is there a fuse we can pull that only affects that section of the dash? i saw those gauges that somebody was throwin out there and they were ugly...i was thinking at last resort i would just black it out and put a Pontiac G8 Sticker in there, as those battery and oil crap arent all that necisary.

Spray paint, duct tape, or possibly an old Atari contoller should do the trick. :D

After driving my car for a month, I too agree the display looks cheep and has little purpose. I am going to try and cut a piece of dark window tint. It should be easy to put on and is not hard to remove....

smash it with a hammer, that will turn it off

is there a fuse we can pull that only affects that section of the dash? i saw those gauges that somebody was throwin out there and they were ugly...i was thinking at last resort i would just black it out and put a Pontiac G8 Sticker in there, as those battery and oil crap arent all that necisary.

Just pick up some transparent plastic, cut to fit the rectangle, and your done. Hobby lobby or something should have it.

FYI, I did mine in blue, and it's barly visible now.
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm227/srg963/P5290054.jpg
Speedo looks cool, but very hard to see in the daytime.

is there a fuse we can pull that only affects that section of the dash? i saw those gauges that somebody was throwin out there and they were ugly...i was thinking at last resort i would just black it out and put a Pontiac G8 Sticker in there, as those battery and oil crap arent all that necisary.

When I get my G8, I plan to put a fold out alpine dvd player either there or where the ash tray would go....

Then I will do different speakers in the kick panels.

I will fire my sub (13w7) through the cubby hole. I will also cut the plastic laptop part and mold perforated steel or aluminum in its place. This will allow me to have bass with just the arm rest folded down. I will probably port the sub through the rear sub holes too.

When I get my G8, I plan to put a fold out alpine dvd player either there or where the ash tray would go....


There's really no space in either of those locations for anything with any depth. BOTH spaces have A/C ducts behind them. So think thin.

Check this out.

Top pic is NOT stock, just an emulation. No real info yet but in the near future will read from CAN bus.

Middle pic shows whats behind all this craziness.

Bottom show what im working on.

GM Doc is about the GMLAN system, so much info is available over that bus. :yumyum:


for more pics lookup juanricos on fquick

www.fquick.com/juanricos

There's really no space in either of those locations for anything with any depth. BOTH spaces have A/C ducts behind them. So think thin.

Check this out.

Top pic is NOT stock, just an emulation. No real info yet but in the near future will read from CAN bus.

Middle pic shows whats behind all this craziness.

Bottom show what im working on.

GM Doc is about the GMLAN system, so much info is available over that bus. :yumyum:


for more pics lookup juanricos on fquick

www.fquick.com/juanricos


You willing to share? I haven't been able to find the docs for the highspeed and lowspeed GMLAN yet, that didn't require me buying it. Drop me a PM or something, I'd like to take a gander at at least the low speed GMLAN doc. Lemme know. I would REALLY appreciate it.

I agree that they look cheap and out of place, but, jeez, you guys act like there is green slime coming out of the vents or that the display flashes "Yugo, Yugo!"

I hardly even notice them anymore.

mac

There's really no space in either of those locations for anything with any depth. BOTH spaces have A/C ducts behind them. So think thin.

Check this out.

Top pic is NOT stock, just an emulation. No real info yet but in the near future will read from CAN bus.

Middle pic shows whats behind all this craziness.

Bottom show what im working on.

GM Doc is about the GMLAN system, so much info is available over that bus. :yumyum:


for more pics lookup juanricos on fquick

www.fquick.com/juanricos (http://www.fquick.com/juanricos)

What LCD did you use to replace the stock guage? Any more info on the GMLAN or where to find it would be helpful.

Thanks

You willing to share? I haven't been able to find the docs for the highspeed and lowspeed GMLAN yet, that didn't require me buying it. Drop me a PM or something, I'd like to take a gander at at least the low speed GMLAN doc. Lemme know. I would REALLY appreciate it.

I bought GMW8762 from ihs.com it was $30. I agreed to all kinds of legalese saying that I would not duplicat or distribute the doc.

So I can't sent it to you. But I can tell you what's in it if you are considering buying it.

1) NO specific low speed bus info. This doc talks about the interface between the Powertrain and the Platform.

2) I really wanted the info on the low speed bus involing the radio and other interior electronics. I am still searching.

3) Here is what's in GMW8762. Required info to decode the following:

^^^^HOLY SH*T Batman!

mac

I am using an ELM327 based reader to look at the high speed bus. Also still searching for a reasonably priced low speed single-wire CAN interface. I haven't started actually using any info from the bus yet in my program. Working on that.

One more thing, All the data is just out there on the bus. You don't have to request it. Just listen and wait for it to be sent. It is sent in regular intervals.

