C2H5OH

iTrader: (5)

Decided I would share my experience with Omori gauges mounted onto Autometer’s bezel. Got Omori EGT and Boost gauges couple of weeks ago from Thaison at j-spectuning.com. Both are electr. 52mm 02/03 wrx look-alike gauges. For those who have not dealt with Thaison – don’t expect anything less than excellent service from j-spec tuning. I’ve bought from him before and would gladly do so again. Bezel came from subarustore.com, as they are still offering that $69 special for I-club or nasioc (nice and friendly, fast shipping). My main reason to go with this setup was the stock look and feel. Both gauges and bezel look like an integral part of the dash, and I find that 52mm gauges are big enough for quick readings and are easy enough to see in that location.

Gauge bezel removal/installation is really easy. There are two bolts at the top part that hold it to the dashboard, and Autometer’s bezel comes with two additional brackets to substitute the bottom OEM snap-in locks. I don’t even have them in place yet, so the whole thing rattles a bit at 80mph (but not seriously enough to force me to finish the install). Placed next to each other, Autometer’s bezel looks and feels much thinner compared to a stock piece, but once mounted, it looks 100% stock. I doubt that any of my friends would be able to tell that it didn’t come with the car.

Gauge openings are a bit too small for the Omori gauges, so they have to be trimmed a little (I used sand paper for a couple of minutes on each of them). This provides for a very secure mounting spot, in my opinion. The gauges were sitting there rock solid even before I put the holding brackets in place.

Omori gauges come with everything needed for install. You could appreciate the quality once you open the package. All the wires come with little harnesses, so everything between a gauge and a probe is a sort of ‘plug and play.’ The only instructions you would ever need is the wiring diagram. I used my stereo harness to tap for gauges power/lights. I had a tester, so I just checked all the wires for positive voltage with power and lights on and off. Blue w/Red Stripe wire seems to be a constant Battery Plus, and Purple gave me a Battery Plus when the lights were on (late 03 wrx, in case Subaru wires them differently). All grounding went to some piece of chassis that you see in the back of the stereo bay (I used one of the small 10mm bolts). Since it was my first time messing with any electrical installs, I just cut the wires going to the stereo harness, added new ones from the gauges, and put them back together – so far, it works for the gauges, and my stereo is still ok.

I tapped the BOV hose to get the reading for the boost gauge (thanks Thaison for providing the correct T-connector). EGT probe is still not connected, so a warning light is always lit on the EGT gauge and it does not read anything. Boost readings seem to be correct – it shows about 5-15 vacuum for constant speed driving, and maxes out at about 14-15 lbs of boost for WOT.

The only concern with Omori gauges is that they don’t dim together with the dash lights. After driving around for over a week, I can’t say it bothers me. Gauges are simply a little brighter (a bit greener) compared to the rest of the dashboard. If at some point it becomes an issue, I’d consider adding a resistor to the lights wire of the gauges. For more info, there is this really long post on nasioc: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...g&pagenumber=1

What else? A couple of PIA moments in the install. First, tapping the BOV hose. The damn hoses just won’t come onto the stupid T-thingy Second, looking for the hole through the firewall. It got much easier after I went back and searched on I-club and Nasioc for it. There is one opening down by the clutch pedal, but it’s a little hard to see at first since it’s covered by the floor carpet. Once I got the wires through, I used a flashlight to figure out where they are coming out in the engine bay.

And yes, I know that gauges are a bit crooked – this will be fixed when I finish the install (still need to drill for the EGT probe, run the wires, hook up the EGT gauge, and add those brackets for the bottom of the bezel)

I can’t believe that I just wrote something this long… someone better read it! And I hope I talked some of you into getting Omori gauges!

C2H5OH

iTrader: (5)

not sure how pix work here... let's see if this shows up



I guess, I'm doing something wrong... Anyways, I have them at my Yahoo site: http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/bc/a_s...wrx_parts&.vie

Let me know if you cant get to them...

huck

iTrader: (25)

Great review and thanks for the photos. I have to agree Thaison and J-Spec rock! I've had a great experience dealing with Thaison.

