Bubbajones_ya

Alright, so I recently purchased an Intellitronix digital gauge set for my 1991 5.0 tbi camaro.

The old speedometer was reading off because the transmission was changed so that the drive and driven gear ratios were not the proper ones. Also, the odometer was stuck so I messed with the speedometer and odometer more trying to get them to work and messed them up even more so I had to get rid of them.

However, with the new digital gauge, you can calibrate the speed based on pulses per mile.

I got everything installed and calibrated the gauge, but have some weird issues.


The speedometer reading is accurate to my phone GPS, but quite frequently the reading on the speedo will jump up 5-15mph, sometimes even up to 100mph FASTER than I am going. It will stay there from anywhere to 1/2 a second to 3 seconds, then go back down to the proper reading. The reading only jumps up higher than I am going, never lower. Sometimes it will do this about every 7 seconds, other times it will take a minute for it to jump up.

Also, sometimes when I am at a complete stop, my speedometer will read 1mph quickly, then back to zero. This seems to happen around as frequently as the speedometer readings jump.

Also, one time I was calibrating the pulses per mile for the speedometer, the pulses count (showing on the speedometer) was counting up slowly when I was at a complete stop. I recalibrated the speedo a few times to match my GPS, and I didn't notice the pulses move up unless I was moving. This makes me think possibly the VSS is sending pulses at the wrong time.


My questions are:

Could this possible be that the VSS is sending pulses when it shouldn't be? If so, is there a way to check this?

My old speedo never jumped up in reading before, it was just off by a percentage, then when I took the needle off, it started in the wrong position.

If this isn't coming from the VSS, could the buffer box be the culprit?

If the VSS or buffer box are not the culprit, then I assume there may be something wrong with the gauges I purchased. They are re manufactured and seemed brand new, and they still come with a warranty.

Does anybody else have the intellitronix gauges that may be able to help me out?

I've contacted Intellitronix about the issue but have not yet heard a response.


Thank you for your time and hopefully someone can help me figure out the issue.

Bubbajones_ya

Okay, after doing a little more research, it seems like I should probably bypass the buffer box signal and get one straight from the VSS. I read that it can sometimes jumble up the signals, at least with a different speedo.

The intellitronix support called me and said to do this also. So far, they seem very helpful so I'm glad they are working with me. If bypassing the box doesn't help, I'll send it in and they'll repair it even though it's a remanufactured unit so that's awesome.

Anyways, does anyone know which wire I tap into to bypass the buffer box completely?

As of now, the speedo input wire the gauge is hooked up to is the brown wire that comes directly from the buffer box(the stock speedo wire). If I wanted to bypass that wire, I read there is a engine harness connector pin I can hook it up to directly (C207 pin K), but I'm unsure where that is.

This post on a different site mentioned something about that http://ls1tech.com/forums/conversion...r-hook-up.html

However, they also mentioned soldering up a connection on the buffer box itself which I don't see why it's necessary. That may have only been needed in that application of the other speedo though, not for this digital one.



Anyways, if someone knows which wire I can tap into to directly bypass the buffer box and get the signal from the VSS, that would be awesome! I have my entire center console out right since I'm carpeting and painting it so things are more accessible right now.

Bubbajones_ya

Just an update incase anyone ever uses this thread to look something up.

I spliced the yellow wire that connects to the buffer box from the VSS directly to the speedo input instead of the brown wire.

I though this would bypass the buffer box, but it definitely is not what you want to do.

With this setup, the speedometer doesn't read pulses correctly (not at all at very slow speeds) and it acted much more sporadic than before. I may try to connect the wire to a different part of the buffer box instead of the speedo output wire (brown for 91 camaro) and see if that helps anything.

Bubbajones_ya

Alright, I'm updating this so if anyone ever gets these and has an issue that this thread may be of use.

I did some more wiring configurations and my issues has pretty much stopped.


Originally, I had the speedo wire from the intellitronix gauge wire into the brown speedo wire coming from the VSS buffer box (which is the standard wire the original cluster goes into right behind the steering wheel.

The tech support told me to bypass the box and see if the issues went away. Well with the standard VSS for an electric speedo, the wires coming off the sensor cannot be tapped into because they don't appear to give normal pulse readings.

