Diesel stuff/what gauges?

SHINTON

SHINTON

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Location
Triad area of NC
Mostly I wanted to see what gauges you guys thought were "really needed" for towing the kinda loads we do. The tow rig will be a 2002 Excursion, Diesel, auto tranny.

Right now I KNOW I want a tranny temp gauge...and maybe that is it?

I am leaning AWAY from putting in any kind of chip etc, too much codes and other crap that I dont want to deal with, (MPG is my only motivator and not sure it is worth it) so I don't think I need a PYRO?

Boost (0-30) would be "cool" to know, and for $41 not really pricy or anything, as long as it isn't too hard to hook up? (for instance, leaning away from pyro since you have to drill/TAP the manifold/worries about metal shavings going thru turbo)

What about Oil temp, water temp, voltmeter....other? I figure 2 or 3 gauges max in a A pillar mount, gonna use the ISSPRO stuff (I like the white face, chrome bezel with blue indicators!!)

Sam Hinton
 
A pyro guage should be the first guage you put in. Your egts are essential to monitor - especially when towing. The pyro is the most expensive unit. If you only want 3 guages, heres my recommendation, pyro, trans, boost. You should have idiot lights for the others, ie: oil temp, water, etc.

Im fond of the autometer sport comp or z series guages myself. Both have blue/green lamps to match factory lighting.
 
A pyro is good to use to make sure your turbo is cooled down before shutdown too. To keep the chips out have someone hold a balled up rag over the exhaust when your drill bit is about to break through and it will create backpressure which will blow the chips out of the hole. For the tapping, just put grease on the tap and it will collect the chips.
 
Yup, pyro (PRE-turbo!!) and tranny temp. Boost is "nice" to have, but far less important than either of the other 2.

Isspro is great stuff, as is Di-pricol. I got my gauges from Dieselperformanceparts.com - they had the best prices, and are located in Nashville, so shipping time is quick!
 
For a stock rig, a pyro is a nice to have. I've not known powerjokes to run high EGTs in stock trim. You've got the primary gage with the tranny temp. Boost is a nice to have and can help diagnose boost leak problems. CTD guys also run fuel pressure to keep tabs on the lift pump and if the fuel filter gets clogged (if you tap into the system down stream of the filters).
 
i got my 3 pillarpod, pyro with thermo, tranny temp, and boost for 275 from rpmoutlet.com this was the cheapest i had found. it was delivered quick too. only 2 days. also you have 3 brand of gauges to chose from in that deal. i did autometer phantom series and they work awesome. i am very happy.
 
well il chime in with my .02, my rig is bone stock...

My thinking is.... it's all stock, im not towing at max capacity, IF at all. More unloaded DD/Highway milage.. So should I really care about all that stuff ? (you guys are all laughing now :p)

I'm not racing anyone. I know my tranny is junk and will prolly blow at 100k (4r100) but I change my fluids often and make sure everything is in good order.. That and carry a spare fuel filter and and some fluids and call it a day..

-mike
 
i argree with you on some levels. but the enthusist in me wont let me leave thigns alone!
i think the tranny temp would be the most important thing in the case of a stock vehicle. i say this because my truck the light would only come on if the temp was 270 deg. well 270 will cook the od unit. so even stock it would nice to have some prior warning in my mind.
 
gauges

Yager is right, in stock form you won't get a CTD or PS EGT's over 1000 degrees pre-turbo. If you turn up the fuel, at least put an EGT gauge in, pre-turbo. Aluminum pistons will start melting around 1300/1350 degrees and some of the "boxes" being sold will allow you to reach those temps with a load. So, beware, if you can get that high, don't stay there very long. A boost gauge is a great trouble shooting tool.
 
yager said:
well il chime in with my .02, my rig is bone stock...

My thinking is.... it's all stock, im not towing at max capacity, IF at all. More unloaded DD/Highway milage.. So should I really care about all that stuff ? (you guys are all laughing now :p)

I'm not racing anyone. I know my tranny is junk and will prolly blow at 100k (4r100) but I change my fluids often and make sure everything is in good order.. That and carry a spare fuel filter and and some fluids and call it a day..

-mike
Click to expand...
I totaly agree, it's stock and you're not towing above capacity, you're wasting cash you'll need for the $2.20 a gallon diesel. I ran a superchips programer on my last psd on the tow safe mode (towing 6k or less) great performance boost and I wasted all the cash on the gauges, never once did I see them get close to a level that made me concernd. I have all the gauges in my current truck(previous owner installed) and other than watching them light up,needles move and a conversation piece, they really aren't needed.
 
LARRY SMITH said:
Yager is right, in stock form you won't get a CTD or PS EGT's over 1000 degrees pre-turbo. If you turn up the fuel, at least put an EGT gauge in, pre-turbo. Aluminum pistons will start melting around 1300/1350 degrees and some of the "boxes" being sold will allow you to reach those temps with a load. So, beware, if you can get that high, don't stay there very long. A boost gauge is a great trouble shooting tool.
Click to expand...


I don't know about the fords but the 3rd gen ctd will hit 1200 in stock form pretty easily. With a load the boost will build and keep them down, but I've hit 1250 unloaded before.
 
