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ISSPRO PERFORMAX GAUGES

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Well, my Digicam is DOA so pardon the ugly cell pics. I have had these installed for a while, but decided to redo the installation to do a little step by step procedure guide.

Step 1 Disconnect batteries. Then Read all instructions thoroughly, then drink a beverage, and read them again. Useful tools include Juicegrips™ Zip Ties, Needlenose Juicegrips™, Torx screwdriver, flat blade screwdriver, coat hanger, Electrical tape, tweezers, crimping tool and ends, Metric Wrenchs, and a set of SAE/Met Allen Keys, and a socket set.

Once all that is assembled together, READ the instructions once more.
These gauges are the EASIEST to install ever (or in my case reinstall for the photo ops). However they are TOTALLY different to the installs you are accustomed to. Hence some of the procedures in the instructions are straightforward, and some are.... ummmm different. In case I forgot, get a rubber mallett. You will need it.

If you get stuck on the directions at all, it means you went too fast or did not read the instruction set thoroughly, and you ave made a mistake. If so, take the rubber mallet in your right hand, while placing the instruction sheet on your forehead with your left.

Extend right arm, and flex your bicep, in a constricting motion. Once the stars have cleared your mind, and you quit seeing double, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS again... and this time absorb what they say.

Got it >?

Good... Let's begin.
 
Now the instructions are great, and very comprehensive,BUT. I found it a little easier to mount all the sensors first and their associated pigtails BEFORE mounting the BRAIN to the truck.

I have a 0-100 boost gauge, a 0-2000 Pyro, and a 0-280F Temp Gauge.

For this installation, I have chosen to monitor Boost at the manifold, and The engine's oil temperatures. I wanted to mount the Pyrometer probe at this time, but alas, my angle drill decided to puke it's windings out, and become slightly more useable as a hammer or a doorstop.

But I digress.
Here are pictures of the pictails installed. I chose return oil temps with the convenient plug in the oil filter housing, and the boost transducer (sender) is mounted on the back side of the AFE BladeRunner intake manifold.

AFE has nicely chosen to give the perfect port on the back side of the manifold, 1st fitting closest to the engine equipped with an allen headed pipe plug.
 

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These 2 photographs illustrate the 2 oil return plugs on top of the filter head. 1 fitting cannot be used with the supplied sender because of the coolant pipe interfering with it.

So you get to use the one that most people use for their Twin Turbo setups.... we can BOMB that sucker later if need be.
 

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Now very carefully drape all the wiring OUTSIDE the engine compartment. The DOETSCH connectors are very east to assemble, but they require decent lighting to see (and glasses to read the numbers on them) so doing this step outside the truck will save time for sure. This also makes it easier to 'snake' the new wire set around and in with the factory harness.
 
Next step is to setup the ECU.

Again, route all wiring to the OUTSIDE of the truck ISSPRO has been very (very) very (very) very (very) very (very) very (very) very (very) very (very) very (very) very (very) very (very) generous with the amount of wire they give you , so don't worry about running short, unless you are installing these gauges on the arse end of a SATURN IV rocket.

Luckily a Dodge is not quite that long.
 

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Next, take a coathanger, clip off the ends, and straighten. Using sidecutters, clip off the hook, and bend one end into a tight little hook, and use this little baby to feed wired from the brain box through the clutch grommett, and up to the sidepanel of the dash.
 

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Now once you remove the A Pillar, you may route the Black, Orange and White wires up under the defrost panel and into a dash pod, or into an A Pillar Pod or overhead Pod.

The new terminal strip connectors look intimidating, but they are really simple. All you need to do is place the wiring into each connector and fully seat the wires into the sharp pinch terminals and cover with the white caps provided.

Your finished installation should look something like this. Please note the groundbreaking 'daisy chaining' of the gauges... all on the same datalink bus!!!!
 

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Now finish mounting the Dash Pod, reassemble Dash and A Pillar.

Connect sending units to Doetsch connectors using the pin out's as set forth in the instruction manual.

Tidy up loose cabling into or on the split loom, and connect to the Brain.

Word to the wise, the temp gauge is part of the preassembled ISSPRO harness on the GREY connector. Make sure you intall those pin outs carefully as you may make a boo boo (like me) and have to do some creative process of eliminations to find them.
 
Now we can reconnect all the batteries, check all electrical connections once more. Check all fuse taps, and generally start putting tools away, although you may wish to keep the rubber mallet handy if you have made a mistake (which I doubt )


Now we can look at the finished product. Again, sorry for the grainy photos, my Digicam is also on the fritz, and will soon be sharing space next to my angle drill no doubt.
 

