Afraid to ask (idiot light swap)

[Cams85GP]

Feel free to roast me here, but I’ve searched so much to try and find an answer.
I did see a post about someone on here doing the exact thing I want to do, swap auto meter gauges into a Grand Prix, unfortunately he didn’t have pictures showing the wiring behind the dash.

Basically, I want to safely cut out any wires I don’t need, and reuse what I can with mechanical gauges: oil, temp, volt

I’m assuming the colors on the Malibu racing diagrams are the same across G bodies, but for some reason I just can’t wrap my head around what wire goes where.

 

[popeye1978]

No luck in finding a wiring diagram or a shop manual?

 

[ELCAM]

What exactly are you wanting to do?

What gauges will you reuse? None? The speedometer and clock?

Does your car have cruise control?

Are you really going to use mechanical gauges? Tube feeding the oil pressure and a thermocouple to the temperature gauge? Or electrical sending unit gauges?

This is easy to do just need to know what you are really trying to accomplish.

There has to be another wiring connector, there are not enough wires in that one to run everything.

 

[Cams85GP]

No cruise control, keeping the Speedo and clock, and just swapping out the factory idiot lights for proper gauges.
That connector was all that connected to the back of the original cluster into that plastic sheet fuel, oil,temp, volts.

 

[Built6spdMCSS]

Get a multimeter and basically back probe the printed circuit from the light to where it is on the connector. Do that for all of them if need be. I've done it, it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Sometimes the circuit is labeled.

 

[ELCAM]

Likely need the red splices, the wires are small gauge.

Use a quick splice to tap into the dash illumination, will go to the orange/red wires on your new gauges.
Black wires go to ground whether you quick splice off that connector or get it elsewhere.

Quick splice off the purple with black stripe wire +12V to the + side of the volt gauge, connect the ground you used for the dash illumination circuit for the ground terminal on the volt gauge.

Done

No cutting required.

 

[pagrunt]

Make things simple with plug 2 which goes with the gauge or warning light cluster by plug cavity number:
1. Tan, oil pressure gauge or light, 31
2. Black, ground, 150
3. Blank
4. Pink/black stripe, key hot power, 39
5. Pink, fuel gauge, 30
6. Gray, dash lighting, 8
7. Pink/black stripe, key hot power, 39
8. Dark green, temp gauge or light, 35
9. Black, ground, 150
10. Brown, gen/volt warning light, 25
I have a few of these clusters so I was able to list the wires. As for plug one I don't have a speedo cluster to trace.
One tip I have is don't use the blue (or any color) Scotch-locks for a splice, best to use butt connectors. I prefere to use bare ones & shrink tube them after they are spliced. I aslo do my work to look like a factory set up with OE teminals & connectors.

 

[78Delta88]

On the oil use the copper line with metal compression ferrel. Don't use the nylon they can break and you get pressurized oil in the dash.

 

[78Delta88]

Make things simple with plug 2 which goes with the gauge or warning light cluster by plug cavity number:
1. Tan, oil pressure gauge or light, 31
2. Black, ground, 150
3. Blank
4. Pink/black stripe, key hot power, 39
5. Pink, fuel gauge, 30
6. Gray, dash lighting, 8
7. Pink/black stripe, key hot power, 39
8. Dark green, temp gauge or light, 35
9. Black, ground, 150
10. Brown, gen/volt warning light, 25
I have a few of these clusters so I was able to list the wires. As for plug one I don't have a speedo cluster to trace.
One tip I have is don't use the blue (or any color) Scotch-locks for a splice, best to use butt connectors. I prefere to use bare ones & shrink tube them after they are spliced. I aslo do my work to look like a factory set up with OE teminals & connectors.

This is a real good list. Thanks for posting.