea to keep the stock parts. And I can convert it back simply by changing the gauge and sender if a warranty issue comes up. The stock oil gauge is part # 3W3Z-9G272-AA and the stock sender is part # 1U5Z-9278-DA. The Auto Meter gauge kit is part # 4327.

    To remove the gauge pod gently pull down and forward on the outer ends of the pod. It is held in with two snap clips. Work it out between the dash and console until you can remove the mounting studs and wires. Once out you can start on the gauge (next post will cover the sending unit mods as this is getting long). The round outer bezel is crimped over the edge of the cup. It is aluminum so it is very easy to very gently uncrimp it. I used a small screwdriver and worked around the edge. Then you can slip the front off the gauge. It is the same for both gauges. The glass and inner trim stay with the front. The only change you are going to make is to take the Marauder face off the Ford part and put it on the Auto Meter one. The hardest part is removing the pointer without breaking it. If you don’t want to try this yourself, just bring both gauges to a gauge repair shop and tell them you want the MM face on the new gauge. Have them return the old gauge disassembled as you need the wires from the MM gauge. To remove the MM gauge, the face screws hold it in the cup. On the AM (Auto Meter) one it is the three screws that the wires mount to on the back. Once the gauges are out of the cups, I took the screws holding the face plates off . Grasp the center shaft below the pointer with needle nose pliers just below the shoulder of the bottom of the pointer and then push it off with a small blade screwdriver. It may take a bit of force to come off. Use care to not bend the center shaft or the gauge is ruined. Practice with the MM gauge. Do this for both. There are two small aluminum washers that are under the face screws on the AM gauge, save them for reassembly. Swap the MM face plate for the AM one. I then took the longer MM brass mounting screws out of the rear cup, they are just pressed in, and put them in the AM cup. On the MM gauge the three wires run up and have round terminal ends under three metal pins running through the white plastic gauge body. They just push out from the opposite side of the wire end once you push off the metal cup covering the inner gauge. This is the wire harness you will then attach to the AM studs when the AM gauge is back together. It allows the AM gauge to just plug back into the MM dash harness. Before you put the needle back on the AM, I hooked up the wires and set the pointer loosely on gauge. The wire to the modified sending unit should be hooked up. Turn the key to on and the gauge should set to the zero mark. Gentle put the needle on at the zero mark and then unhook the wires. Installation is the same technique as removal of the pointer. Grasp the shaft with needle nose pliers and then using a clean plastic handle end of a small screwdriver, tap the needle back on. The pliers are to take the force off the guts of the gauge. It doesn’t take much to put the pointer back on. You can use a drop of Locktite if you like, but I haven’t had a pointer fall off of other gauges on other cars. Once the pointer is set, put the face plate screws in and the AM gauge back in the cup and secure the screws. I then put the glass cover back in place (make sure it is clean). Put the gauge face down on a soft towel. I used a large wide blade screwdriver and gently bend back over the crimp while holding slight downward pressure on the cup. It is soft so it goes back together easily. Take the old gauge harness and put the ring end on each wire. Black is ground, White/Red stripe to sender and so forth. I coat the exposed studs with liquid insulating tape, but it’s not necessary as the dash is plastic. Reassemble the gauge into the pod and pod to dash. That’s it. The gauge looks exactly like the old one and works great!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Las Vegas, NV (Henderson)
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    877

    Oil Pressure Guage Conversion Part 2 of 2

    Auto Meter Marauder Gauge Sender Conversion

    Pictures in the Gallery. This is part 2 of the AM (Auto Meter) to MM (Marauder) oil pressure gauge conversion.

