Rantings of a maniacal Mercedes fan and DIY-er

Friday, March 25, 2011

5 minute DIY - Installing a boost gauge in 300SD

Really, this install could not be easier.  I picked up a cheapo boost/vacuum gauge from Harbor Freight for about $20, came with about 3-4 feet of vacuum tube, a plastic tee connection, and some crappy bracketry.  Not only was it cheap, but it is extremely cheesy as well, allowing the user to select any number of colors to look super cool!  Being that my SD is already cool and particularly riced-out on the inside, this fit perfectly within the decor.  The easiest place to tap into the boost is with the overboost protection line running from a banjo bolt on the intake manifold over the top of the valve cover into a little cylindrical gizmo on the driver's side fender.  What this does is it monitors the boost and sends a signal to the ALDA which eventually regulates the amount of fuel going into the injector pump, thus limiting boost.  However, most turbos 30 years old are not putting out a whole lot of boost - thus the case for a boost gauge.  While you're working on the boost line, it is a good idea to unscrew the banjo bolt (don't lose it like I did last year...) and give it a really good cleaning.  They can get clogged up with soot and stuff over the years which will limit the performance of your car as well as render the boost gauge inaccurate.  Furthermore, it only takes 30 seconds of your time and is a good practice every couple years.
Anyways, regarding the gauge - I tapped in right before the overboost protection solenoid in order to give me as much vacuum hose as possible going into the cabin.  Unfortunately, being a piece of crap, the tee that came with the gauge broke almost immediately.  Luckily I had another tee on hand that fit a little better, and used that to tap into the line.  A boost gauge such as this requires the vacuum/boost hose to go through the firewall into the passenger compartment, and there are a few ways to do this.  The tubing that came with the crappy gauge was very thick and I didn't have any spare hard tubing available.  Therefore I chose  to route it in the same grommet as the hood  release cable, between the fuse box and fender.  There was a plugged space available (not sure why...), all you need to do is unplug it and route the hose through. A good trick is to stick an unbent coathanger in the tubing to stiffen it, then route it into the cabin.  That way, the flexible tubing won't bunch up and you won't have to crawl uncomfortably around the pedal area. 
You can mount the gauge wherever you please, but the most logical for me was right under the ignition tumbler, since it was out of the way yet still visible.  There is a trim piece that uses a screw along with a trim clip to secure against the top dash.  This was solid enough to mount the gauge.  I had some 90* steel brackets left over from an electronic drum kit I made, so I bent one to shape and screwed it in.  Attach the boost line to the back of the gauge and you've got a working gauge.  As far as wiring, I installed a radio at the same time, so I decided to use the 12V+ and illumination wires from that to also power the gauge LED.  The ground just went to a chassis spot.  In all, it took me longer to write this than it did to  install the gauge in the car.  Any questions just comment and I'll be happy to answer.

Pics are still coming.  I had written this a while ago, never got around to posting it, but unfortunately my camera is MIA :( 

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