I am trying to pull the dash out of the car to replace the boost, water temp and oil pressure guages, and I have almost all of the dash pulled out, except the center airvent. I have the manual that says I am suppose to push two tabs together, while pulling gently with a puddy knife. Those little bastard tabs won't move. they don't squeeze together. I am at my witts end trying to get this air vent out. These little metal clips just refuse to move. So... Am I doing this wrong? Is there a better way to do it? I can see the gauge cluster from where the airbag on the passenger side was, but the screw heads to take it out are to close to the vent to get a screwdriver back there. I appreciate any input any one has on this. Thanks.

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Do you have a skinny flat head screwdriver? One that wil fit between the vent air directors? The trick is to get under the tab with the screwdriver and pull it away while pulling out on the vent. You have to do this one side at a time.

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06 Blue EVO 9

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1992 3000GT VR-4
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3SI Member 0660, 1753, 2038
W3SI Member 15

Use 2 butter knives, push 1 under each tab and have a 2nd person pry the vent out using 2 more butter knives (1 on each side at the same time)

Thats the best way i have found

So I am using the skinny flat head (or butterknife) to get into the upside down U-shaped tab, pull up slighlty, and move them out towards the outside of the vents? I belive that could be my problem. I was trying to squeeze to the middle. I'll try again tonight... If I have more problems I'll use the pry bar... thanks for the timely responses.

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You dont need to pry the tabs at all, just slide the knives under them and hold the knives so they don't slide back out towards you. Thats where a second person comes in handy.

I'm able to place the knives and pry the vent out by myself, but i've done it a few times. Heres a pic, but i used 1 hand for the camera.

K, I got everything in and out of the dash now. Thanks for your help. The butterknife trick worked well.

Just becasue I'm curious, does anyone make a mounting bracket for three new guages to go where the old ones were? I bought a piece of plastic and dremeled the piss out of it, and It'll work, I'm just curious if there was an easier way.

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i remember reading that 52 and 60mm guages will fit without any modifying, but i could be wrong. I also think that the 60mm ones fit very very snug. some people have done and shown pics on 3si, but i dont recall the link at all.

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1994 Stealth R/T TT Pearl Yellow
-Out since June 05'
-Almost ready for start up

1991 Stealth R/T Red
-Out for 7 weeks with a spun bearing
-Came back to life on 8/04/07
-Blew the motor again on 11/25/07

Yeah, as far as I know most 60mm gauges fit very well. I plan to replace mine with 60mm Defi gauges.

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~Joe - aka spider gear destroyer
'94 Stealth R/T
-Lightly Modded ;)

I made a mounting bracket so that the gauges would be back in the stock location. (ie behind the stock glass panel so that they are still recessed into the dashboard.) I thought that looked the most "stock" if you will. The 52 mm gauges fit almost perfect behind the glass... um... ports. I took the dremel and rounded out the piece that the stock needle attaches behind. If I was going to put the guages in the holes in the dash i would probably go with the 60 mm as the 52 mm look like they will be a little small to fill the holes completely.

As a side note, (I have little electrical experience so I hope I don't sound like a complete dumbass...) the greddy gauges all come with 4 wires that need to be hooked into the car. one black for ground, not a problem. One white for "lights on"(to light up gauge, hooked into existing gauge cluster harness for that), not a problem. One orange for "ignition" power(I assume so that the gauge gets power when the car is running), not a problem, hooked into the cigarette lighter. Then it has one red wire that goes to constant 12V, or I assume the battery. WTF is that for? The gauges have no memory settings. Why would I want power going to the gauges when the car is off? So I ran the line through the firewall while I have the dash apart, but I have not hooked it to the battery. I'm going to see if they work without it. I assume that greddy just has a standard wire harness that they send out with all their gauges, and that is why I have a red constant power wire. current theory, anyways.

I was a little confused about it last night so I went onto 3si and searched for a while to no avail. a couple of people asked about it, but had no replies or just "You need it, hook it up," but I'm skeptical. I guess I'll see in a bit. I also went to US3S (I hope this reply doesn't get deleted ) and I can't seem to search there at all. No matter what I put in it comes back with "nothing found for that topic" or something like that... I see that the site seems to be changing, or under construction. Maybe it just isn't hooked up quite yet.

Anyhow. I'm going to hook the three sensors in tonight, and then it should all be done. Yes, I know I'm taking a long time, but I'm trying to be careful... Does any one have a real good idea where the stock oil pressure sensor hooks into the block? And the water temp sensor. Also, I have an incredibly small oriface that came with the greddy boost gauge so that if the gauge is too jumpy you can put it in. Does any one have the greddy gauge that can tell me if it needs this or not off the bat?

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The water temp sensor for the gauge is separate from the one for the ECU. If you're standing on the passenger side of the car, looking at the thermostat housing, right underneith the coils & the power transister unit, there are 3 probes. I'd have to double check, but from memory, the one for the stock gauge is the farthest to the right (closest to the radiator). It's also the smallest. That's the one you want to remove and replace with the greddy probe. You need an 8mm socket to remove it.

The oil pressure sender is right off the oil pump. If you're standing on the driverside of the car, with all the wheel well shielding taken out, it's on your right side. The probe next to it is for the oil light. The larger semi circular one is the one you want to take out & replace with the greddy unit. You need a 10mm wrench to remove it.

I'm not sure if the greddy probes just thread right in. I know the Autometer don't and the defi do. IPO (Import Power Online) from 3si will be able to tell you for sure.

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06 Blue EVO 9

I found and changed the water temp probe fine, but I have not as of yet gotten around to the oil pressure probe. Lack of time due to my recent trip to Nebraska. (Nebraska is still there, just in case anyone was wondering ) last night I was staring down through the darkness of the side of the block to locate the oil pump, and any lines coming out, but only saw one sensor line in my quick search. Is this something that I can get at from under the car, or is this more serious of a project?

Also I don't think that greddy gave me enough line to get the sensor out of the fire wall and down to the sensor location. Can you splice that wire without f'ing the signal?

One more dumb question if no one minds... Are these engines sensitive to air bubbles in the cooling system? I'm sure I got some air in hole for the sensor while I was changing it, and I have seen a few other engines that were sensitive to this, but I am not sure about the stealth, as I don't know many other people who have one...

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That sensor you're talking about is the crank angle sensor that goes into the side of the oil pump. If ever you need to prime your motor (ie it's been sitting a while and you want to crank it over to get some oil in the block), you can unplug that sensor and crank till you battery dies.

Check out this link. The brass circular piece is the oil pressure sender. The one next to it (not in the photos) is for the oil light.

Yes, these cars will overheat like any other car if there is air in the cooling system. Bleeding it out is easy. While the motor is completely cool, take the cap off and top off the coolant. Start the car and wait for the bubbles to escape. While that's happening, pour in some more coolant. Finish off by filling the overflow to the MAX line.

The gauge probe went in like It was meant to be there. Thanks Greg, and everybody for the help. Next time we meet up the beer is one me. The pictures in that link really helped alot. I didn't even have to take the wheel well cover out.

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Bad decisions make good stories.
Look at it! LOOK AT MY @SS AND TELL ME IT'S PRETTY!