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    Results 1 to 16 of 16
    1. #1
      Join Date
      Apr 2014
      Location
      DFW, TX
      Posts
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      Country Flag: United States

      Holley Terminator and Dakota Digital Gages

      If this isn't the right place to put this topic, moderators please feel free to move it.

      I'm wiring a Holley Terminator system to control/feed an LS3 swap into a 78 Trans Am. I'm also switching the factory gages to the Dakota Digital VHX system for the TA. The Terminator system comes with the direct plug ins for the water temp and oil pressure- Great! What are folks doing to feed the gages? Is it really easiest just to plug in another sensor or is there something more systemic and thought out?

      If the answer is to plug in more sensors, where to plug in the water sensor and where are y'all plugging in the oil pressure to feed the gages?

      Thanks!
      1978 Pontiac Trans Am Y88-R,
      UMI Performace, LS3/T56 Holley EFI

    2. #2
      Join Date
      Sep 2016
      Location
      LA - Lower Alabama
      Posts
      560
      http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.c...od/prd1105.htm

      The DD BIM-01-2-HLLY connects to the Holley CAN Bus and drives the DD gauges. It will pass tach, speed, oil pressure, boost, temp, etc., etc. At least it's supposed to. I've had issues with mine passing oil pressure, but DD thinks they have the issue solved.

      When it works, it's probably the easiest/cleanest way to do this. If it doesn't, DD customer support can be...... lacking.
      Dude are you made of leprechauns? Cause that was awesome!

    3. #3
      Join Date
      Apr 2014
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      DFW, TX
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      Quote Originally Posted by AU Doc View Post
      http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.c...od/prd1105.htm

      The DD BIM-01-2-HLLY connects to the Holley CAN Bus and drives the DD gauges. It will pass tach, speed, oil pressure, boost, temp, etc., etc. At least it's supposed to. I've had issues with mine passing oil pressure, but DD thinks they have the issue solved.

      When it works, it's probably the easiest/cleanest way to do this. If it doesn't, DD customer support can be...... lacking.
      I called and talked to DD and they thought that sometimes oil pressure comes across the CAN BUS. $100 is a bit much for "maybe" I get oil pressure.
      1978 Pontiac Trans Am Y88-R,
      UMI Performace, LS3/T56 Holley EFI

    4. #4
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Jacksonville, FL
      Posts
      1,651
      Country Flag: United States
      If your Holley harness has a plug for oil pressure sensor, it “should”. It’s the same for GM style LS harnesses. Some have the OP plug, some don’t. I would call Holley worst case.
      Chris
      1968 Chevy Camaro SS
      LS3/T56 DSE suspension


    5. #5
      Join Date
      Jan 2019
      Location
      Athens, AL
      Posts
      38
      Country Flag: United States
      Not that this is the best way to do it, but it's one way, and something to keep in mind: you can split the signal from a pressure transducer between the DD and Holley ECU. You cant do this with temp sensors. The key with the pressure sensors is using a sensor that the DD will recognize, and then setting the Holley ECU up for a custom sensor input to work with the DD sensor output voltage range. Then you just split the signal wire to feed both the DD and the Holley.

      The canbus is definitely the best way. But if it doesn't get the job done, rest assured you can make pressure channels work on both pieces of equipment with a single sensor.

      Hope this helps.

      Travis

    6. #6
      Join Date
      Mar 2009
      Location
      Houston, TX
      Posts
      1,193
      Country Flag: United States
      Greg, on my car that I switched over to Holley Dominator, I ran DD sensors separately from the Holley to run the VHX guages. There's is plug on the rear passenger side head that you can remove and install the DD water temp sensor, and stock oil press sensor location on the back of the block. You can get SAE/metric adapter from DD or Autometer for the sensors.

      I thought about doing CAN bus to simplify installation, but after reading that there are still some issues, as Au Doc posted, I stayed with separate sensors.

      Good luck on your swap.

