Trans Temp gage add-on

Elevatorman · June 5, 2004

I install the Trans. Temp. Gage to my stock cluster yesterday.

It came from US SPEEDO. Fairly easy to install.Has any one

seen a delay in the computer learning to use the gage.The guy

at US Speedo said it my take 100 to 200 miles for the gage to

read correctly, any thoughts.

JimG · June 5, 2004

I got one from US Speedo also. I think for a day or so it didn't get the right value, but when you drive 100 miles a day, that learning period isn't something you'll notice.

Anyway, one possibility is you have a cold solder joint - it will look a dull-gray instead of shiny silver. Cold solder joints are darn annoying because they work intermittently. If you think you have one of those, it's easy to fix. Just melt the solder on that joint and make sure it turns silver. Otherwise, use a de-soldering tool to remove the old solder, then apply fresh. If you do this and after 100 miles you still don't read a temperature, the gauge itself could be defective.

mdub · June 5, 2004

I install the Trans. Temp. Gage to my stock cluster yesterday.
It came from US SPEEDO. Fairly easy to install.Has any one

seen a delay in the computer learning to use the gage.The guy

at US Speedo said it my take 100 to 200 miles for the gage to

read correctly, any thoughts.

I'm not sure the computer has anything to do with the tranny temp gauge... I'm quite sure the circuit consists of a factory installed thermocouple in the tranny, and the guage just reads the variable voltage/current sent through the thermocouple. I'm not seeing how the "computer" would have any affect. I may be wrong, but I think the salesperson was giving a line of b.s.

I have the US Speedo kit installed, and noticed that it does take quite a while for the tranny temp to rise -- but this is to be expected. Realize that it's reading the fluid temp, and it takes a while for things to heat up... this is a good thing. Drive it for ~20 miles, and I bet you will see it rise and read accurately.

I've had great results with my kit -- I think it's a good product.

Elevatorman · June 5, 2004

The gage my be defective.I've driven the truck to get some heat in the trans.

but, the gage just clicks the needle.All ready checked for cold solder joints.

Even checked for the needle binding up.No problem found.I'll just drive it

the rest of the weekend call them on monday.

99GMCZ71 · June 8, 2004

So has the gauge started working? I was thinking about adding the gauge to my cluster. How much was the gauge kit? Do all the needles have to come off? Is that easy to do? How do you line them back up right? Looks like it is a little more involved for the 99 to 02 models.

JimG · June 8, 2004

Yeah, all the needles need to come off. They give you an instruction sheet which tells you how to do mark your cluster so you can re-align the gauges when done. You will get the needle, light bulb and a new overlay for your cluster. The overlay is the reason you need to remove the needles. You'll be taking that off and replacing it with the one in the kit.

The gauge itself can only be mounted one way - which greatly simplifies the soldering ... i.e. you won't be able to position it wrong, solder it in place, find out it doesn't work, tear it apart, do it again, etc.

It's a cool mod, cost is about $150 I think. Did mine about 6 months ago and love it.

AZ-Z71 · June 8, 2004

Or I thnk JP Customs has them for $250 -270???? Spend the extra $100 and save the agravation of doing it yourself. That is probably the way I'll go if I don't get the front pillar guage pod.

Elevatorman · June 11, 2004

Well thought I would let you know. US SPEEDO Sent me a new gage motor

installed it in 25 minutes.Works great, rushed the install so i checked the speedo

with my handheld GPS dead on the money.Thats the one gage you do not want off.

US SPEEDO dealt with my problem with class.

JimG · June 11, 2004

Nice - glad you got it fixed.

piratebaseball · June 11, 2004

What is the website for US Speedo...this is one mod that I will probably do?

mdub · June 11, 2004

What is the website for US Speedo...this is one mod that I will probably do?

US Speedo doesn't sell directly, you need to go through one of their distributors. I purchased through the following site for ~$135:

http://www.stylinconcepts.com

I had to deal with Stylinconepts and US Speedo customer service since the bulb in the kit was damaged during shipping. They shipped a new bulb immediately, and were great to work with.

Regarding the gauge needles, I'm a little curious if you really need to worry about the exact placement of the needles during the re-install. You'll notice when you turn on the ignitition switch, each gauge motor turns fully counterclockwise against the peg, then rises to a normal running position. I think this may be some sort of auto-calibration process that occurs with each startup, so I think it may not matter where you point the needles during the re-install (within reason). It would be interesting to place a needle in a bogus position, and see if it normalizes following the next startup. I have a feeling it would. It would sure make the installation easier if you didn't have to worry about returning the needles to their exact position. Just something for someone to try during the next install...

-Mdub

Elevatorman · June 11, 2004

Regarding the gauge needles, I'm a little curious if you really need to worry about the exact placement of the needles during the re-install. You'll notice when you turn on the ignitition switch, each gauge motor turns fully counterclockwise against the peg, then rises to a normal running position. I think this may be some sort of auto-calibration process that occurs with each startup, so I think it may not matter where you point the needles during the re-install (within reason). It would be interesting to place a needle in a bogus position, and see if it normalizes following the next startup. I have a feeling it would. It would sure make the installation easier if you didn't have to worry about returning the needles to their exact position. Just something for someone to try during the next install...

My cluster did not have any pegs.The problem with the needles, is the gage will

auto find itself in that the needle shaft will be correct. But ,The placement of

the needle on the shaft can be off.If you get lost with needle placement.

When you first plugin the cluster,Before you trun the key.All gage needle shfts

return to 0 or the lowest scale value.but the one you what to double check

is the speedo,for obvious reasons.