Question: Electrical Draw

[dogfish246]

I wanted to add 2 gauges with an orange back light (to match rest of the stock gauges), and maybe an electric exhaust cutout down the line.

The Vette owners manual says not to add any other electronics because the car engine is super sensitive. Does anyone know anything about this/ has added anything electrical to the car?

I know when the heat is on with the headlights and fogs, and the rear defroster, you can tell there is a huge load on the electrical system. Even when you hit the brakes with the headlights on, you can tell there is a draw.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[toptechx6]

Many owners have installed electric water pumps on LT1 and LT4 cars and stereo amplifiers that draw lots of current so I doubt a couple of gauges will cause a problem. I do not know how much power is required for an electric cutout, but would check with the manufacturer if I was considering one.
What is important when adding any accessories is good electrical practice, avoid splicing into circuits that are computer controlled, use wire of sufficient size to handle the load, solder instead of using crimp style connectors and insulate using heat shrink tubing whenever possible and especially important on our cars with plastic bodies make sure all ground connections are secure.

 

[Paul Higg]

You would have absolutely no problem adding a couple of gauges. Think about this, how many empty fuse slots do you have? A bunch. Even empty 30 amp slots.

I would run a wire right to the fuse panel and tie it into the back of an empty slot and put the correct amp fuse in it. A couple of instruments will not be drawing that much current. Having said that though, if you were going to be adding several devices that draw a total of say 100 amps I'd say no way.

Also, make sure they are switched so they will not always be drawing current so you do not have a battery drain.

 

[Hib Halverson]

I sense two questions, here.

1) Adding gauges and electric cutouts. The gauges should not be too much of a problem, provided that a) you're using high-quality equipment (such as Auto Meter) and not cheap, poorly developed junk and b) you follow the manufacturer's instructions as to installation.

2) The electric cutouts are a different story. No doubt, they'll draw some significant current for a short duration. They'll probably need to be installed running direct to the battery through a new fuse or to an unused high-amperage fuse. You may need to use a relay to operate them. The power for the cutouts needs to go though wire(s) which are properly sized for the current draw.

As for the other question about the C4's seemingly high current draw when the headlights are on and/or the rear window defroster is on. When you are running the engine above idle (say 1200-1500 rpm) and all those items are on, what is the system voltage?

 

[Paul Higg]

Do I hear an echo in here?

Echo...echo...echo...

 

[dogfish246]

I sense two questions, here.

1) Adding gauges and electric cutouts. The gauges should not be too much of a problem, provided that a) you're using high-quality equipment (such as Auto Meter) and not cheap, poorly developed junk and b) you follow the manufacturer's instructions as to installation.

2) The electric cutouts are a different story. No doubt, they'll draw some significant current for a short duration. They'll probably need to be installed running direct to the battery through a new fuse or to an unused high-amperage fuse. You may need to use a relay to operate them. The power for the cutouts needs to go though wire(s) which are properly sized for the current draw.

As for the other question about the C4's seemingly high current draw when the headlights are on and/or the rear window defroster is on. When you are running the engine above idle (say 1200-1500 rpm) and all those items are on, what is the system voltage?

The gauge reads a volt or two over the minimum requirement (which is in gray on the gauge). It is significantly lower than normal driving.