    Take the MM sender and grind the metal away from the crimp at the plastic/base point. Be careful not to grind away the plastic. Once enough is removed, the plastic base come off. There is a small spring inside. Save it for reuse. Use the brass AM wire mounting nut and grind it on opposite sides until it is the width of the inside diameter of the plastic body. Then take the plastic body and drill holes right beside each other all the way through the plastic body just above the flat portion that used to be next to the metal base. Use a drill that is just under the thickness of of the brass nut. The idea is the narrowed nut will slip into the slot in the base of the body. Leave enough plastic to have support for the nut. Cut the old spring in half, and put the spring into the body and compress it until you can slide the nut into the slot trapping the spring into the upper body. Then the lock washer goes on the stud and thread the plastic body onto the stud and tighten it. Don’t over tighten it and break it. Since the sending unit is down low on the engine and exposed to the elements, I use a little silicone to seal the slots in the body and the edge where the body rests on the sending unit. Check the continuity of the center pin inside the wire connection end to the sender body with an ohm meter. If you put it together right it should be making connection.

    When screwing the sending unit into to oil filter housing you may have to rotate one of the power steering hoses toward the front of the car until the sender is in for clearance. Rotate it back once the sender is in. Hook up the wire and check for leaks. The finished product looks just like FORD would have done it. And if you have your oil changed at the dealer they won’t even notice it’s different.

    Jim

  3. #3
    WolfeBros Guest
    Nicely done Vegasmarauder. You had the guts to tackle that aluminum bezel and I did not. I may have another go at it. Good post and pics. Thanks.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    Los Angeles
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    vegasmarauder:

    Great posts, vegasmarauder! And GREAT do***entation photos of your gauge mods--these are the kinds of photos and information that always seem to generate the most interest for many of us here! Keep up the good work and thanks for all your detailed descriptions!

    2003 Mercury Marauder 300B, matte-black, S55 taillights.
    B&M transmission/Precision Industries TC; Eibach-lowered; Addco rear anti-sway; Metco rear control arms; Steeda UDP; 180° 'stat.

  5. #5
    WolfeBros Guest
    Vegasmarauder,
    Thanks to your post I now have a working oil pressure gauge with the OEM gauge faceplates. I reinstalled the original voltmeter as well. I did not put the mating plug on the sending unit like you did but did make an adapter wire so I can go back stock if need be and didn't cut the harness.

    This modification is however not for the clumsy handed or faint of heart. I have done gauge calibration before and have pulled meter pointers so I knew what I was getting into there. Your post gave me the inspiration to tackle the removal of the aluminum bezel and do it right and make it look OEM. Thanks again for the well written and do***ented posts and pics.

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    877
    Wow! Thanks! I appreciate it. I like to make things either look as stock as possible or as modified as possible.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Long Island, NY
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    vegasmarauder - Great job. Thanks. John
    2003 Marauder 300B,
    6468 out of 7839 - Thanks Brian
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    Sold 4/3/2009 Now resides in AL.
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    2003 Marauder 300 A Thanks Larry O 6/14/17
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    ----- John

  8. #8
    TripleTransAm Guest
    Let me add my name to the list of folks who are just downright impressed with this fantastic how-to. This morning I completed the installation, at the dealer (since the car was already there for other things, and they will feel more comfortable as to why the car's oil pressure sender was messed with).

    Did the sender modifications at home, followed by 3/4 of the gage modifications as well. This morning while waiting for the sender to get installed, I silicone'd the exposed 'nut' area on the sender and electrical-taped the crimps on the round terminals on the 3 wires, just in case. Overall, factor in a few hours taking your time and doing it right.

    There were a couple of little details that you had to figure out on your own, but overall the instructions could not have been more clear. I took some time to read through the details while looking at the images, and assembled all the necessary parts (new MM gage, new Autometer gage and sender, new pressure switch). Dremelled off the plastic connector off the sender, tricky part was keeping the spring under the nut once it was time to secure the nut within the plastic.

    It really is a good idea to start on the new MM gage first. I perfected my uncrimping technique on this gage, so my second attempt on the Autometer gage was pretty much on the ball. I did mess up the indicator shaft something silly on the new MM gage, so I'm happy not to have practiced on my stocker or the new Autometer.

