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It just would not do for me to not have a CMTC, so I installed one. Luckily, this car has a CMTC harness already installed. I had suspected, and had this subsequently confirmed, that the sedans also have this CMTC harness, even if they don't come with a CMTC. This means that one could install a CMTC into any JR sedan or convertible. I did have to cut into the center instrument cluster bezel, but the cuts were relatively small. Still, I cannot uninstall the CMTC. This is a really minor concern, as I'm sure that nobody wants to downgrade from having a CMTC to having a small rubber mat in the center instrument cluster bezel. You can find instructions on how to install the CMTC here. Auto-Dimming MirrorI wanted an auto-dimming mirror like what I had in my previous two cars (I installed one in my Stratus ES, but did not take any pictures or write about it). However, the only company that makes these auto-dimming mirrors, Gentex, offered three types of mirrors. I needed a mirror that only had map lights - Gentex does not sell these. However, Gentex does sell a mirror with map lights and a temperture and 8-point compass readout, so I bought that instead. I went to install this mirror, and discovered that the stock mirror power connector is almost identical to the connector that was installed on the wire harness that came with the mirror. This eased installation considerably.
I wanted to be able to use the temperature function on the mirror, but the stock wiring did not have the required two wires for the temperature thermistor. Thus, I had to run these wires myself from the mirror to the engine compartment. This presented an opportunity - since I already had an ambient temperature reading that comes with the CMTC, I decided to make the Gentex mirror display intake air temperature. I made a hole in the rubber fitting of my intake, and installed the Gentex thermistor in the hole. When this proved to be less than desirable due to the thermistor's wanting to fall out, I took a spare IAT sensor I had laying around, and put it in the hole. I then hooked up the spare IAT sensor to the wiring to the mirror. Surprisingly, it worked! The mirror now displays intake air temperature, as well as a 8-point compass. I have problems with the mirror intermittently not auto-dimming; I think this is due to possible noise on the mirror's power supply wire. I think that a low-pass filter on this wire may stop the intermittent problem.
Cloth SeatsI was not that impressed with the Ultrahide plastic leather seats that came with my GTC, but I did not want to spend any money upgrading them to cloth. I was prepared to live with them. However, an opportunity came up on the Chrysler Sebring Convertible Club. It seems that somebody else had cloth seats on their brand new 2003 Chrysler Sebring Convertible GTC, but wanted the Ultrahide seats instead. His seats were otherwise identical to mine, other than that they were covered in cloth. He and I got together, and we decided to do a seat swap in May 2003. Now, we're both happy.
Left-Hand and Right-Hand Cylinder Bank Air/Fuel GaugesPart of getting a decent turbocharged setup is knowing how the engine is burning fuel. This is also important for normal tuning. With that in mind, I set out to install the air/fuel gauges I had bought for my old Limited. However, I didn't want to put them on the A-pillar, since I had that space planned for something else. I looked around, and saw something that had caught my eye. There is an aftermarket Honda instrument cluster gauge pod that is offered through most major aftermarket Honda supporters. The pod allowed the installation of two gauges on either side of the instrument cluster, and I thought that was a good idea when I saw it. So, I got a couple of gauge cups, and started cutting into my existing instrument cluster bezel. The actual cutting was somewhat tedious, but was not too much of a pain. I used an extra gauge cup to allow me to position the marks in the instrument cluster bezel, so as to make sure they were at the correct angle when viewed from the driver's seat.
After that, I used some JB Quik to weld the cups in place, and allowed the assembly to cure overnight. While that was curing, I tapped off the pre-cat O2 sensor signal wires for both the left-hand and right-hand cylinder banks, and ran those wires through the firewall and to the instrument cluster. I used the switched +12 VDC ignition power that operated the instrument cluster, and I used a chassis ground. The air/fuel gauges did not need to be hooked up to the interior lighting circuit, so that was one less wire I had to worry about.
