Hey all! here's what's going on:

I converted my GTA to stick shift. i got a T5 that didn't come with VSS and i could only find a VSS for 91-92 cars. put that in the trans with correct driven gear (brown) and now the speedo is working very erratically. It will read Zero when i'm accelerating, and then will display mileage when coasting (not accelerating). I have a digital dash. i think i read somewhere that the later VSS sensors are a different pulse type and do not communicate properly with my my VSS buffer box.

I'm thinking i need one of those dakota digital SGI-5 boxes. Does it take the place of the stock buffer box? what's the common way people are installing it in our cars? I was thinking maybe disconnect the box, cut off the connector, and then hook those wires from out of the connector to the SGI box. Is this a valid way of doing it?

In a nut shell, yes

Basically yes, but dont cut the connector off. Tap into the wires nearby, so if the venture fails its reversible

Also, why not get a VSS for an 88 GTA? If you cant find one, get a common mechanical bullet and an inline electric from JTR. They have all signal types and an encyclopedia of info on VSS'. Should be cheaper than a dakota box too

Thanks for the info! Yeah, that was exactly it, i couldn't find a factory VSS in the pulse width i needed so i went with the 91-92 VSS because they are still sold at parts stores. I just checked out JTR and i can get the dakota box for the same price. plus if i change gears i can just mess with the box.

hey guys! finally scored a DD SGI-5 box on the cheap. Can anyone post pics of how your speedo boxes are wired up? I want to do it clean.

bump. i've been reading other threads but i'm not fully gasping the whole thing. one said to connect both wires of the VSS into the DD box, but what about the other half of the wires? power and ground i know about.

It's been awhile and I know this is not "Apples-to-Apples",... When I converted to T56 and installed the DD box in my 84; I installed the DD box IN PLACE OF my original VSS. This is from the 88 Firebird Helm,...........



Be sure that you don't mix up the Cruise Control and ECM wires with the VSS wires. Speedo needs 4000 PPM and the CC/ECM require 2000 PPM.

ok so let me get this straight, and correct me if i'm wrong:

With reference to the diagram above,

the pink/black wire will go to power on the DD box.

the black/white wire will go to ground on the DD box.

the yellow wire will go to sensor ground on the DD box.

the purple wire will go to the input terminal on the DD box.

the light green/black wire will go to out 3 terminal on DD box.

and the brown/yellow and red wires will go to out 5 on DD box.

is this correct?

bump

anybody?

HELP!!! SOS!!!

ok so i don't know if anyone is still following, but i wired up the DD box the way i described above in post #7 and it didn't go well. I drove around around for like 3 minutes and then smelled something burning. i pulled over disconnected the box completely and plugged the original buffer box back in and drove back home. Not sure where the smell was coming from. I disassembled the center console and the wires there were ok. Didn't see any damaged wires under the dash on the passenger side either. Will check again later.

So Where did i go wrong??

If no one responds i'm making another thread.

Also, somehow it messed up my car alarm. weird.

while driving, the speedo showed 188 and both KPH and MPH (digital dash).

There appear to be a LOT more versions of this thing than when I got mine years ago. Power is still power and ground is still ground. I would follow the diagrams and adjustments for the specific revision of the SGI box you've got.

Here's a link:

http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.c...rod/prd393.htm


The factory VSS Buffer schematic shown a few posts above is for an 88 Trans Am.

Expect that it will need adjustment before showing/relaying correct speed info to the cluster (4000PPM) or the ECM &/or Cruise (2000PPM).

Ah, Thank you, John! I really hope i didn't destroy anything on the car. I was so mad at myself. I'll try again on the weekend.

Ok so i have a sgi-5C box. While going over the instructions, I think application 2 is what I need. Am I correct?