rentonone

iTrader: (1)

ive got a my00 with quite a few mods and a vf35 turbo, its going to be remapped soon to suit my new mods,i want the engine to stay reliable so i want to make sure ive got enough safety mesures, ive got a boost guage and im getting a knock link, is there anythink else i need? thanks

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

Oil temp

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Oil, EGT, boost, knocklink, ejector seat

Tony

David_Harden

What does EGT do for you???

David

360ste

iTrader: (1)

EGT means Exhaust Gas Temperature, If I am right if this starts reading higher than normal it indicates a lean mixture. VVVVV bad for engine. A oil pressure gauge is a must aswell. Steve

rentonone

iTrader: (1)

thanks for the replies, i didint really want loads of guages in my car, is an oil pressure guage and egt definatly needed? the car is only going to be just over 300bhp, could i get an a afr guage to go with the boost guage and knock link? or are the afr guages not that acurate at telling if its running lean or rich?

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

I would have though a Knocklink will tell you if the car starts running lean. Oil pressure is deffo a good idea as by the time the warning light comes on in the car, it's too late!!

I would go with Oil temp, pressure and boost and, of course, the KL.

Ns04

silent running

Oil temp, oil pressure and boost. If it's remapped properly there's absolutely no reason why you should be bothered about knock.

Oil temp - the coolant temp on its own doesn't tell you when the oil's up to temp and ready for a ragging. Once you get used to what the oil temp does according to how you drive, you'll soon notice straight away if you're overworking your engine.

Oil pressure - busting an oil seal is no fun, and it does happen. Again, learn how your gauge reacts under normal driving. If you suddenly see it drop, coast down, pull over, save yourself a mammoth garage bill.

Boost - absolutely indespensible on a turbocharged car as a diagnostic tool. Make sure you get a boost/vacuum gauge, not just boost. This can help track down leaks, dodgy idle, boost target problems etc etc.

I personally wouldn't bother with a Knocklink. I think it's overkill on a 300bhp road car, but there are plenty on here who would disagree. As I said, the way to avoid knock is to get your car mapped properly for the ****test grade of fuel you're ever likely to use, then you can't go wrong. The fact is that it only seems to be edgily-tuned Subarus that 'need' them - other fast cars do perfectly fine without them.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Failing MAF, fuel pump etc...

Ns04

silent running

LOL I didn't really want to get into this argument, but Subarus are not the only cars whose fuel pumps fail. It happens to EVERY car eventually.

If someone wants to have a 'failing fuel pump and MAF' gauge on their dash then that's fine, who am I to tell them not to? But I just think it's overkill. Where do you stop? A blocked fuel line sensor? A squeaky wheel bearing sensor? A lean #3 cylinder sensor? EGT at each exhaust port? It seems to me that if you're worried about a failing fuel pump, then you can BUY a brand new Walbro 255 lph job for £80 off ebay and throw away your old one before it knackers up.
Same with a MAF. If you've got a knackered MAF, that's detected by your Knocklink (which does not actually pinpoint a MAF problem at all), it's not like you can do a part-ex is it? You've got to throw away the old MAF and buy a new one. But you spent all your money on a Knocklink already.

I've nothing against the idea of a Knocklink on highly tuned motors. But suggesting that it's going to tell you about an impending MAF or fuel pump failure with absolute accuracy is misleading. Detonation is not just caused by incorrect AFR. And if it was, why not just run a 19 segment LED AFR meter chopped into the factory lambda sensor wiring?

If a Knocklink cost a tenner from Maplins it would be worth having just for the hell of it. The cost and inconvenience of having to watch the damn ugly thing whenever you floor it would be worth it. But when it costs roughly the same as actually replacing these supposedly fragile components like a fuel pump or MAF, how does that make sense? Unless you're loaded, in which case why drive a Scooby with all its legendary (on Scoobynet at least) fragility? Just get a 911. IMHO of course. :-)

rigga

iTrader: (4)

oil pressure,oil temp,boost and afr...... thats what ive got.... oil pressure for obvious reasons as if the oil light ever comes on due to lack of pressure its too late,as the standard pressure switch trips at a very low level....oil temp to see when the car is actually warm enough to bost,as its suprising how cold the oil is when the water temp is running at normal..... afr to monitor the fuelling at wot....... useless normally s it just bounces all over the shop during normal driving,as the ecu is always changing the fuel added for emmissions purposes,but at wide open throttle it should be a solid green to show its not running lean when you least want it to...... mines only a narrow band,and strictly speaking to be accurate you need a wide band set up,but as said before,its more of an aid to see if something is reading different to what it was before to detect a problem......i know now what its supposed to show,so if it changes ill notice it

martin

silent running

Exactly Martin, you're bang on. I could have written that myself! AFR will tell you what your mix is like at full throttle which is just about the only time it actually matters at all. And once you're used to the readings you can soon see if it's gone out of range. Getting on to a slightly different subject here, this is also the reason why I can't understand why people want fancy 'wideband' lambda sensing for everyday driving...The standard lambda sensor tells you everything you need to know, in the most important part of the range. If it goes too rich or too lean outside the normal range then a 'wideband' lambda sensor isn't going to help you!