About the LCD:

It is a 7" screen I pulled out of a ipod video display player thingy. Sonic impact V55.

I saw it on woot for $30 so I bought 3. It has a AV input so I connected it to my laptops composite video output. I removed all the exterior plastic and distilled it down to 3 circuit boards and the LCD. All the electronics fit into the space where the oil gauge was. I have not modified any of the G8's trim. Currently looking for a cheap laptop with video out that i can leave in the trunk. The program is written in visual basic.

Plan to do: more gauges, video playing, rear cam, music jukebox, and still thinking. For control I like the joystick err..gearshift. It has a nice trigger on the front that is already a switch. Just gotta figure out how to put some kind of selection knob close by.

GM has plans for that space. They will sell ads that will pop up on the display when you drive near a participating business.

GM has plans for that space. They will sell ads that will pop up on the display when you drive near a participating business.

^^^^^ That's just too creepy!

mac

I bought GMW8762 from ihs.com it was $30. I agreed to all kinds of legalese saying that I would not duplicat or distribute the doc.

So I can't sent it to you. But I can tell you what's in it if you are considering buying it.

1) NO specific low speed bus info. This doc talks about the interface between the Powertrain and the Platform.

2) I really wanted the info on the low speed bus involing the radio and other interior electronics. I am still searching.

3) Here is what's in GMW8762. Required info to decode the following:

IHS has the other document, specifically for Low Speed GMLAN. I think its GMW3XXX, I don't remember the exact doc number though. I guess I'll just spend the $60 for both docs (high and low speed)

Does it actually lay out the packet data structure as well as the addressing scheme (so we know what device is at what address)?

I am using an ELM327 based reader to look at the high speed bus. Also still searching for a reasonably priced low speed single-wire CAN interface. I haven't started actually using any info from the bus yet in my program. Working on that.

Its just I2C. Find an I2C bus reader and you should be all set.

One more thing, All the data is just out there on the bus. You don't have to request it. Just listen and wait for it to be sent. It is sent in regular intervals.

You can either query for it or passively listen.

Currently looking for a cheap laptop with video out that i can leave in the trunk. The program is written in visual basic.


Laptops are too expensive and too easy to break. Get something like this... All you have to do is find a PC power supply meant for the car's 13.7V. mp3car.com has them listed there.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153093

GM has plans for that space. They will sell ads that will pop up on the display when you drive near a participating business.

^^^^^ That's just too creepy!

mac

I think the author William Gibson had that happening on cell phones in his sci-fi fiction - either Mona Lisa Overdrive or Burning Chrome, I can't remember which.

I don't know, to me, that screen just looks way too small to do any good. Its a neat idea to replace the current one though, just not sure if it would be worth the trouble when you might have problems making out what is on the screen. I mean does the whole screen show from the Sonic unit? or is part of it hidden by the trim pieces?

Laptops are too expensive and too easy to break. Get something like this... All you have to do is find a PC power supply meant for the car's 13.7V. mp3car.com has them listed there.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153093 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153093)


I was thinking maybe a PDA w/video out connected to the Sonic Screen, along with a bluetooth CAN-BUS interface. Just haven't found a PDA w/Video out yet. This would allow for Nav System, Reading GMLAN Data, MP3 and more. One could mount the PDA either in the glove box or console to hide it and have it accessible to set your route or change what you wanted displayed. Just a thought.

I was thinking maybe a PDA w/video out connected to the Sonic Screen, along with a bluetooth CAN-BUS interface. Just haven't found a PDA w/Video out yet. This would allow for Nav System, Reading GMLAN Data, MP3 and more. One could mount the PDA either in the glove box or console to hide it and have it accessible to set your route or change what you wanted displayed. Just a thought.

Nano-ITX is the way to go. They sell very small enclosures for them and you can add whatever you want to it. Throw it behind the glove box, there is space.

Hardwire everything. Someone posted the actual part numbers (industry standard) for the connectors. If you get the male and female connectors, you can do a pass-through design which doesn't require cutting any wires.

I have a microcontroller already built up (working on the code) which can read I2C already. I just need the damn GMLAN network data structures (I'm gonna buy the docs). I plan on getting the connectors and probably doing a passthrough for Onstar, put BlueTooth on a Nano-ITX motherboard, as well as hacking a nav screen to display on the head unit... See, the best part of a "pass through" for the GMLAN, is that you can sniff and delete packets (or change them), like the VSS sent to the radio, to determine if the video IN gets turned off after 5mph ;)

GM has plans for that space. They will sell ads that will pop up on the display when you drive near a participating business.
WHOA! Cat houses? :p

I was curious about something like this if we can get it modded to work with out car does intergrate with the buses... I sent them an e-mail and will see what I get from them.... Atlas CPC-1000

http://www.azentekonline.com/cms/content/view/41/146/

I was curious about something like this if we can get it modded to work with out car does intergrate with the buses... I sent them an e-mail and will see what I get from them.... Atlas CPC-1000

http://www.azentekonline.com/cms/content/view/41/146/

very nice. I would buy that in a heart beat. If it kept my AC controls.

