adding gauges.....

andrew123

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does anyone have advice on what gauges to add? I personally would like to know the water temperature and maybe trans and exhaust temps?

is it fairly straightforward to add gauges?

do they come with instructions specific to our 7.3 IDI?

I just have the gauges that came out of the factory, and prefer to know the numbers rather than a gauge between 'L' and 'H' which is almost meaningless.

Thanks,

Andrew
1993 Ford F250 7.3IDI
 

Ilovelamp

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They're not going to come with specific instructions unless you order a kit from banks or some one. Just gotta look for a hole that has the fluid you're trying to read. There's an unused water jacket hole on the rear passenger head, not sure about the trans. Mine are all standard but autos usually have holes for such things.
 

rwk

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My auto trans has a T in the cooler line the PO put in, he lost a trans and had to bypass radiator and installed aux coolers. Sensor has a npt. thread ant fits into the T, unfortunately gage died and need to replace
 

andrew123

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maybe I will start with a temp gauge (assuming mechanical does not have to be tied into electrical system?) - it has been fluctuating between 1/4 up to over 3/4 up, depending on if i'm going up a hill or not.....so i would really like to see what the real temperature is reading.....
 

Cubey

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maybe I will start with a temp gauge (assuming mechanical does not have to be tied into electrical system?) - it has been fluctuating between 1/4 up to over 3/4 up, depending on if i'm going up a hill or not.....so i would really like to see what the real temperature is reading.....

I have a cheap Equus 6242 mechanical water gauge that requires no electrical. On my RV, I installed it into the factory water temp gauge sensor port because it was the easiest to reach. The only thing electric it uses is the light bulb, which I haven't bothered to hook up, I almost never drive at night so it's not needed. You just pull the stock sensor (gauge or dummy light, your choixe), install one of the adapters it comes with for the right thread side, then install the sensor to the adapter. Done. The only thing extra you need is Teflon tape.

I like that it has 240 as a number so it's easy to watch for the danger point.

https://www.iequus.com/6242.html


On my F250 a couple years ago, I put an Equus electronic water temp gauge sensor in the dummy light port. It's harder to reach on the RV which is why I used the factory gauge port.
 

onetonjohn

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I think temp gauge would be a good start for any truck. Are you running automatic? Do you have a turbo? If you have an automatic, you may want to monitor the transmission fluid temp. If you're running a turbo, get a pyro and maybe boost gauge. I would be interested to see here exactly folks drill the manifold for the pyro sensor. If you like a lot of gauges then you can add something that monitors voltage. Anyone have fuel pressure, vacuum gauge, engine oil temp, or engine hours? Just thinking of how many systems in these trucks we can monitor.
 

Cubey

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If you're running a turbo, get a pyro and maybe boost gauge. I would be interested to see here exactly folks drill the manifold for the pyro sensor.

My ATS 085 kitted RV has Issopo pyro and boost ("manifold pressure") gauges that came in the kit. ATS equipped it with ports for pyro sensors pre-threaded. According to the diagram, and where the sensor is on mine, pyro goes on the up pipe, just before the turbo. There is another port on the down pipe with a threaded plug, so you could add second gauge there if you wanted to.

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IDIBRONCO

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If you're running a turbo, get a pyro and maybe boost gauge. I would be interested to see here exactly folks drill the manifold for the pyro sensor. If you like a lot of gauges then you can add something that monitors voltage. Anyone have fuel pressure, vacuum gauge, engine oil temp, or engine hours?
Wes told me that he had a manifold break while he was trying to drill it, so he always uses a weld in bung right below the flange in the exhaust pipe. That's how I'll be doing mine during the turbo install. It's actually more important to run a pyro if you're N/A. You don't have much air to burn the fuel that goes into your cylinders. I guess the bottom line is that a pyro is almost mandatory on these trucks. I do have a vacuum gauge in my truck to monitor the vacuum pump. After getting used to it, I'll never be without one in a IDI truck again. I supposed that you could monitor just about anything that you wanted to. You could even install a temp probe in your rear differential if you do a lot of heavy towing.
 

andrew123

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onetonjohn.....it is NOT a turbo and it is an automatic transmission.

cubey....thanks for the suggestion, that looks like an affordable mechanical gauge that I will most likely buy.
 

andrew123

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Wes told me that he had a manifold break while he was trying to drill it, so he always uses a weld in bung right below the flange in the exhaust pipe. That's how I'll be doing mine during the turbo install. It's actually more important to run a pyro if you're N/A. You don't have much air to burn the fuel that goes into your cylinders. I guess the bottom line is that a pyro is almost mandatory on these trucks. I do have a vacuum gauge in my truck to monitor the vacuum pump. After getting used to it, I'll never be without one in a IDI truck again. I supposed that you could monitor just about anything that you wanted to. You could even install a temp probe in your rear differential if you do a lot of heavy towing.

what is a pyro? mine is N/A......and how difficult was it to install a vacuum gauge? do you run a 'T' off of the vacuum pump to your gauge?
 

onetonjohn

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I thought the pyro was more important if you had turbo, but I guess you learn something new every day. With the auto trans, you can get a transmission fluid temperature gauge. These are especially important (IMO) if you are towing. I can't comment on the best place to pull the vacuum, I would try to find something that's easy to install. I have a "brake" light that comes on that I think is based on vacuum somehow. I might tee near that.
 

andrew123

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I thought the pyro was more important if you had turbo, but I guess you learn something new every day. With the auto trans, you can get a transmission fluid temperature gauge. These are especially important (IMO) if you are towing. I can't comment on the best place to pull the vacuum, I would try to find something that's easy to install. I have a "brake" light that comes on that I think is based on vacuum somehow. I might tee near that.

i do tow sometimes, and over colorado mountain passes - wolf creek pass is a 7% grade for about 10 miles. Finding a place to put the sensor into for the auto trans would be the most difficult for me -
 

Cubey

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what is a pyro? mine is N/A......and how difficult was it to install a vacuum gauge? do you run a 'T' off of the vacuum pump to your gauge?

Pyro measures exhaust temperature.

Yes, for a vacuum gauge, just put a tee anywhere in the vacuum system. The vac pump runs a bigger hose to a manifold on the firewall where each thing that needs vacuum connects to with smaller hoses, except for the brake booster which uses a larger hose.
 

Cubey

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i do tow sometimes, and over colorado mountain passes - wolf creek pass is a 7% grade for about 10 miles. Finding a place to put the sensor into for the auto trans would be the most difficult for me -

Maybe someone will chime in with a better suggestion, but you could probably run your trans temp sensor from a tee for the fluid coming out of the transmission on its way to the cooler. It might not be the most accurate reading but it would probably be pretty close.

From what I have read, people usually drop the trans pan and drill a hole on the side edge somewhere for installing a sensor. I don't know if that applies to the C6 too or not.
 

IDIBRONCO

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what is a pyro? mine is N/A......and how difficult was it to install a vacuum gauge?
Pyro is short for pyrometer. If you break the word down, it basically means that it measures fire or heat. In this case, exhaust temperatures. A vacuum gauge isn't difficult at all to install. I did mine in a gas station parking lot while waiting for a couple of friends to show up. Granted, I didn't mount the gauge solidly until later. At that time, I just hung it off of the parking brake handle with the "bread ties" that came with the gauge to keep the vacuum line in a tight circle.
 

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