When the epoxy cured, I cut holes in the cups large enough to pass nylon wire connectors through. I then installed the bezel. It needed a slight amount of finesse to install, since the gauge cups now got in the way of the steering wheel. Other than that, installation was pretty routine. Now, I used wire connectors so that it would be possible to quickly connect or disconnect the air/fuel ratio gauges. This turned out to be a great idea. I wired up the connector ends so that I could switch the gauges to either cylinder bank, and it would still work correctly.
When I was done, I wrapped up the wires, put the rest of the interior panels back on, and took the car for a test drive. I realized something very interesting when I started driving. The O2 sensor signals will continually jump between very lean and very rich; this appears to be how the PCM is able to monitor O2 sensor health while the engine is running. This also enables the PCM to accurately meter fuel while at idle or partial loading. While at WOT, the gauges will read slightly rich, and while coasting with the throttle fully shut, the gauges will read very lean. You can see more pictures of the air/fuel gauge installation here. Oil Pressure GaugeWhen I suffered a major engine failure in March 2004, I literally had no warning about any pending troubles until I started hearing the timing chain rattling around as a result of the failure of the timing chain tensioner. When that failed, I knew that something serious happened. I did not know the extent of the failure until I took off the oilpan and valve covers, and started inspecting. When I removed the oilpan and oil pickup tube, I noticed numerous bits of aluminum flash that had somehow gotten into the engine. When I went to clean the oil pickup tube, I also noticed some o-ring bits that had somehow worked their way into the oilpan and against the oil pickup tube screen.
I looked through the factory service manual, trying to get an idea of what could have lost its o-ring. I finally came across a picture of the timing chain tensioner. I took off the tensioner, and confirmed that it had lost its o-ring. Due to the clearance between the tensioner body and its socket in the right-hand cylinder head, oil pressure would have dropped to near zero psig at idle, which is significantly below the 5 psig called for in the factory service manual. Therefore, I concluded, among other things, that an oil pressure gauge is necessary for this engine. Note what I said - It's not desireable or a good idea, but necessary. I am convinced that too many of these 2.7L engines fail because their owners simply do not realize that their oil pressure had fallen to zero psig due to a timing chain tensioner failure. With that in mind, I set out to install an oil pressure gauge. I used the tap for the oil pressure switch, and made a few more discoveries. First, the oil pressure switch has a 3/8 " NPT pipe thread, which is larger than what I have seen in the past for other engines. Secondly, the switch is protected by a heatshield. This heatshield deflects heat from the rear exhaust manifold and catalytic converter, but it does make it very hard to perform an installation of a tee for both the oil pressure switch and an oil pressure gauge. I eventually decided to run a steel braided line from the oil pressure port on the engine block, and install the tee next to the throttle. This made it very easy to install the sender for an electric oil pressure gauge, and the engine wire harness did allow for the repositioning for the oil pressure switch to its new location on the tee. (Oddly enough, due to its present location next to the throttle body, I can also modify the tee to supply a turbocharger with oil... Go figure! I then tapped off the power and ground wires I used for the air/fuel ratio gauges, and tapped off an extra wire from the interior lighting circuit. I then ran wiring from the oil pressure sender on the tee, through the firewall, and to the gauge. As with the air/fuel ratio gauges, I used nylon wire connectors for ease of installation and removal.
After everything was put together, I ran the engine and noted the results. When the engine is cold, it will put out about 65 psig of oil pressure at idle. When the engine is warm, it will put out about 7 psig of oil pressure at idle. This will rise linearly with engine speed, up to about 3000 RPMs. At that point, the oil pressure relief valve in the oil pump will open, and oil pressure will be limited to about 70 psig. If a large hole opens up in the oil supply, such as would happen when the timing chain tensioner pukes out its o-ring, then oil pressure at idle will drop to near zero, with corresponding lower oil pressures throughout the range of engine speed.
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) I then removed the driver's side A-pillar, and proceeded to fit an aftermarket universal 1-gauge A-pillar pod onto the A-pillar. It took a little grinding and cutting, but the pod was installed.
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