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Thread: Adding an oil pressure idiot light, Part 1

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
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    Adding an oil pressure idiot light, Part 1

    It has always bugged me that the Marauder has no readily visible oil pressure indicator in the instrument cluster. The oil gauge is great, especially if a real one is installed, but I have to remember to look at it.

    I figured out a way to add an oil pressure idiot light and installed it in combination with adding a real oil pressure gauge. The end result looks like it is original equipment (see finished.JPG in the Gallery). (The oil light color in this picture is distorted because of the long exposure. The true color looks like the Brake indicator – see completed_graphic3.JPG).

    What makes this possible is that there is an unused/extra warning lamp location in the instrument cluster. The cluster circuit board has the needed connection. To use it:
    1) A hole needs to be cut for the extra lamp in the cluster circuit board.
    2) The oil can graphic needs to be installed into the cluster face.
    3) The signal from the oil pressure sending unit needs to be modified.
    4) The modified signal needs to be fed to the instrument cluster to drive the light.

    By far the hardest part is adding the oil can graphic to the cluster face. Everything else is relatively simple. Part cost for this mod is under $20. A time guesstimate is 4-8 hours.

    I have lots more pictures detailing the steps below but they were too large to fit into the Gallery. PM me if you would like them emailed to you.

    Parts needed:
    1) The original oil pressure sending unit, installed and operational
    2) IRF510 MOSFET, Radio Shack part # 276-2072
    3) Four pin male and female connectors, Radio Shack part #s 274-224 and 274-234
    4) One 10k to 100k ohm resistor, available at Radio Shack. I used a 20k ohm.
    5) Light bulb+socket. An F57Z-13B765-BA from Ford works well. Other similar bulbs would work fine too.
    6) Wiring harness connector, Ford part = Terminal # E3EB-14474-BA = Augat # 101071 = E3 Edge Card (mini) 16AWG. **
    7) Shrink wrap or electrical tape
    8) Approx 8 ft of automotive hookup wire
    9) 3-4 wire splicing connectors
    10) Red & blue lens 3D glasses from your local party store
    11) Oil can graphic on clear mailing labels. I have extras of these. PM me if you want me to send some to you.
    12) The backing from a sheet of stickers
    13) Super Glue
    14) Plastic polish (optional)

    ** I got this from the local LM dealer. They had a wiring harness connector pin kit for late model Ford autos. The kit consisted of approx 30 kinds of connector pins with wires already crimped onto the pins. The dealers use this kit to repair broken harnesses so the entire harness does not have to be replaced. The dealer also had a book showing the various pin shapes for the connectors. The kit was older than the Marauder but it had a connector pin that was close enough in shape to the Marauder pins to work. The part number given above is out of the dealer’s book. The connector pin and housing is made for Ford by Augat.

    Equipment needed:
    1) X-Acto knife
    2) T15 Torx bit
    3) 7mm = 9/32” nut driver
    4) soldering iron & resin-core solder (preferred) or crimp tool
    5) hot-glue gun
    6) small needle-nose pliers
    7) ohm meter
    2003 MM 300B

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Newbury Park, CA
    Posts
    188

