Kwakerman
Well-Known Member
VDO do do them, I think you can get them in degrees C as well as F but that was only a quick search. Gauges aren't too badly priced but the sender can be a bit OTT IIRC
Hi, thanks for that. I had searched the well known auction site and croytec, demon tweeks and merlin motorsport and couldn't find one. The only problem is most for sale seem to be in Australia or the us of a. There's a big variation in price too. Also postage varies from £10 - £90 plus around £100 for the gauge then a bit more for sender. I'll will need to have a bit of a think!
Having looked at quite a few boost gauge videos on you tube and not being able to find a video of one on a standard engine, I've done a couple today.
Test 1
The junction I pull out from is on a down hill stretch, but I was accelerating hard through each gear. I get to 60mph, clock shows more but it's about 5mph out. The second part of the video is up a steep hill, driving hard, I have to drop down to 4th at about 1 min 45 sec in and I'm doing about 55mph up the hill.
EDIT
Ok, LZ won't upload that youtube video. I'll try to find out why.
Edit 2
damn thing is working now.
Test 1
The junction I pull out from is on a down hill stretch, but I was accelerating hard through each gear. I get to 60mph, clock shows more but it's about 5mph out. The second part of the video is up a steep hill, driving hard, I have to drop down to 4th at about 1 min 45 sec in and I'm doing about 55mph up the hill.
EDIT
Ok, LZ won't upload that youtube video. I'll try to find out why.
Edit 2
damn thing is working now.
Last edited:
Ok, can't get the first video to work. I did edit it slightly in movie maker, before uploading it to youtube, so that must have been enough for the LZ website not to like it.
This is the other video taken on the way back home. Up hill all the way, though not so steep as outward journey. Get up to 60mph in top gear and can't get past 0.7 to 0.8 bar.
This is the other video taken on the way back home. Up hill all the way, though not so steep as outward journey. Get up to 60mph in top gear and can't get past 0.7 to 0.8 bar.
Pleaae feel free to take the pish about a boost gauge, I couldnt give a ....
I'm just getting to know my engine better and thought it a valid question. It may be ok, but I'm not 100% convinced the turbo is working ok.
I've driven all sorts of vehicles for 35 years, thankfully I can change gear at the right time now.
Not me, but it seems everyone else is!
You can put a boost gauge on your motor and watch it go up and down, under different conditions, which is fine. The next logical question to ask yourself is, am I seeing a normal response on the gauge. I think it's a particularly fair question especially as I've just rebuilt the engine and the turbo is new and I suspect it's passing too much oil and I'm just trying to get an idea of what might be going on. May well be the honing, there may be an issue with the turbo or both. I've read a lot of threads on here where people have been talking about their boost gauge, so I thought I'd see if I could get a feel for what was a standard response on a gauge for an engine like mine. It was worth a try
I'm putting one in mine because of this thread forgot how cool they lookIt's not necessary at all but gauges are nice
discomania
Well-Known Member
Cheers, that's an interesting idea. Thing is before playing around with mine I really need to find out if mine is responding normally for a standard (not tweeked) vehicle.
I've read loads of posts on here where people have talked about fitting boost gauges. Perhaps most people only fit them after fitting an uprated intercooler, tweeking the pump, fitting boost pins etc, so no one can say what a standard set up response is. I presume Def90man has a standard set up so probably the best comparison, though his pressure tapping is from a different place. It's all a learning curve and fascinating. I thought I would get a good comparison quickly form the experience of others, but the experiences of others are obviously different. (probably uprated gear) On reflection, I'll admit it's probably a bit sad to put a boost gauge on a standard engine. In my defence, the runaway created an acute interest in the turbo's performance. And, to be honest, I could't give a sh@t what anyone else thinks.
I think any gauge is a good idea really, voltage, current, oil pres, oil temp, boost pressure, fuel pressure would all be great to have, yes total overkill and most of the time not that important but when something does start to let go you would get a warning early. I know someone who went by fuel pressure pre-filter to ascertain when his fuel filter needed changed - it also gave him any signs of reduced lift pump capacity etc.
Kwakerman
Well-Known Member
I'm wondering whether having a 3 bar (~45psi) gauge may be making the response look slower, at 1 Bar you will only be using 1/3 of the gauge's scale. On mine I'm using a 30 PSI gauge so at 15 PSI (~1 Bar) I'm using 1/2 the scale, so for the same rate of change in pressure my needle would have to travel further to get to the same final reading, and depending upon the level damping in the meter it could look like its moving quicker getting there. Have you tried watching videos of other peoples that are using 3 Bar gauges? Agree the max pressure does seen slightly low but as mentioned before you are measuring at the manifold, plus turbo waste gate may need setting up.
U
There's not many videos out there, especially with a standard 300Tdi set up to compare it to.
The turbo has just gone back to be checked, so it'll be interesting to see if they come up with anything.
The reason I thought about the boost gauge was the runaway the engine had and concerns over the turbo. As you say, probably never needed and, if ever, it'll be years down the line. Its just a comfort/reassurance I suppose.
That's a good point and one I did consider when buying the gauges. TBH Deamon Tweeks were not very helpful when I was asking about different scales, Bar or PSI and I was guided to that one.
There's not many videos out there, especially with a standard 300Tdi set up to compare it to.
The turbo has just gone back to be checked, so it'll be interesting to see if they come up with anything.
U
There's not many videos out there, especially with a standard 300Tdi set up to compare it to.
The turbo has just gone back to be checked, so it'll be interesting to see if they come up with anything.
The reason I thought about the boost gauge was the runaway the engine had and concerns over the turbo. As you say, probably never needed and, if ever, it'll be years down the line. Its just a comfort/reassurance I suppose.
That's a good point and one I did consider when buying the gauges. TBH Deamon Tweeks were not very helpful when I was asking about different scales, Bar or PSI and I was guided to that one.
There's not many videos out there, especially with a standard 300Tdi set up to compare it to.
The turbo has just gone back to be checked, so it'll be interesting to see if they come up with anything.
U
There's not many videos out there, especially with a standard 300Tdi set up to compare it to.
The turbo has just gone back to be checked, so it'll be interesting to see if they come up with anything.
The reason I thought about the boost gauge was the runaway the engine had and concerns over the turbo. As you say, probably never needed and, if ever, it'll be years down the line. Its just a comfort/reassurance I suppose.
That's a good point and one I did consider when buying the gauges. TBH Deamon Tweeks were not very helpful when I was asking about different scales, Bar or PSI and I was guided to that one.
There's not many videos out there, especially with a standard 300Tdi set up to compare it to.
The turbo has just gone back to be checked, so it'll be interesting to see if they come up with anything.
