What gauges for Turbo?

[kdillard21]

I am about to go turbo on my 97 240sx KA (with an XS engineering turbo kit) and was wondering what gauges would be appropriate. I know a boost gauge, air/fuel gauge, and exhaust gas, are there any others? How would I mount these since I need at least three and the only A-pillar mounting I can find holds two. Also with this XS kit, do I need anything else to complete it, because it doesn't mention a BOV or larger injectors in the kit? Does anyone know if these come with? :hyper:

[Demik]

u need a autometer bling guage they are like 50 bucks..

[thelinja]

Oil temp, oil pressure, and water temp would be nice.

[Yoshi]

forget the A/F gauge.
go boost, EGT, Fuel Pressure, water temp, and maybe oil pressure.
Mechanical gauges are cheaper, but electronic make life easier... also all fuel and oil gauges should be electrical unless you're going to mount them under the hood.

[Demik]

wide band 02 sensor

[kdillard21]

ok so where am i supposed to put the 8 gauges missing...lets go with the bare nessacities...

[Hawd]

boost/egt/oilpressure

[Projekt_Sil80]

forget the A/F gauge.
go boost, EGT, Fuel Pressure, water temp, and maybe oil pressure.
Mechanical gauges are cheaper, but electronic make life easier... also all fuel and oil gauges should be electrical unless you're going to mount them under the hood.

Thats the way I would go

[bkfill]

whats a egt

[Bbandit]

I only use Greddy 52mm electrical boost gauge for now... it works great

the other things im gonna get is just safc and wideband O2...
im going to get oil pressure and fuel pressure after Im done building my spare KA.

[Projekt_Sil80]

whats a egt

A Pyrometer or a Exhaust Gas Temp., used so you can monitor your exhaust temps. especially for Turbos

[bkfill]

A Pyrometer or a Exhaust Gas Temp., used so you can monitor your exhaust temps. especially for Turbos
didn't think that would matter, but can you explain why that would be bad?
isn't it always hot?

i always thought of just having

boost / oil pressure / a/f ratio

[knightrider]

well the a/f gauge is just going to bounce around, its worthless unless you have a wideband o2, egt is also a indicator of the air fuel ratio, of course its always hot, but just like your coolant, it can get too hot. too hot indicates a lean mixture. i would get boost/ egt/ and oil presure.

[Bbandit]

having EGT is more useful than having A/F... A/F is not accurate at all.. except under WOT, then it will be slighly accurate..
as for EGT... the higher the temperature.. the leaner you're running...
BUT.. higher temperature can also sometime mean that you're running too rich.. or timing too advance...
most of the time EGT is more accurate than A/F..
however I would prefer having wideband O2 seeing that you can get one for around 300 bux nowadays.
think of it as having EGT and A/F gauge combined (price-wise)

[Flybert]

It's all about the volt meter yo. Can't have a turbo without a voltmeter.

[foreverending]

i would just stick with boost, egt, and water temp.

[Yoshi]

I don't understand how you people can downplay the fuel pressure gauge??!

you just spent bank on an engine, either spent a bunch more in having installed OR put a ton of your own time in doing it yourself (and I don't know ANYONE who's done their own install and didn't bleed just a LITTLE).

Too much fuel, you bog, foul plugs, destroy your O2 sensor, clog coil packs, crappy mileage... etc etc
Too little fuel and POP, no more engine for you.

[Grandpa]

You make it sound like fuel pressure is so non-linear. :tweak:

Yes, it would help if your fuel pump voltage drops and you're losing hp up top. Yeah, it might be nice to know what pressure your running at during boost or at idle, but there are 4-5 other gauges that more important, especially considering voltage drops don't really occur unless you're running high horsepower.

I run a little B&M mechanical gauge on the fuel line. It tells me pressure at idle, and I'll know if it drops during dyno tuning.

But is it necessary to have one in the cabin for every second of every day? Over oil pressure? Over water temp? Even over oil temp or egt? No.

-john

[Ghettokracker71]

ok so where am i supposed to put the 8 gauges missing...lets go with the bare nessacities...

