Vent POD + Gauge(now dual POD)
 

EDIT: About halfway through this thread(post 50), you will see that I went to the dual pod. But.......let's start with the single. :D:

Gauge pod(from thread https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=155820), in combo with http://www.plxdevices.com/products/dm100obd/.

This isn’t meant to be a DIY or anything, but a couple of people have asked what I did when I installed my Vent Gauge Pod and my DM-100 PLX Devices gauge.

Three things kept me from doing the classic install which would have been to put the gauge in the pod, run the wire out the hole provided on the underside of the pod, drill a hole in the defrost vent tube in the car, pass the wire through, and hook it up.

Here’s the three problems:

1.) The cable that comes with the DM-100 PLX ODBII 52mm gauge has a 25-pin D type connector on one end(which goes to the display unit) and then other end is hard wired into the back of the gauge. Because I couldn’t get the 25 pin connector out the “normal” hole in the gauge pod(as it was too big) and even if I had milled it out, it would’ve been sketchy at best.

2.) #1 along with the fact one normally would drill the actual defrost vent tube to pass the wired through was going to present me with a huge problem(again with that 25 pin connector).

3.) Did I mention that the cable has 25 wires in it and is shielded? The wire used in there is about 30awg or even smaller. It’s not much bigger than wire-wrap wire, so I wasn’t going to do any splicing!

So what did I do…..Well, it was a compromise. The first picture will show where I used a dremel tool and cut a channel in my gauge pod. That’s not the actual cut, I just did that to the picture to show where it was done. Using the dremel, I cut the channel just large enough so that the cable would slip through back to the “normal” hole and then I brought it out the front and ran it over to the A-pillar. It really doesn’t look all that bad IMO. You can see this in the second photo. Remember that 25 pin connector is still on there, but I was able to feed that down to basically the area behind the fuse box.

Next step……There is a wired remote for this gauge, it eventually will plug into the display unit as well. After considering a whole bunch of options, I took what I will call the lower door sill off……this is where a whole bunch of wires run, and laid that remote wire in that channel. I brought it out right by the drivers seat……if you look at the piece of door sill that’s right beside your drivers seat, you will see there is a little notched out area and that’s where I brought it out. You can see where I did in the pic below. I also figured this was a good place for the remote as I could reach down there with my left hand and change the display on the gauge will moving, plus I didn’t want to clutter up the center console area.

Power – Well, it comes two types…a cigarette lighter adapter(which I wasn’t going to use), and a pre-wired plug with two wires of about 2 or so feet in length. Used this and of course found a good ground point over by the fuse box for the negative/ground side and I connected the power wire to the room fuse circuit at the fuse box.

Display unit – This unit is about four inches by two inches and of course I had already figure out where I was going to mount it before I started. There aren’t many good options. I could have put it under the drivers seat, but that looked like a bitch, as did behind the center console. I considered over against the side wall(kinda behind the footrest), but too many cable/wires over there for my liking......So……..I decided to mount it under the dash, left of the steering column. It’s a tight fit in there, but it does fit and you cannot see it. The below wires/cables were all attached before getting it up into position and tie-wrapping it.

So……now I have the 25 pin connector cable(for the gauge), the remote cable(which is USB on the end that goes to the display unit), and the power wires all over by the fuse box(behind it on the side wall). Now all that is left is plug them all in(along with plugging in the supplied ODB II cable)...........get it up into the position mentioned and tie-wrap it in for good measure. Oh……I did leave the USB remote plug facing downward as this is the same place where you would hook up your laptop to install any custom gauges, backgrounds, etc.

Okay....let's turn the damn thing on! :)
Remainder of the pics are after the install. I haven’t messed with all the options and colors, but have played with some. Sorry for the fuzziness of the pics, they do not do it justice on how it looks. Oh.......all the ones that look like they have white numerals or whatever, it's actually blue and is set to match my interior LEDs.....not sure why the look white in the pics. :dunno:
The damn thing has a color palette and you can select any of about 256 colors for every different screen/setup if you like.

