fdjizm

is there anyway to monitor my a/f ratio without going wideband, its expensive, i just want a general reading on if i am running rich or lean while spraying..

sauceja

Yeah there is a homemade wideband that you can make. I think it is around 175.00 but then you buy a guage and its around 300.00

You're stuck. Suck it up and pay the price to play or stop playing.

Do you want to buy a 300.00 important monitor or do you want to spray and pay for a new engine.

Your choice and

You've been warned.

fdjizm

easy there killa, im trying to get a good range on if im running rich or lean, i just want to know if im either safe or not, im not interested in the exact exact a/f just a range.. no way to go besides wide band?.. cant hook up a regular o2 sensor in my pipe to some kind of gauge?

doood

iTrader: (1)

a regular narrowband sensor will not be accurate. you need the wideband sensor and gauge to tell you anything useful.

thehondaconnection

use a voltmeter,the voltage it sends can be read as air&fuel.the colder it is the less voltage it sees.the hotter more voltage.Im not sure what voltage it runs but the millivolts volts etc. but the values are almost exactly the same.example .14 or 1.4=14:1 or .12 or 1.2 equals 12:1 a/f ratio thats how all the gauges work.I also no of a company that sells a bitchin narrow band fast reacting analog gauge for boats&airplanes.avaition market stuff is super reliable.Ihad one in my crx so I could monitor&tune with my vafc.like $200 comes with the gauge and o2 and all wiring&instructions.easy!18:1-11.9:1 width.

;

sauceja

Yep sorry not trying to be hostile but there is no really positive way to know plus once you get one setup its there.

I am glad to have gotten mine.
You can get an analog guage for around 100.00 but then your already a 1/3 the way there.

Look in classifieds for either a used guage, used wideband or a vafc like dude is saying.

GL

Luserkid

Another way you could go around a wideband is by getting your stuff tuned. Tune for when you and for how much spray you want to use and youll be safe until you want to spray more.

I bought my wideband and love it, one of the best tools i could buy.

smileycvc

get out of your car smell your exhaust while a friend revs it up. If it smells like gas your rich. if not well then your lean or maybe just right.

seriously like the other guy said you gotta pay to play.

pdiggitydogg

Sure lets stick our face up an exhaust pipe...thats bright

get the wideband and gauge - good stuff costs money...no way around it

fdjizm

ok so if i get one of those ebay a/f gauges, im not even going to be in the ballpark?.. all i really want is to know if im LEAAAN these ebay joints, wont even be close using the stock o2 sensor?.. like seriously they wont put me in the ballpark of rich or lean? if thats the case hows does the car it self know if its rich or lean?.. it has to put me in the ballpark

fdjizm

im running a stcok obd2a ecu on a d16y8 zex 105300 cam, vafc (no a/f changes) i/h/e, gonna be spraying a 55shot dry nothing more.. u guys telling me i cant even use the cheap type a/f gauge as a warning?..

fdjizm

you bastards

THC07

not even as a warning. no.

219 shipped

NGK wideband on ebay.

pythoner

calm down now....you have to pay to play....

and have you not heard:
pick 2
fast cheap reliable

fdjizm

so if these cheap gauges are getting their reading from the o2 sensors in our cars, that means our o2 sensors are useless?

MagnaniEG6

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sauceja &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah there is a homemade wideband that you can make. I think it is around 175.00 but then you buy a guage and its around 300.00

You're stuck. Suck it up and pay the price to play or stop playing.

Do you want to buy a 300.00 important monitor or do you want to spray and pay for a new engine.

Your choice and

You've been warned.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Spray and pay

Luserkid

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fdjizm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so if these cheap gauges are getting their reading from the o2 sensors in our cars, that means our o2 sensors are useless?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not quite, our o2 sensors a narrowband they give the ecu readings along with other sensors (TPS/MAP/IAT) to say where its at in the fuel levels. If you want a pretty light show then pick up the gauge, if you want actual reading pick up the wideband. Another thing with your setup i would not be on a stock ecu relying on a VAFC. Seriously get tuned.

fdjizm

i havent touched the vafc settings, car has been running fine, i know it can run alot better with that cam in it, but i have an a/t car and im not about to do the whole 0bd1 thing, plus tune on a dyno.. i would spend well over $500 doing all that.. stock ecu has been doing fine from what i know so far. but up top i dont know if im rich or leane or just right with that cam, if its bigger wouldnt i be richer up top?..

smileycvc

just keep spraying then. everyone has told you what you need to do, but you dont want to hear it. If your running nitrous you need a tune. An ebay A/F gauge will do nothing, but give you a bunch of leds blinkin for no reason without a wide band. In fact I will sell you my A/F gauge for 10 bucks plus shipping its an autometer?

Syndacate

OKAY, to everybody answering realistically, STOP.

<FONT SIZE="4">He wants a gay *** light show A/F meter on his stock *** car and doesn't want to pay for a wideband b/c he thinks that's what he needs to make it work. @ OP: You can use ur stock *** O2 sensor and it'll be the inaccurate, gay *** light show that you want.</FONT>

sal

Why dont you do a pull in your car while you are spraying it, shut the car off at the top of the pull, then take your spark plugs out and look at what color they are. White=lean, Black=rich. Thats free.

Syndacate

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sal &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why dont you do a pull in your car while you are spraying it, shut the car off at the top of the pull, then take your spark plugs out and look at what color they are. White=lean, Black=rich. Thats free.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, until it runs too lean at 5k+ RPM and you throw a rod. It's not so free after that.

THC07

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sal &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why don't you do a pull in your car while you are spraying it, shut the car off at the top of the pull, then take your spark plugs out and look at what color they are. White=lean, Black=rich. That's free.</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol, no. that's not gonna tell you anything, unless its in a extreme rich/lean condition.

to give you an idea of the difference in wide-band and narrow band...

narrow band 0-1 voltage output as compared to 0-5 voltage w/ wide-band.
narrow-band can only tell you if your at stoichmetric or above. just cant tune with this.

Syndacate

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by THC07 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

lol, no. that's not gonna tell you anything, unless its in a extreme rich/lean condition.

to give you an idea of the difference in wide-band and narrow band...

narrow band 0-1 voltage output as compared to 0-5 voltage w/ wide-band.
narrow-band can only tell you if your at stoichmetric or above. just cant tune with this.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well put, Kalin.

@ OP:

Basically a wideband is 5 times more accurate than the stock O2 sensor.

You CAN hook a your A/F gauge to your stock (narrowband) O2 sensor. It WILL work. The only problem is it'll be so inaccurate that you'll be reading 12.5 on a 12.0 reading and effects that drastic, possibly more. You might even have a whole ration difference. It'd be HORRIBLE for tuning.

Now if you just want to do it for the bling factor that's fine. Though if you try to tune with it you will fry your engine. It'll just be a matter of time.

EE_Chris

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Syndacate &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Basically a wideband is 5 times more accurate than the stock O2 sensor.</TD></TR></TABLE>

5 times, ehh?

If you took your car to get tuned and then past that, the only thing you want to know is if it went extremely rich or lean, then using the stock O2 to monitor THAT condition is fine. But if you start trying to guess at actual a/f ratio's by which LED's are on/off or faintly lit and then try and use that info to tune things yourself - DON'T.

Again, there's nothing wrong with wanting to know what voltage your narrow band O2 sensor is spitting out. If it suddenly died on you, the gauge would show that condition too.