davelinde

I posted some pics of the xmonitor install in my gallery.

I really appreciated the help given here, the project went a lot smoother for me. While I remember, a few lessons I learned.

I got switched 12V from the cigarette lighter as suggested by someone here. Easy, one screw over the garbage bag hook and the bezel pops off to expose the wires to splice in.

I drilled a 1" hole in where the clutch would be and popped in a 3/4" grommet. There was a grounding bolt right there. We got it almost off before we thought to disconnect the battery... Hopefully that didn't smoke anything already grounded there , so far so good. We did the rest with both batteries disconnected.

Pulling the exhaust elbow to braze on the threaded fitting was not too hard. After lots of reading I went post turbo with the pyro. We decided to braze instead of weld - my buddy who did it wasn't 100% sure it was OK to weld that elbow so we figured brazing would be strong enough and safer.

The boost bolt was a 3 minute job, thanks to someone who had posted a picture of exactly where I found it. Old bolt out, new bolt in - easy.

Finding the trans temp wire was a bit of a chore. There are two 50 pin blocks of wires. I picked the one with the right color wire (green/orange) at the right pin (29) per the instructions. The only way to really see that was to pull the connecter off and tilt it up (battery was disconnected by now). My old eyes could barely read those little numbers... the block shows pins 1, 10, 11, 20, 21, 30, 31, 40, 41, 50 just count in between to ID pins. The kit had a little gizmo to pierce the wire and tap it, just squeeze it on. Initially I didn't get the spade into that gizmo all the way so tranny temp showed only zero. I reconnected the wire at the splice and it worked.

I decided not to pull the A-pillar to install the display. I drilled a 5/8" hole in the pillar, then needed to angle the drill and drill down the pillar to break out some molded gussets inside. I fished the control wire up from under the dash. I was able to drill the 4 3/16 holes to attach the display before I painted it. I used 3/16 bolts to keep all the holes aligned while I drilled each one.

As I mentioned in another post, I couldn't find a source for beige paint so I used taupe. It matches my seats and dash inserts but not the top of the dash. Still looks better than black, though if I could have gotten it, beige was the right choice.

I used velcro to attach the main unit under the dash. That worked fine. I should have dressed the wires better before I drove the truck though. I was going to dress everything up later after painting etc, but the first time I drove it the wires got caught on a bolt in the steering column and wrapped around the column. Fortunately they pulled at the right angle to rip the velcro off before they got busted up themselves. A few tie wraps and all was well again.

All in all a nice unit and not too tough to install

RankRam

Good job!

I'm glad to see you got it done.

dodgedude361

about how long did the install take, start to finish?




so you dont use a probe to get trans temp? if the ECU has trans temp ....why isn`t there a stock guage?

I plan to do this myself, and i am kind of handy.... i just hope i`m not biting off more than i can chew. I will have to find some EXTRA patience that day

RamRat

I am also about to do this - after I paint the Xmonitor first. Could you post pictures of where the boost bolt is.

Thanks!

LRAmberson

I was going to go with the x monitor with a mag tech tranny pan and temp sender unit. I have been told it provides a more accurate reading due to the fact the ecu picks up the info post transmission cooler Now that item is being reevaluated because my brake controller will provide boost & egt temp in its display & I don’t require 2. Decisions decisions where will it end

dodgedude361

What kind of brake controller is that? when i bought mine....i didn`t see ANYTHING like that....Interesting

davelinde

I was at my buddy's shop for about 7 hours, 10 to 5 or so. But... he is a talker and this was also just a way to enjoy the Saturday. We spent time looking at his new motorcycle, BS'ing etc. A few other guys came by at lunch to look at the new truck and talk (at least 1 1/2 hrs for lunch). I also put in the heater block cord, re-torqued the fifth wheel hitch, and soldered the splices on my brake controller during this time.

Big tasks were: pulling the exhaust elbow to braze the pyro fitting, finding the right wire for the tranny, hooking up the 12V and ground. The elbow pops out fine, but it takes some jiggling to line up a couple pins (inlet side) and get the spring clamps to line up. It probably took 30min+ to braze the fitting. Most of that time was trying to figure out how to clamp the elbow in a drill press and then cleaning and clamping the fitting. I also spent a lot of time trying to get a grommet to fit in the fire-wall. I finally gave up, cut off the back of the grommet and glued it in...

I got the whole thing working first. Then I disassembled it to paint on Monday. Painting took about 3 hours to get 4 light coats on (then dry over night). Fish/drill the A-pillar took about 30 minutes (A-pillar stayed in), most of that time was trying to fish the wire. It took about 3 tries. Final assembly (pop in 4 push fasteners) took 5 minutes.

I am slow. I'm sure that with less talk, more decisiveness, better hands and less "where did that tool go" time this is a few hours work.

LRAmberson

Brakesmart controller with pyro & boost Sweet

davelinde

I added a pic of the boost bolt, pyro and trans lead connect to my gallery.

SBishop

Dave,
What kind of tranny temps are you showing with that setup?

TIA

davelinde

typical city driving with ambient temps 30-50 have been 135 to 145. I have seen it get to 170 after longer warm up.

Twice, and I'm still wondering why..., for no apparent reason it hit 190 - but then cooled back to 170 by itself.

No towing yet. In a few weeks I'm pulling a 9,000# trailer 600 miles. We will see.

blownaway

No flow through the cooler in park.....

davelinde

If no flow in park, then idling in park won't do much?
Idle in neutral? What is the best way to dump heat once it builds up?

SBishop

Idle in neutral. That will keep the fluid flowing thru the coolers.