I did some more research and decided to wire my intellitronix speedo wire directly to the ECM wire that comes out of the vss box:
http://www.waasadata.com/pontiac/graphic/VSSbuffer.jpg

I then connected the ECM wire and Speedo wire together using a jumper at the box. (my speedo wire is actually brown, not green as in the above picture.)

After doing this and re-calibrating the speedo, the erratic jumping in readings has almost vanished entirely. Occasionally it still jumps up, but its so infrequent now it doesn't bother me.

I don't know if there is any other way to bypass the VSS signal, but this way seemed to work for me and hopefully will help someone else too.

Swingblade

Thanks for the update! I'm getting closer to switching out my gauges for the digital gauges as well.

cypris09

iTrader: (1)

How's the gauges working for ya? Happen to have pics of the install? Iv been debating on getting this to give me something nice and new to go with my ls swap. Can't find much on them though.

trafficlightguy

If it still give you a. Problem, I used the GPS speedo sender for my digital intellitronix dash

Bubbajones_ya

I do have some pictures but not much. I'll take some good ones and put them up tomorrow if I get a chance! Otherwise I'll put some pictures up soon. I am quite happy with the cluster now and think it looks great. Also, if I ever change my tire size, gear rations, or transmission (my v6 t5 to a v8 t5 if I can find one, or a T56 if a proper one comes along with all the components I need to swap), then re-calibrating the speedo on the gauge is extremely easy.

As for issues, pretty much all of them are gone but not 100%.

The bouncing of the speedometer happens still, but very rarely, and it doesn't seem to effect the odometer reading (it only stays high for about 1-1.5 seconds and does it maybe once or twice a trip if even that. My Stereo i installed has navigation and GPS, and the mileage readings it gives me compared to the calibration I did with the cluster are within a .5% error margin, so its very accurate)

Another issue I had was the calibration was resetting on me, so I had to re-calibrate it occasionally.


I believe both of these issues were related to the wiring (first wired incorrectly due to the VSS box, and second not wired in well enough so there was an intermittent connection.)

I think the wiring would come loose where I had it connected out of the VSS box (using the bypass I mentioned earlier), and with the loose readings, it confused the computer. I also didn't have the power wire very securely wired in initially so it could have reset itself from an intermittent connection.


The calibration has not reset itself after I made the wiring more secure, and the bouncing of the speedo is so minimal it doesn't bother me. I still have not soldered in my wires, I have them just shoved into the VSS box making contact, so I will crimp/solder them in now that everything seems to be functioning well within the past few weeks. If the speedo bouncing ever does concern me, intellitronix will take the cluster back to look at it too since it's a lifetime warranty despite me buying it re manufactured which is really nice too.


I thought about the GPS sender too, and maybe I'll get it later down the road if problems do arise. That will 100% take care of the problem, or point to the gauge saying it needs tech support to fix something on it.



trafficlightguy,

I do have a question about the GPS sender. Does the sender work instantly? Like will the GPS get a signal and start keeping track of my mph instantly, or does it take a while for it to calibrate itself before it will give me a reading?

cypris09

iTrader: (1)

Awesome thanks. Can't wait to see pics. I really am thinking of this since it works with the stock stuff and that stuff works with my ls swap.

Bubbajones_ya

Okay sorry about the wait but as an undergraduate senior in mechanical engineering, school is taking a bit of my time! I can't find my camera so I had to use my phone and the pictures don't really do the cluster justice, especially at night.







The angle of this picture makes the oil and gas gauge seem a little weird but they show up great.



As for the installation, you will need to use the housing and black faceplate of your old gauge. I wired the cluster to the printed circuit board on the old cluster housing so it can be pulled in and out just like my old one. The RPM gauge only shows up in increments of 100 to prevent it from constantly changing changing numbers.

cypris09

iTrader: (1)

Looks good. Thank you

rocn7roc

Hi I am going through the same grief with intellitronix what ecm do you have I have the 165 Maf ecm tat needs the 200 pulses by jumpering that with the 4000 pulse speedo wire it just doesn't make sense to me.my speedo will not work at all with brown speedo wire attached they at Intellitronix say it needs at least 5 volts square wave which is not what signal the buffer puts out,still waiting on their reply.Any help out ther,I need the signal to ecm to prevent stalling and would like the CC to work too Mike