WHOA! Cat houses? :p

LOL!!!
Dude, i'm glad I wasn't drinking something when I read that! Would have drowned the computer!

IHS has the other document, specifically for Low Speed GMLAN. I think its GMW3XXX, I don't remember the exact doc number though. I guess I'll just spend the $60 for both docs (high and low speed)

Does it actually lay out the packet data structure as well as the addressing scheme (so we know what device is at what address)?

It has the addresses of the transmitter (11 bits) and what the sent bytes mean.

Its just I2C. Find an I2C bus reader and you should be all set.
You can either query for it or passively listen.

I am new to CAN (esp. Single-wire CAN) (and esp GMLAN) but I think it may be different than I2C. The stock BattOil gauge has a actual single-wire CAN tranciever on it. Freescale MC33897. Anyway I think I can make a dual wire to single wire converter by puting a SWCAN transciever back to back with a DWCAN transciever. A MC33897(Freescale) with its RX and TX line connected to the TX and RX lines on a MCP2551(Microchip). May work.



Laptops are too expensive and too easy to break. Get something like this... All you have to do is find a PC power supply meant for the car's 13.7V. mp3car.com has them listed there.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153093

Like I said Cheeeeeap laptop $300 max with RAM + HD + Single voltage power supply + Windows + A screen for debug and development, all ready to go. I like laptops because they can be easily powered by a single voltage thru the AC adapter jack. And with the battery they have a built in UPS. Plenty on the bay.

I don't know, to me, that screen just looks way too small to do any good. Its a neat idea to replace the current one though, just not sure if it would be worth the trouble when you might have problems making out what is on the screen. I mean does the whole screen show from the Sonic unit? or is part of it hidden by the trim pieces?

It is a 7" screen. It is about 6" wide. The top and bottom are cut off by the size of the opening. I just adjusted my program to fit it. It is certainly not smaller than the stock screen, maybe a little larger.

It has the addresses of the transmitter (11 bits) and what the sent bytes mean.

Excellent, just what I was looking to hear.



I am new to CAN (esp. Single-wire CAN) (and esp GMLAN) but I think it may be different than I2C. The stock BattOil gauge has a actual single-wire CAN tranciever on it. Freescale MC33897. Anyway I think I can make a dual wire to single wire converter by puting a SWCAN transciever back to back with a DWCAN transciever. A MC33897(Freescale) with its RX and TX line connected to the TX and RX lines on a MCP2551(Microchip). May work.

From my reading of the low speed GMLAN, its based off I2C.





Like I said Cheeeeeap laptop $300 max with RAM + HD + Single voltage power supply + Windows + A screen for debug and development, all ready to go. I like laptops because they can be easily powered by a single voltage thru the AC adapter jack. And with the battery they have a built in UPS. Plenty on the bay.

For the same money, you can do a tiny board computer, but then it requires work to put it together. A cheap laptop works as well, its just bigger.

Yes, there is a way to disable the Atari display. I hooked up an XM commander unit today. I installed it just in front of the "Red Screen from Hell," but with the screen disconnected so it just stays dark. It works out pretty well as it now just appears to be sitting on a shelf with the lights no longer behind. I also concealed the power cable for my portable GPS while I was at it.

The screen can either be disconnected at the white connector on the drivers side of the radio, or at the back of the display itself. I would recommend the one by the radio as one only has to remove the two lower plastic panels on the side of the center console. The other connector goes into the rear of the display itself, but the whole shooting match has to be removed to get at it.

I originally removed the screen altogether, and mounted tan Express xm in its place, but I did not care for the gaps left on both sides. I also did not realize that the Express did not come with a remote, DOH!

Overall, not too tough to do, but I would not recommend it for the faint of heart. Pulling off the faceplate to the radio took a bit more force than I am usually comfortable with when it comes to taking things apart.

I snapped a few pics of both set ups and can post them if anyone cares to see, as soon as my mac and iphone start talking to one another again.

Yes, there is a way to disable the Atari display. I hooked up an XM commander unit today. I installed it just in front of the "Red Screen from Hell," but with the screen disconnected so it just stays dark. It works out pretty well as it now just appears to be sitting on a shelf with the lights no longer behind. I also concealed the power cable for my portable GPS while I was at it.