    Adding an oil pressure idiot light, Part 2

    Electrical Instructions:
    1) Gather the MOSFET, resistor, and both 4 pin connectors
    2) Solder or crimp one lead (wire) of the resistor into a male connector pin
    3) Wrap the other resistor lead around the MOSFET pin 1 (leftmost pin when reading the IRF510 part number on the MOSFET)
    4) Slide the other male connector pins over the 3 MOSFET leads and solder or crimp.
    5) Carefully insert the MOSFET/resistor/male pins combo into the connector plastic housing. Ensure the pins lock into place (you should hear a slight “click”). Be careful as too much bending can snap the leads off the MOSFET. Insert in this orientation:
    a.Resistor pin in hole 1
    b.MOSFET pin 1 in hole 2
    c.MOSFET pin 2 (center pin) in hole 3
    d.MOSFET pin 3 in hole 4
    6) Solder or crimp 8-12 inch long wire to three of the female connector pins and about 4 feet of wire to one female connector pin. Different colors of wire are preferred as this will help you determine which wire to connect in a later step.
    7) Insert the four female connector pins into the plastic housing. Insert the long wire connector so that it will connect with MOSFET pin 2 (middle pin in hole 3). Ensure the pins lock into place (you should hear a slight “click”).
    8) Connect both male and female connectors together and use an ohm meter to determine if the wires are electrically connected to the associated MOSFET pins.
    9) Use the glue gun to cover the MOSFET with hot glue. This is a good electrical insulator.
    10) Remove the oil gauge and voltmeter panel by grabbing both sides and pulling towards the shift lever. It will pop off.
    11) The oil gauge is fed by a white connector with 4 wires going to it. Red/Yellow = ignition (12-14V), White/Red= wire from sending unit, Orange/Black is illumination power, and black is Ground.
    12) Splice the three short wires from the female connector to three of the wires feeding the gauge –or- remove the pins from the plastic connector housing, solder wires to the pins, and put the pins back into the housing:
    a.Connector pin 1 (Resistor) to Red/Yellow wire
    b.Connector pin 2 (MOSFET pin 1) to White/Red wire
    c.Connector pin 4 (MOSFET pin 3) to Black wire
    13) Remove the instrument cluster by:
    a.Remove the radio
    b.Carefully remove the carbon fiber trim pieces from the dash by grabbing one end and pulling toward the seats. They will pop off. Disconnect any connectors from pedal adjust, traction control, etc, buttons.
    c.Use the 7mm nut driver to remove the 2 screws on the right and 4 on the left that were under the trim pieces. Also remove the two screws above the cluster bezel that screw vertically into the dash.
    d.Lower the steering wheel to its lowest position.
    e.Carefully pull the dash trim towards the seat. It will pop off. Remove the wire connectors from the light switch and dimmer. After the light switch harness is removed a bell will start dinging. It won’t stop until it is reconnected.
    f.On the back of the dash trim you will see some clips that hold the light switch/dimmer panel in place. Push the clips inward and pop the light switch/dimmer panel out of the dash trim piece. Plug the harness back into the light switch. The bell will stop dinging and your sanity will return.
    g.Remove the 4 screws around the instrument cluster. The cluster will now be loose.
    h.Pull the cluster towards the seat then rotate the bottom up towards the engine (clear plastic front facing up).
    i.Pull the two connectors out from the bottom of the instrument cluster and remove the cluster from the dash.
    14) Feed the long wire from your female connector up through the dash to where the instrument cluster connectors are.
    15) Trim the tabs from the bottom of the new Ford connector
    16) Solder the new Ford connector to the end of the long wire and tape or heat shrink the connection.
    17) Insert the Ford connector into the empty pin location (pin 7) of the connector that attaches to the passenger side of the instrument cluster.
    18) Replace the oil gauge/voltmeter panel stuffing the MOSFET and connector behind it.
    19) Replace the instrument cluster after graphics & lamp are added.

    Cluster/Graphics Instructions:
    1)Disassemble instrument cluster:
    a. Remove clear bezel by removing 4 screws on top and 2 screws on bottom of the cluster using the Torx bit. Set this aside on a soft surface or clean towel because the clear plastic scratches very easily
    b. Remove the black face by removing the four screws on the bottom of the cluster. Set this aside for now.
    2)Add the warning lamp:
    a. Flip the cluster over so the gauges face down.
    b. Locate the extra (spare) lamp location in the circuit board.
    c. Use the X-Acto knife to cut through the circuit board (actually thin plastic) and make a hole the needed size. Remove the blue lamp (twist counter clockwise) below the extra/spare location to see what size and shape to make the hole
    d. The dark lines on the circuit board are copper traces covered with plastic. Some of the plastic near the lamp hole needs to be sc***** off so the lamp can make an electrical connection to the copper traces. Use the X-Acto knife and gently scrape the plastic off in an area similar to the other lamp holes. The copper will look like a new penny when you remove the plastic.
    e. Replace the lamp you removed and insert the new lamp you bought.
    f. Set this part of the cluster aside for now
    3)Add the oil can graphic:
    a. The warning symbols and graphics are embedded and printed on two plastic decal sheets on the front of the cluster’s black face. The decals are held on by a type of adhesive. The oil graphic is added to the passenger-side decal.
    b. Locate the extra/spare graphics location and use the opening as a template to pencil an outline of the opening on the decal. This will help you determine where to put the oil can graphic.
    c. Remove this passenger-side decal by gently pushing from behind using the various warning lamp holes in the black face to get to the back of the decal.
    d. Once removed, place the back of the sticker sheet (part Items #12) over the back of the decal so the decal’s adhesive does not get contaminated and can be reused.
    e. Use the X-Acto knife to scrape away the adhesive and paint from the back of the decal inside the penciled area. Make it the same size as the ABS indicator below it. Also be careful to try and line up the clear area with the ABS indicator so the result looks original. The resulting clear area will be approx ½” wide by 3/8”tall.
    f. Cut a piece of the 3D glasses red lens to be the size of the clear area and glue it onto the clear area using enough Super Glue to well cover the entire clear area. (The reason to use so much glue is because you need to fill in the space between the decal plastic and the red plastic so there are no air bubbles. If there are air bubbles between the plastic layers then the alteration is very obvious when viewed from the decal front and looks bad.) Press down on the red plastic firmly to remove any air bubbles and excess glue.
    g. Viewed from the front of the decal, the red area will likely be larger than the ABS indicator and likely will have rough edges and may not be square to the ABS indicator. Using 1/8” wide pieces of electrical tape, outline the red plastic and create a box that is the desired size, has straight edges, and is square to the ABS indicator graphic.
    h. Stick the oil lamp graphic to the red plastic being careful to line up the can so it is square with the edge of the red box. Trim any excess clear plastic and firmly press the graphic down to remove air bubbles
    i. Repeat the last step by adding another oil can graphic exactly over the top of the first. (one graphic is not opaque enough to look good from the front but two look good)
    j. I got mine to look pretty good. (see completed_graphic3.JPG)
    4) Reassemble the cluster:
    a. Reattach the decal to the black cluster face pressing firmly to get it to stick well
    b. Put the black face back on the gauges.
    c. Now is a good time to polish the outside of your clear bezel with plastic polish to get rid of any scratches.
    d. Make sure the inside of the bezel and the black face and gauges are very clean then replace the bezel.

