Diesel engines and gauges

[18CrewDually]

Time to update your profile Rob. 175k on mine with stock bolts too running a tow tune. It's all about recognizing an issue before it's a problem as you know. ScangaugeII and a periodical check with the IDS/VCMII keeps it going.

[Oaklevel]

I don't have gauges now, my current truck had a tuner and gauges when I bought it used, but they had to fall off ....... The tuner voided my extended warranty.

Having said that 3 diesel engines other the the short lived gauges on my current truck .......only have the factory gauges which have served fine.

[Jim34RL]

Originally Posted by Bill_C

Here is a question for people towing with trucks with diesel engines. Has anyone installed after market gauges? Pyrometer, Boost or transmission temperature gauges. Has anyone actually saved their engine or tranny because they had these gauges installed?

This depends on what year of truck you are towing with. Also do you have emission controls on your engine or not. On newer trucks the ECM will shut down and place the engine in LIMP mode to prevent any damage to the engine or transmission. Older tucks may require gauges such as trucks built before 2007, since most of these are not computer controlled such as the new trucks are.

Now if you are towing with a truck that has a programmer installed than gauges or a monitoring device is mandatory. Why, the software that has been installed will over ride the code written by the manufacture. The safety features may have been eliminated from the vendor's program that was installed with the new tuner.

I have gauges on my truck and I have had them installed since Aug 09. I constantly monitor my EGT's, Boost and Transmission temps when towing. In the mountains I will down shift my automatic transmission to 5th gear to keep the EGT's under 1450F but watching the Boost pressure to ensure that that stays under 35PSI. Transmission temps usually stay around 200F max.

Why do I keep the Boost pressure under 35PSI? I can't prove my theory but the higher Boost pressures can cause the head gaskets to fail since they can double the drive pressure to the turbo. I don't have the monitoring capability and the turbo air map for my turbo and engine.
just my $0.02

[Iwannacamp]

Originally Posted by Jim34RL

This depends on what year of truck you are towing with. Also do you have emission controls on your engine or not. On newer trucks the ECM will shut down and place the engine in LIMP mode to prevent any damage to the engine or transmission. Older tucks may require gauges such as trucks built before 2007, since most of these are not computer controlled such as the new trucks are.



Now if you are towing with a truck that has a programmer installed than gauges or a monitoring device is mandatory. Why, the software that has been installed will over ride the code written by the manufacture. The safety features may have been eliminated from the vendor's program that was installed with the new tuner.



I have gauges on my truck and I have had them installed since Aug 09. I constantly monitor my EGT's, Boost and Transmission temps when towing. In the mountains I will down shift my automatic transmission to 5th gear to keep the EGT's under 1450F but watching the Boost pressure to ensure that that stays under 35PSI. Transmission temps usually stay around 200F max.



Why do I keep the Boost pressure under 35PSI? I can't prove my theory but the higher Boost pressures can cause the head gaskets to fail since they can double the drive pressure to the turbo. I don't have the monitoring capability and the turbo air map for my turbo and engine.

just my $0.02

Good lord....isn’t 35 a lot? I really know very little about boost pressure, but that sounds like a lot.

[Iwannacamp]

Originally Posted by Jim34RL

This depends on what year of truck you are towing with. Also do you have emission controls on your engine or not. On newer trucks the ECM will shut down and place the engine in LIMP mode to prevent any damage to the engine or transmission. Older tucks may require gauges such as trucks built before 2007, since most of these are not computer controlled such as the new trucks are.



Now if you are towing with a truck that has a programmer installed than gauges or a monitoring device is mandatory. Why, the software that has been installed will over ride the code written by the manufacture. The safety features may have been eliminated from the vendor's program that was installed with the new tuner.



I have gauges on my truck and I have had them installed since Aug 09. I constantly monitor my EGT's, Boost and Transmission temps when towing. In the mountains I will down shift my automatic transmission to 5th gear to keep the EGT's under 1450F but watching the Boost pressure to ensure that that stays under 35PSI. Transmission temps usually stay around 200F max.



Why do I keep the Boost pressure under 35PSI? I can't prove my theory but the higher Boost pressures can cause the head gaskets to fail since they can double the drive pressure to the turbo. I don't have the monitoring capability and the turbo air map for my turbo and engine.

just my $0.02

Good lord....isn’t 35 a lot? I really know very little about boost pressure, but that sounds like a lot.

[Iwannacamp]

Hmmm. I googled my 05 5.9 24V...looks like 35 isn’t unheard of. I would have thought that would blow the head off. Learn something every day.

[2Evil4U]

My new 6.7 Cummins easily hits 32,psi. Totally stock.

[johngoat2002]

My ‘07 5.9L stock would max out at 32psi. With my Smarty, I have the option to turn my waste gate off. If I’m on it really hard, I dont let it get above 40. On stock head bolts 40 is about max. Most other brands won’t see above 25... from my experience.

[johngoat2002]

Ha! Just saw the date on the last post...

[mfMcFroggierPod]

I have an Edge Monitor installed. Plugs into the OBDIi port. Chevy gauges are not very accurate.
ECT . Plenty of user settings to monitor.