For me the Ultra Gauge is a great tool! It can be a toy for others but I see it as a tool, however, it must work properly in order for it to hold my interest. As it stands today it does not work properly in my 99 xk8 but does work well in my 2000 s-type so it has found a home. I did however purchase a BlueTooth device KIWI PLX Interface to work with my Droid 2 phone. I recently tested it on my 2000 s-type and was successful in getting 4 programs to work. I had not completed my testing on the 4 programs on my 99 xk8 but it looks promising and will post the final results. I am attaching links for you to see what I am talking about.

http://www.plxkiwi.com/kiwibluetooth/
http://www.plxkiwi.com/kiwibluetooth/software.html

 

I must be one of the last folks on the planet to get a "smart phone" (HTC Droid Incredible) since I did not want to be one of those people staring and playing with their phones all day with zombie-like stares. Anyway, I finally relented (need the ability to get emails while I was out of the office) and have become mildly hooked. It looks like that Kiwi gizmo that Gus talks about might be a better/safer alternative for me since I have not yet heard consistent glowing success stories for the UltraGauge.



Doug

 

Thanks WhiteXKR for that good explanation of the HKS CAMP2. I do have the factory NAV unit, so it is possible for me to add the package. Besides the cost, it is a complicated system to hook-up and configure; beyond my basic comprehension right now. But if after all the other things I want to do are accomplished, I may tackle it...with your expert advice of course. It would be great to have accurate water temp, oil pressure and volt readings:...does it have oil temp, trans temp, etc. with additional sensors? I would hook up the boost also. What does the EGT (exhaust gas temp?) do for you?

An updated NAV/map would be nice too.

 

There are two external fluid temp inputs, so yes, I think you can have oil and transmission temperature (although the transmission temp might be labelled "IF Water") on the screen, 'IF' meaning external interface. Water temp. is already read via OBDII. Personally I think the transmission on these cars is not much of a worry, and I would rather have oil temp. and an intercooler air or water temp.

The main complications were getting it to work on pre-2003 vehicles (now solved) and deciding how and where to physically attach the sensors. Other than that if you can solder splice and apply heat shrink tubing to wires, it is not very difficult. I will be posting all the details in one thread soon. The sensor interface mounts under the hood, so additional sensors can be added with minimum hassle once the main installation is done (ie; you only have to penetrate the firewall once for the intial install).

I am not using EGT now, but it provides a rough sense of A/F ratio, which unfortunately the HKS CAMP 2 does not read directly.

Steve, I definitely understand where you are at, for the first year and a half of ownership I was much more focussed on repairs, restoration and performance upgrades...only now am I looking at the electronics.

 

To answer Fla Steve's question about Exhaust Gas Temperature, I don't think it would really be beneficial on an automobile, but small piston airplanes use it to maximize the range of the airplane. The air-cooled engines in Cessnas, Pipers, and other small planes are typically run rich during the takeoff and climb phases of the flight. The extra fuel going through the cylinders doesn't burn, but it helps to cool the engine. That extra cooling is necessary because while climbing the airplane is flying slower, therefore less air is passing over the cooling fins on the cylinders. The engine is also being run at full power for quite a long time. Climbing to a 10,000 foot cruising altitude might take 15 minutes or more and the engine is at full throttle the whole time. Imagine running your car's engine at full throttle for fifteen minutes without ever letting up on the gas. Anyway... during the climb the pilot will be watching the EGT and the CHT just to make sure the engine doesn't overheat. After leveling off, the pilot wants to use as little fuel as possible so he reduces the power to maybe 50% to 80% of full power. At that point the extra fuel through the cylinders starts to cool it off too much, the air at 10,000 feet is a lot cooler and the extra fuel flow reduces the range of the airplane. So at that point the pilot will lean out the mixture control until the EGT or CHT peaks. At this reduced power setting the engine isn't going to get hot enough to cook the cylinders, and the best range is achieved with the EGT and CHT somewhere around the hottest point on the mixture adjustment. Slightly rich of peak gives the airplane a little more power and speed, slightly lean of peak gives even better fuel economy, but it flies slower. Go too lean and the engine starts to run rough. The best setting is going to be different depending on the airplane and the engine, but in general, the engine mixture is run near the peak EGT during cruise flight.

Having said all that... since the ECU controls the mixture on the car's engine, the EGT isn't going to tell you much. However, if you had individual CHT sensors for each cylinder like many airplanes do, you'd know if you had a problem with an individual cylinder. For example, if one cylinder was running hotter than the other cylinders it might be an indication that that cylinder's fuel injector was malfunctioning.

 

The main use for EGT is in the XKRs for those who do major boost upgrades and want to keep an eye on the mixture for performance and the safety of the engine.

 

Yeah... that too! LOL

 

To complement Reverend SAM.

Our 4.2 cars don't have an EGT sensor, so you would have to place one yourself (just did mine). I use the plx kiwi device, and that one is working very well with my iphone, no issues at all with the unit without the iMFD sensors. Expect of course when I wanted to activate the extra sensors (EGT,Boost) the device gave a problem. I have send it back, and expect a new unit coming in a week or 2.

The ECU is only controlling the mixture in closed loop, once you go open loop (so press the pedal to the metal), it will use the LTFT parameters learned during closed loop (O2 sensor control) to adjust the MAF signales and set the mixture.

So monitoring the EGT and/or O2 sensors once in open loop would actually be a good thing for the ones under us that have tinkered a bit with our engines.

There is a country in the EU (next to mine) that gives you the possibility to drive many minutes full power, and If I have gathered enough guts, I might test out there the max speed (with disabled speed limiter), and 1 of the preparations is to check my EGTs.

 

I recently came across this article and thought it might blend with this topic. FYI only!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020306000.html