      Tu
      Tu Ho
      Firebird V2-LS swap

    7. #7
      Join Date
      Apr 2014
      Location
      DFW, TX
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      I guess I will go with two sensors. That seems to be the path of least resistance. The engineer in me still says this is a crook, these manufacturers should be thinking of this stuff and providing us solutions. Not us working around what they didn't think of.
      1978 Pontiac Trans Am Y88-R,
      UMI Performace, LS3/T56 Holley EFI

    8. #8
      Join Date
      Sep 2016
      Location
      LA - Lower Alabama
      Posts
      560
      Quote Originally Posted by gscherer78ta View Post
      I guess I will go with two sensors. That seems to be the path of least resistance. The engineer in me still says this is a crook, these manufacturers should be thinking of this stuff and providing us solutions. Not us working around what they didn't think of.
      DD tech support is not the greatest (by a long stretch). That said, IF you supply the Holley ECM with an oil pressure input (remember it's not required), then the Holley ECM will output your oil pressure on the CAN bus. I'm pretty sure this is why DD will not commit to having oil pressure. Meaning, if you don't give the ECM an oil pressure input, then it's not going to be on the CAN bus. I don't know why they won't come out and say that. Or maybe they've just now figured out why it didn't work for every install.

      If you are going to get the DD BIM, I would try it before you add the second sensor. It "should" work, and I think in most cases it probably does. They claim they have a new firmware that fixes the issue where some of us didn't get oil pressure off the CAN bus. So it should be plug and play. If it doesn't work, you can always add the second sensor.
      Dude are you made of leprechauns? Cause that was awesome!

    9. #9
      Join Date
      Apr 2014
      Location
      DFW, TX
      Posts
      119
      Country Flag: United States
      I've got this combo for enough along that I am ready to start it and make sure that it runs before buttoning everything up and driving it. It cranks but won't start. I didn't check to see if it's squirting gas in the TBI because it's just me. The bowls look pretty dry though. One thing that I am noticing is that I don't get any signal from RPM, I would think that I would get something when the starter is spinning it, a reading of 100-250rpm. The Manual says that I should get a "syncing" indication when the starter spins it. I called Holley on this and their comment was that my crank position sensor needs to be replaced because the terminator system has a much narrower window that they look in for Tach signal. Am I just one of the unlucky few that have this issue and I'll get a new sensor and things will work out? Or, am is it an issue and I will need to go through several crank sensors before finding one that works?

      Anyone?
      1978 Pontiac Trans Am Y88-R,
      UMI Performace, LS3/T56 Holley EFI

    10. #10
      Join Date
      Apr 2001
      Location
      The City of Fountains
      Posts
      15,971
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by gscherer78ta View Post
      I've got this combo for enough along that I am ready to start it and make sure that it runs before buttoning everything up and driving it. It cranks but won't start. I didn't check to see if it's squirting gas in the TBI because it's just me. The bowls look pretty dry though. One thing that I am noticing is that I don't get any signal from RPM, I would think that I would get something when the starter is spinning it, a reading of 100-250rpm. The Manual says that I should get a "syncing" indication when the starter spins it. I called Holley on this and their comment was that my crank position sensor needs to be replaced because the terminator system has a much narrower window that they look in for Tach signal. Am I just one of the unlucky few that have this issue and I'll get a new sensor and things will work out? Or, am is it an issue and I will need to go through several crank sensors before finding one that works?

      Anyone?
      Crank sensors do go bad. Is your sensor new? Is it the right kind? Gen3 and Gen4 sensors are different. Which one does the Holley system that you have want? More info please.

      Andrew
      1970 GTO Version 3.0
      1967 Cougar build
      GM High-Tech Performance feature
      My YouTube Channel Please Subscribe!
      Instagram @projectgattago
      Dr. EFI
      I deliver what EFI promises.
      Remote Holley EFI tuning.
      Please get in touch if I can be of service.

      "You were the gun, your voice was the trigger, your bravery was the barrel, your eyes were the bullets." ~ Her

    11. #11
      Join Date
      Apr 2014
      Location
      DFW, TX
      Posts
      119
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      Quote Originally Posted by andrewb70 View Post
      Crank sensors do go bad. Is your sensor new? Is it the right kind? Gen3 and Gen4 sensors are different. Which one does the Holley system that you have want? More info please.