3 on the A-pillar. 3 where the OEM HVAC vents are in the middle of the dash,and two more in a DIN panel where your head unit was or under your head unit :)

You can never have enough gauges,esspecially since Nissan likes its idiot lights a little TOO much,lol.

[BSeay]

EGT/Boost/Oil Pressure thats the way that i'm gonna go....

[Pudula]

i would just stick with boost, egt, and water temp.
Why water temp?? You have a gauge for the engine temp...so if your water is getting hot, your engine temp gauge will go up. Oil pressure is more appropriate.

[Grandpa]

Why water temp?? You have a gauge for the engine temp...so if your water is getting hot, your engine temp gauge will go up. Oil pressure is more appropriate.

Did you know that my water temp can vary by 50 degrees Celcius, and the stock gauge won't move? The stock gauge is more than worthless. They should replace H with "Warped Head".

-john

[kdillard21]

everyone has got their own opinion about what is most important, basics people...basics...ok so boost and egt can go in the dual a-pillar because i can't find a triple pillar anywhere for the 240. think i can put two, dual a-pillars on the drivers side? four gauges, now i think i will put oil pressure and....temp?

also i need some advice on putting a bov on this greddy kit, where should i put it at, directly before the throttle body or right after the turbo? and i want something that don't cost a fortune.

[Yoshi]

You make it sound like fuel pressure is so non-linear. :tweak:

Yes, it would help if your fuel pump voltage drops and you're losing hp up top. Yeah, it might be nice to know what pressure your running at during boost or at idle, but there are 4-5 other gauges that more important, especially considering voltage drops don't really occur unless you're running high horsepower.

I run a little B&M mechanical gauge on the fuel line. It tells me pressure at idle, and I'll know if it drops during dyno tuning.

But is it necessary to have one in the cabin for every second of every day? Over oil pressure? Over water temp? Even over oil temp or egt? No.

-john


wtf? did I say it was the most important gauge? Uh no.
Stop trying to put words into my mouth, it doesn't work so well when you're typing. :jerkit:

oh, and your fuel might NOT be linear. My walbro pump was damaged from the manufacturer and was surging. I also know a guy that wouldn't have lost his engine if he'd had one when he blew during some "spirited driving". IMO all safety gauges are equally important, boost, oil pressure, water temp, and fuel pressure are all about equal in my book. Extreme: overboost, oil starvation, overheating, and leaning out will all have the same end result won't they?

My point was that it's a very often overlooked gauge, sometimes the last on people's list. I typically see all the newbs saying they want the same 2 gauges, boost and a/f. I'm just trying to shed light on the fact that you should have as many early warning indicators of trouble as possible when you've put a lot of time, effort, and money into your engine.... but thanks for the condescending attitude, that really helps the community. You could've made your point OFF of your horse.

[Grandpa]

wtf? did I say it was the most important gauge? Uh no.
Stop trying to put words into my mouth, it doesn't work so well when you're typing. :jerkit:

My point was that it's a very often overlooked gauge, sometimes the last on people's list. I typically see all the newbs saying they want the same 2 gauges, boost and a/f. I'm just trying to shed light on the fact that you should have as many early warning indicators of trouble as possible when you've put a lot of time, effort, and money into your engine.... but thanks for the condescending attitude, that really helps the community. You could've made your point OFF of your horse.

Ahahahaha. Okay mang. What I'M saying is the fuel pressure gauge should be one of the last on people's list. Since you can't seem to figure out why, I'll tell you.

A wideband a/f gauge will tell you if you're leaning out. A wideband would've told you if your pump was "surging". A wideband would've told your buddy he was about to lose his engine from some "spirited" driving. Since a fuel pressure gauge's diagnostic capabilities overlaps (completely) with a wideband, there's no real reason to have one except for tuning purposes. And, like I said in my above post, if it's for this purpose, there's no reason to clutter the passenger compartment with it.

I totally agree that most newbs overlook some important gauges, but not everybody wants to spend $1000 or more on gauges. My opinion on most important gauges?

