hey i just got my boost controller (turboxs standard manual) and turned the boost to about 7.5 psi and my air/fuel meter shows that im running too lean, im talking ALL the way in the red...what's up with that??? then i turned the boost back to 5psi which was what it was at before and same thing...actually it goes lean even BEFORE it goes into boost or at about the same time it turns one pound...can anyone help me at all on this??? why was this not happening before but now it is??? what kind of things can i check? i have an v-afc...what are safe standard settings? (i did try richening it way up) help! Later
Corey

 

do you have a inline fuel pump? or a intank? What kind of fuel setup are you running?

 

Don't trust that A/F gauge too much. Mine has a mind of it's own. It'll tell me I'm running super lean while under normal driving conditions, then it'll start oscilating (sp??) from full rich to full lean outta nowhere... whatever. Read your plugs, best way to know what's going on in your motor.

 

usually a af meter will read too rich, if its saying lean I'd be attentive to that. do you have a egt? list your fuel setup

 

probably your o2 sensor is bad.. the automete af guage is *** by far not trusty at all.

The best way and was stated above is read your plugs it will tell you the whole story.

 

VTC Civic, that's how the gauge works. under normal driving you are in closed loop mode (or maybe it's open loop mode, I get them confused). That is what is really happening in this mode, the coputer is reading the o2 and compensating constantly. The ONLY time you ever pay attention to the gauge is when you are flooring it. Because only then is the computer in the opposite mode (open loop) where it reads from a map instead of the 02 sensor.

 

What guages do you guys recommend that are decent priced, I was gonna buy autometer but i've been hearing they are really shitty??

 

The Autometer one isn't shitty. All any of them do is convert the 0-1v signal coming from the O2 sensor into the pretty light display you see. It's hard to screw that up on a gauge You see some with more LEDs and some with less, it doesn't really matter, you're not going to get accurate reading with it. It's just really a warning signal that shows when you're running dangerously lean.

 

only read your A/F meter at WOT. Like others have said above, that's the way the gauge works. At partial throttle, your car's computer is constantly changing things to keep you around 14.7:1.. so you see your A/F gauge going crazy. Once you're in WOT, the computer just dumps more fuel into the system.. and doesn't change anything.. so your A/F will (usually) read Rich.

 

And if you see it go super lean while your cruising, its probably because you let off the gas a little so the throttle plate is closed... no need for more fuel.

 

I have heard many times that the position of the a/f guage makes a difference. For instance, if you place it between the inline and in tank pumps you will get an inaccurate reading. I was actually thinking when installing my turbo to put it after the inline fuel pump before it goes to the rail. What do you guys think? Would it help to make the a/f more accurate?


[Modified by maxim_force, 5:24 PM 10/19/2001]

 

Maxim... you're thinking fuel PRESSURE guage. A/F gauge hooks up to your O2 sensor wires which should be nowhere near your fuel pumps.

 

OK, thanks for clearing that up...I'm kinda new to all this

 

lol!

 

Uh, we can tell you're new to this. No offense bro.

 

my set up is...whatever comes with the drag gen 2 turbo kit... i think it's the 12:1 disc and im sure it's an in tank fuel pump but i don't know what it flows...im thinking it's a 255lph...stock injectors and VTEC V-AFC...i just figure with the boost i was running that the kit came with adequate fuel...thanks...later.
Corey

 

here's something kinda strange...under full load in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (haven't gone any higher than that) like in a racing situation it stays green maybe gets a bar or 2 in yellow but definately safe...but here is the thing...if im at like 3k rpm's in let's say 5th gear and floor it it goes to lean...my guess is because it's under more load in that situation??? is this ok or is something off? can someone with that type of setup (i.e. autometer air/fuel) try it and see if yours does the same? thanks...
Corey

 

Yes, in higher gears at lower rpms the engine load is much higher then say at 6000rpms in 1st or 2nd. In 5th at 3K you are probably bogging from the lack of fuel I bet. You need to fill that hole in your fuel curve. You may even be detonating in that situation, maybe not. Either way, work on it.

 

Do you have an external inline fuel pump also?

 

nope...no inline fuel pump...later.
Corey

 

The drag kit should come with an inline pump. Where did you wire the ground to the air/fuel gauge?

 

Yea I know how the A/F reads (bouncing back and forth), but what I mean, I'll be cruising in 5th at say 70mph, all the while the A/F will never leave the lean zone. It'll bounce from high lean near stoich, to off the chart and back... then out of nowehre it'll read from full rich to full stoich, mind you I haven't changed TP at all. Like I said, mine is a freak. Flooring it results in a perfectly stoich mix, but anything less and it's super lean. BTW according to my plugs I'm running fine, just a "hint" of lean, but nothing crazy. Light greyish/off white on the inulator indicating just a hair of lean.

 

u could always put it on a dyno and find out for sure.. I would also reccomend getting rid of your A/f for an EGT gauge..

 

OK, stupid question I know..what is the importance of knowing the exhaust gas temperature anyway. I have heard it is more accurate, but in what way does it tell you that you are running lean or rich. If the temperature were hotter than normal would that mean you are running lean. Keep in mind, I have not even seen one of these in action much less know how one works.

 

Yeah, that is right... if the tempature starts going above normal, you're leaning out... since as you get leaner, it starts burning hotter.