adding an ammeter

[Smalljeep]

hi there
i got myself an oil pressure gague kit which also had a water temp and ammeter included.
here they are so far:

The thing must be american because the instructions have pictures for gm/ford/chrysler setups but not for other cars, do i connect the +Ve to the starter bolt. As for the earth its not very specific.
as for the wire itself it says to use 10AWG wire minimum, the owner of my local hardware shop has never heard of such a rating, generally what thickness should an ammeter be on the suzuki?

also about the water temperature one, it doesnt fit into the thermostat sensor, is there somewhere else to place that?

[twiss]

I'd think you would either just earth it to some bodywork... or straight to the battery

... and the thermostat sensor... you can get housings for them that you fit in your top radiator hose

Gauges look good though!!!

[Smalljeep]

thanks they do look good on the dash, the digital clock was broke and the stroage bin was useless so i put them here.
The ammeter though the instructions say to wire it to the starter but thats for a Chrysler, where should i put it on the suzuki?

and here is the connection for the temperature gague, it can be used for either water or oil temperature:

[Izuki]

Hi amp meters should be wired in series (that's inline) and can be fitted to either positive or negative sides of the battery. The earth side is safest for wiring, so negative side of battery wired to -ve side of amp meter and the other side you wire to a good chassis earth. The only problem is the starter will draw 150-250 amps, probably too much for the meter so you should run a seperate engine earth straight to the battery.
The other option is wire it intro the main feed to the fusebox which does run behind the dash it's a thick white wire (think it got a trace on it, can't remember) just cut it and connect to both sides of the meter.
Hope that helps and isn't too confusing!

[Ginger_boy]

I'd think you would either just earth it to some bodywork... or straight to the battery

Never earth an ameter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A ammeter is designed to go in serise to measure the amps in a circuit

Looking at the amp guage you have there it seems that it is going to show whether the battery is charging or discharging

Disconnect your + terminal on the battery the SJ should have two wires connected to it as standard, one is a big brown or black cable that goes to the starter motor, The other is slightly smaller but not as small as the other wires in the car its should have a short thinner wire connected to it (this is suzuki's idea of a fusable link) the link joins to another fatter wire which should be white with a yellow stripe.

Disconect the link nearest the battery and connect a 6mm squ UK equivelant of 10 AWG (American Wire guage) this is chunky stuff (remember you have all the SJ's electrics apart from the starter circut running through this cable) Use tri rated cable as its flexible and resistant to heat, oil etc http://www.electriccableco.com/electric-cable-shop.htm this is a very good shop and will sell you cable by the meter use red or white to indicate a positive feed.

Firstly connect a inline fuse of 45amp remember the holder must be also rated to this or higher. Run you cable into the car connect to one of the meters terminals. It doesn't matter which one as the meter will work backward if wrong just swap the terminals around.
From the other meter terminal run back out into the engine bay and reconnect onto the fuseable link.

If done right this is what should happen

Ign on slight neg amps turn on more things the amp meter should show more neg
Start the engine meter should swing over to loads of neg amps
When running the meter should show a slightly positive amps

A few things to note
Cable terminations must be very good use a proper cable crimper to fit crimps, I.e not pliers or those sh.1.t squash together things.
Because you are dealing with reasonable high amps a poor termination will become warm/hot and inside your dash can then melt the surounding cables etc nice mess

When running the cables through the engine bulkhead ensure that they won't get damaged. If one of these cable gets cut to is core it will be like directly shorting your battery out with a screwdriver Which brings me back to my original sentance don't earth out a ammeter.

Hope this help I can do a pic if required

[twiss]

I stand corrected...

[Smalljeep]

hi there
thats a good guide, the problem is my electrics are definatley not standard, ill get a pic up later of the battery but i know that i have the lights getting their +Ve feed off the battery terminal all fused of course but still coming off here.

But if you can do a pic of what it is your describing it would be great, im not entirely sure what wire to connect it to.

Although i can go and get some tri rated wire and a 45amp inline fuse holder. I have a ratchet crimper should crimp the connections ok.

[Darrell]

I hope you don't mind me saying this but don't bother with it. A voltmeter would be much better idea.
The ammeter should be wired into the battery positve wire that feeds the fusebox and goes to the alternator.
This gauge only gives you a idea how much current is going to or from the battery and most loads will be supplied from the alternator.
Because your SPOTLIGHTS are connected direct to the battery positive the gauge will not show a true reading to/from the battery.
As said if you do wire the gauge please make sure you have good connections as I've seen poor connections overheat and melt
I assume your ammeter may have a small earth wire to power the backlight and a small wire for the sidelight supply, but i see they already work.
It's only my opinion but a voltmeter gives you a much better idea of the state of your battery.
Right then a few pics.



edited due to more info

[twiss]

Ever thought about starting a business? Darrell's diagrams?

[Smalljeep]

the only reason its an ammeter not a voltmeter is thats what came in the packet.
so i find the fuseable link snip it open, put one end going to the ameter through a 45amp fuse, then the other pole of the ammeter goes back to the fuseable link?
Im not good with them wiring diagrams especially as it never looks the same on the car, is there a better place to place the 3 wires for the additional lights onto?