Food for thought on a 4R100: we (NCSHP) have a roll back with a 7.3 PowerToke in front of a 4R100. The roll back mfr put a humongous t-stat controlled ducted fan tranny cooler on the thing, and so far 210K on the original tranny without a glitch. I'm sure it's because it NEVER gets hot, but the fan t-stat also allows it to reach proper ops temps. There's also the regular maintenance the garage gives it that you have to factor in, but I credit the cooler situation for the majority of the longevity.
 
yager said:
. I know my tranny is junk and will prolly blow at 100k (4r100) but I change my fluids often and make sure everything is in good order.. That and carry a spare fuel filter and and some fluids and call it a day..

-mike
Click to expand...

Mike get a MagTech tranny pan, holds 5 extra quarts and finned alum really disipates heat. A tranny cooler w/ fan will drop it another 20-25 degrees. My parents have this on their 2000 F250 and tow a 38ft 5th wheel across the country. 118k miles no issues but he killed 2 trannies in 25k before he went this route.
 
Franklin said:
Mike get a MagTech tranny pan, holds 5 extra quarts and finned alum really disipates heat. A tranny cooler w/ fan will drop it another 20-25 degrees. My parents have this on their 2000 F250 and tow a 38ft 5th wheel across the country. 118k miles no issues but he killed 2 trannies in 25k before he went this route.
Click to expand...

5 extra qts :Rockon:

For the powerstroke guys, a cheap route for a bigger/better cooler, swap your stock auto trans cooler for that of a V10. They are a bit larger and its a direct fit plug n play connections.
 
I put the EGT, tranny temp, and boost guages in my F250. I used Auto Meter guages from dieselperformanceparts.com and mounted them on the A pillar. I got the black faced guages with orange needles so they match the factory guages. I think the EGT and tranny temp are the most important, I just got the boost guage while I was at it because it didn't cost that much more.

R.K.
 
StudNuts said:
5 extra qts :Rockon:

For the powerstroke guys, a cheap route for a bigger/better cooler, swap your stock auto trans cooler for that of a V10. They are a bit larger and its a direct fit plug n play connections.
Click to expand...

5 extra quarts in the pan AND cooler lines. The pan holds 4. Just wanted to be clear.
 
LARRY SMITH said:
Yager is right, in stock form you won't get a CTD or PS EGT's over 1000 degrees pre-turbo. If you turn up the fuel, at least put an EGT gauge in, pre-turbo. Aluminum pistons will start melting around 1300/1350 degrees and some of the "boxes" being sold will allow you to reach those temps with a load. So, beware, if you can get that high, don't stay there very long. A boost gauge is a great trouble shooting tool.
Click to expand...

Logic is sound but I'd have to disagree on the stock temps. I can tell you from towing our 12K with stock exhaust and no chip I could temp it out no problem once I hit the mountians. (This is a 03 PS)
We have a F550 at work that has blown two turbos cus they dog it pulling a forklift, I know it's over temping and throwing all that heat to the turbo.
What's the problem with spending a couple hundred dollars on a good set of gauges to insure your investment. Heck on a PS the stock tranny temp gauge stays in the middle until around 200 to 200+.
 
Ah, that is interesting....I didn't know the EGTs could get that high on a stocker! It would be worth the extra $100 for the EGT gauge if that is happening.

I guess you just back off the "go baby go" pedal when it does that?

Sam...diesel newbie...Hinton
 
Thinking about it more, there are products that the Dodge guys use to help the longevity of their auto trannies... line pressure increasers, shift enhancing modules, etc...

Some performance modules also increase fuel economy as well, so don't totally rule them out.
 
Egt

I will stand by my statement, you can't get a stock truck to hot, if you have any knowledge of driving a diesel engine. You can over temp an empty truck by lugging it down low in the rpm range and throwing fuel to it, your boost will be low and the temp will skyrocket. So, if your are dogging a loaded truck, sure you can over temp the EGT's.
 
LARRY SMITH said:
I will stand by my statement, you can't get a stock truck to hot, if you have any knowledge of driving a diesel engine. You can over temp an empty truck by lugging it down low in the rpm range and throwing fuel to it, your boost will be low and the temp will skyrocket. So, if your are dogging a loaded truck, sure you can over temp the EGT's.
Click to expand...

So a stocker can get too hot if you lug it down I agree with that, your right more fuel = more heat and less air.
I can tell you pulling on I40 in the mountians with stock exhaust and no chip only gauges I could easly push 1300 if I put my foot into it.
Your right you can downshift kick the RPMS up to 2500+ bringing the temps down but you end up doing 30 mph up a hill but who wants to do that :)
So wouldn't it stand to reason to avoid and take the guess work out of possibly over temping the engine that adding an EGT gauge on a stocker would be a good idea?
Heck whats a brand new PSD 30K or so? Whats 150 for a silly gauge :beer:
 
Gauges

Hey, I agree with you about gauges and would not be with out them. A stock truck should not over temp if the rpm's are up and it will maintain on a grade. I have not driven the last year or so of new vehilces, so maybe the manufacturer has turned the fuel up to that point trying to out do each other. I cannot get my temps that high and it is turned up far beyond the ratings of new stock vehicles.
 
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