slewis

There are lots of guages you can get... But which are the most useful?

I'm trying to decide what three guages I want. Right now I'm settled on the GReddy boost, oil pressure, and EGT guages. Someone suggested to me that A/F ratio is useless, or rather only useful if when using a wideband guage during tuning...

Thoughts?

Anthony K

I think most people have an A/F, Boost, and EGT if they have three gauges. A/F is really only useful to make sure that you're not running lean at WOT. This can actually be very helpful. I don't think it's usually a terribly accurate gauge but it does the job.

Incognito

Boost, EGT and oil pressure.

accordfreak

what's an EGT guage?


[Modified by accordfreak, 8:10 AM 11/4/2001]

degradated

EGT = exhaust gas temperature
Good for diagnostics and gives you a clue if you're running lean or not by how hot the gasses get coming from the exhaust manifold.

greyzone

Boost is a must and FUEL PRESSURE is a must. One of the quickest ways to kill your engine is to loose fuel pressure, run it lean and blow the motor. Fuel pressure gauge is one of the better ways of monitoring this, EGT gauges are not real accurate, nor are A/F gauges but it is good to have at least one of those.

If you had four, it these would be the four good ones to go with:
1) Boost
2) Fuel Pressure
3) EGT
AND
4) A/F

THose guages are going to monitor the most crucial aspects of a turbo engine and help you make sure you not RUNNING LEAN, which is death to the turbo engine

GruvyTune

Boost
EGT
Oil Pressure

All are electronic Greddy's

AutoSol

greyzone: you'd say fuel pressure over oil pressure guage? I'm not sure which is more likely, an oil leak or have the fuel pump go bad. My guess would be an oil leak? How is oil pressure monitored anyway?

degradated: so suppose you had the GReddy EGT guage, does the temp vary with the ambient temp? If it starts to increase a lot, that indicates you're going lean?

Now I can't decide if I should stick with boost,EGT,oil pressure or go boost,EGT,A/F.. I can only fit three for now... Actually, someone makes a digital A/F guage, that is kind of square and mounts somewhere else (not in a guage pod), but I forget who...

smoothludey2

greyzone is absolutely correct....fuel pressure is a must for every boosted vehicle...fuel delivery is overlooked alot, but it's the most important aspect of maintaining a healthy running boosted vehicle. Oil pressure? EGT? If you are boosting checking the oil level every now and then should be routine and an EGT gauge might tell u if you're running too lean but the fuel pressure gauge will prolly give you an earlier indication of a problem. I'm not boosting YET, but the only gauges i'm getting are boost and fuel pressure.

greyzone

Word. Those are the only two gauges I have.

All else is taken care of by good tunning and regular checks of my oil level.

Sudden spontaneous loss of oil rarely occurs. Many things can cause loss of FP, not just the pump going bad; ie, vacuum leaks, line clogs, line leaks/breaks...lose FP under hard boost and you're burnt toast FAST. (By the way: never run below 1/8th tank and if the big rig is at the gas station pumping in the gas delivery dont fill up, get gas somewhere else. Both situations cause problems with chunky particles in gas, which leads to clogged fuel lines/filters.)

If its a decision between EGT and A/F, go with EGT (GReddy) its MUCH less expensive and will help indicate lean under boost. HOWEVER, those who rely on those gauges often blow motors since they are semi-accurate at best. The dyno is always the best bet for issues of rich/lean.


[Modified by greyzone, 6:50 PM 11/4/2001]

SIK IN DA HED

i second that!!

not so civic

hey steve! it's kevin...hurry up and get your boost on!

turbopanda

I'd have to go for fuel press, exhaust temp, and boost, as well as an A/F meter (not the autometer one, they suck). I think reading an A/F meter would be much easier than trying to guess what the EGT has to read to be considered "okay". All these meters should be electronic, especially the fuel press, coz the last thing you want is a mechanical fuel press gauge leaking in your car. I've had a friend who used an autometer fuel press gauge and mounted it in the dashboard inside his car. A little fire started because the fuel line that goes to the meter was leaking inside the car and there was a short circuit somewhere behind the console. Lucky he had a small fire extinguisher in his car. That's another thing every turbocharged car should have. A small fire extinguisher!!

JM Performance

Damn...I've NEVER heard of someone using those things before. Usually its just ricers that carry them.

LsTurbo91

I'd say boost, egt, air/fuel gauge (closed loop tuning), fuel pressure if you have an FMU.

AutoSol

Thanks everyone! I'm gonna go with Boost,EGT,and Fuel Pressure. Looks I'll have to pay retail though, I'm not patient enough to find good deals

I won't have an FMU or upgraded fuel stuff (just stock LS injectors and fuel rail), but I think I'll be safe enough at 6psi for starters. I'd like to get an oil cooler, but geesh their expensive.

JM Performance

retail? ha. go to http://www.aieonline.com they sell all GReddy **** 28% off of list.