Couple more pics...will update with better ones later and some more screens this thing will do.
Those first two pics, the colors are actually blue, and kinda set to match my interior LEDs, not sure why it looks while in the pics?

looks pretty cool.

Thanks Nuke! I really will try to get some better pics, the lettering and all is much, much sharper in real life.
My hands and arms were tired as I had to install two new window regulators(tracks) in my daughters car today and I'm all cut up.......and I couldn't hold the camera still. :banghead:


Now I gotta figure out if I will sell my Scangauge II, or keep it for other cars????
I also now have a never used Nordskog oil temp gauge that I probably won't use as this new PLX is expandable and will do oil temp or pressure on this once the sensor is hooked up.

If you look at the pics, when I'm in ODB II mode, it thinks it found oil temp, but it's really water temp......cause it matches 1 to 1.

looks sweet

Looks great! I might get one around income tax time. This is the perfect solution for me since I'm not a fan of gauges. I'll have to catch the next batch of air vent gauges, they seem to sell out fast.

Although I doubt I'll ever go FI, how expandable is it? I'm curious if it can get oil temp and boost.

very very nice!!

Looks pretty good Maz, especially the red display mode,
you couldnt fit that remote in the blanks to the left of the steering wheel on the dash???
You might be able to fab something up even a piece of velcro might work there...
Also the wire doesnt bother me at all looks good....

expands up to 32 various sensors for temps/pressures/boost etc etc

^............Yepper, the only thing I see is the amount of display boxes you could end up with because I don't know where you would mount them if you went crazy with too many the sensors.

Thought about putting the remote where you are talking about and still might. If I end up doing it there, I want it to look right. I was going to fab something that would work with and where one of the blank switches are. Just not sure yet, but I can move it from where it is easily. My idea was to just do what I did until I figure it out. I also left everything so I can move the display box as well....if I decide to do so.

Another idea I had was if you look at the pic of the remote, there is hanger type thing on the opposite end of the remote(from where the cable comes out) and you could make a hook it could hang on and then you'd still have some freedom due to cable length, but don't want that cable hanging down by my knees.
This could then be hung around the area you were taking about, or maybe on the side of the center console.

Then I thought I might run the remote into the center console, underneath the shifter cover panel and back to or into the cupholder area. Or make it so it's a hard mount back by the seat warmer switches(but hiding the cable as much as possible).

So you can see I'm not done with this, just weighing my options but wanted it installed somewhere.

Thanks Jorge.......the pics really don't do it justice. When it's on, the background is black and not really lit like it shows up in the pics. Of course there are at least 7 background colors to choose from and then you could always upload your own as well. I was thinking of putting my avatar as my background and/or as a gauge....maybe have the surfboard be the needle, so to speak. :)
That takes 100 images to make a gauge and that would be a lot of work. :uhh:

Look good Bro

You shoulda have mention the gauge so i can modify the hole for ya,lol

Still look good though

the font size looks like you may actually be able to read it while driving.

everything in one! that is sick

Looks great. I was thinking of going the same route and I have the same pod, but I couldn't get a straight answer from PLX as to whether the dm-100 can pull AFR and EGT over obd2. Can you check if there's an option for these?

Also can the gauge be set to dim with the lights? TIA

if it looks this good in pictures, I can only imagine what it's like in person. :bowdown:
You should definitely customize it, I like the surfboard idea.

looks great Mazsurfer! cant wait till i get to do my gauges. i need to decide which gauge will go in the vent pod and which one in the lotek

AFR(vent pod) --- boost/vac, oil press, water temp(lotek)

boost/vac(vent pod) --- AFR, oil press, water temp(lotek

Dimming............."no", but I don't really think you would need to do so. I'ts really not that bright at night and if it bugged you, you could always set the color for your normal display that it would tone it done.