    Speaking of shaft, perhaps I misread the instructions but I found my pointers had little necks that I mistook for the actual shafts (leading to my destruction of the shaft on the first gage). I figured out that the needle-nose pliers should go underneath this little cylinder immediately under the pointer, and I can 'flip up' the pointer off the shaft by using a screwdriver propped against the pliers. It could have been just me, it was late.

    Biggest headache came with removing the gage panel off the console... it was TIGHT. There was NO clearance between it and the console top surface. Tense moments were had.

    Everything else went smoothly... calibration, re-crimping, using the little round terminal ends from the original wiring to facilitate connection to the harness plug... all of this a sheer work of art, VegasMarauder! Performing the actual modifications was as much fun as actually having a functional gage, thanks to your excellently detailed instructions.

    If I ever have the good fortune of meeting you, I will owe you a big hearty handshake and a few brews. Thanks again for the excellent job!
    Last edited by TripleTransAm; 08-22-2003 at 01:35 PM.

  9. #9
    WolfeBros Guest
    Hey Steve welcome to the group. We are small but slowly growing. Its great to have a working gauge with an OEM face.
    Congrats on your installation.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2003
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    Waterloo, IA
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    Did I just miss something on this thread? Isn't the current Auto Meter gauge for Oil already in the MM? If so, why the switch?

    BTW, the pictures and instructions look easy enough. I just need to know -why- the switch was made to decide if I need it too.

    Thanks!

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    13,676
    Too Many Fords:

    The factory gauge is a fake...it's just a go/no-go that turns on at approx 6½ lbs...the AutoMeter kit # 4327 is a REAL gauge and sender set that works correctly and is so close to the factory style, most people won't notice; but there are always A/R people like TooManyTransAms that need to have it EXACT...

    The Blackbird
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    The Spruce Goose
    2004 Grand Marquis LS Limited Edition
    Daily Driver

  12. #12
    Join Date
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    north nj (Planet Houston)
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    but isnt the light for the new gauge still wrong?

    i thought the mm's had a green light, the am had a clear light? i read the details but didn't notice if it contained the led swap too.

  13. #13
    Join Date
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    Location
    Farmington Hills, Michigan
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    The green color comes from the faceplate. The bulb is clear. The first thing I did to my MM when I got home from the dealer was pull the gauge out because the light wasn't working. Turned out the power pin in the connector was pushed out. Fixed it no problem, but I did see a clear bulb.
    Trilogy SuperCharged Blue Marauder

  14. #14
    TripleTransAm Guest
    Originally posted by Fast4Door
    The green color comes from the faceplate. The bulb is clear.

    Interesting... I haven't checked the original gage yet, but the spare factory gage I picked up at the dealer on Thursday morning had the blue-ish "cap" on the clear lightbulb. The real autometer gage came with both green and red "caps" but since the instructions allowed for reusing the factory gage's wiring, so I figured I'd keep the blue cap along with using the factory faceplate.

    Before we start a witch hunt, recall that the Canadian and US faceplates are different. Perhaps the differences also include the presence of the blue cap or not.

    Side note to RF... A/R Canadians with too many Trans Ams want the gage faceplate with the little 'oil can' graphics to go along with the 'battery' symbol on the Canadian voltmeter!

  15. #15
    WolfeBros Guest
    Originally posted by the fat bastid
    but isnt the light for the new gauge still wrong?
    You don't use the light that comes with the replacement Autometer gauge. The factory bulb and socket is 1/4 turn. You take it out of the original gauge and put it into the replacement Autometer gauge. No need to do anything to the light socket and wiring. Its already there and good to go. And yes the original bulb uses a blue light cover. The replacement gauge comes with a red and a green bulb cover. If you change the gauge faceplate so it will look OEM you need to stay with the blue. If you install and use the Autometer gauges as they come out of the box the green looks the best and actually matches the dash fairly well.

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