Hi guys. I just installed my guages yesterday and am having problems. They are autometer cobalt guages. The transtemp works good. Lights on all three guages work good. The egt guage does not work. With truck off or on the guage stays at about 600. Directions say that when power is applied to guage it should swing to zero first. It does not. I can hear it humming like it is trying to move and it does move down 25 degrees and then up about 50 degrees. So the needle just gets higher and higher. With truck running needle does not move at all. Have 11.8 volts at guage hook up. I tried 3 different grounds including straight to battery ground (all three guages use same ground and lights work so it should be a good ground), and three different powersources. I tried making sure that the egt had its own power source since I read on here that it can cause probelems if it is not, same result. I disconected the egt guage and took it out of the pod hooked it straight up to a 12v powersource and ground and it still does the same thing. I moved the probe back and fourth in the exhaust manifold same result. I can hear the egt guage hum and seem it move a little when power is applied but it never moves to zero, and after several seconds stop humming and moving alltogether. Sounds like the guage to me, or is it the thermocouple. Any suggestions, what do you guys think. Thanks.

 

It sounds like you've covered the bases, I think I would get the gauge and thermocouple warrantied. It's quite possible you just got a defective one.

 

I agree. If the lights are working and you're using a different power source for the EGT, as suggested, sounds like the ground connections are good.

It shouldn't matter where you place the EGT probe, (as long as it is upstream of the turbo to read the hotter EGT enterring the turbo), as long as the probe is seated properly to allow the signal to reach the gauge.

I assume you followed the instructions and made sure mating surfaces were cleaned and prepped properly.

Sounds like you have the bases, get it replaced and try again. It may be bad. Good luck.

 

Another thought- your not using thread sealant of any sort on the thermocouple are you? Correct me if I'm wrong but If I remember correctly the thermocouple is suposed to ground through the manifold via the the tapped hole, so if your using stuff than you're not going to get a good ground.
let us know what you find out.

 

Autometer had a batch of EGT gages that were sent out with the wrong probe. Call them, they will send the correct probe.

Seach for autometer + trouble you'll see you are not the only one.

 

Emmet, it doesn't matter if the pyro probe is grounded or not; the probe is electrically isolated from the barrel.

 

I have Cobalts and I'm still not satisfied with them. I had to get a new pyro because mine would not even register once it was hooked to power. Everything had separate sources and grounds.

My water temp still acts funny. It doesn't always calibrate. It will move down 20 or so degrees. So i have to turn the ignition on and off a couple times for it to calibrate.

I'm tired of messing with those Cobalts.. the pyro problem on mine really made me want to consider a digital unit...

The Cobalt pryo gauges where not the bad "batch," but they will send you a new one anyway.. they should for the price we pay for them!

 

oh yeah.. but blue is killer!

 

Oh yeah, sounds like the bad batch of EGT gauges to me. I just had to send in my EGT gauge as well. I should hopefully get the new one back in a couple of days. I'll let you know how it turns out. I've got the phone number for Autometer customer service around also if you need it.

 

I am also getting a new guage and probe under warranty in a couple of days. I thought these guages were supposed to be the high end guages, why are so many people having problems with them. It sure was frusterating to spend the whole day installing the guages and then have the most important one not work. Hopefully it will solve the problem when I get the new one. I will post if it works. To be perfectly honest for the money I spent on these guages I am not too impressed yet. But the blue light is cool.

 

From what autometer told me the bad set of gauges was due to the probe being a grounded probe being accidently matched up with gauges designed for a non grounded probe. If you send in the gauge they will replace it with an entire new pyro kit with the correct, non grounded probe and new gauge. I sent my pyro gauge in last Thursday, called Autometer today. They recieved the old gauge and have sent the new kit. Should be here in the next couple of days. I'll let you know how it turns out. By the way, the phone number for Autometer is 815-899-0801.

 

Interesting. When I called them I was told there was nothing wrong with the ground/non ground Cobalt gauges.

 

Sorry, I noticed someone else said that the Cobalts were not the problem ones also. I have the Phantoms.

 

How do I tell the "good" batch from the "bad" batch?

I've been talking with David at DieselManor.com and am considering getting a full set of gauges, i.e., pyro, turbo boost, engine oil temp, engine coolant temp, tranny temp, rear diff temp, voltmeter, and a real tach.

Any recommendations for the first group of gauges to get? Did I leave anything out?

Hope this didn't post twice...there was a connection error on the first attempt.

 

IDMooseMan I got my cobalts from David at DieselManor (nice guy). He had no problem sending me another guage, ( I dont have the new one yet). So who knows if I just got unlucky or if they have a bad set of them in stock. We will find out soon when I get my new one.

Adam