Idea for gauges....

[NOCM]

Alright everybody, let me know if I'm a nut or not. I work part time in an aircraft hangar as an apprentice mechanic (Okay, I'll admit, I mostly clean planes) anyway, planes are remarkably well monitored as far as gauges go. I've noticed that many of the gauges that they have are similar to some of the gauges we may use on our beloved DSMs.

EGT gauges are used for every cylinder, and the electric versions of the gauge automatically cycle between the different cylinders.

CDT gauges (compressor discharge temp) measures the temp of the air going into the intake AFTER it is compressed by a turbo or supercharger

Air/fuel monitors... nuff said

Fasten seat belts sign....okay, we should all have that one...

Anyway, the prices seem reasonable, and you can always buy used ones online, at an airplane salvage yard....garage sale...
Aside from having very high quality gauges, you have a very unique addition to your car. The only difficulty I see might be mounting, as airplane gauges are generally square and the DSM dash doesn't have much room to put them.

I emailed a few companies to see if their products are compatible
with 12V systems (many planes are 24V) I'll kepp youall posted with what I find out. Heres one of the electrical EGT gauges I found. Let me know what you think

http://www.aerospacelogic.com/eBay.htm

[tekky_98_TSi]

"9V-33V operating range
Only 2.2" deep
Fits standard 2.25" mounting holes
Full one year warranty"

straight from the website you posted.... that was for the cyclinder temps... sooooo I'd go out on a limb here and say they will function on 12volts.... it also looks like a round guage on a square mounting plate... looks like an easy mod to mount it in a round pod....

[greenstreak]

Many DSMers use Westach guages which were originally used in aeromotive applications.

[NOCM]

I'm going to have the parts manager here look into the cheapest place I can get it. When I install it, I'll do a VFAQ with pics and such.

[Redsand187]

Only shitty part about having the EGT thing, is you need to buy 4 probes, not cheap. I think Rau did this, or some big timer other then Dave.

[NOCM]

Four probes come with it. I believe the probes are only $25 each. The whole thing was around $300. Considering the Autometer EGT gauge is about $170 plus the cost of some type of mounting pod it's not a bad deal. I believe the gauge will fit right under my headunit. The benefit of having four probes, one in each exhaust runner, is actually quite nice. You can see if each reading is similar, and a cooler temp on one would tell you that a cylinder is running rich, likewise, a hotter temp would let you know of a lean situation. Of course, you also have the added perk of having something that not many people have. :)


By the way to remark on the post by Tekky, there is a difference between the cylinder temp gauge and the EGT gauge. Cylinder temp gauges monitor the temp near the spark plug. (Easy to do with aviation sparkplugs, but I don't see an easy way to do it on our cars.) The gauge I'm referring to is for EGT.

There are also aerospace air/fuel gauges that could probably be adapted to DSM use.

Uncommon solutions to common problems....

[Redsand187]

Then you need a DSMlink or something, so you could control each injectors duty cycle seperatly. Or at least for it to be worth it.