 | Home > Maintenance & Modifications > Ultragauge and CheckTemp install |
 
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| alastaid Member Since: 03 Dec 2013 Location: York Posts: 78  
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Hi,
As I recently had a knee op and was bound to crutches and couldn’t drive for six weeks I thought I would take on the Ultraguage and Checktemp mod. Firstly I have to say that I would never have taken this on had it not been for Marks excellent blog describing these mods, and he deserves all the credit, I thought I would just add in my experiences for anyone else who wants to try it. http://defender90xs.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03...stall.html Shopping list: Checktemp – I bought mine off ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Check-Temp-Time-...SwYaFWdV0e Ultraguage – buy direct, do create a Fedex account and put your credit card details on, mine arrived in 3 days! http://ultra-gauge.com/ultragauge/ Headers X 2 P/N HTMS-118-01-G-S http://www.toby.co.uk/content/catalogue/pr...x-xx-x-xxx Ribbon Headers X 2 P/N A32-40-CGB1-G http://www.toby.co.uk/content/catalogue/pr...-xx-CGB1-G Ribbon Cable (buy 1 meter) http://uk.farnell.com/3m/3749-40/ribbon-ca...dp/1207759 Green Stick on Tint Film – Light Green http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A4-Sheet-Ritrama...ASSgRdh6-Q Buttons – you can choose any you like, these were on the slow boat from China but work well http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5x-12mm-Flush-Mo...SwSv1Xj6R8 Connectors http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-x-6-Way-Pin-2...SwzaJX6REh OBD Cable splitter http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16pin-OBD2-Male-...Sw8cNUUZ3b Tools: Glue gun Drill and small drill bit Dremmel Junior hack saw blade So basically follow Marks blog, I will add in bits where I went wrong or did something a bit different. Firstly take out the binnacle and get it on the bench, before you strip it apart, take a picture with the binnacle lying on its back directly above showing the exact position of the temp and fuel gauges at rest, and you can use this as a reference when putting the needles back on. To take the needles off, simply hold them from the centre and twist them confidently against the stop, whilst pulling. The stop for the Tacho and speedo is obviously anticlockwise, the temp is clockwise and fuel anticlockwise. When you get them off you can see they are just an interference fit. To get the litho printed gauge dial sheet is held on by four little plastic clips that sit under the dial centres, the best way I found to get these off was to slide a pair of tweezers under the sheet around the clip, if they didn’t pop off straight away, just give them a little push with a screwdriver from the other side.  Click image to enlarge When taking away material for the holes for the CheckTemp and Ultraguage, I found the best and most accurate was to put back on to the plastic dial cover and draw the aperture on the white plastic, then drill out a small enough hole to get the hack saw blade in and work your way round slowly. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge This is where I made my biggest mistake, I was trying to cut the smallest hole possible for the CheckTemp, and whilst trying it for size I ended up damaging the bottom, where there is a joining cable that you cant see between the LCD and the connector. So basically, make sure you don’t force the CheckTemp into the hole, it should go in freely before glueing. Make sure also that you dremmel off enough of the two clear light conductors below the CheckTemp so that when you put them in they still can wobble around a bit. Before glueing the Ultragauge and CheckTemp in, I covered the Ultragauge with three layers of the green tint film, and the CheckTemp with one layer to try and get the best colour match I could. I very lightly glued in the Ultragauge at first then took it out to the car to test for fit. Click image to enlarge When splitting the CheckTemp apart and building the ribbon cable, take care taking it out of the plastic housing, and make sure you split the screen from the board squarely so you don’t bend the pins. To make the ribbon cable, if you haven’t done it before, just make sure you keep the ribbon headers in the same orientation, ie pin 1 goes to pin 1, put the cable in the connector, put them in a vice, triple check the cable is in straight, and then squeeze with the vice. There is a special tool for this, but if you go easy with a vice it is fine, just look at the connector carefully after pressing to make sure the cable is bedded down all the way along. You can make one end easily, but then have to feed this through the hole you have made, and then put the other end on. The reason you need two headers are that the ones you buy are 18 pin, and the CheckTemp is a 19 pin connection, however 3 of the 19 pins at one end are the two switches and a common earth, so you need to cut carefully one of the headers from 18 pins to 16, and then cut the other header to 3 pins to use as the extender for the switches. When it comes to cutting the litho gauge dial sheet, I used a very sharp craft knife and very carefully etched it through many times, I found this bit one of the hardest bits to do as the litho has a thin sheet of metal in it, so it takes a lot of work to get through. I tested my CheckTemp before putting it back in the car, by just connecting the red and purple wire to positive and black to negative, also means you can check for fit. Click image to enlarge You can see the holes I drilled to provide a route for both the Ultraguage cable and the CheckTemp ribbon cable. Click image to enlarge Starting to come together Click image to enlarge and now with the ribbon cable installed. Click image to enlarge When re-assembling, the best way I found to put the needles back on was to just carefully pop them onto their spindles a small way, then keep turning it against its stop until it is in the right position, you can check from the picture you took at the beginning, then move the dial off the stop a bit and press it down. If you get it wrong, simply take it off and try again, it took me about six or seven goes till I was happy with the temp gauge. I used the OBD cable splitter, and another OBD Cable extension which I re-routed, so you can still plug in a garage OBD reader if needed. The finished job, I have configured one of my Ultraguage pages which shows the following: Current MPH Speed : MPH Journey avg Engine Temp deg C : Journey time Journey Trip miles : Car Voltage My final comments are that this did take a really long time, probably as I took a measure 5 times, cut once approach, but I am really pleased with the results, if you plan to do it, make sure you set aside a good chunk of time to get it done. Click image to enlarge |
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2nd Jan 2017 9:14pm |
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| Theater Member Since: 27 Sep 2010 Location: Pisa Italy Posts: 514  
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Great Job !!!