    Final Instructions:
    1) Replace the instrument cluster using the reverse order of the removal instructions.
    2) Test the light by turning the ignition to ON.
    3) Replace all the trim panels and radio.
    4) The final result should look like finished.JPG.
    2003 MM 300B

  3. #3
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    Excellent write up, but:


  4. #4
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    Thanks for this extra effort. You fit right into my book with guys like VegasMarauder that take the time to make the car better and then share the information because you're one of us.

    I've always thought the oil pressure warning light is needed much more than a guage. I certainly wouldn't put an oil guage within easy sight like on the A-pillar. That's for oil temp and ATF temp which are much better indicators of stress on the drivetrain.

    And Martyo,

    Pics! We don't need no stinking pics!

    RIP, Fred Dobbs.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by martyo
    Excellent write up, but:

    umm....I saw two pics that summed it up.
    If you’re in control, you’re not going fast enough. – Parnelli Jones

    If your wife's having a good time and you're not, you're still having a better time than if you're having a good time and she's not. - Red Green

    2004 Marauder 300A - Garage Queen

    1025 of 3213. It is one of 1237 in black and one of 2000 w/o the moonroof option.

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    LOC: Clermont Florida

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by BigCars4Ever
    umm....I saw two pics that summed it up.

    Geez Louise, are you guys ever going to learn NOT to take me too seriously?


    I will post the pics myself.

    Here they are:





  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by martyo
    Geez Louise, are you guys ever going to learn NOT to take me too seriously?


    I will post the pics myself.
    Thanks for posting the pics, Marty...

    For those of us that have already added a REAL Oil Pressure Gauge,
    the instructions for adding the actual idiot light to the cluster are the same,
    the electronics are simpler.

    You need to install a pressure switch on the engine, preferably as close to the Oil Pressure Sender as possible.
    Make sure the switch GROUNDS WITH NO PRESSURE, OPEN WITH PRESSURE.

    You can run a switched 12V feed to the bulb in the dash, and run a line from the bulb to the switch.
    The switch will ground when there is no pressure, completing the circuit,
    and turning on the bulb in the dash.
    The bulb will also turn on with KOEOFF (Key On Engine OFF), so you can see it is working.
    Last edited by MENINBLK; 04-07-2005 at 07:04 AM.
    Pete...


    2k04 BLACK Mercury Marauder 300A #810 of 3223
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    Water Wetter, K&N AirCharger/Drycharger, SS Inserts,
    SilverStar 9007SU, WeatherTech WeatherFlectors, Steering Wheel Badge,
    AutoMeter Gauges (Oil Press, Voltmeter, and Trans Oil Temp),
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    Accel 140034-8 Coil Packs, Granatelli Motorsports Coil-On-Plug wires
    Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of rice,
    I will fear no turbo for displacement is with me.

  8. #8
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    I would be interested in seeing pics? For some reason I can't see them if they're here.

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    YAY!!! Back from the Dead!!

    This Thread is 3.5 years old. The pics have probably been removed by now.



    KillJoy

  10. #10
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    Oil pressure idiot lights usually go on under 10 psi, which means your engine is already toast. Not that useful
    Steve H., Charles County, MD www.carfap.com
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