Ok, so some advice...

I just picked up an UltraGauge (the new EM model), and I'm wondering what I'm going to program into the 7 different screens I have.

UltraGauge - 2000 Ford Excursion V10 - YouTube

Now, before the thread descends into "you don't need those, save your money and just look at the gauges" - I like the ability to see what the computer sees (coolant temp vs. 'it's a little bit over half way between Cold and Hot). Also, I tow a Search and Rescue trailer for our FD, and we can be deployed anywhere in the state...I'll be driving, communicating on 2 radios, navigating, taking notes on what I'm seeing ("windshield surveys") and who knows what else at any given time - I think this is going to come in handy as a single place to look to see what is going on with the truck.

It comes default with the first page loaded with MPG info (Instant MPG, Average MPG, Instant Gal/Hr, Fuel Level, Time to Empty, Distance to Empty), and the second screen is loaded with Trip info (Trip Avg MPH, Trip Avg MPG, Trip Fuel Used, Trip Avg. Gal/Hr, Trip Run Time, Trip Miles).

I'd like to set up a 'tow' screen that would let me monitor the most important info...I'm wondering what you guys think are the most important values to see. I have 5 screens to play with (I want to keep the MPG screen and trip screen as-is), and each screen can display 4, 6 or 8 values at the same time.

I'm driving a 2000 V10...here are the available gauges:
% Engine Load
Engine Coolant Temperature (ºF)
Short Term Fuel Trim Bank 1
Long Term Fuel Trim Bank 1
Short Term Fuel Trim Bank 2
Long Term Fuel Trim Bank 2
Fuel Pressure (PSI)
Intake Manifold Absolute Pressure(MAP) (PSI)
RPM
MPH
Timing Advance
Intake Air Temperature (ºF)
Mass Air Flow Sensor 1 (g/s)
Absolute Throttle Position 1 %
Bank 1 0xygen Sensor 1 Voltage
Bank 1 0xygen Sensor 2 Voltage
Bank 2 0xygen Sensor 1 Voltage
Bank 2 0xygen Sensor 2 Voltage
Miles traveled with Check Engine Light On
Fuel Pressure (Diesel) (PSI)
Bank 1 Wide 0xygen Sensor 1 Lambda
Bank 2 Wide 0xygen Sensor 1 Lambda
EGR Flow %
EGR Flow % Error
Evaporative Purge %
Fuel Level % of full
Number of Warm-ups since Check Engine Light Cleared
Miles traveled since Check Engine Light Cleared
Evaporative Vapor Pressure (PSI)
Barometric Pressure – Inches of Mercury (inHg)
Catalytic Converter Bank 1 Sensor 1 Temperature (ºF)
Catalytic Converter Bank 2 Sensor 1 Temperature (ºF)
Catalytic Converter Bank 1 Sensor 2 Temperature (ºF)
Catalytic Converter Bank 2 Sensor 2 Temperature (ºF)
Battery Voltage
Load absolute %
AFR Commanded Ratio
Outside Ambient Air Temperature (ºF)
Absolute Throttle Position 2 %
Accelerator Pedal Position 1 %
Accelerator Pedal Position 2 %
Command Throttle Position %
Boost Pressure, Relative Pressure (PSI)
Brake Horsepower 1
Torque 1 (ft lbs)
Brake Horsepower 2
Torque 2 (ft lbs)
Mass Air Flow Sensor 2 – Calculated
Instantaneous MPG
Average MPG – General
Average MPH – General
Average G/H - General
Run Time – General
Miles – General
Gallons Used – General
Instantaneous Gallons/Hour
Miles to Empty
Fuel Level (gallons)
Time to Empty(TTE) (Hours:Mins)
Volumetric Efficiency (MAP vehicles only)
Average MPH – Trip
Average MPG – Trip
Gallons Used – Trip
Average Gallons/Hour – trip
Run Time – Trip (Hours:Minutes)
Miles –Trip
Average MPH – Short Trip
Average MPG – Short Trip
Gallons Used – Short Trip
Average Gallons/Hour – Short Trip
Run Time – Srt Trip (Hours:Minutes)
Miles – Short Trip
Oil Change Distance (miles)
Service Distance (miles)
UltraGauge Internal Temperature (ºF)

I can also set alarms on almost all of the values, so keep that in mind as well.

So...whaddaya think?

 

Holy moly there are a lot of options there. Sadly I do not really know what you need to keep an eye on with the V10's. If it were a 6.0 I could give you the measurables 10 days a week.

ect
fuel pressure
battery voltage
HP
Tq
IAT
% engine load
AFR

Thats what I would look at to start then play around from there. - these are my gut feelings as a diesel owner since we have FICM concerns, EOT vs ECT and such. I didn't see one for Trans Temp. I would pick that too. Also engine oil temp if that is an option, but I didn't see that either.

 

Oddly enough, it doesn't have oil or trans temps...and the owners are complaining a lot. The company thinks because their price point is so far below a ScanGauge, it isn't worth their time to make the device have the ability to do custom PID's like the ScanGauge does.

I already have GlowShifts for Oil Temp and Trans Temp (because this unit doesn't have them). I could have gone with a ScanGauge and not had to mess with it, but I like that I can view up to 8 values on one screen where ScanGauge you can only view 4 max.

