it's all hooked up and now i'm wonder which 4 things to keep on the display. here's what they are and my questions about each:

open/closed lp: indicates when the oxygen sensor is being used to control mixture.
i kind of like this since i drive such a short distance to work, i can keep an eye on when it goes from open to closed. the odd thing is that is seems to go closed almost immediately. what good does monitoring this do?

FIA (Intake Air Temp): Again, I like stats and watching this number, but I'm not sure what is a good/bad temp and what, if anything I can do about it.

FWT (Water Temp): What's a good temp? What's a bad temp? What can I do about either?

FPR (Fuel Pressure): Fuel pressure from the fuel pump. Unreported, forget it

GPH (Gallons Per Hour): Sensitive to throttle, gear and loading changes. I guess I don't really see the point in this. It seems to me like just a fancy way reporting RPMs.

IGN (Ignition Timing): Shows the amount of timing advance. Someone please explain what this means, and what I should be looking for.

LOD (Engine Loading):The percentage of the maximum power available currently being generated. Again, I'm just not sure what this means. If it's at 100% does that mean that I'm going up a hill with a lot of weight?

MPG: I understand this one, and love watching it.

MPH: Don't really need it...have a speedo. This, along with the rpms, don't seem to agree with the gauges. Both are off slightly, which should I follow?

MAP (Manifold-Absolute-Pressure): Indicates Pressure at the intake manifold. What should this be, and why should I monitor it.

RPM: I've got a tach built-in, but like the MPH, they don't agree. Which one would be most accurate.

TPS (Throttle-Position-Sensor): 0-100. I guess this is just a measure of how hard I'm hitting the gas. I could see this would be useful if I was trying to race or something and it only registered at 92% or something.

VLT (Battery Voltage): Normal running between 13 & 15, off between 11 & 13. Above 15 can damage batteries and electrical components. Below 11 when off indicates low battery or shorted cell. I like to watch this to see what happens when I turn on radio/heater/lights, etc.

Anyway, if someone could clear up a few of the things I don't understand, and explain it in layman's terms I'd appreciate it. Right now I have MPG, Open/Closed Loop, Intake Temp, Volts displayed.

 

Oxygen sensor: no real good to monitor, but great if the sensor goes out.
Intake temp: you can't really do much about it, and it doesn't matter too terribly much. Just allows the computer to compensate for the outside air temp.
Water temp: 198* is running temperature when fully warmed up. That's what the thermostats are set for by default. Don't run the engine too hard below 170* or so, above 210* is overheating.
GPH: not much use to you really...unless you want to figure out how much range in time you have. I use it a lot flying, but it doesn't have a lot of application on the ground.
Ignition timing: Don't pay much attention to it, it's totally non-adjustable on your vehicle.
Load: it would hit 100% at peak horsepower then taper from there (if it shows power as you say and not torque). So if you floored it, it'd gradually rise, hit 100% at the peak horsepower output, then go back down until it shifted.
MPH: I'm not too sure why it wouldn't match with the speedo unless the ScanGauge is slightly delayed. I'd follow the gauges rather than the SG.
MAP: no real use to you, it tells what the air density is.
RPM: same as speedo.
TPS: no day to day use, as you said could have some racing benefits. It also would be a great fuel saver combined with the MPG gauge if you watched carefully.

I don't have a ScanGauge, so my descriptions may not be perfect, but hopefully they'll explain some things to you.

 

...they helped, thanks. i was just looking for a techie to non-techie translation of what they meant and what to watch for. i think i'll change one of them to water temp...seems fairly useful.

 

I'm really surprised it doesn't show oil pressure...that would be very helpful to know, a nice improvement over the stocker POS dummy light.

 

Exactly!!!! Tomtoc might've just overlooked it when he typed out the list. But it sorta is the most critical thing one would want to keep an eye on especially as the miles rack up.

But that's just the point Tomtoc. As you use the truck, put up the various displays so that you can see how the different items(parameters) behave, especially when the truck runs well. It'll make diagnosing problems a lot quicker and easier when they do happen.

Have fun with it . Sounds like a good purchase.
PS Does it really not have oil pressure?(maybe it isn't wired into the computer).

fred

 

i typed out every display option listed in the manual...must not do it.

 

Well...I assume the computer only knows the same thing as us...it has 7 PSI, or it doesn't. I haven't seen any other oil pressure sender anywhere on my truck.

 

Yeah, the computer doesn't need oil pressure for control. I've done a lot of research on the 'dummy oil guage'. I suppose I can appreciate what ford's trying to do. In the 'good ole days' the resistor in the back of the cluster could be 'jumped' to get the guage in 'analogue' mode to read real pressure. New versions are rigged in the circuit board and the sending unit is a simple switch. I just wish ford engineers gave us the option by using an analogue sending unit with a 'switch' or jumper on the circuit board for those who want analogue readings.

I've got a new '07 FX4 comming soon and one of the 1st add ons is an accurate manual pressure guage under the hood(dealer approved of course-warranty). I'd go on but I think I've done enough to hijack this thread.

Sorry, I'm new to the forum. Probably other theads about the dummy oil guage.

Fred

 

There are plenty. Mechanical oil pressure and water temp gauges were some of my first mods. It really makes you realize how much you're getting screwed with both the oil pressure and the water temp when you see the true readings.