Boost
Oil Pressure
Water Temp
Wideband a/f
EGT
Oil Temp
Fuel Pressure

I wasn't trying to be condescending in my previous post. I was just trying to give valid reasons why I thought you were wrong. This post, however, should be interpreted as entirely condescending. :fawk2:

-john

[AlexAtPerformanceNissan]

Don't forget Water Temp... Also, put two in a pillar pod, and the rest in the din under neath the radio, as well as mounting cups...

-Alex B.

[AKADriver]

People don't get fuel pressure gauges because they can't be mounted inside the car... unless they make electric fuel pressure gauges now, in which case I'm not sure I'd trust their reaction time.

Oil pressure is actually less useful than you'd think. Chances are you're not going to see any slight pressure drops... you're going to have oil pressure or you're not, and when you don't have it, your dummy light will come on anyway. Oil temperature, on the other hand, is a useful gauge for daily driving a turbo car. You don't want to shut down while the oil is still cooking.

[The ROMAN]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm going with the quartz clock and fuel economy gauges.

Seriously though, what brand do you guys use? I had a bunch of Autometer gauges in my bird but now theres a whole crapload of rice gauges everywhere. Is Autometer still the best, or are Blitz/Greddy/Apexi decent gauges? Or is there really any difference?

[Yoshi]

Ahahahaha. Okay mang. What I'M saying is the fuel pressure gauge should be one of the last on people's list. Since you can't seem to figure out why, I'll tell you.

A wideband a/f gauge will tell you if you're leaning out. A wideband would've told you if your pump was "surging". A wideband would've told your buddy he was about to lose his engine from some "spirited" driving. Since a fuel pressure gauge's diagnostic capabilities overlaps (completely) with a wideband, there's no real reason to have one except for tuning purposes. And, like I said in my above post, if it's for this purpose, there's no reason to clutter the passenger compartment with it.

I totally agree that most newbs overlook some important gauges, but not everybody wants to spend $1000 or more on gauges.

okay, so now i MOSTLY agree with you, however, you said $1000 on gauges is too much for most people... if you get a wideband o2, that's like $350 or so alone isn't it? I'm all for the wideband O2 sensors, they rule for tuning, but that's more than most casual tuners want to spend on ALL their gauges cumulatively.

But then maybe you know of one that's decent that costs less?
If so, let us know!

[Grandpa]

People don't get fuel pressure gauges because they can't be mounted inside the car... unless they make electric fuel pressure gauges now, in which case I'm not sure I'd trust their reaction time.

Oil pressure is actually less useful than you'd think. Chances are you're not going to see any slight pressure drops... you're going to have oil pressure or you're not, and when you don't have it, your dummy light will come on anyway. Oil temperature, on the other hand, is a useful gauge for daily driving a turbo car. You don't want to shut down while the oil is still cooking.

Almost every gauge manufacturer now makes a fuel pressure gauge that can be cabin mounted.

With a turbo setup, the oil pressure gauge is one of the most useful gauges you can install. I installed mine at a T before the oil feed line. It allows me to monitor oil pressure to the turbo, which, IMO, is highly beneficial. By the time your dummy light has come on, there's going to be a good chance your turbo is blown. No oil to turbo = the suck. The dummy light doesn't come on until you drop below, what, 5 psi? I wouldn't want my turbo setup running on even 10psi! Even better, if you're running low pressure under load, the light still won't come on. Talk about premature engine/turbo failure!!! If you've been running one from a while, you can deduce all kinds of additional information from it like oil temperature, operation duration, oil level, etc.

Yoshi: $350 is a killer deal for wideband, considering they were over $1000 two years ago. Unfortunately, it's still not a priority for most 240 owners, but it is becoming more prevalent, especially among the DIY tuner crowd.

As for gauge brands, most 240 owners will tell you to spend $$$ on fancy Japanese gauges like GReddy or Defi. If you stroll on over to the rx7 forum, almost every single FD owner will suggest autometer. I've run both, and I think you should invest in whatever gauge you find you're willing to budget for. I'd definitely suggest autometer over GReddy or Defi if it means getting a wideband. I also suggest going with a full-sweep gauge (like Autometer Cobalt, GReddy, Defi, etc.) if you plan on doing your own tuning. If you're using the gauge solely as a monitoring tool, then most of autometer's line will be fine.

-john