M150 + traditional / analog gauges

Hi all,

Is it possible to send a signal from an M150 to a traditional variable resistor based gauge? For example, if I were to replace the traditional diaphragm oil pressure sender that goes directly to the oil pressure gauge in the dash, with a digital sensor that went to the M150, can I then "mimic" the original analog voltage signal back to the original gauge? It seems this is similar to what is being done for the tach, but I don't see a way to do this for any other sensor (eg, coolant temp, oil temp, oil pressure, etc.).

Thanks in advance.

Hi Robert,

The M1 ECUs don't have voltage output resources, this is pretty uncommon in ECUs.

You can most likely just splice the signal and 0v wires of the sensors to both the ECU and the traditional gauge. Except for temp because of the integrated pullup circuitry in the gauge and ECU.

In OEM applications with driver gauges they used to double up on sensors, at least in the early days.

A better option would be to have a MoTeC C series dash which will allow you to display all the sensor values from the ECU transmitted via CAN.

Thanks Scott,

This is a vintage car that I'd like to retain the original dash, so a digital dash isn't an option (I've kept all the modern bits very discreet / hidden). There are some cases where there are duplicates (eg, coolant temp), but oil temp and pressure are two that I'd like to have in the ECU that don't have duplicates (unfortunately). Has anyone had experience with a DAC that could take a CAN bus signal and output analog signals? is that a thing?

I have been looking at something similar. Came across these -

https://www.lingenfelter.com/product/L460260704.html

https://estore.accuratetechnologies.com/products/canverter_module/1868336000000654937

Interesting. I came across this as well:

https://www.vboxautomotive.co.uk/index.php/en/can-to-analogue-module

I considered making my own, but my preference is to purchase something off the shelf.

I'm a little surprised this isn't a more common setup. What do restomods like Singer do?

I couldn't find any evidence of the vbox/racelogic one being sold anywhere. Pity, looked good.

I would experiment with running a PWM signal into a Resistor-Capacitor (RC) circuit. Of course, you'll probably need to build custom firmware to drive them with a generic channel value. This can be done more easily from a MoTeC dash, but you won't have that.

Just FYI, after a few emails back and forth with the Racelogic USA / vbox sales rep, their DAC01 does appear to do what I am asking. It is in-stock, at $1925. Not sure I can personally justify the cost, but I figured I'd share.

Worth knowing but you could several of the lingenfelter unit for half that price! Thanks for the legwork though.

Agreed. In addition to GMLAN and J1939 higher-layer CAN protocols, the Lingenfelter datasheet says it supports a "user defined" CAN "library" (I think that's their term for higher-layer protocol). I couldn't find anything about the protocol Motec uses, but it seems with a little trial / error, I could parse the Motec data into the Lingenfelter. Seems worth the exercise for $400.

I downloaded and had a play with the lingenfelter software, pretty simple, the hardest bit will be calibrating the output table. You can get the corresponding Motec CAN details by downloading any of the Motec dash managers.