 Marco
Defender 110 "SW" SE Galway Green MY 2009 Ex Defender 90 "SW" S Santorini Black MY 2010 |
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3rd Jan 2017 12:22am |
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| Mo Murphy Member Since: 01 Jun 2008 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Herts Posts: 2227 
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Nice job, much better than bolt on 😊
Mo The Land Rover 90 - Many are called, few are chosen. 50 Shades of Pennine Grey |
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3rd Jan 2017 8:31am |
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| sherifsalem Member Since: 02 Jan 2013 Location: Porto Posts: 96  
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Very neatly done congrats..... Happy Travel
www.thegippo.wordpress.com |
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3rd Jan 2017 11:55am |
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| Wild Card 90 Member Since: 03 Dec 2014 Location: Gerlingen Posts: 1060  
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Thanks and congratulations. An excellent job.
 Looks great.
I haven´t been brave enough to do this install, but your post brings me a step closer to doing so. 1998 Tdi 90 SW, 2008 Td4 90 SW, 2012 2.2 90 SW, 2" raised Trailmaster/Terrafirma Heavy Track Raids, 255 MT´s, Recaro CS´s, anorak, wellingtons |
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3rd Jan 2017 12:12pm |
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| Eduardo Member Since: 28 Aug 2008 Location: Región Metropolitana Posts: 2110  
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Excellent job Alastaid
Looks great! Eduardo MY 2007 110 SW PUMA 2.4: Big Fog of 64' MY 1994 Jayco 1207 Folding camper: "El Tremendo" Click image to enlarge |
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3rd Jan 2017 12:51pm |
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| ian series 1 Member Since: 17 Nov 2014 Location: south Posts: 3127 
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Just out of interest what glue did you use?
When I did mine, I used a hot melt glue gun but found out a when on a long drive with heater on the glue started to soften and the gauge started to slip down! It's surprising how hot the cluster can get on a good run. I ended up re fixing it using Araldite which is not so sensitive to heat. I think I may tackle the check temp next 80" 80" 86" 88" 90"
Wanted, Forward Control Anything considered. |
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3rd Jan 2017 1:17pm |
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| alastaid Member Since: 03 Dec 2013 Location: York Posts: 78
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Ian,
Just used hot melt glue, so I maybe have to look forward to my gauges slipping down then! Not been on a long enough journey yet to give them a proper test. Saying that, the gauges were pretty well wedged in against the backing plate so I would think thy could move far. Rgds Alastair |
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3rd Jan 2017 1:21pm |
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| ian series 1 Member Since: 17 Nov 2014 Location: south Posts: 3127
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Annoyingly mine managed to drop about 2mm which was enough to be able to see the edge of the white backlight.
I'm off to order a check temp gauge now.... 80" 80" 86" 88" 90"
Wanted, Forward Control Anything considered. |
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3rd Jan 2017 1:27pm |
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| meeerrrk Member Since: 12 Feb 2017 Location: Surrey Posts: 548 
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Thank you alastaid – incredibly useful, bookmarked for use when I install mine shortly! My 90 Project : http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic52774.html
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2nd Nov 2017 2:07pm |
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| meeerrrk Member Since: 12 Feb 2017 Location: Surrey Posts: 548
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Question for those who have done the conversion.
With the obd port being constantly powered, does the ultra gauge stay on even when ignition goes off - or is it smart and senses ignition via can? Getting there! ... Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge My 90 Project : http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic52774.html |
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7th Nov 2017 10:32pm |
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| alastaid Member Since: 03 Dec 2013 Location: York Posts: 78
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By default the Ultraguage autosenses the voltage and turns on and off based on that, you can change this if you want, but for the installation you are doing, its best left, so when you start the car, the Ultragauge comes on automatically after a few seconds, and when you turn off the engine, again the Ultragauge turns itself off automatically when the voltage drops below 13v, which is usually a few seconds after then engine has stopped.
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8th Nov 2017 2:40pm |
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| meeerrrk Member Since: 12 Feb 2017 Location: Surrey Posts: 548
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fantastic, thank you sir!
My 90 Project : http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic52774.html |
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8th Nov 2017 2:46pm |
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| 2010Blackdefender90 Member Since: 07 Jan 2018 Location: London Posts: 562 
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Awesome mod. A few questions...
Could you set the ultra gauge to the screen settings you’d like and then install it without the buttons? What gauge wire did you use for the buttons? I’ve sourced a donor disco3 instrument panel and have started the dismantling and cutting.. easy does it seems to be the way to go... Thanks Mark |
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22nd Jan 2018 5:36pm |
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