Well, now that i'm running good ol SF3 with Spartan tunes, i've got a good excuse to get some monitering ability for my 05 F250. I'm looking at Isspro gauges at Diesel Manor, (prices seem good) and my question is- would it be best to go ahead and get all three a-pillar gauges now, or should a pyro be sufficiant till i'm more heavily modded. I'd really like to keep a more accurate eye on tranny temps, and possibly engine oil temps or fuel pressure. What do you guys think? All three, or just pyro?

 

Oh which gauge to get that is the question and you can really find a good reason to have just about any of them except for volts as far as importance goes.

EGT is a must, no doubt about it. I would do tranny temp as well. Now the next two are where it gets sticky if your going to want to stick with a 3 gauge pod since both gauges have a very good reason for being there. If you do 3 gauges I would stick EOT in there and forego fuel psi til you do injectors and/or an RR Kit(in other words mods that affect fueling somehow).

 

Tex, If he doesn't plan to upgrade injectors then I think the fuel pressure gauge might be more important to protect the stock injectors. Feel free to a rebutal.

 

Welcome to my dilemma. Thanks for the advice! Tex, i had considered just what you said, as in not really needing fuel pressure until i have an RR system or injectors, but i'd like to keep the stockers as happy as possible. But i also had an EOT gauge in my VW diesel 'hot rod', and i really appreciated the way it interacted with engine load and EGT's, allowed just a little more fine tuning and awareness. I think i might get the EOT for now, since i plan to add another gauge pod down the road. Any reason i shouldn't go with ISSPRO?

 

Isspro gauges are great! Here is a pic of mine with the quad overhead pod.

Get what you think you need at first, then keep adding!! I plan on an A-piller mount someday with egt, fuel pressure and voltage. Have fun and what ever you decide on please post pics!!

 

Sure it would. However, an RR kit would do a better job at keeping them happy and thus meet the fuel system modding to warrant a fuel psi guage.

 

I was going to get a fuel gauge, but I am all stock so I found a much cheaper solution. I'm going to get a $25 pressure switch from the auto parts store and put a fuel pressure warning light that comes on below 50psi. That will be enough to alert me if something is wrong. As far as brand goes, I'll be getting DiPricol Optix black gauges when I get mine since I think they match the stock gauges best.

 

if you are running any kind of aggressive tuning, i strongly suggest a fuel pressure gauge...a RR or crossover line kit does not help a stock fuel pump keep up with higher than normal demand..they only help equalize fuel pressure through and between the the heads, and keep cooler fuel running all the way through them..a stock setup has a regulated return system from the factory..it dead ends at the back of each cylinder head...that's the problem with it..

when you add an aggresive tune, with a stock fuel pump and lines, you'll see pressure drop off drastically during initail acceleration..the length of time it stays low depends on the condition of your pump and filters..

you should have a factory boost gauge and it's pretty accurate..go for pyro, fuel pressure, and tranny temp...

cartmanea:i knew a guy that used the pressure switch/light setup...50 psi was too high for him..it drove him crazy flashing on and off when he would take off..

for you guys that are running strong tunes with stock injectors, consider installing a second HFCM...i did and it's been working great..60 psi all the time, less than $400, and 200% reliability..

my $.02

 

RR kit does have you increase fuel pressure. Your right as far as what it does with dead heading, but you remove a sensor that allows you to increase fuel pressure when you do the a/m RR kit(rather ITP or ATS etc). You should not see a drop in fuel pressure with stock injectors and the usual tunes(unless your using some type of competition tuning, which I wouldn't do on an otherwise stock truck) and I can verify that I did not see a drop with the RR kit until I added the injectors and then two months later, boom bye bye stock fuel pump.

 

the factory uses a mechanical pressure regulation system..it's just a spring...no sensors..you can shim the spring and increase your idle pressure with a stock system..this does nothing to change the flow rates of the HFCM..it can only move a certain amount of fuel, and that amount was engineered with stock tuning in mind..

 

I have a second HFCM waiting to go in, so I should have no problem maintaining 50psi. I'm still undecided on the pressure switch, I may just go with a gauge so I know exactly what the pressure is, only problem is the cost is about 8x more for an electric gauge.

 

I'm not talking about increasing idle pressure. I had a street comp tune and I saw zero drop in pressure with the stock pump. Now I didn't have the in-cab fuel psi gauge til after the RR kit so I can't compare before and after, but I can tell you that there was zero drop in pressure from that tune for whatever reason after the RR kit. Something isn't kosher here. Unless my gauge was off, in the incorrect port for getting pressure, or I'm just daft, but my experiance with my own truck isn't matching what your saying.

As to the sensor, I wasn't trying to imply that the factory reg. system was electrical. I was saying that you disconnect a sensor that allows you to increase the flow with the spring. I'm sorry I didn't word that correctly.

EDIT: ITP in their instruction manual also suggest increased fuel filter changes due to the increased fuel flow. Their suggested pressure range is 65-70 psi, I don't think that's the stock pressure setting unless I'm wrong. If I am I'll shut up and go to some dark dank corner.

 

Wow. Sounds like i might need to move my fuel system improvements a little higher on the list. I might just have to do a 4 gauge pod to end my current dilemma, anyone had any experience with GlowShift or Autometer pods? Thanks so much by the way for all the input, experiental advice is worth 2 repair manuels. And i will post pics whenever i actually get it installed.

 

i'm not doubting your experience..you can't miss the pressure port...a bone stock fuel system can keep up with demand if you aren't making hard runs..tuning also plays a part...some tunes compensate for turbo lag with lots of fuel at low boost levels..it's not the cruising that gets you, it's the hard accelaration..you can drain your injectors dry with aggressive tuning and driving..it's usually low off the line, and the recovery rate depends on how hard it's being pushed.. i've seen more than a few trucks exibit this same pattern..alot of guys end up driving like this with tuners...getting up to 60 mph as fast as they can to show off..depending on the condition of the fuel pump, and the level of tuning, the pressure can be erratic under these circumstances..

there's no sensor or wires for fuel pressure regulation on 6.0's..it's a simple spring under the cover on the side of the upper fuel bowl...the stock HFCM has the capability to push up to 100 psi...it can't move much fuel at that pressure though..

another good reason for a fuel pressure gauge is the gelling issue for those in colder climates...with a FP gauge you'd see that the pump is struggling and you have the info to make a choice as to keep running or not..dirty filters from a bad tank of fuel can also be recognized with a FP gauge..

as sensitive as our injectors are to fuel pressure and quality, i think a FP gauge should have been a factory feature..just my opinion..

 

Will 04 X, where do you mount the second HFCM? That sounds like an attractive option for my budget and driving conditions. Any pics?