Here's some shots of exactly what is available on the ODBII. I ran through all the different screens. Four on this post and two on the next.

Here's the last two.

Plus.......even though not much to see.......here's a shot in PLOT mode. It's hard to photograph the moving plot, so I did battery voltage as it won't change too much.

Yep, it's clearly readable. You could also go with a 60mm and it might be slightly bigger font. Now that I think about it, it may not be bigger..........as if you look at my pics, the gauge says "WAT0" for "WATER 0" for instance, The manual says that at 60mm the words won't be truncated.

Finally got the camera to show the blue!

Just a couple more pics and I'm done.
These two pics were taken in my garage, one is with the garage door shut and the other with it open.

Snuck two new pics of the car in here as well. :)

The hole would've had to be sooooo big, that it might have compromised the side of the pod. No big deal, what I did was fine! :)

AFR yes because the RX-8 PCM send that info- but not EGT because RX-8 does not have a sensor for it

i get exhaust gas temp through my obd2.. i have it set up as "CAT TEMP" on my gauge display of my carpc.

and the stock o2 sensor will give you lambda.. not AFR..

with the PLX device you will be able to view Lambda, which is generally preferred for tuning, but you will not be able to view AFR unless you can somehow get it to multiply the Lambda by 14.7... the only way you can view a true AFR on the device is using the separate addon module.

yeah i was about to say.. the AP reads AFR and thats OBDII so it has to be readable from the PCM.

looks really nice maz. really nice.

Sorry................kinda new to all this, so I get C1S1 displayed as in the below which says is my CAT temp, and when I put this as as one of the sensors to monitor, it turns it into EGT0 and labels it as such(by itself). At cold start idle or shortly after it's about 1100 degrees and when I cruise around town(not hammering it), it appears to be about 1400 to maybe 1550 degrees.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...7&d=1230768894


And my 022B1 reading is off the O2 via the PCM(cause I have no additional sensors right now). When I select this parameter to monitor, it calls it "NO20" and I can display as a "voltage" or "%", so I'm guessing the "%" is AFR.................or can Lambda be expressed as a percentage?

I need to go read an MM thread! :uhh:

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...8&d=1230768894

Did you understand what i was trying to say about the O2 reading when we talked? Able to determine what information its actually displaying there? I'm at work right now and cant remember the specifics of the O2 reading on the scangauge, i just recall that the O2 data displayed as a value in the range of 0-100. You'd never have actually seen 0 or 100, it varied from maybe 30's up to about mid 90's? If your gauge is displaying something similar(even if its been processed with a different multiplier) then you may be able to figure out a correction factor to make it display AFR or Lambda depending on if the data scale is linear and what kind of control you have over math functions with that thing.

Sorry Paul......forgot to tell you that I did understand what you were saying.
When I display it NO20 as a "%", it usually fluctuates between 60 to 70.
I have noticed that as I let off the gas to shift, it will momentarily drop(sometimes even to zero).

i think its pretty likely then that its displaying the same data that the scangauge did.... i was kinda shooting in the dark about the ranges i saw on SG as i dont really recall, but i'm sure i posted it in that thread somewhere...

when i get home saturday i'll go looking and see if i can dig up what i found on it for the SG, cause i was trying to find a way using the MATH function to convert that 0-100 scale to something understandable for us. not sure if ui just got bored and quit, or if i ran into a wall....

Do you have any updates on what you like about this unit or don't like? I was thinking about getting it myself since it covers just about everything.
Also, I am surprised no one made a comment about the tennis ball. LOL my brother does the same thing except for his suburban.

I have one of these gauge pods as well and will be putting a AEM WBO2 AFR gauge in there.. I'll post pics.

I love the pod itself.
I'll try and post likes and dislikes of the PLX device this weekend. Overall, I do like it though, but I'll be more specific.

clean install! i like it .

reading with interest. Definitely clean install and doesn't make the dash looks like cockpit.

anyone know if the obd data for oil/water temp is accurate enough, or should I go for additional sensor module?

nice.