The screen can either be disconnected at the white connector on the drivers side of the radio, or at the back of the display itself. I would recommend the one by the radio as one only has to remove the two lower plastic panels on the side of the center console. The other connector goes into the rear of the display itself, but the whole shooting match has to be removed to get at it.

I originally removed the screen altogether, and mounted tan Express xm in its place, but I did not care for the gaps left on both sides. I also did not realize that the Express did not come with a remote, DOH!

Overall, not too tough to do, but I would not recommend it for the faint of heart. Pulling off the faceplate to the radio took a bit more force than I am usually comfortable with when it comes to taking things apart.

I snapped a few pics of both set ups and can post them if anyone cares to see, as soon as my mac and iphone start talking to one another again.

I think that goes without question! Please do, asap! :wink2:

mac

Here are a few pics, sorry for the poor cell phone quality. The first few were with the display completely removed and the second is with it re-installed but disconnected.

What had to be removed in order to get the display out of the dash?

Thanks !

( I hate not having the service manual yet )

About the LCD:The program is written in visual basic. Plan to do: more gauges...

Don't know if you know this, but there are VB Controls that emulate analog gauge faces. Your program could be set up to display the user selected gauges, or all possible gauges in rotation.

I will give it my best shot with the best descriptions I can.

Removed the following items in order:

Silver trim piece separating speedo etc and lower panel

lower panel under steering wheel (disconnect light wiring harness)

Silver trim piece with first 888 on it

lower trim piece in passenger footwell (with vent like holes - below glove box)

Entire glove box section (remove plate around trunk open button and on opposite side of glove box as they hide screws underneath)

long trim piece on both sides of center console (from footwell to behind seats)

panels on both sides of center stack

carefully pry out silver ring around gear selector (from back to front)

carefully pry out entire trim piece around window switches and seat heaters, press out entire switch mechanism and leave in place. Also disconnected the front two harnesses for seat heaters etc.

remove 4 screws from around gear selector

remove screws on front of what I use for a change tray - with power outlet = then pry it out pulling towards the back of the car

pry off front radio plate, bottom first - I swear I though I was going to break it I had to pull so hard (no pansy jokes, I am a 6'4, 290 ex collegiate O-lineman so I can open my own PB jar!)

remove all of the screws holding the main center stack trim (runs from window base to center console)

pry up center speaker cover

remove two screws under cover that hold the top of the main center trim piece.

press down the front of the center console to separate from bottom of the main trim piece - careful here! Press down until the base of the main trim piece can be pulled toward the rear of the car. Do each side at a time, would not go both at once.

Manipulate the two tabs on the main trim piece that were behind the bottom of the radio plate, just above the change tray.

You should now be able to start from the bottom, pulling towards you, and tilt the entire trim piece towards you and up.

You will then see the white connector on the left side of the radio, not the antenna in, but the one running up to the lcd screen.

You can disconnect there as well as at the back of the screen itself.

The screen is attached to the center trim piece with four screws.

Hope this helps, I managed to take apart and re-assemble twice without breaking anything!

They certainly don't make it easy, do they? Thanks for the writeup - I would have never figured that out.

I have a Panasonic 7" display to mount there once everything gets figured out with the network, etc.

Here are a few pics, sorry for the poor cell phone quality. The first few were with the display completely removed and the second is with it re-installed but disconnected.
Awesome post dude, you take the prize award for the best easy fix for this horrible engineering screw up! And thanks for the info!

I’ve been debating what to do about those horrible Atari gauges, and for now you have made my day!

I disconnected them as you posted in no time, easy fix. I hate how bright they are at night from the other gauges.

I have a Tomtom NAV 930t with Bluetooth in front of the Atari game console and the set up looks much more OEM with the background turned off.


Now if i could just get some type of spring loaded device that could pop up from the bottom...Hmm


Much obliged amigo!

great info guys. all i have to add is that yall neet to up grade your camera phones. lol. my phone takes 2meg pics without blur or wheel spin even at highway speeds.

http://blogs.motortrend.com/6257181/new-cars/pontiac-g8-tweak-for-2009-bye-bye-battery-meter/index.html


Lets hope we can retrofit this into our 08s:thumbsup:

http://blogs.motortrend.com/6257181/new-cars/pontiac-g8-tweak-for-2009-bye-bye-battery-meter/index.html


Lets hope we can retrofit this into our 08s:thumbsup:

Sorry, but that looks like a no go as of right now. Canadians have the 09's already and said all that was done was the gauge was removed and turned into a shelf, pretty much what you have done. But lets not throw out all hope for the GXP to get the whiteface gauges....

