Actually, Glowshift also has convex lenses. I installed some on my girl's car, worked for two hours, then they both killed out at once. They work, but they only light red now.

 

They have a 1 year warranty, get them replaced?
They have been very helpful to me on the phone, give them a shout, ***** happens see how they handle it.

 

Wish I could, but it has been over a year now. I just took them out and stuck them on the shelf, had bigger fish to fry at the time.

 

Jim, my EV2's are easier to read than the Blowshifts that are in my brother's sled pulling truck. i hate those stupid things. haha. i'm a glowshift hater. Thats one of the things Paul @ CP and i have argued about in the past. LOL.

 

suprise no talk of the scan gauges here. Thanks some emails back and forth from Jim I'll be getting a scan gauge. Quick question though since the Scan gauges go into the OBD port can you run more than one scan gauge at a time?

 

yeah they have a splitter or something that you gotta use.

 

A scan gauge works well, and it cost effective if you are planning on keeping your truck relatively stock. (meaning... sticking with just an intake, exhaust, etc) It isn't mentioned as often around here because if you get into modifications (bigger injectors, bigger turbo, fuel system, HPOP) that require a chip or reprogramming the computer to take the modifications into account, the changes to the programming will often effect the output of the scan-gauge.

It's the same reason that guys with heavily modified trucks joke about the 'lie-o-meter' in the overhead console. I'm proud to be getting 22 mpg from mixed driving... while my 'lie-o-meter' things I'm getting 34 because of the adjustments in programming that make my single shot injectors work properly. It's a trade off that some of us are willing to live with, and is why many of us opt for separate gauges from oem system.

Another consideration is that (I forget what years this was mentioned about) certain oem sensors like the trans temp may not be as sensitive as the separate sensors... but that also depends on how they are installed, etc etc....

If you plan to keep your truck relatively simple, a scan gauge is a great tool that gives you lots of information in a small package at an excellent price.

Just keep in mind that if you get into heavier modifications later on down the road... the scan gauge can become less helpful or give false readings when you get into heavier modifications and alternative programming.

(I don't know enough about the scan gauge to know if it is capable of running stand-alone sensors. Might be worth looking into if you are thinking of going that route.)

Personally, I like the versatility of my ISSpro Performax gauges - the networked gauges faces allow you to 'hot swap' gauge faces to any point that is already wired for a gauge, assuming you already have the appropriate sensor wired to the ESP control module. It would be more expensive to build - but it would be neat if they made one that you could switch between multiple readings at the push of a button.... of course... the complexity of something like that might make it cost prohibitive to begin with.

Hope this helps.

 

I don't understand why you say a Scan Gauge is only good for stock trucks. ???

It reads engine paramters, has nothing to do with mods done.
ICP is ICP.
Pulsewidth is Pulsewidth.
Engine Oil temp is engine oil temp.
Boost is boost.
A contribution test is a contribution test.
Ability to datalog doesn't change because I have a larger turbo than stock.
...And so on...

???

Personal experience welcome, just looking for feedback here.

 

I asked the same question Jim.

I wish I were more familiar with the intimate details so I could give you a better answer - but the reason I was given is that some tuners manipulate information going to and from the computer, which may throw off certain scan gauge readings (which come from the PCM) - which was the biggest reason I was cautioned about scan gauges if I decide to get 'excessive' with modifications. For towing with a truck that has intake and exhaust, I hear they're perfect. A bigger turbo you can still run on a stock tune without any trouble... so whether or not the scan gauge was affected would depend on the tuner and how that specific tuner was programmed.

Edit: [ Pulse Width is only Pulse Width if you run the same injectors. Switching from split shot to single shot changes all that, and is why a lot of us need special tuning. My over head console currently thinks I get 34 mpg, and it gets it's information from the PCM, just as a scan gauge would. Does anyone here know how to reprogram the overhead console to give accurate readings - or is that pretty much a lost cause once we get into chips that run multiple tunes??? ]

The other argument (as provided to me by several other knowledgeable sources) was that some of the after market gauges are more sensitive than the stock units - although I believe that was a reference to some of the newer trucks that have more gauges in the oem cluster. (IIRC, the trans temp was specifically mentioned - but others as well.)

I'm not saying that a scan gauge is a bad tool. For the price and how much information it gives you... it's an amazing tool. I was just reminding folks that a heavily modified vehicle with alternative tuning might throw off the scan gauge, and that some folks feel that dedicated gauges/sensors offer better information.

Again, it's just a matter of how far plan on going with your truck. I was actually borrowing from the DP Tuner web site, which considered intake and exhaust to be a prepared truck, as opposed to modified. That is also keeping in mind that only Powerstroke guys would have to explain whether or not "intake, exhaust and a bigger turbo" constituted "stock". Honda guys would think they were gods. Just trying to offer perspective.

I have yet to hear a complaint from someone who had a scan gauge, I'm genuinely impressed at the amount of information that they offer and I secretly (ok, it's not really a secret) love that you can pre-set a warning if any particular reading goes past a pre-set parameter. That being said, I'm also love having gauges with needles... and watching out of the corner of my eye and having a feel for what everything is doing while I'm driving. At that point... it's as much about the drivers personality and taste as it is anything practical.

p.s. I grew up around offshore fishing boats, race cars and farm tractors... each with several rows of gauges... so watching the needles out of the corner of my eye has always made me comfortable. Watching the boost gage dance has turned it into an obsession.

 

Rob, thanks for the input, I'll dig into it some more.

 

i could see some things possibly being thrown off on the SG, but most of the things we would look at would read perfectly fine on a truck with say custom tuning, injectors, bigger HPOP, turbo, etc. like oil temp, ICP, IPR %, etc. i don't see tuning playing much role in things one would look at on the SG really. i'm also into individual guages for everything though. i have never been real big on digital guages. i'd rather watch the needle move real fast(except for when my EGT guage goes up really fast.... haha)

 

So what product are we talking about? I've never heard that before about them. At least the ones I've researched.