VDO boost gauge installation with piccies (in dash, through front guard)

[Roodosutaa]

Ok - many ways to skin a cat as the old saying goes (looking at my cat by my feet as I type this with an evil grin Not sure where this saying comes from) - Easiest place to put the gauge and the most visible would be the tray on top of the dash, or there's the nice vent holder, but I was going for the stock look so used a 1980s VW three-gauge DIN panel I bought off eBay. The panel has pop-off lids over the holes so I could install additional gauges in stages.

I chose the VDO Vision gauge (part number 150-121) - expensive for a mechanical gauge ($79 + fitting kit + GST), but the quality of the gauge is really good and it looks like a really sturdy item, with a metal casing and proper brass fittings.

Tried the grommet in the passenger side footwell but no amout of coaxing (wire, car wash detergent, lots of swearing) could let the hose more than 5cm through .


So I went for the easier option and burned a small hole in the rubber plug to the left of the passenger footwell behind the door hinges. Burning with a soldering iron made a hole small enough to form a tight fit around the hose and also ensures the rubber wouldn't rip.



Then I jacked up the car, took the wheel off and remove the 100 or so T-20 torx screws that hold the plastic wheelarch liner (why couldn't VW just do what everybody else in the business does and use push-fittings?), burned another hole in the plastic sepation panel between the guard and the passenger door and threaded the hose through.



There's a hole if you look up the wheel arch towards the front corner of the guard near the lights, thread the hose through, and (this is the harder bit), fish the hose out of another hole close to the headlight from the engine bay (a small hook or small pinky finger would help)

[Roodosutaa]

Remove the plastic engine cover, find the fuel pressure regulator, cut the hose running from the intake manifold, then fit the T-piece (detergent/car wash helps, try not to get any in the holes)



Nice and reasonably discreet, not as neat as putting the hose through the firewall though.


Now to the interior, again I've used the ciggy lighter socket for power, the black wire was the accessories power I've used previously for the head unit install, for illumination, tap off the grey wire



The ground wire was tapped off the ground for the head unit. The VDO comes with a standard T-10 wedge type light bulb, I've got a brighter white LED unit over which I've fitted a small blue "condom", and since the wiring was drawn from the lighting circuit, the dimmer works on it too (hard to tell from the pics).



Here's everything hooked up to the gauge and fitted to the DIN-panel - for now the DIN-panel will just be stuck on with double sided tape for easy removal when I eventually put in the oil pressure gauge.



Voila!

[Roodosutaa]

More piccies:

[Kai]

Geeeezeeeeeee

Thats a huge stuff around getting the vac line from the car to the engine bay. I went through that grommet you couldnt get through.

[99_FGT]

Nice install - I am concerned the boost guage says 0 in all the piccies though...
Nice HU too - I have one in my gutlux and I think you've used the changeable button / display illumination on it really well.
Al..

[Roodosutaa]

Geeeezeeeeeee

Thats a huge stuff around getting the vac line from the car to the engine bay. I went through that grommet you couldnt get through.

@Kai: Trust me I spent an hour trying to thread the line through and couldn't get more than 5cm over, and I didn't want to move the air box and the ECU since I have a strut bar and removing that is a pain in the butt (the bolt holes for the shocks would go out of alignment), so going through the guard is actually the lazier option. I'd love to know how you did it.

@99_FGT: Seems to work fine, idles at 20in-HG and peak boost around 10psi - am surprised how the manifold is in vacuum most of the time though and you only got decent boost when you actually floor it, something I didn't know.
Yeah love the HU - the blue's not a perfect match and is impossible to see in sunlight so I leave the display in red most of the time - might even get a red LED for the boost gauge.

[Kai]

@Kai: Trust me I spent an hour trying to thread the line through and couldn't get more than 5cm over, and I didn't want to move the air box and the ECU since I have a strut bar and removing that is a pain in the butt (the bolt holes for the shocks would go out of alignment), so going through the guard is actually the lazier option. I'd love to know how you did it.

@99_FGT: Seems to work fine, idles at 20in-HG and peak boost around 10psi - am surprised how the manifold is in vacuum most of the time though and you only got decent boost when you actually floor it, something I didn't know.
Yeah love the HU - the blue's not a perfect match and is impossible to see in sunlight so I leave the display in red most of the time - might even get a red LED for the boost gauge.

I went and had a look.

I actually drilled the hole out bigger. So yeah. I didnt realise i had done that.

[peedman]

Wow ive got the same gauge for my mk3 but ill offload it for a non vacuum one soon. U polo guys are lucky with that spare din pocket, i had to relocate my stereo to the console lol. Top effort btw

[RhysQ]

Nice install - I am concerned the boost guage says 0 in all the piccies though...

The car is turned off (look at the RPM), it should be sitting at zero!

[Petrina Polo]

The passenger footwell is the easiest hole to get the hose through..

The Autometer kit comes with a very small Nylon hose.. I basically just whipped straght through, no pushing or anything.. I could get two or three of them through there.. My gromet has been pulled out altogether.

I just mounted my gauge under the air conditioning unit in a cup upside down.. (Bolted up into the bottom of the air conditioning)

It looks sweet.. I can post a picture..

Didnt have to pull any of the dash apart, accept where to go to the cigarette lighter.... Two bolts under the dash in the centre compartment behind the little rubber inserts.

It looks stealth but not in the optimal position to view when driving.. a bit low..

[Grant]

I ran my nylon hose similar the the OP. however i went through the drivers side.

I couldn't thread it through the passengers foot well grommet or see where it would've come out.

[iggie]

Hi Guys, did you have any warranty issues with volkswagen? I've tried asking my local service centre and they mentioned that warranty will be void if a boost gauge is installed.

Did you guys do it after the warranty or before the warranty period. THanks

-Ignatius

[JCM308]

Hi Guys, did you have any warranty issues with volkswagen? I've tried asking my local service centre and they mentioned that warranty will be void if a boost gauge is installed.

Did you guys do it after the warranty or before the warranty period. THanks

-Ignatius

As with any warranty, VW would have to prove that what you have done has caused the problem. The main issue I could see is if you have an electrical issue they could try and bulls**t and say that the light for the gauge caused it. If that happened then your ecu warranty would be void too

I suggest finding some contacts that are lawyers and car electricians just in case VW try and pull this one over on you.

It's the same story that most car dealers try and use with servicing. They try and say that warranty is void unless you get their 1st year apprentices to do your services. The truth is that as long as you use VW genuine parts and specified oils as well as a licensed mechanic then VW can't do squat.

[iggie]

Hi John

Thanks for the advice and tips. Will thread carefully on the warranty grounds.

Ignatius

[glidn]

nice work man, a bit of a long track but it works.

However i remember talking to a few people and reading it online a few places.

They strongly recommend against connecting the boost gauge on the FPR vac lines.