Isspro Banks Pyro not Reading

[wildman7798]

My truck has the original 6.9 1st Gen Banks gauge trio on the dash, oil temp (seems to work) runs up to about 150 degrees doing lazy hiway cruising, boost (works good now with all the air leaks fixed) get about 5 to 7 pounds under good empty load. The Pyrometer seems to never move off the 350 degree mark. The manual says 1)"wires touching" or 2)"dirty connections" or 3)"mis-wired crossed connections". I've never seen the gauge work but it looks like the complete Banks install was done well by the PO or his shop so I doubt it's number 3. The factory sheaths seem to cover the visable connection points under the turbo so I doubt it's number 1. That only leaves possible dirty connections, it is a som ***** to get to those wires to take apart connections and I can't imagine the fun I will have if I have to change the probe out. I need to have this working as I want to play with the fuel and generally need to know what my exhaust temp is for obvious reasons. Is there a way to test the Pyro gauge and wiring, short of taking it all out? I would have to assume this kit is in the 20 year old or better range so the probe might have run its life cycle even if it only has 50 or 60k miles on it.

 

[Agnem]

All of ISSPro's troublshooting steps can be found here. http://www.isspro.com/page.php?page=Instructions#TS If your pyro is not in the list, then your first best effort is to disconnect the gauge and connect another type K thermocouple to it, and just hold a flame to the thermocouple. If the gauge responds, then just junk your existing probe and wiring, and redo it. I do sell the full ISSPro product line.

 

[The Warden]

IMHO it's worth the time to get to the connections and clean them up. I had a problem with my Isspro pyro intermittently not reading at all...and eventually it stopped being intermittent and the pyro stopped working altogether. I got to the connections where the wire going to the gauge connects to the thermocouple wiring, and they actually looked pretty clean. I took a piece of steel wool and got them 100% perfect, re-attached them, took some liquid electrical tape and coated them so the elements couldn't get back in, then put the sheathes over them. That was probably 5 1/2 years ago, and I haven't had a hiccup since.

It's really amazing how sensitive the pyros are to any dirt in that connection...

Just my $.02...good luck

 

[wildman7798]

IMHO it's worth the time to get to the connections and clean them up. I had a problem with my Isspro pyro intermittently not reading at all...and eventually it stopped being intermittent and the pyro stopped working altogether. I got to the connections where the wire going to the gauge connects to the thermocouple wiring, and they actually looked pretty clean. I took a piece of steel wool and got them 100% perfect, re-attached them, took some liquid electrical tape and coated them so the elements couldn't get back in, then put the sheathes over them. That was probably 5 1/2 years ago, and I haven't had a hiccup since.

It's really amazing how sensitive the pyros are to any dirt in that connection...

Just my $.02...good luck

Warden - you were nuts on with the Pyro. Got up there and fished out the leads, under the sheath they looked fine, shiney SS screws and all. On closer inspection, nothing but white powder corrosion. A little 180 grit on them and some elbow grease and back to copper. All back together without dropping a screw in the valley pan and the gauge works perfect. I'll have to pick up a can of "liquid electric tape" and seal them off. Very Good Call on this. Thanks

 

[The Warden]

Warden - you were nuts on with the Pyro. Got up there and fished out the leads, under the sheath they looked fine, shiney SS screws and all. On closer inspection, nothing but white powder corrosion. A little 180 grit on them and some elbow grease and back to copper. All back together without dropping a screw in the valley pan and the gauge works perfect. I'll have to pick up a can of "liquid electric tape" and seal them off. Very Good Call on this. Thanks

Sweet!!! Glad it worked for you! I have to give credit to Travis (argve) for making the initial suggestion when I had my problem...I didn't believe him at first, and was downright shocked when it went away after cleaning the terminals

 

[laserjock]

In my line of work I use thermocouples a lot. Just to toss this out there, if you get a pyro that is wired backwards (this is for standard type TC's) it will read okay at room temperature or thereabout but as you add heat the temp reading will actually drop. They are sensitive to connections a it is the junction potential created by joining the two metals that the gauge is reading. Doesnt' take much crud to skew that small potential change.