Three most useful gauges?

[Coyote X]

I say a voltmeter and vacuum gauge.

The scangauge can show vacuum but nothing like a mechanical analog gauge though. A vacuum gauge can show a lot more than economy. If there are any engine problems you can usually see them in the vacuum gauge well before they are noticeable from engine vibrations or noises.

And a voltmeter is handy to have in general.

[dcb]

It isn't necessarily what you are looking for, but here is a computerized mpg gauge on an analog tach. It probably won't work out of the box but it might give you some more ideas:
http://www.circuitcellar.com/avr2004...05abstract.pdf

[Joseph Davis]

Originally Posted by JohnnyGrey

Using a wideband to lean out your mixture involves setting the gauge or driving unit to produce a 0-5 linear AFR voltage. This voltage must be fed to a switching circuit that produces 0v when the input voltage is above a certain threshold and 0.9v when the input voltage is below a certain threshold. In effect, you're deciding at what ratio you tell the ECU it's running lean or rich. The result is you train the ECU around a ratio of your liking.

The Innovate Motorsports LC-1 can be calibrated to output a custom 0-1 volt signal, as can other units on the market. It is much easier to buy an inexpensive feature rich wideband and then pointy-clicky the desired output with a computer than it is to build an op-amp circuit and correctly tweak it to work as you wish.

Originally Posted by JohnnyGrey

Though I cruise as lean as 18:1:1, I find that 16.2:1 produces the best economy for my vehicle.

Makes sense, combustion pressures fall way off in the 17:1 or higher range.

[JohnnyGrey]

The Innovate Motorsports LC-1 can be calibrated to output a custom 0-1 volt signal, as can other units on the market. It is much easier to buy an inexpensive feature rich wideband and then pointy-clicky the desired output with a computer than it is to build an op-amp circuit and correctly tweak it to work as you wish.

Hey, great find! I just recommended this to a friend on another forum who wants to lean out his car. However, there's no pointy-clicky for me because none of my computers run windows. My unit only has one transistor in it, no opamps, and it's more like knobby-turny.

[tasdrouille]

SG can do AFR accurately on unaltered o2s signals.

My Elantra have 2 o2s, and the factory pre cat one is a wide band. Your Yaris being a very recent car, it might have one too.

I get the AFR in an XGauge with the following:

TXD:07E00124
RXF:044145240000
RXD:2810
MTH:05BE80120000

SG can do a lot more than we think.

[RH77]

I'm late to the party here...

To fill the pods...

Based on my turbo cars of the past, I had an Oil Temperature Gauge (not sure if there's a sending unit on the Yaris). If you ever affix a grill block or undertray, it might be good info to know the Oil Temp. Oil Pressure is also a good gauge.

Outside Temperature might be a good one...

Otherwise, vacuum, voltmeter, a digital timer, or a custom gauge of sorts could be installed.

I miss the days when the average car came with more than just a tach, speedo, fuel, and temp gauges. I forget the car I drove once, but it had a speedo on one side, and a huge gas gauge on the other. The rest were idiot lights. I like to know what's going on in analog format -- I too crave gauges...

RH77

[diesel_john]

Originally Posted by JohnnyGrey

Using a wideband to lean out your mixture involves setting the gauge or driving unit to produce a 0-5 linear AFR voltage. This voltage must be fed to a switching circuit that produces 0v when the input voltage is above a certain threshold and 0.9v when the input voltage is below a certain threshold. In effect, you're deciding at what ratio you tell the ECU it's running lean or rich. The result is you train the ECU around a ratio of your liking. Though I cruise as lean as 18:1:1, I find that 16.2:1 produces the best economy for my vehicle.

Joesph Davis quote,
The Innovate Motorsports LC-1 can be calibrated to output a custom 0-1 volt signal, as can other units on the market. It is much easier to buy an inexpensive feature rich wideband and then pointy-clicky the desired output with a computer than it is to build an op-amp circuit and correctly tweak it to work as you wish.


Now i understand this was the missing link in my thinking, i didn't get how the ECU could understand the signal from the Wide band. Thanks, guys

Do any of you gentlemen have any affiliation with the products mentioned so far in this thread?

[Dust]

Anyone else offer opinions on the ammeter vs. volt gauge. I am looking at a boost gauge, and I was wondering if I should go AF and volt, AF and ammeter, or volt and ammeter.

[ttoyoda]

Amps absolutely, and here is why.

Eventually, the battery will start to fail. Often, it will fail by shorting out one cell out of the 6. That means it is now a nominal 10 volt battery instead of a nominal 12 volt battery, BUT the fully charged voltage might be 11.8 or 11.9 so you will not notice it on the voltmeter.

When the battery cell fails, the alternator is going to try REAL hard to charge the battery, and it is going to be doing it ALL the time. The end result, as I have found out in 3 (footnote 1) cars, is that the stator winding in the alternator will overheat, the insulation on it will break down, and it will short. You will then need to get a new stator winding from wai-wetherill and rebuild the alternator.
http://www.wai-wetherill.com/products/ymm.cfm
(They dont have the parts for a yaris alternator yet, too new, but they have all the little itty bitty internal parts for all the older toyota alternators and starters. I look up my part number and then phone my order in to the distributor in Boston Massachusetts :
Boston Auto Electric
103 Clayton St.
Boston, MA 02122
Toll Free: 1-800-225-6650)

Put the ampmeter into the alternator output wire so you will know about this event BEFORE it becomes fatal problem.



(footnote 1: Experience is the second time you make the same mistake. I have no excuse for the third event. )

[ttoyoda]

I should add that a low speed accident, or bumping a wall or jersy barrier, or a crackhead at the gas station backing into your car, will make a battery cell fail, I guess the impact breaks off one of the battery plates and it falls off and shorts things out.