 

Well it looks like you did your research with the extra 2 gauges!

Is there a vacuum gauge, one that you could use as a driving coach? Maybe one of the MAP values? Maybe it's the VE one?

 

Another clip driving through the parking lot...

UltraGauge - 2000 Ford Excursion V10 - YouTube

 

That is a really nice gauge. Can you change the color, maybe to green to match the dash lights?

Those Instant MPG's sure do like single digits in your truck!

Is instant G H gallons per hour?

 

Here is the VE definition from the manual:
Volumetric efficiency is a measure of how fully your vehicle can fill its cylinders with the fuel/air mixture on the intake stroke.
For example, a vehicle with a VE of 50% is able to fill its cylinder with 50% of it potential. UltraGauge uses several engine sensors to determine the VE dynamically. This Gauge is only shown if the MAP sensor is present.

And the MAP definition:
Intake Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP). This is absolute pressure as opposed to being relative to atmosphere (gauge pressure).
The pressure reported is the pressure above absolute vacuum. When this gauge reports 14.7 PSI, that means the pressure in the manifold is the same as that of outside air (at sea level).

I almost wonder if VE/MAP would really be effective...wouldn't the air filter restriction give you a false reading if you were using those to try to calculate driving efficiently?

I'm honestly thinking the best "driving coach" is that instant MPG and the average MPG. I gotta tell you...on the way home I smiled when I hit 11mpg in city driving, then 11.1... Not to mention the 'right now' gallons/hr made me wince when getting on it from a light...

 

No, the blue color is another gripe from owners. I did see a post of a guy that swapped the LED from blue to green, but of course that voids your warranty. Some have tried green cellophane but it makes a wicked reflection.

Yea, the instant MPGs you have to not look at until you get up to speed, or you'll have a half mile of traffic behind you honking away.

Yup...

 

If you want to read up on it, here is the manual:
http://ultra-gauge.com/ultragauge/su..._EM_Manual.pdf

Slick little unit for $79

 

Thanks for the link. Ill check it out.

The air filter restriction should not affect the readings because the sensors are after the air filter so they should be true.

Using the map sensor, lower than 14.7 would indicate a vacuum and thus create the best mileage. That is one way many of the other more expensive driving coaches figure mileage in addition to load and throttle position.

 

Looks like a nice presentation compared to a scanguage. I got the SGII mainly for the trans temp, but you have that covered already. I can't say I am all that interested in seeing many of the parameters available most of the time unless there is a problem. I would like to see oil temp and oil pressure, but no such luck. On the EX, I normally have coolant temp, trans temp, instant MPG and avg MPG displayed. I occasionaly cycle through to see the other stuff, but none of it means a whole lot to me aside from a curiosity as long as things are running normally.

To me if you keep an eye on temps/pressures and they stay normal, most anything else that might go wrong will show up in the seat bottom sensor the same time it can be seen on any other guage. I suppose if you really got to know your normal MAP and TPS, you might be able to detect a power loss issue, but good chance your own TPS sensor (foot) will detect it just as well.

I do think that if you use the MPG guages and work at making them be bigger numbers, you can make a noticeable difference. I realize there are some experts out there that don't need any fancy guages to help them, but for the rest of us peons it really works if you want it to. Sometimes it costs a lot more than one would think to get that extra 5 MPH for 30 seconds, and realize it's just not worth it. The instant feedback is the key.

 

For tow:

The big gauges:
Avg MPG
Distance to Empty (make sure to calibrate fuel usage according to their instructions)

The smaller gauges:
Absolute Throttle Position
Instant MPH
Timing Advance
---
Engine Coolant Temperature (ºF)
Battery Voltage
Intake Air Temperature (ºF) (you'll notice changing conditions quicker since you'll be looking here more often)


Use the ATP to guide you in backing off from the throttle a little bit while monitoring instant MPH and you'd be suprised that you can usually back off the throttle a tiny bit and still maintain the same MPH. That will give you a little better fuel economy while towin. Timing advance is helpful to know under load, especially if you are hearing any engine knock.

ATP and Instant MPH are also useful for your "driving coach" screen since you can directly see the lesser throttle position and the exact same MPH which you can't get off the analog gauge.

 

Robert, is your list of available readings from the U-G possible readings list or from your gauge discovery session? It looks like the possible readings list, it would be better to just list the readings you could get for your truck to have folks suggest things to monitor.
I have been running 2 of the original version U-G's for the past 14 months, I've been lazy and haven't sent them in for the $15 update to the latest version. I should get them in though, my biggest gripe with the units is not being able to have a reading on more than one page and the new version allows that.
Most times I leave my U-G on the first page with scrolling, sometimes on trips I'll let it scroll just help break up the monotiny. On my first page I keep instant MPG and average MPG as the larger top two and have water temp, DTE, ATP and timing advance below.
Some of the other posters have given great driving coach advice for milking out the best MPG using these U-G displays. They are a pretty cool gizmo, I think you'll like it. Even though you don't need it............

 

Another clip of the MPG and Torque screens during the daylight...so you can see the washout, etc.

http://youtu.be/A6rtGrq2hI0

 

Those are straight out of the manual...will look more at it this afternoon...