Once
you've made all those modifications so you have lots of power and your truck
is running great...You will want to have some gauges to monitor its performance
and to make sure it keeps on running great. Actually, it would probably be a
good idea to add the gauges before you start making performance modifications.
Having the gauges before the modifications would give you a much better reading
on how your mods are working.
Of course, I did it the other way. I modified the engine then decided I needed gauges. I really wanted a pyrometer. It is important to monitor Exhaust Gas Temperatures (EGT's) to make certain you aren't damaging the turbo or the exhaust valves. A stock engine generally won't get hot enough to do any damage, but a modified engine might. I also wanted a boost gauge. That one's probably just for fun although long term monitoring could give some indication of potential problems. There are other gauges you could add (transmission temp, oil temp, etc.), but these were what I really wanted. And of course, you will need some way to mount the gauges in your truck. I built my own gauge pod.
There
are several places where you might mount aftermarket gauges. One common solution
is to put them in the a-pillar. You will need an a-pillar pod or complete pillar
like these from DIS. There are other
possibilities...
You
could mount the gauges under the dashboard (looks really easy, better if you
have an automatic transmission, nice choice of gauges)...
There
is also a really nice overhead gauge pod available from Rocking
S Performance Gauge Pod. Any of these will work (I really like the Rocking
S pod - I may switch to one some time), but I'm a bit hard-headed. I decided
to put the gauges on top of the dash, but needed a pod to hold them. I built
my own custom gauge pod to hold the gauges.
I
started the project by carving a foam block to fit the top of the dashboard
and large enough to hold the two gauges. Yes, that's a block of florists' foam.
That was the total investment for this project ($0.97), everything else I already
had around the shop. Of course the foam is not structurally strong enough to
hold the gauges (and it's really messy and crumbly), but it is very easy to
carve into shape.
To
give the foam strength and to really make the shell of the gauge pod I covered
the carved foam block with fiberglass. The fiberglass is going to be the real
shell for the pod. The fiberglass is a little messy but is actually quite easy
to work with. Cut pieces of cloth to fit the sides of the pod. Cover one side
of the pod with resin and lay the piece of cloth onto the block. Put more resin
on top of the cloth so that the cloth is completely saturated. When it's hardened
you will have a very strong shell the shape of the foam block. It will take
some sanding to make it completely smooth (I'm not patient enough to get completely
smooth, but it looks OK).
Finished
and sanded, I painted the pod with some black texture paint and it looks pretty
good. The texture paint matches the black parts of the dashboard vinyl pretty
well. The location is really convenient. Easy to see, doesn't block any view,
looks pretty good.
I installed the pyrometer first. It's the most important and also the one that arrived first. Both of the gauges are Autometer Phantom series. I really like the looks of these gauges. I bought both from gaugeman. Matt was really helpful and very pleasant. His prices are great and the service was excellent.
The
install for the turbo is also a little more complicated than the boost gauge
(wasn't hard, took me about 1 1/2 hours). There are lots of arguments regarding
pre-turbo vs. post-turbo installation of the thermocouple that reads EGT. Pre-turbo
is the only location that makes any sense to me. If you want to make sure you
don't fry your turbo - you want to know how hot the gas going to the turbo is.
That means you will need to drill and tap a hole in the exhaust manifold. It
isn't as hard as it sounds. There's a nice flat spot just before the connection
to the up-pipe. Start with a small drill and move up to larger sizes. Suck the
chips out with a shop-vac so that they don't go up into the turbo. The manifold
machines remarkably easily.
The
autometer gauge comes as a complete kit. There's a weld-in bung, a threaded
(1/8 NPT) fitting, or a clamp in fitting. I tapped the hole in the manifold
to 1/8 NPT to hold the threaded fitting. The thermocouple just threads into
this fitting. Once the hole is drilled and tapped the thermocouple installation
is easy. The leadwire from the thermocouple (it's a special wire, don't cut
it to lengthen or shorten and don't solder the connections) is threaded up around
the engine and through a hole in the firewall. Drilling a hole in the firewall
was a minor pain. The Autometer kit even came with a rubber grommet to prevent
chafing of the wires where they pass through the firewall.
With
the pyro installed (boost gauge isn't here yet). I attached the wires (tapped
into the fuse box for power) and stuck the pod to the dashboard with some double
sided foam mounting tape. Looks pretty good. It'll look even better with the
boost gauge in place. I've only been running it a couple of days, but I really
like it. Even empty, around town, I can hit 1000 degrees. I'd hate to tow much
of a trailer without a pyrometer! You could really burn stuff up!
The
boost gauge probably isn't quite as important as the pyrometer. You won't likely
ruin things if you aren't watching the boost. But it could give an indication
that everything is working (or isn't working) and it's a lot of fun to watch.
And it's so darned cool.
How much boost you will see depends on the other modifications to your truck and the load on it. I'm usually empty with no trailer so my boost stays pretty low. I usually see 1-2 pounds just running around town. I hit 5-8 pounds pulling away from a stoplight pretty easy. If I'm in a hurry I can get 8-12 pounds without any trouble. If I really stomp on it I can hit 15+ pounds. It probably goes past that, but by the time I get to 15 pounds boost I'm busy making sure I have lots of clear road in front of me and busy reaching for another gear!
The
boost gauge installation is easier than the pyrometer. The gauge is mechanical
so it doesn't need electrical wiring (except for the light). The tube that comes
with the autometer kit comes with a male 1/8NPT fitting. I'm sure a lot of vehicles
have a female 1/8NPT fitting in the manifold. On the Powerstroke, the easiest
place to connect the tube is into the tube that runs to the MAP sensor. DIS
sells a fitting, I used a brass "T", a short piece of fuel line hose,
and a hose barb to female 1/8NPT fitting.
The usual disclaimers...I have no affiliation with any company mentioned in this page (except as a satisfied customer). I'm not a professional mechanic, engineer, nor any other professional qualified to give advice regarding transmission, suspension, exhaust, or other modifications of Ford pickup trucks. I have merely provided some information about my experience for your information and amusement. If you maim/injure/kill yourself trying to imitate anything contained in this web page...don't come crying to me. (My wife calls that the West Texas liability release.)
8 June 2002
Cheers, J. Kelly McCoy
visitors since 15 September
2001