best way to monitor engine safety and running too lean.

[Brandon92DSM]

ive been worried about running my car too hard lately since i put my Apex Frontpipe on. If I floor it in 3-5th and dont pay enough attention to the boost gauge, It can creep up to 17-18 psi pretty easily. I catch it quickly and back the hell off, but still I worry bout that. The kicker is that im running the stock fuel pump and 8.5:1 pistons too.

A bigger Fuel pump is on the way soon which will be good, but the only real tuning tool I have is my boost gauge to monitor how bad im trashing my motor

Knowing all this, what would be the next most useful tuning tool for keeping my car safe? An EGT gauge? O2 voltage readout? a pocketlogger? A fuel computer like an AFC?

thanks for the imput.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

I don't see a boost controller as far as your mods go.

Get a boost controller and turn the boost down is really the best way.

Actually the best way would be to eliminate the creep.

 

[Brandon92DSM]

No, I dont have an aftermarket boost controller installed. it just runs off the BCS for now. I after reading up on boost creep it seems that a boost controller wont fix that anyway.

you're right I need to fix the creep problem...

 

[InferiorWang]

some people have said that an mbc did help their creep. and get urself a ported o2 housing and that will help.

 

[koreanpersuasio]

make sure you get a EGT gauge..that will let u know if you are running too hot...

 

[TwoLiterV8Eater]

Definitely get a MBC first, trust me it has more control than the BCS does. after i put on my 3" catback and 2.5" DP i couldnt keep my boost under 18 psi until i got a controller. i suggest Joe P for price and ease of use. an EGT gauge is helpful also but what is becoming more and more common is a Wideband 02 sensor. you can get them as cheap as 300 bucks for a DIY kit if you know how to solder or a full stand alone wideband for around 700 or less. its not that bad when you think about the ease of tuning it allows, almost no more guesswork. EGT gauges are great, but really once the gauge climbs the damage is already done. i would still have one though for piece of mind. also if you are worried about blowing up your car get a dataloger of some sort..the Pocketlogger is a great tool that measures knock and just about everuthing else your car has a sensor for. Good Luck. oh yeah...regular 02 voltage meters arent that great..the ones with a digital readout are better than the blinky light ones, but neither one is really THAT usefull for tuning IMHO.

 

[Brandon92DSM]

Originally posted by TwoLiterV8Eater
Definitely get a MBC first, trust me it has more control than the BCS does. after i put on my 3" catback and 2.5" DP i couldnt keep my boost under 18 psi until i got a controller. i suggest Joe P for price and ease of use. an EGT gauge is helpful also but what is becoming more and more common is a Wideband 02 sensor. you can get them as cheap as 300 bucks for a DIY kit if you know how to solder or a full stand alone wideband for around 700 or less. its not that bad when you think about the ease of tuning it allows, almost no more guesswork. EGT gauges are great, but really once the gauge climbs the damage is already done. i would still have one though for piece of mind. also if you are worried about blowing up your car get a dataloger of some sort..the Pocketlogger is a great tool that measures knock and just about everuthing else your car has a sensor for. Good Luck. oh yeah...regular 02 voltage meters arent that great..the ones with a digital readout are better than the blinky light ones, but neither one is really THAT usefull for tuning IMHO.

thanks for the input man. Yeah ill try a Joe. P first then before I blow the money to do the WG passage/34mm flapper. Im sure I can pick one up pretty cheap off the trader. So, how noticable was the increase in creep control with the real MBC? If you had creep too, what all did you have to do in order to kill it???

 

[Enigma_Man]

I would reccomend the pocketlogger from www.pocketlogger.com
It's one of the cheapest ways to get a lot of info about your engine right now, and it'll be useful to you for quite some time (until and if you decide to go with a standalone)

The Pocketlogger company also has a "knock-box" new product out now, I don't remember if it's available yet. But it's basically a real-time gauge you use, plugs into the ECU, and you get a real-time view of Knocksum, O2 readings, and a few other things. Looks like a really great idea, and I'd also say that is a good thing to look at.

But try an MBC first off to fix your boost creep problem. You'll eventually want an MBC anyway. If that doesn't help you, _then_ try going with ported O2 housing/wastegate port etc.

Start with the cheap fixes, then go from there

-Jesse