      Andrew
      The engine is new- crate engine from GM performance, so I would presume the sensor is new. I replaced the sensor and I still didn't get a crank/rpm signal. At this point I called Holley tech and they had me uplug the crank sensor and then the cam sensor and I still got a reading of 0 rpm. The Holley tech said that I need to send the harness and computer in for service because there was a short in the crank signal.

      I hope to get it back Thursday so I can get it started! Such a bummer to buy all this stuff brand new and still have problems. I expect to have problems when I buy stuff used from someone else, this just sucks!
      1978 Pontiac Trans Am Y88-R,
      UMI Performace, LS3/T56 Holley EFI

    12. #12
      Join Date
      Sep 2016
      Location
      LA - Lower Alabama
      Posts
      560
      Yeah. That does suck, and it's super frustrating when you try to use the best parts and still have trouble!

      Just try to stay positive. Once you get your car out on the road for the first time, you'll quickly forget about this delay.
      Dude are you made of leprechauns? Cause that was awesome!

    13. #13
      Join Date
      Apr 2014
      Location
      DFW, TX
      Posts
      119
      Country Flag: United States
      In case this helps anyone else...

      I don't fault Holley for this very much... In my case, I followed the guide exactly, I went through the "wizards" to set a base program and the TPS autoset. This made it look like everything was reading correctly - MAP, MAT, batt, etc... When I cranked the motor though, there wasn't any rpm reading so that made it look like the crank sensor wasn't right. Even after unplugging the crank sensor the rpm read 0. This is why the Holley tech thought there was a short in the rpm signal - he said it should read "stall" or a value other than 0.

      When I was wiring the system, there is a loose red/white wire and it was unclear to me if that should go inside the cabin to a keyed source or a always on source. I called Holley and the tech told me that needed to be "always on". So I connected it to the battery. Well, the Holley computer doesn't save the calibration file unless the power is removed from that wire for 4 seconds. Since I had it on the battery , when I turned the key off didn't make any difference.

      Holley is overnighting the package to me and I will make that change and try again, hopefully with better results.
      1978 Pontiac Trans Am Y88-R,
      UMI Performace, LS3/T56 Holley EFI

    14. #14
      Join Date
      Apr 2001
      Location
      The City of Fountains
      Posts
      15,971
      Country Flag: United States
      https://documents.holley.com/techlib...10555rev17.pdf

      Page 11 at the bottom, section 6.0....loose wires

      The red wire goes to battery and gets power at all times. The red/white wire needs to go to a switched ignition source. It is critical that the red/white wire be hot not just with the ignition key in RUN, but also in START. On my Cougar the wire that originally went to the coil comes right off the ignition switch and it is hot in RUN and START. I have this wire triggering a relay, which in turn powers the red/white wire and a few other devices.

      Andrew
      1970 GTO Version 3.0
      1967 Cougar build
      GM High-Tech Performance feature
      My YouTube Channel Please Subscribe!
      Instagram @projectgattago
      Dr. EFI
      I deliver what EFI promises.
      Remote Holley EFI tuning.
      Please get in touch if I can be of service.

      "You were the gun, your voice was the trigger, your bravery was the barrel, your eyes were the bullets." ~ Her

    15. #15
      Join Date
      Apr 2014
      Location
      DFW, TX
      Posts
      119
      Country Flag: United States
      Got the Holley system back- really they found no problem and it didn't need to go back to them. I corrected the wiring problem- it was in the fuse box and that was corrected easily enough. Then I ran headlong into a fueling issue that after nearly two weekends turned out to be the fuel pump. And that was bad, not nearly enough flow from a brand new pump. I got the new pump installed last night and now the engine is ALIVE!!!!!!! Starts right up and smoothly settles into a choppy idle- NICE! I''ll get some pictures and a video soon.
      1978 Pontiac Trans Am Y88-R,
      UMI Performace, LS3/T56 Holley EFI

    16. #16
      Join Date
      Apr 2014
      Location
      DFW, TX
      Posts
      119
      Country Flag: United States
      And it Runs!!!!!!! A lot of little tuning things to go through now and a lot of car to put back together before I am on the road again but, This is a milestone a long time in coming!


      Last edited by andrewb70; 04-08-2019 at 06:58 AM.
      1978 Pontiac Trans Am Y88-R,
      UMI Performace, LS3/T56 Holley EFI






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