No oil is available off the OBD. You need another sensor, which I actually have but haven't put it on my car yet. At least when I do, it will plug into my setup and then be available on my PLX device.

Water is and is accurate.

My normal everday display shows the following as I'm NA.

Water temp
Battery voltage
Sort of an AFR in %
Exhaust temp

I don't put it in gauge style mode very often as I like to monitor all four.

Dave

Mazurfer,
Been reading your two posts on the DM100.
I want to install one. I sent pxl.com an email requesting some info but their reply took a week and didn't really address my questions.

When ordering the DM100 does it include the Vent Pod.
I want water & oil temps so i would order the following:_

1 x DM100
1 x Fluid Temperature Sensor Module
2 x Sensor Modules

Is this right.

Are you still happy with your setup.

The vent pod was a custom thing done by one of the Mazda3 guys for a short time. When I bought mine (very early last year) he said he was no longer making them. You should try to get on the mazda3 forums and do a search for the thread he had on it.

PM Block8head. I talked to him recently about making one for the passenger side vent.

^...............if he does, I might buy one for that side!

he stopped making them?! :eek:

Yes, I am still very happy with my setup.

First off.......PM Blockhead as he made the vent pods(which were custom). See a couple of posts down as someone just talked with him and he may make another run of them and also has as suggestion on where to look on another site.
I did just see one for sale on this site, but you would need a right hand one and it was a left.....be sure you get the one for your backwards car! :evil_laug

I think you have your list just a little bit wrong for what you described you want.
Here's what I think you would need based on what you describe.

NOTE: The following is for US cars, so I can't be sure it would be the same for you, but I would think it would be.

1.) 1 X DM100.......but....your water temp is available off the ODBII bus in the car along with a whole host of other info, including being able to read codes and clear them, so I would go with the DM100 OBD. It's one of the two on the right on this page depending on which size you want. Read the features!
http://www.plxdevices.com/multigauges.html
You will for sure want all that other ability, unless you already have some other system in your car that handles the OBDII and reads/clears codes.

If you buy the one above(with the OBDII), then you don't need a separate sensor and module for the water!!!! So the money you save here should be used to justify the DM100 OBD.......plus you get all those other functions and the code reader/clearer is worth it's weight in gold!

2.) So now all you need is 1 X Fluid Temperature Sensor module for the oil. And right now, it comes with an actual sensor. http://www.plxdevices.com/sensormodules.html

This temperature module will daisy chain into the DM100 OBD module. So with this setup, you would have everything that the DM100 OBD gives you, plus the oil temp all in one gauge and only have two boxes(or modules).

Now all you need is some way for the sensor for the oil temp to be put into the path of the oil to read it. I have the RB oil adapter. http://www.racingbeat.com/FRmazda4.htm but I'm sure there are other ways you could do this.

Let me know if that doesn't answer your questions completely and I'll try and explain it better.

I have prosport oil pressure sending unit and it has been very accurate. When I PM'd block8head he was willing to make a passenger side one but I decided it might be too far away while driving to see.

Brilliant idea Mazurfer, I will go for the BM100 ODB, yep that answers my questions completely.

My drivers side is your passenger side, so i will PM Blockhead now and see if he will manufacture and ship to OZ, fingers crossed, I'll let you know.

if you guys need vent pod for either RHD or LHD you can email me directly @
xxredline9xx@aol.com

Ben

Well, I've changed the setup some, so now it looks like the below.

Went with the dual gauge pod made by Blockhead.
Haven't completed the install yet, but here's a teaser pic!
I've turned them on, but didn't for this pic as I still have a little more wiring to finish up!

Sorry, it's out of focus, and that wire bundle to the left hanging over the A/C vent won't be there when I'm done.
That's the old oil temp gauge hanging down out of the way for a moment.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...0&d=1284245546