STX550 v9x boost gauge???

[Sinista]

I recently purchased and installed a boost gauge into my pride and joy. my question to all and any gurus is what is the most convenient place to "T" into the engine for a reading. i have found in amongst all the heat shrouding a hose that goes to a sensor that i have tapped into. its not giving any vacuum readings on the gauge and under heavy acceleration will read over 30PSI.
any help in the matter would be greatly appreciated.

 

[justdrinkbeer]

Think I read on here that diesels don't give a vacuum reading, maybe I misunderstood. And 30psi +, well that would explain the splitting turbo pipes!

 

[RustyNav09]

Diesels dont read vacuum. if they do they have some issues. i dont understand why they dont but i know that dont vacuum. As for the 30 psi readings all i can say is WOW! that is crazy pressure and as said in last post this would explain why the hoses are splitting and blowing off. im hoping your gauge reads more then 30psi cause my boost gauge only reads to 30psi and thats it.

 

[Old.Tony]

Your ECU should know what the boost pressure is anyway, there should be a sensor on the intercooler near the outlet. Scangauge, Torque or several other tools can be used to check or monitor this and many other parameters as you drive without any additional plumbing.

30psi is serious boost. The 4-cyl engines develop 18-19psi and when chipped and cranked up they're getting 26psi or so. If you're really developing that much boost then it does definitely explain the hose problems!

Generally a turbocharged engine won't have a vacuum, but I've found that on engine braking and at idle mine will sometimes report vacuum. At most other times there's at least a small amount of spooling of the turbo providing a mild amount of positive pressure.

 

[justdrinkbeer]

Generally a turbocharged engine won't have a vacuum, but I've found that on engine braking and at idle mine will sometimes report vacuum. At most other times there's at least a small amount of spooling of the turbo providing a mild amount of positive pressure.

They're autos though so maybe no engine braking to speak of.
Definitely going to look at putting one on mine, and getting cracking with the hard pipe!

 

[Sinista]

Yeah broke the gauge this morning doing some more testing. it was only rated to 30PSI and was going well past that in some cases, if the dial had numbers all the way round i would say easy 40PSI but thats just bonkers in my mind... will get a bigger gauge next time im home from work... found some nice ones on ebay in a kit EGT and BOOST up to 60PSI
on a side note also started piecing dimensions together for 3" custom dump pipe.

 

[Old.Tony]

They're autos though so maybe no engine braking to speak of.
Definitely going to look at putting one on mine, and getting cracking with the hard pipe!

When I'm referring to "engine braking", I specifically mean the car-controlled kick-down induced by extended holding of the foot brake. It only works when the vehicle is in D with overdrive engaged. I did read that this was the expected behaviour either in the car's manual or the service manual, I don't remember where.

What I don't know is if the fuel supply is turned off during engine braking (ie the injectors simply aren't opened). This makes me hesitate when considering things like an exhaust brake.

 

[justdrinkbeer]

Yeah broke the gauge this morning doing some more testing. it was only rated to 30PSI and was going well past that in some cases, if the dial had numbers all the way round i would say easy 40PSI but thats just bonkers in my mind... will get a bigger gauge next time im home from work... found some nice ones on ebay in a kit EGT and BOOST up to 60PSI
on a side note also started piecing dimensions together for 3" custom dump pipe.

I think the dump is 3" already

 

[Lawry]

Jesus 30-40psi.... no wonder they have torque.
is that the standard reading on the 550?
you should probably check your wast-gate to see if its stuck.
the boost will continue to rise unless there is some form of relief...
Take off the C-clip on the waste-gate arm, and see if the lever will move.
???????

 

[Old.Tony]

Justdrinkbeer, have you checked what kind of boost you're getting? Can you confirm that it belts over 30psi?

 

[justdrinkbeer]

Hi Tony, no haven't got a boost gauge, might pick up a scan gauge instead if they do that, never thought about it

 

[Old.Tony]

Either a Scangauge or any android phone using Torque with a bluetooth dongle will do it. I would think your OBD port would talk the same protocol as mine, so we could try it out before you throw $ at it if you like.

 

[justdrinkbeer]

Sounds good, was coming up the hunter for a few cases of wine for xmas pressies soon anyway.
Weekends the best?

 

[RustyNav09]

Yeah broke the gauge this morning doing some more testing. it was only rated to 30PSI and was going well past that in some cases, if the dial had numbers all the way round i would say easy 40PSI but thats just bonkers in my mind... will get a bigger gauge next time im home from work... found some nice ones on ebay in a kit EGT and BOOST up to 60PSI
on a side note also started piecing dimensions together for 3" custom dump pipe.

hmmm the 60psi unit may be the go lol. i still cant believe it pushing moe then 30psi ouchhh. i thought me trying to punch 20psi out of my d22 was to muhc(which it was). its now sitting at 17-18psi.

I have a mate who works at AutoBarn locally and has a regular customer who owns a 4.2 Patrol Turbo diesel running 50Psi. Apparently the 4.2 loves the boost. all i can imagine is the squeeling it would be doing at idle :S

 

[Old.Tony]

Sounds good, was coming up the hunter for a few cases of wine for xmas pressies soon anyway.
Weekends the best?

Sure is, we don't have a trip or anything planned for this weekend (but we do for the weekend after).

 

[hunter]

Highest I've seen on my scangauge is 25.7 and on idle 3.8 psi

 

[kevinm1962]

i have an ultragauge you can get one delivered in 5 days from the states for a $105 plugs into your obd2 has upto 70gauges it can read, but while you are waiting for it to be delivered take your car in for checking must have warranty

 

[Sinista]

thinking more along the lines of getting one of the obd bluetooth things is there a specific model or series i need to purchase or will any obd2 work with the 550?

 

[Old.Tony]

I'm happy to meet any 550 owner in the Newcastle region and try it out in their car (won't damage anything) so that question can be answered - but generally an ELM32-compliant bluetooth adapter is required.

 

[Sinista]

Ok so my boredom got the better of me today on my last day before heading back west for work. Went to a local equipment supply shed and bought a oil filled compressor tank gauge thinking to myself lets see if the nav can break this one didnt even leave the car park before plumbing it all up with the correct fittings and went and found the tallest hill i know of in town and punched it first second third all reading peak pressure just over 40psi and dropping slowly to 33 - 35 psi which is well over what i was expecting still. not entirely sure what im to do now....