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Notice the dark pyrometer gauge. When I get the pyro drilled and tapped correctly, I will add this one, and it too will light up like the rest.

Stepper motor drive is cool as all get out. Gauges react INSTANTLY and smoothly. ISSPRO did their homework on the PERFORMAX series of gauges and it shows.

The lighting is an improvement as you can see from my current 3rd gen setup, it is more balanced, and it does not ''bleed'' at the edges like their previous sets.

Of note, the lighting is so much gooder, there is no 'bleeding' of the numbers, even at high light settings.

Well Done.

Interesting to note, is at an indicated 190F cruising, Oil temps are 220F. Can't wait to report on oil temps while towing... I bet many will be suprised at the results.

Thanks To Michael Pliska from ISSPRO for supplying the gauges for this review. The certainly will set the benchmark for the forseeable future. Having installed these twice, an experienced person could do this whole setup in 3 hours from start to finish.
 
Great write-up!

BTW, we have Deutsch terminals available if you want to shorten up the (very) generous amount of wire we provide. R78833 gets you 10 of the terminals.

You can crimp them with the official Deutsch tool DTT-20-00 (available from www.laddinc.com), but if you are careful you can get a sufficient crimp (at much lower crimper cost) with the following:
Ideal Crimpmaster 30-506 crimp frame (I bought it with a set of coax cable dies at Home Depot)
MSD P/N 3506 crimp dies

Regards,
Michael Pliska
 
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thats good stuff,im waiting on my isspro gauges right now.i thought they would be here today.thanks for the write up
 
Great write-up!

BTW, we have Deutsch terminals available if you want to shorten up the (very) generous amount of wire we provide. R78833 gets you 10 of the terminals.

You can crimp them with the official Deutsch tool DTT-20-00 (available from www.laddinc.com), but if you are careful you can get a sufficient crimp (at much lower crimper cost) with the following:
Ideal Crimpmaster 30-506 crimp frame (I bought it with a set of coax cable dies at Home Depot)
MSD P/N 3506 crimp dies

Regards,
Michael Pliska


Thanks Michael. Of course you and your engineers are probably laughing at one of the pictures I posted. I was looking at the gauges and taking the pictures, and when I reviewed the first shots, I realized I connected the wires to the gauges backwards! I corrected the install, but not before I had everything buttoned up again darnit.

Since I lost a computer, and a digital camera recently, my best pictures were destroyed:mad2:

I will do a follow up, re and re of the gauges when I am ready, and get a proper photo layout and install guide (using your steps, not mine) in the future.

I would clap the engineers on the shoulder for these gauges. They did a nice job of balancing resolution and response time of the gauges. Fast acting, without having needle 'bounce'.
 
I will call and get some terminals from you, and if you have an extra crimper, I will buy one as well if i cannot source one locally.

Is it safe to shorten the Pyrometer leads by a little? Can we run your standard pyrometer, and the performax pyro off of the same thermocouple?
 
thats good stuff,im waiting on my isspro gauges right now.i thought they would be here today.thanks for the write up

You will be amazed.

I am pretty jaded when it comes to performance goodies. The best part is the metric I am using is the standard isspro EV series VS the new PERFORMAX series.

The difference is quite noticeable.



Michael, send me your email again, I have a couple other questions to ask.

you can get me at : [email protected]

Thanks

Jonathon
 
You can run the Performax system from the same thermocouple as a standard Pyrometer, as long as you connect the "Y" junction down at the thermocouple connection. You can also shorten up the leadwire to the Performax side, but not the one to the conventional gauge. The Performax circuitry draws a small enough current from the thermocouple that the voltage drop in the leadwire is negligible.

Thanks,
Michael Pliska
 
Thanks Michael.

I have another gauge order to place, I will email you the details this week

I am thinking......

I already have 0-100 boost, 0-280F oil, and Pyro.

So....

Rail Pressure, Fuel Pressure, Coolant Temp.

But I will ponder these choices and get back to you! When I add the Twins, I might want a boost and drive pressure gauge too.

We need more gauge pod spaces! :)
 
Almost ready to pull the trigger on ordering the other gauges.

So the truck will have 6 new Performax gauges!

I can't wait!!!!!

When my new camera arrives, I will re and re the whole package, and post better pictures.

There is just no comparison from the new style to the old in terms of performance. And the old style was pretty damn good!

So. Rail Pressure for sure, Coolant temp for sure, and Gauge #3 will probably be another boost gauge for the upcoming twins, or a charge air temp gauge, or a fuel press gauge.

decisions decisions..
 
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