Like the title says how acurate are the stock gauges in a 88 IROC? I am going to put a new motor in my car in a few months and I was think about going with all new auto meter gauges. Will the stock gauges be acurate or do I need the auto meter gauges?

 

there about as accurate as a drunk person shooting a pop can from 100 yards away.

 

LOL I didn't think they could be real accurate. I think I will go with auto meter gauges.

 

yeah hes right, i put an iroc cluster in my RS, even changed the sending unit for the temp gauge ( yes it was the right one lol) and after i hooked up a scantool it was still 30* off.....thats ridiculous

 

I have had tons of problems with my rpms, they read anywhere between 300 to 2500 to high. It's always close during idle, but it gets ridiculous during driving, normal (like 30%) acceleration reads 3000+ rpm on my tach, and under full acceleration it is reading close to 7000 rpm.

I'd go with after market.

By the way, what are you doing with that Iroc motor? Are you selling it?

 

I am going to go with auto meter gauges.

I am going to get a 408 SBC Dart block and heads built for it with a 200 or 250 shot of nitrous. I will probably keep the 355 and rebuild it for a back up motor I may sell it but probably not, it runs well for a 355 it has a real small cam in its just a little bigger than stock, it has Trick Flow heads (ported and polished) on it, Forged pistons, Accel lower intake, large runners, 58MM throttle body, stock plenum all has been ported and polished. the previous owner said it got 15-20 MPG with normal driving. He drove it 3-4 hours away from home and never had a problem. The car ran 11.62 with a 125 shot. I think would run around 11.00 with a mild TPiS cam, mini ram intake and 150 shot. If I decide to sell it I will let you know.

 

re-wire , 20 year wires to brand new gauges, is still 20 year old response.

 

as with anything in these cars, 20 years of wear and tear will preoduce 20 year old results, i agree ^ re wire everything for best results

and if you ever sell the engine, i'm interested

 

Are they about the same as an '86 Trans Am? My guages read oddly a lot. My oil pressure gauge is always maxed... even when I was low on oil. My tac doesn't ever go over 3k (not that it can't, it just doesn't). Just curious.

 

I didn't wanna make a new thread. So I'm reviving this from the dead.

Are the only accurate gauges aftermarket?

 

This might be a dead thread, but...

I don't see what everyone has against the factory gauges. The factory gauges in my 87 were DEAD ON accurate once I got the needles set right. This includes the wiring.

The only 2 gauges I can possibly see having the most problems are the speedo (with VSS and not cable, obviously, which an 88 IROC has a cable) and the tach. Because the circuits include capacitors, which do go bad over time (ask anyone with a Sega Game Gear and they'll tell you how good some caps are... They tend to lose video and sound), they will either lose accuracy or stop working altogether. And this will happen with ANY gauge after time, so it doesn't matter if it's a factory gauge or a $300 Autometer tach.

 

Yeah I don't want to spend 150 on a used inaccurate dash

 

Uh, yeah... If someone is charging you $150 for a USED cluster, walk away. Unless it's a digital Berlinetta set, a digital GTA set, or a used Cyberdyne/Nordskog or aftermarket, you're definitely getting hosed.

I think I paid $35 shipped for the one I bought from a 90.

 

My temp gauge has been on 180 since I owned the car.

Also, I find the needles to get stuck often. Like, they hang up until you hit a bump. I'm trying to find a way to keep the oe gauges, with a digital read out my temp. Need to dissect a summit digital gauge and find some plexi.

 

Then I get need to get off ebay!

Where should I look?

 

No one know?

 

as OEM they aren't accurate. that being said, they can be calibrated by any good gauge repair shop

 

As accurate as you want them to be. The Tach is notorious for being unreliable, but that's due exclusively to one resistor on the circuit board that's known to be a piece of crap. If you replace that resistor with a potentiometer, you can dial that tach in to be absolutely dead-nuts accurate. I did it in my Corvette, and plenty of folks on here have done it to their thirdgen tachs.

The rest of the gauges are all pretty good, but aside from the speedo, the rest should be able to be trimmed with modified resistances just like the tach.

 

did you look in the for sale section of this forum?or www.craigslist.com ?