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/12/useless-pontiac-g8-auxiliary-gauges-going-away-for-2009/

spoke too soon!!

Don't know if you know this, but there are VB Controls that emulate analog gauge faces. Your program could be set up to display the user selected gauges, or all possible gauges in rotation.

Tell me more. Is this the three digital gauge face in the GXP? Tha t lookes pretty good, at least better than ATari.

I had thought before that the real solution here is to reprogram the video screen to put something useful on it. GM could do this and just download it to the entire fleet of G8s. Seems simple, cheap to do and would make owners much happier

This is a pretty bad cell phone picture, but I finally got my gauges done today.

I'll try to get a better picture after installation some time this weekend. :)

Re Raise......How much time did it take, and whats the cost? Might have to make a road trip to Westerville :)

The parts and paint were only ~ $70, but it did take a ton of time 'doing the bodywork'. The real money is in whatever gauges you choose. I went with fuel pressure, boost controller/gauge and oil pressure. :driving:

I'm interested in what paint you used. How closely does it match the factory plastic finish? Can we get a better pic?

I had the dealership paint guy take care of the paint, so it matches perfectly. I'll get a better shot this weekend after the gauges are installed. :)

Im curious how many hours to take apart the dash. That's what I'm really looking forward to. ;) NOT!

Finally got some better pictures of my completed gauges. Hope these generate some good ideas for our little community here. :driving:

http://www.intense-racing.com/pics/g8/G8Gauges_4.jpg

http://www.intense-racing.com/pics/g8/G8Gauges_2.jpg

http://www.intense-racing.com/pics/g8/G8Gauges_1.jpg

http://www.intense-racing.com/pics/g8/G8Gauges_3.jpg

Wow! Looks great Re Raise! Will have to look you guys up in the spring after the Magnacgarger is added! Here's how I got rid of the guages for now......Lol
http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r424/MANOFSTEEL69/07-11-08_0913.jpg

Sorry, but that looks like a no go as of right now. Canadians have the 09's already and said all that was done was the gauge was removed and turned into a shelf, pretty much what you have done. But lets not throw out all hope for the GXP to get the whiteface gauges....

If the gauge was simply just removed then it might be possible for those with '09's who want the Atari gauges, to buy a gauge cluster and simply plug and play, that is if the wiring is still there.

And for those people with '08's who don't want the Atari gauges it probably wouldn't be to hard to disconnect them from behind the dash or pull a fuse to turn them off.

Don't know if you know this, but there are VB Controls that emulate analog gauge faces. Your program could be set up to display the user selected gauges, or all possible gauges in rotation.

Any more info on this?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TomPierce
Don't know if you know this, but there are VB Controls that emulate analog gauge faces. Your program could be set up to display the user selected gauges, or all possible gauges in rotation.

Quote:
Originally Posted by PaycheckG8
Any more info on this?

Once the screen is a windows program generated image you can display anything on it. Analog, digital guages, pictures, video, anything. I am a digital man myself so I will not be using any analog gauge controls. I love the numbers. But yes, it is really easy to make a VB program look like whatever you want, once you have the data.

I am still working on getting the data from the car, I don't think it will be hard. I just need to find the time.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/12/useless-pontiac-g8-auxiliary-gauges-going-away-for-2009/

spoke too soon!!

Are you people happy now!!! Theyre gone for '09!!! :cry::cry::cry:

Just pick up some transparent plastic, cut to fit the rectangle, and your done. Hobby lobby or something should have it.

This seemed like such a great idea that I have spent, literally, about a week trying to find a piece of smoke colored plastic to stick in there. Office depot has 20,000 different reports covers, not a one in smoke. I don't have a Hobby Lobby or anything like it. Anyone have any ideas where to get something?

fixed :driving:
http://www.g8board.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1640&stc=1&d=1218580896
http://www.g8board.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1641&stc=1&d=1218580897

OMG! They look awesome.
The needles are going to be available in red, yes?
Are the needle centers going to have the chrome centers like the main cluster?
This is one mod I may have to save up for. I will have to grow my balls in preperation of disassembling the dash though.

mac

I need to fix mine for less than the average paycheck.

OMG! They look awesome.
The needles are going to be available in red, yes?
Are the needle centers going to have the chrome centers like the main cluster?
This is one mod I may have to save up for. I will have to grow my balls in preperation of disassembling the dash though.

mac

red - YES
chrome - NO

I have 9 pages detailed installation instructions. ;)

If anyone pulls out the oil/battery display and wants to sell it, I would be interested.

PM me.

:driving: