289 gauge wiring

[Bguetter]

I just opened the box for the 289 gauges and they look great. I noticed the wring pigtails on the back of the gauges has a different connector than is on the Ron Francis wiring harness. For some reason i thought the new gauges and new harness were direct plug ins.

I could use some tips on how you wired up your 289 gauges. Thanks guys!

[cnutting]

Yes, the 289 gauges have different connectors. I ended up doing major surgery on my harness. I would lay out the harness, the 289 gauges and their senders. Follow the gauge instructions to hook them up. Once you see how everything goes, mark up a copy of the RF schematic. Use this markup to plan your cuts and splices. Take it wire by wire and you should be ok.

The trailer hitch adapter will also need to be included in this since there is some cutting needed for the rear harness too.

[Bguetter]

I think i have a better understanding of the general wiring, but i'm still confused on the 289 gauge wring. Where do "power distribution cable to plug all guages into" wires go?

dash wiring.jpg

[edwardb]

Speedhut red gauge power -> RF brown gauge feed.
Speedhut black ground -> RF ground. Any one. Doesn't matter.
Speedhut dash lighting -> RF white dash lighting. For both the white wire in the red/black/white harness (needles) and also to the inverter (backlighting).

[Bguetter]

OK starting to make more sense. Where/what is the inverter? I guess part of my misunderstanding was the needle and the gauge lighting is separate.

Here is the rear of my water temp gauge. The rest are basically the same. So i would think that i would want to daisy chain the red gauge power, the grounds, and the white dash lighting? Then the yellow/red stripe and yellow/black stripe are the senders back out to the sensors on the engine.

Wow, i need an automotive electrical course. Lol......and this is my second build!

Edit: Found the inverter in the box. I think this is all making sense now.

[Erik W. Treves]

just go on to the speed hut website and download the directions.... the pictures will make the most sense

[Bguetter]

One last question....for now. I have an older 289 kit. My speedometer doesnt say GPS on the face and doesnt have the built in turn signals/high beam indicator. Is this a GPS speedometer?

[cnutting]

I'd say no. Yours looks like mine which is non GPS.

Happy to hear that it's starting to make sense. Take good notes on your final wiring. Next up for you is the rear harness converter...

[edwardb]

Here is the rear of my water temp gauge. The rest are basically the same. So i would think that i would want to daisy chain the red gauge power, the grounds, and the white dash lighting? Then the yellow/red stripe and yellow/black stripe are the senders back out to the sensors on the engine.

You're getting it!

One last question....for now. I have an older 289 kit. My speedometer doesnt say GPS on the face and doesnt have the built in turn signals/high beam indicator. Is this a GPS speedometer?

Early GPS units didn't have the indicator lights (I know, I have one...) but it should be pretty easy to tell. (1) Is there a GPS antenna in the box and a gold connector on the back of the gauge for the coax cable? If so, GPS. (2) Are there two separate multi-colored wires like the ones you had out of the water temp gauge, in addition to the power and lighting wires? If so, not GPS and those wires are for the speed sensor in the transmission.

[Bguetter]

Early GPS units didn't have the indicator lights (I know, I have one...) but it should be pretty easy to tell. (1) Is there a GPS antenna in the box and a gold connector on the back of the gauge for the coax cable? If so, GPS. (2) Are there two separate multi-colored wires like the ones you had out of the water temp gauge, in addition to the power and lighting wires? If so, not GPS and those wires are for the speed sensor in the transmission.

It appears i have a non-GPS speedometer. Bummer. I like the built in high beams and indicator lights on the new ones. I'll have to decide if i want to purchase separately from Speedhut @ $179

[japollon]

I just posted this is the other thread on this subject.

I'm more confused than ever!!! Haha

So it appears there are different gauge sets and within those new versions and older versions. As well, it seems that the RF harnesses can be different. Mine are the later version of the 289 FIA gauge set with the clockwise speedometer and turn signal and high beam indicators on the face of the speedo.

Some of the plugs in my gauge harness are compatible with plugs on included with my gauge set. Some are not. See the pictures below. The white plugs on the harness will plug into each of the engine function gauges. Not so for the speedometer and the Tachometer.

So the question is, do I use the plugs then deal with the grounds and lights separately? There are many more wires in the gauge harness that seem to need a home. Guess I will figure that out as I go.

Gauge connections RS2.jpg
Gauge conntions RS1.jpg

[Bguetter]

I just posted this is the other thread on this subject.

I'm more confused than ever!!! Haha

So it appears there are different gauge sets and within those new versions and older versions. As well, it seems that the RF harnesses can be different. Mine are the later version of the 289 FIA gauge set with the clockwise speedometer and turn signal and high beam indicators on the face of the speedo.

Some of the plugs in my gauge harness are compatible with plugs on included with my gauge set. Some are not. See the pictures below. The white plugs on the harness will plug into each of the engine function gauges. Not so for the speedometer and the Tachometer.

So the question is, do I use the plugs then deal with the grounds and lights separately? There are many more wires in the gauge harness that seem to need a home. Guess I will figure that out as I go.

Gauge connections RS2.jpg
Gauge conntions RS1.jpg

I think i have a pretty good general understanding of the wiring. I’ll be tackling it this weekend and taking good notes for each gauge. I’ll post my progress either here or on my build thread.

[Bguetter]

Got a good chunk of the dash wiring finished up this afternoon. Pretty straight forward once i laid everything out and read back through the wiring threads.

Question on the gauge sender wiring. It seems to me it would be easier to use the supplied senders that came with the gauges vs. going back through the chassis wiring harness for the gauge senders. Any problem with bypassing the main harness for the senders and going straight to the sensors on the motor?

[edwardb]

Question on the gauge sender wiring. It seems to me it would be easier to use the supplied senders that came with the gauges vs. going back through the chassis wiring harness for the gauge senders. Any problem with bypassing the main harness for the senders and going straight to the sensors on the motor?

Electrically, there's no difference. Hard to say one way is better than another. I prefer to use the RF harness wires and route everything through the RF connectors. Would make it a bit easier to separate the dash should I ever have to. Only the water temp and oil temp (if used) actually need the Speedhut connectors at the sending units. But really, it's a personal preference. Do what you think is best.

[cnutting]

I used the 289 specific senders and everything worked fine. There were some tense moments with the surgery though. Keep good notes.

Edwardb makes some good points to keep the harness. As he said, personal preference.

[Bguetter]

I used the 289 specific senders and everything worked fine. There were some tense moments with the surgery though. Keep good notes.

Edwardb makes some good points to keep the harness. As he said, personal preference.

I guess now i'm confused. My gauges came with senders that plug directly into the back of the gauges and run to the appropriate sensors on the motor. No surgery needed. For me, it looks like if i wanted to go back through the main harness, i would need to perform surgery.

[edwardb]

I guess now i'm confused. My gauges came with senders that plug directly into the back of the gauges and run to the appropriate sensors on the motor. No surgery needed. For me, it looks like if i wanted to go back through the main harness, i would need to perform surgery.

Yea... Cut off the connectors on the gauges and splice onto the RF wires. No big deal. As surgery goes, strictly of the out-patient variety. But if you don't want to, then don't.

On an aside note, from what I've seen of the new RF harness that has the Speedhut connectors already installed on the dash harness (nice BTW) there will still be surgery involved to put connectors on the other end at the sending units where necessary.

[cnutting]

Sorry about that. I used the senders and connected them to the gauges, but ended up cutting out a lot of unused wiring.