Scan Gauge- what gauges to watch

[max49]

For a long time , I thought I was the only one here that did'nt have a scan gauge so I ordered one from from Dale last week and took a 800 mile trip across the Rockies with it.
I don't know how to work every thing, but since WH never wanted me to see my actual engine or transmission temperature I definitely wanted those, and found them interesting; maybe a little scary.
My engine temperature runs about 194* but it did vary from 175* to 215* at the top of the mountain. Of course the oem temp gauge sits in the right in the middle and never moves through that 40* temp variation.
My transmission temp ran around 140* ish. Actually it varied even more than the engine. I saw every thing between 125* and 194* at the top of the mountain. The tranny temperatures seem to go up and down even faster than the engine.
Do these temperatures jive with you guys ?

I also monitored the Air/ fuel ratio which I thought would be interesting at CO altitude but it turned out to be boring because it just sat on 14.6.

On the 4th gauge I was monitoring torque. It went from zero to about 75 which really does'nt tell me much. I got the feeling it was telling me 75 was burning more gas than 0 and not much else.
I will keep the engine and tranny temp gauges but which other gauges do you guys like to monitor ? I keep oil pressure and voltage in the Actia gauge.
Too bad Actia or WH could'nt make their gauges as easy to read as the scan gauge though. I guess they thought their target customers were youngsters that could read small print easily.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by max49 Too bad Actia or WH could'nt make their gauges as easy to read as the scan gauge though. I guess they thought their target customers were youngsters that could read small print easily.

Max, You would really love my 08 Saturn Vue. I have a spedo, a tach and a fuel gauge. That's it!

PS ... and about 2 dozen idiot lights.

[kennersonf]

Max, I monitor water and transmission temp as you do. I also monitor voltage and inlet ambiant air temp. I monitor the oil pressure with the WH display.

[DAN L]

max,
my tranny temp and coolant temps run about the same as yours most of the time. coming down off of the east side of mt charleston, nv. in 1st gear towing, my tranny temp got to 225 degrees. i stopped and let it idle for a few minutes to cool off 2/3 of the way down. then i was able to run in 2nd gear most of the time.
it is beautiful up there so we will probably go back but my dw will drive the toad down next time.
the elevation changes from 7000'+ to about 1000' in about 15 miles. there is a nf cg with water and 50a power on top for $15 a night. there is no dump station so we could not stay over a week.
i often monitor tft, horsepower, mph, rpm and instant mpg. torque and oil pressure do not work on my sc2.
the formula for torque is 5252 times horsepower divided by rpm.
i have seen as much as 488 hp @ 4000 rpm in cruise control when climbing a 6% grade with my toad. that works out to about 640'# of torque. mpg is about 1. something. coolant and tranny temps were normal but the big fan clutch was definitely engaged. it was time to back off to 3500 rpm. that got it up to 2. something mpg. 3000 rpm is good for about 3. something mpg climbing, but it downshifts to 2nd gear.

[gbs2320]

Keep mine on current mpg, average mpg, engine water temp and voltage. My engine temp varies from 195 to approx 225 on the big steeps when fan clutch cuts in and bangs it back down to around 204 steady all the way up the steep. Once they figure the programing for the allison 6spd temp I will put that on there instead of the voltage.

[CoastieSCPO]

Max, I monitor transmission and water temps all the time on the top two positions. My temps are about the same as yours. For the bottom two positions, I usually look at voltage and any other reading that comes to mind depending upon the outside conditions.

Bob

[DriVer]

I monitor:

RPM
°FWT
VLT
TFT

[LVJ58]

I monitor:

FWT
TFT
MPG
MPH*

*sometimes switch to RPM

[max49]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I was a little concerned about 194* on the tranny temp but it now sounds normal. It went up when going up the mtn. but contrary to what I've heard, the temps seemed to drop slowly when I descended even tho the tranny was geared down and slowing me down some.
Is there a reason why some of you monitor voltage, mph, rpm etc with the scan gauge? Does it not match up with the Actia gauge?
I may swap my 'torgue' or fuel/ air mixture ratio for the "ambient air temp", what's the abbreviation for that and "oil pressure? or I might mix and match once I learn the scan gauge to see if my average MPG matches some of the strange readings I get out of the Actia.
Thanks again, and Thank You Dale. I called him Sun night and had my scan gauge on Wed. Then I called him with questions about it on Th. Can't do that with Amazon.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by max49 Is there a reason why some of you monitor voltage, mph, rpm etc with the scan gauge? Does it not match up with the Actia gauge?.

I set my cruise control for exactly 2200 RPM (close to it) or 62 MPH on the spedo. Monitoring the RPM just helps me to fine tune the engine speed.

[LVJ58]

Just checked the codes I have but couldn't find one for Oil Pressure.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LVJ58 Just checked the codes I have but couldn't find one for Oil Pressure.

I have not seen an oil pressure readout on the SG2.

[DAN L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LVJ58 Just checked the codes I have but couldn't find one for Oil Pressure.

there is no oil pressure xgauge data for my 8.1 either.
send an email to linear logic, you may have better luck than i did.

ScanGaugeII - Contact Linear-Logic

[Davel]

Max,

I monitor coolant and trans temp, horsepower and throttle position sensor. I use the TPS to give me a warning to take it out of cruise when it approaches kick down, which is at 95% when in cruise and 75% when not. I will tap the brake or turn off the cruise at the stalk in order to ease over a hill in 5th gear. I also lean on the throttle a little to help it over hills also.

Safe travels,
Dave