I know that this has been discussed before but I thought I would raise this topic from another perspective.

I am what some may call a weekend mechanic. I am able to change plugs, filters, oil; I even installed the Borla true dual myself. But in no way am I a tuner. I know probably just enough about FI, tuning and installation to get in trouble.

For all the people here like me that could not install and tune a FI system, what gauges would you recommend? After all for me if a gauge shows bad info it is not like I could pull out the tool chest and fix it. Do a lot of gauges make any sense for someone that could not adjust the system as needed?


Jeff

 

egt, boost and fuel pressure are probably the most important ... a temp gauge is probably not a bad idea either. mostly, it's for monitoring when you drive so your engine doesn't go boom .

you're going to tune with somelike the the greddy e-manage.

btw check your pms.

 

Moroccan_Mole has a pretty good answer for you. My thoughts:

Bare, bare minimum:

Boost, EGT, Fuel Pressure

Good:

Boost, EGT, Fuel Pressure, Wideband O2

Nice:

Boost, EGT, Fuel Pressure, Wideband O2, Oil Pressure

Best:

Boost, EGT, Fuel Pressure, Wideband O2, Oil Pressure, Coolant Temp, Oil Temp

 

Thanks for the replys.

Jeff

 

EGT is the most important gauge in my car. Boost is a far second.

 

Say I have EGT or a fuel pressure gauge and it shows out of spec info. What do you do other than pull off the road and shut the car off and call your tuner?

I guess what I am asking is aren't gauges that show info that you can do something about the ones that are valuable? Example if the fuel gauge is low I can get gas, if the boost gauge is to high I can ease up on the pedal, if the temp is to high I can check the coolant, etc. If an EGT gauge is to high what can be done by a non mechanic other than call the tuner so does it even make sense for the average joe to have a gauge for those things in the first place?

Jeff

 

EGT bare minimum? Even on a supercharged vehicle? I thought EGT was only imparitive if using Turbos... I would have figured A/F and boost would be the top of the list... This is informative to me too becuase I need to start investing in gauges for my s/c'ed g35. Who makes a nice electronic fuel pressure gauge? Thanks

 

EGT tells you if you're about to melt pistons. I would consider that to be vital information. It's relevant for any high-performance application.

 

Interesting... where do you suggest the pyrometer sensor is installed? by the wideband O2? exhaust tip?

 

An EGT temperature probe is typically a K-type thermocouple, installed in one of the exhaust header runners, very close to the engine. On a V engine with two cylinder banks, it is common to install one EGT probe per side.

 

cylinder #6 seems to run leanest IIRC, so i that runner of the maifold about 4 inches from the head

For me, I prefer, boost, EGT and oil pressure...I am not a big fan of monitering fuel pressure unless I have a means to adjust it.

I would most definitely consider a better fuel pump mandatory with any FI install.

 

Hey Adam,

Question regarding EGT. If only one is installed where should it be placed? I know ideal 2 should be used one in each side of the V.

 

good point. I just said fuel pressure because we've already got a decent oil pressure gauge on the Z.

 

Yea, that is what I mean for us less mechanicaly inclined Z owners. Do we need information on something that we don't know how to adjust or do anything about?

I understand that the EGT would alert you to pull over and shut down the engine before melting pistons. But from reading the posts, a high EGT would signify a lean fuel map, something I would not have the means to adjust.

Correct me if I am wrong but boost and egt can be done with the HKS camp system? We already have a oil preasure gauge.

Does this make sense?

Jeff

 

well, high EGT CAN mean lean....or it might not....thats where it gets tricky

But yes the CAMP can moniter this...lots of other packages do as well, some via heads updisplays (new Defi setup we jsut got in!)

As with EGT probe placement, ideally you want 6 sensors...one in each runner. But its far from pracical. So what you do in that case is moniter your leanest running cylinder. So far, people seem to have blown cylinder 6, telling me it must run leaner than the rest (furthest away from fuel pressure regulator)...I would moniter than one, installing the probe in the manifold, -6 inches from the head. Obviously if your leanest cylinder is in check, your others are as well.

 

Adam on the TT kits you can only place the EGT on number 1 or 2 (without having to remove everything to change it). It's a tight squeeze in there. I also like to have oil temp. Fuel pressure is not as important I wouldn't say. If you have stock fuel pump and bigger injectors it is fine for most modest power levels (under 400whp). Once you go beyond that you will have a bigger fuel pump anyway and any drop in fuel pressure will show up on your EGT readings very clearly.

 

High EGT's can show you a lean burn before you get to the point of detonation. I literally tune my other car to EGT's only. I hit about 1500F from low boost, all the way up to 1.5 Bar. (22 psi)

Turbo or supercharged, you NEED an egt gauge. Even if your not a tuner you can figure out what temp is too hot, if you reach that point you back off the throttle. I don't know about the Z yet, but older cars would give you more timing advance if you were not at WOT. This timing advance would result in very high egt's. It's all a matter of waching the temps and tuning your car to compensate.

For example when winter hit here in Michigan I had to increase my injector scaler to compensate for the lower intake temps. I would never have noticed if it were not for my egt's going up. Out of the 10 gauges my car has the EGT is the one my eye is always on.

If you get a thermocouple + gauge combo (for example from autometer) be careful, some of those probes react very slowly. So slow in fact they become useless. Some places off high quality probes as low as $35 which I am using now and it works great.

 

etx,

That makes a lot of sense to me. I will definitely be getting an EGT gauge. Do you think a boost gauge and EGT gauge are good enough for a novice? The reason I ask is I am thinking of the HKS Camp system.

Jeff

 

I'm thinking of going with a complete Defi system, with the control unit 2, and accompanying gauges. Anyone have experience with this setup? Hows the reaction time/sensors? It's definatly not a cheap setup thats for sure.. So far I've been quoted

Defi control unit,
Defi Boost
Fuel Pressure
Exhaust Temp.

- $735 w/ free shipping

w/ Oil Pressure - $950 w/ free shipping.

from a sponsored vendor on this board. By the way I have a G35 (with a vortech blower being installed at the moment), which is why I opted for an oil pressure gauge.

Can anyone beat that deal?

 

I'm building a custom setup myself, but if I were going with gauges, I'd get the Defi setup. It's by far the nicest one out there. HKS CAMP looks very "gimmicky" to me, but that's just my opinion. I'd really like to see it in person. The online pictures just look cheesy.