almost have my gauges in, but have a couple questions. First, whats the best and easiest way to fill the tube between my fp gauges and isolator without making a mess and to keep as much air out of the line as possible? Second, where do most of you guys with the 5 or 6speeds run all your tubing and wires thru the fire wall? am I gonna have to make a new hole?

 

Can anyone help me out?

 

As far as the isolators i stoped ussing them and ran it strait to the gauge, i had alot of problems with isolators. And yeah since your using your clutch gromet your gonna need to cut a hole in another one that looks like it should have enough room ro run the wires. Cant remember which one of the top of my head.

 

I ran all my wiring and boost line through the grommet the main wiring harness comes through. I just cut a small slit in the grommet and run my stuff through that.
Joe

 

My isolator failed after a few weeks, and all the "coolant" that was in the line magically disappeared through the VP44.

Coolant is not good for a VP44. My VP44 failed at 40K miles. Could it have been the coolant it swallowed? Hard to say. But what I *do* know is this:

DON'T use an isolator. If fuel in the cab concerns you, then mount the gauge outside the cab near the wiper cowl or something.

The FP guage isn't something you need to be able to see all the time-- just enough to glance and know what's going on.

 

I happen to know from another board that afoulk bought gauges from Eric @ Vulcan and know the isolator that comes with those gauges is very reliable. Eric has told me that almost always any trouble with them is the installation. He said he has sold in excess of 200 and only 3 came back. Chances are pretty good there was nothing wrong with them either.

I just installed a gauge on my buddies '99. I used the syringe Eric provides to fill the tubing. It was a little bit messy since I was not as patient as I needed to be. I would put as much fluid in as I could, keep it up high and flick the tubing with my finger to make the air bubbles rise. It took a bit of time. You probably can't get all the air out but I did a pretty good job of it. Make sure you put the fuel to the proper side of the isolator and that you push the diaphragm to the fuel side. I used the eraser side of a pencil. Use sealer on threads and don't over tighten the plastic lines. They only need to be snug. Hope this is helpful.

 

You can get all the air out if you spend an hour flicking the line....ask me how I know On the bright side, my line from the isolator to the gauge has absolutely no air in it now. The gauges work great! I used a hole saw (forget what size, but smaller than 1") and put a hole in the firewall to the lower right of the steering columb (looking at the firewall from the engine bay) and used a pcv valve grommet I got from advanced auto. All in all, I think I'd rather pay someone to do next time around. I work on trucks for a living and you don't necessarily feel like working on your own stuff over the weekends.

 

Why use an isolater with diesel?

Gasoline is very volatile and flammbale. Diesel Fuel OIL is not flammable (It is "combustible"). It's flashpoint is above 125 degress, meaning is needs to be very hot before you can light it with an open flame. It might stick if it leaks in the cab, but it's not a fire hazard.

 

I think its illegal in most states to run a fuel line straight into your cab though. In PA, anything that looks cool or is fun is illegal, so I figure thats probably illegal here too

 

Yes, that is mostly true. I don't recall what the flash point is right now. However, it is illegal and if it were to leak in a spray it does become pretty flammable. While mine is plumbed direct right now I am going to eventually change to a different gauge and will install an isolater then.