Let me know how that EGT install goes. I have to do the same thing in the not so distant future.

C2H5OH

iTrader: (5)

another attempt to attach a pic

C2H5OH

iTrader: (5)

Night time view

C2H5OH

iTrader: (5)

Side view

tide

iTrader: (1)

That is almost the exact setup I want. How much did it run you total and how long to install?

mmboost

iTrader: (2)

Its the Mickey Mouse steering wheel

jason

En3D

iTrader: (12)

Nice writeup - ethanol.

C2H5OH

iTrader: (5)

Mickey Mouse, eh? He has bigger ears than that! I find that location to be functional for the guages... Boost and tach sitting right next to each other

Pricing - $69 shipped for the Autometer bezel (http://www.subarustore.com/auinclbetw.html) if you mention their special here or at nasioc. Gauges are listed for $170 each (http://www.j-spectuning.com/omori_yg.htm). Since you are local, contact Thaison and see if you can work out some kind of a package deal.

gooder77

iTrader: (4)

I like the set up. I don't think its mickey mousey at all. Very functional with all the gauges in the same area.

Good write up. Not sure if you mentioned it, but how long did the total install take?

Ryan

C2H5OH

iTrader: (5)

Thanx :banana: I finished everything (without the EGT probe) in one afternoon, about 4 hours, but I took my time...

Kostamojen

iTrader: (2)

I wish there were those for my car... That dash replacement part i mean

mexicanpizza

iTrader: (9)

Just adding my pics for future people searching!

subtlewrx

iTrader: (1)

Yep, just did these myself two weeks ago, except I have an '04 Wagon and put in the red-needle, tunable-background-color 52mm Omori gauges. A few additional comments... Absolutely agree. The multicolor 52mm gauges required a long wait (3 months), but Thaison kept me up-to-date and delivered them as soon as they arrived. :banana: These brackets were a bit tricky in my '04 because they don't quite line up correctly. Essentially, first screw the brackets into the stock instrument cluster brackets (behind where the bezel will go). Second, start the two screws through the bezel, but don't tighten them all the way; getting these started cleanly and straight requires a bit of bending and flexing of all the parts. Third, start the two screws through the top of the bezel into the dash. Finally, tighten everything down. The openings in my bezel were just right. With a good bit of force and twisting, the gauges settled down completely into the bezel and now won't move at all. If anything, I went a bit overboard on the wiring side. Out of each multicolor Omori gauge, comes a single harness that splits into three connectors. One is gauge electrical, one is illumination electrical, and the last is for the actual sensor (e.g., boost or egt sensor). The illumination electrical line runs to (a) light-circuit switched power and (b) the backround color control box.

I basically rebuilt both harnesses into a single, 4-connector harness with a lot less wire. As a result I have one background color control box (which works great for getting a good color match with the '04) that controls the color of both gauges at the same time as well as a single line going into the dimmer circuit.

I also was able to get the dimming circuit working without too much difficulty. The Omori gauges, like any other sane electronic part, expects the positive illumination line voltage to vary according to the dimmer (12v at brightest, less when dimmed). Subaru, like several other manufacturers, thought it was a good idea to bring the negative line (which should be ground ) above ground to when you dim the lights. As a result you need the circuit described at http://www.scoobymods.com/forums/sho...?threadid=3115 and/or http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~v/dimmer/ (same circuit, two different descriptions). Thankfully, there's an unused T connector with dimmer-controlled voltage right behind the radio; it was meant for the stock boost gauge illumination and works perfectly (with the dimmer circuit, of course) for wiring the Omori gauges.

One other gotcha: if your gauge electrical line is connected, but there is no sensor connected, the gauges (egt and boost) peg themselves at their max setting. I don't think this hurts anything, but was a bit surprising. I had to drive around with the EGT sensor taped under my dash for a few days until I installed the EGT sensor. The under-dash temps seemed safe that whole time .

Overall, I'm very pleased with the result. The fit and finish of the latest generation Autometer bezel is still less than I'd like, but once it's coaxed into place, it does look nearly stock. On the '04, it doesn't block the drivers view of any stock gauges.