trying to help a buddy...

[mikeman29853]

Hey guys.

My buddy has a 1996 Eclipse GS-T. he bought an A-pillar guage cluster that we installed the other night. Somebody told him he needed a boost guage an A/F ratio guage, and a vaccum guage.

I told him the vaccum guage wouldn't be much good because the boost guage pretty much had that covered. so he's trying to figure out what to replace the vaccum guage with. anything below zero on the boost guage is showing vaccum, thus why add another guage to do the same?

On his car on the O2 at the manifold there are four wires. 2blk, 1 wht, and one blue which wire is the signal wire? we just wired up the lights for the A/F guage, but we didn't hook the signal up because we weren't sure. also is it better to use the front O2 or the rear O2? I don't know much about DSM's, I have a Civic. We got the boost guage hooked up fine, that one was pretty simple, just put a 't' in the BOV vaccum line, and wire up the power. I think they're glowshift guages.

The boost guage brings me to another question, this car is supposed to be stock. I read i believe on here that the stock turbo was set to around 11psi, but his peaks at 15psi. that's another reason we want to get the A/F meter hooked up, that way we can make sure he's not running too lean under boost...

Where should we hook up the light control wires for the guages to? weren't sure about that either so they're hooked up as always on right now, i think he wants them only on with the head lights though.

I will say i have driven this thing, and it's a little rocket... when that thing gets between 2 and 3 grand on the tach and that turbo builds boost it will FLY! there's enough power in it to have some serious traction problems, and to spank my civic like a 2 year old in k-mart...

 

[sk8shorty01]

The white wire on the O2 sensor is the signal wire, so that is your first answer. Second, on the O2 sensor it should not matter, either one would work, so whichever you feel is the best location for the sensor hookup. If it were me i would go to the one nearest to the manifold, closest to the motor. That one will just give you a better reading in my opinion, but either one shoud be fine. For the boost peaking at 15 psi, every car is somewhat different, so that isnt like set in stone. There are some that are a little higher and some that are a little lower, but 15 might be stretching that limit, so yeah definately get that a/f guage hooked up and make sure that he has the proper fuel flow. Hook up the lighting control on the guages to your stock guage cluster light fuse, that would be the easiest location as it is pretty much running the wire behind the a pillar, on the left side of the dash just behind the air vents that go to the door air ducting, then down into the lower driver side dash cubby. Once you are near the fuse panel, just read the "map" on the lid and figure out which fuse goes to the guage cluster. That would be what i would do if i were you as it is the easiest to get to. The guages will definately be much better to have them turn on only when the headlights are turned on. Also if you hook them up right you can have them dim with the cluster dimmer in the car. That is what i did and it is nice for long drives when you dont need all those lights shining in your eyes, or when you want to race someone and you dont want them to know you are turbo'd (boost guage glowing in the window, giveaway).

 

[travislaw]

For the third slot I would suggest an Oil Pressure Gauge. The one on our instrument clusters is basically worthless.

As far as the Boost Pressure goes, most people and I recommend tapping the T into the line that goes to the FPR or AFPR depending on which your friend has. It will give the most accurate reading of what the engine is getting.

As far as wiring the electrical for the gauge, I ran the wire to my cigarette lighter light wires. Of course I had to extend the length of the wire. That way the lights only come on when you turn the lights on. I wired my Air/Fuel Gauge to the cigarette lighter itself since it is always powered when the car is on.

 

[skinnykenny84]

Come on felles, that air fuel gauge is about as accurate as the stock boost gauge. I would ditch that and the "vaccum" gauge and invest in a egt gauge with probe. Maybe a wide band o2, or both. If you or your friend even need some help installing something, I would reccomend going here frist. www.vfaq.com. Its easy to use and has detailed instructions with pictures. As far as running 15psi, what kind of mods is he running? If he has an intake, upper intercooler pipe, full exhaust, and maybe the bcs mod then he would be @ about 15.

 

[mikeman29853]

Tried the white wire as stated... turns out on his the blue wire is the signal wire... only got one light on the a/f guage when hooked to the white... when hooked to the blue it works like it's supposed to.

He's decided since he already had the vaccum guage, he's going to keep it. and we hooked everything up last night. We did not hook up the lights with the head lights because his windows are tinted and the guage faces are tinted and he couldn't see them in the day time without the lights on.... so they are wired for always on, that's what he wanted.

He hasn't done anything as far as mods yet. it's running the stock turbo, manifold, and intake. I think he changed the airfilter, and I know he put an HKS blow off valve on it. Other than that and visual add-ons there's nothing done to it.

 

[dsm-onster]

An egt can reads high when you run lean. But advancing timing will lower your exhaust temps... So I can have high timing and a lean condition, blow my motor and blame it on a poor mitsu design...

A logger is paramount. It shows you much of what you need to know. A bost gauge is number 2, IMHO. Then, an A/F gauge would be nice IF he's getting a wideband in the near future. otherwise he's got alot of holes .

 

[ericbev]

Come on felles, that air fuel gauge is about as accurate as the stock boost gauge. If you or your friend even need some help installing something, I would reccomend going here frist. www.vfaq.com. Its easy to use and has detailed instructions with pictures. As far as running 15psi, what kind of mods is he running? If he has an intake, upper intercooler pipe, full exhaust, and maybe the bcs mod then he would be @ about 15.

This is correct. Those air/fuel gauges or "Blinky Light Show" gauges as they are sometimes reffered to, are a waste of money and a spot in the A-pillar. He can run 15psi all day long on the T-25 with more than enough fuel to be safe. Ebay that mother.

Tried the white wire as stated... turns out on his the blue wire is the signal wire... only got one light on the a/f guage when hooked to the white... when hooked to the blue it works like it's supposed to.

Yes it is the blue wire. Hence "The Blue Wire Mod". Dont always trust the first bit of information you get on here. Wait for a few more responses before heading out to the garage.


Tell your friend to get on his computer and join our wonferful site. It sounds like he has alot of learning to do and this site sure has the capability to do just that. Also, tell your friend not to go out and buy something because "somebody" told him to. Doing a little research before buying something makes life alot easier.



Oh and Matt, get a damn pic of your car for your avatar. It looks barren over there.