Trying to get the stock gauges to work

[cholag]

Hello, I have a 1983 280zxt with an MSII and relay board installed and I am trying to save some money so I have been reading the schematics in the FSM to try and get my stock RPM and water temp gauge to work but I have had no luck. What I have done is on circular connecter that connects to the instrument panel there is a Light green wire with a White stripe or in the schematics it is labeled as Lgw, now what I did was splice a wire into that line and then ran it to the negative terminal on the coil. When I did that my car wouldn't start, so I assumed by doing that I had cut off something to the coil and then when I removed that wire my car started fine. I also tried running that line to the green pick up wire of the dizzy and that didn't get the tach working either.

 

As far as the water temp gauge goes there is a yellow wire coming from the same connector and I was going to run that to the water temp sender but I guess the wire hanging from the sender some how got damaged in my build. So before I call up the Z barn for a new one I wanted to ask you guys and gals if running that yellow wire to the sender would get my water temp gauge working again.

 

Thanks for all your help

[RTz]

I have minimal experience with MS, but I've done a few aftermarket EMS swaps and have never been able to get the tach. working directly on a 280zx. There are tach. adapters available that 'condition' the signal. MSD makes one and seems to work fine.

 

Did your temp gauge work before MS was installed? Unless you've altered the circuit, it's completely independent of the EFI. Also, the wire shouldn't be "hanging from the sender". There is a 'post' on the sender that the yellow wire plugs into.

[cholag]

First let me say thank you for your very helpful response.

 

I guess I will just but an autometer pro comp gauge, they are running a special so when you buy one you get a $60 mail in rebate so it will only come out to $90.

 

As far as the temp gauge goes, after reading your post I did some research and I don't think I ever had a sender hooked up because according to my FSM there should be a T fitting in the hose that runs under the CHTS. But I remember fiddling with some wires before I did my build and and the gauge worked, so I will just go buy a sender and fab up a T fitting, I have faith that it will work.