Gauges vs Consult

[oewoko]

Hey guys. My 240 is mainly a street car, but I wanted to add gauges. Water temp, oil temp, and oil pressure.

I however recently got a consult cable. And I was wondering if I could use the consult to monitor the vitals and which parameters are worth watching.

I plan on eventually doing auto-x. Since its mainly a street car, I don't want to clutter up the interior and give others a reason to look into my car.

Thanks for any help

[apex128]

If your car is obdII (1996 or newer), then you can use a scanner and some free software to see some basic information. If its obdI i dont think its as easy. google is your friend when it comes to stuff like this.

[oewoko]

It is obd1. With the consult cable, I can read info directly from the ecu via laptop, cell phone, tablet.

My real question is if i can get enough info from the ecu while tracking to keep me safe.

I know the ECU does not monitor oil temp or pressures.

So what is worth monitoring? I didn't get any info as to what are good parameters to monitor via the consult

[pacotaco345]

The only real thing you can monitor from the consult cable is water temp. Everything else is stupid stuff like IACV duty, ignition advance, MAF voltage, TPS, etc. Stuff you only care about when trying to diagnose a problem, not prevent one.

[oewoko]

thanks pacotaco. i figured that would be the answer. i guess i'll put the gauges on.