Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Forced Induction What guages should I use for my Vortech S/C?

Hey Guys,

I was wondering what kind of gauges should I be using with my vortech s/c. I'm currently thinking along the line of a oil pressure guage and boost gauge. I only have a 2 gauge pilar pod. Should I use a boost gauge with Vac. or just plain boost? Should I drop the oil pressure guage in favor of a A/F monitor instead? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Courtney

vortech says you should use the AIR/Fuel, Fuel Pressure, and Boost w/vac. Thats what I use but I am thinking about a oil temp gauge as well as a oil pressure gauge. Autometer makes really nice gauges with the phantom white faces if your still looking for a good company.

The A/F gauge is really just a show. There is very little "good" information to be gathered from it. It is neat, I have one.

Boost/Vac (Definitely)
Water Temp in Degrees (had to as I killed my stock sender)
A/F

Those are the gauges that I am running.

Where did you get a 2-gauge pillar pod? I got my 3-pod from Lo-Tek as I thought that it was the only one made. It almost matches too!

Quote:

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Where did you get a 2-gauge pillar pod?

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He probably has a Cougar!!

Good call.

unless your bottle fed ;-) but that doesn't apply here.

Originally posted by Rev. Po-Jay:

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The A/F gauge is really just a show. There is very little "good" information to be gathered from it. It is neat, I have one.

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1. boost, 2. exhaust temp (EGT), and air-fuel.

Fuel pressure is nice, but you will pick up fuel problems in the EGT temps going up, or the air fuel getting lean. Fuel pressure won't tell any more than well...fuel pressure.

EGT can be used to tune your car all by itself if you know what combustion temperatures you want to run and you know where you want to place the probe. I recommend positioning the probe right next to one ofb the primary oxygen sensors. The EGT gauge is the only gauge I bought for my 3L project and it has been invaluable in the amount of information it gives to your state of tune.
A MUST HAVE for any high performance engine.

Since we are on the subject of gauges, I reccomend the GReddy line-up of guages over the autometer. The autometer cost more and come with less. To buy an autometer EGT gauge you have to buy the thermocouple separate from the controller and separate from the gauge. The cheapest I could find all 3 was ~$200. The greddy gauge comes with everything including the probe and mounting hardware in a very high quality construction. The only issue is that all the gauges are in SI units, not old english/american units. i.e. celsius vs. fahrenheit. The quality of the gauge face and needles looks better to me as well.

don't anyone flame me, this is my opinion from holding both in my hands and if you like autometer go for it.

warmonger

Yeah I fitted an EGT Gauge to the manifold where the front primaries join from 3 to 1, right below the O2 sensor. I also have an oil pressure gauge tapped into the hole in the front of the block into the oil gallery that feeds the mains and finally a boost gauge tapped into the manifold source for vacuum/boost.

All gauges are Autometer Phantoms.

And a nice bonus feature I have with the APEXi Turbo Timer I installed also, is that it is connected to the front O2 sensor and gives you either a real-time voltage readout out or a time-averaged "true" A/F reading. None of that useless low resolution "blinky lights" crap.

the blinky lights did help me once though. The first time I got on it the air tube blew off the Vortech. So the gauge went straight to rich. It made it pretty easy to find the problem. That was the one and only time the thing actually did anything nice.