How to Setup UltraGauge

[SilverCrown9701]

Hello folks!

I recently acquired an UltraGauge for my 2001 Toyota Camry.

The online manual is a bit perplexing regarding calibration so I wanted to ask those who own an UltraGauge if they could give me simple step by step instructions on calibration and efficient setup.

Also, Which gauges should I display to best benefit me in increasing my fuel economy?

To name a few.....
-Instant MPG
-Average MPG
-Average Gallon Per hour
-Instant Gallons Per Hour
-Load %
-Thottle Position
-Distance to Empty
-Fuel Level
-Instant Trip MPG
-Average Trip MPG
-Instant Short Trip MPG
-Average Short Trip MPG
-RPM
-Speed


Thanks!

[darcane]

Originally Posted by SilverCrown9701

Hello folks!

I recently acquired an UltraGauge for my 2001 Toyota Camry.

The online manual is a bit perplexing regarding calibration so I wanted to ask those who own an UltraGauge if they could give me simple step by step instructions on calibration and efficient setup.

Also, Which gauges should I display to best benefit me in increasing my fuel economy?

To name a few.....
-Instant MPG
-Average MPG
-Average Gallon Per hour
-Instant Gallons Per Hour
-Load %
-Thottle Position
-Distance to Empty
-Fuel Level
-Instant Trip MPG
-Average Trip MPG
-Instant Short Trip MPG
-Average Short Trip MPG
-RPM
-Speed


Thanks!

There are two things to calibrate, distance and fuel.

For distance, see if you can find a freeway with an odometer calibration area (Usually five miles precisely measured to compare your odometer against). Reset your trip miles at 0. At 5 miles, your trip miles should read 5.0. If they don't, you can adjust the correction factor to make the recorded miles match the miles actually driven.
If your odometer on your dash is accurate, you shouldn't need to adjust this. Both get this info from the same sensor and should match exactly. If you have non-stock tires, it may be an issue.


For fuel, fill up your tank reset your Ave MPG. Drive. When it's time to refill, fill the tank all the way. You can adjust the correction factor to make the recorded fuel used match the fuel actually pumped into your tank.



Here's my current screen:

The O2 sensor is to let me know when I enter lean burn mode, so you won't need that.
Instant MPG, Trip MPG, and Engine Load I find most useful.
MPH is there because my speedo is off a little.

I have all trip related info (Trip MPH, distance to empty, Fuel, etc) on my second screen. And gauges that I periodically want to look at (coolant temp, RPM, intake temp, miles since last service, I forget what else) on the third screen. Most of the time I drive with just the one screen on and don't flip to the others.

I do have alarms set for a few things that might concern me. The biggest being coolant temp. Any time it gets over 208°F, it beeps at me.

[jcp123]

I set up my main page with TPS, instantaneous MPG, rpm, ECT, trip mpg, tank mpg, gals in tank, and dte. Page two has my o2 trims and TPS plus other random stuff I tossed in there.

I never bothered calibrating the distance, but the pump calibration is tricky. When you fill up you have to do the fuel calibration first, before anything else. The fuel calibration is in a different menu from the MPG resets, and both are in a different place than the fuel fillup selection.

Setting up the gauge positions was a pain in terms of remembering where what gauge # is on the actual display...

It's more difficult to use than an SG for sure.

[redpoint5]

I drew a grid on a piece of paper to represent the 6 positions on the gauge and labeled each position with the corresponding letter. Then I filled in each position with the gauge I wanted to see. Then I went to the gauge setup menu and referred to my grid to assign a letter to each gauge.

On my first page, I display instant and cumulative MPG, intake and coolant temperature, load and timing advance. The thing I keep my eye on the most is engine load. The temp gauges are on the first page because I run almost a complete grill block, even in the summer. The intake temp gives me an idea of the under-hood temps; often 30 degrees warmer than ambient.

The timing advance is interesting to watch based on what grade of fuel I put in the car. I can tell what octane fuel my wife filled with last just by seat of the pants dyno, and watching the timing advance confirms it. The car will not go to 40 degrees advance on the freeway with lower octane fuel, but it will with mid-grade or higher.

I also have an alarm set for the coolant temp when it hits 208 degrees. My fans kick on at 215.

I don't visit the other pages very often. Sometimes I'll check the DTE since I often run the fuel tank down to the last 3 or so gallons.

[jcp123]

I hardly ever visit my other pages either, but the fuel trims get a visit somewhat often...especially lately now that The beater has developed a habit of rich fuel trims.

[SilverCrown9701]

I really appreciate everyone's input.

There are several MPG gauges referring to instant and average MPG.

Which of the gauges regarding distance and mileage are most beneficial??

-Instant or Average Gallons/Hour
-Instant or Average MPG
-Instant or Average Trip MPG
-Instant or Average Short Trip MPG
-DTE
-Fuel Level

Also, which is better to use regarding FE?....Load % or TPS?

[darcane]

Gal/hr is interesting, but I don't find it very useful.

Definitely Instant MPG. Ave Trip MPG is good, Short Trip is probably similar but my older model doesn't have it. DTE and Fuel Level are nice, but they don't need to be on your primary screen. Leave the primary screen for items that provide feedback on your driving technique.

I think Engine Load is more useful than TPS, but I like having both.

[SilverCrown9701]

Originally Posted by darcane

Gal/hr is interesting, but I don't find it very useful.

Definitely Instant MPG. Ave Trip MPG is good, Short Trip is probably similar but my older model doesn't have it. DTE and Fuel Level are nice, but they don't need to be on your primary screen. Leave the primary screen for items that provide feedback on your driving technique.

I think Engine Load is more useful than TPS, but I like having both.

Thank you, but that doesn't leave me with many gauges to choose from then...?

[darcane]

Originally Posted by SilverCrown9701

Thank you, but that doesn't leave me with many gauges to choose from then...?

Well, for your primary screen, I'd set it up for 6 gauges (looks like 8 loses the open loop indicator and large size for Instant MPG is good.)

Instant MPG and Ave Trip MPG on top. Engine Load and TPS below. And pick two more gauges that you want to look at often below that. Gal/hr may be one of those, you may find it useful even if I don't.

Actually, after looking at what the Short Trip gauges are, I think I'd like to have both Ave Short Trip MPG and Ave Trip MPG on the first screen. If you did that and Gal/hr, that gives you six.

[jcp123]

Ave MPG is what I use for my tank MPG. Short trip is the MPG since the car was started. Unlike SG it has no function to hold into that data so your short trip will start from 0 if, for instance, you kill it at a stoplight. Both are on my main screen along with instantaneous MPG.