Exhaust Gas Temperature Gauge (EGT) for 2014 Chassis

[Dutch Star Don]

On my 2005 ISL, the intake temperature was always about 15 degrees above ambient temp. On my 2014 Dutch Star and now on my 2019 Dutch Star, they both run around 130 - 140 no matter what the temp. I guess the DEF engines are a little hotter.

I believe my yellow light comes on around 150-160 and I have it going to red at around 170 - 175. I'll be honest, I've never checked with Cummins to see what the max intake temp should be. See I rarely see these yellow and red lights, I figure I'm pretty close. When I do, I can see my coolant temp is at 210, where my fan kicks into high and drops it to 195. I found by turning my A/C on, my fan goes to high and the coach runs cooler when climbing, as it doesn't cycle.

I use to have my Allison alarm at 210 degrees, until one day in really hot slow and go hill climbing it went to 222. I later did some research and found it was okay up to 225.

[Xmcdog]

To Dutch Star Don.
Take care of you knee and thanks for all the good info.

[engine103]

I guess I just don't understand the benefit of driving down the road monitoring EGT. I can understand it in my airplane where it lets me adjust the mixture for proper fuel flow and cylinder head cooling. But what can you do while driving? If it's just a diagnostic tool to report to your mechanic I might see your point in wanting one.

[Alpine36]

Originally Posted by engine103

I guess I just don't understand the benefit of driving down the road monitoring EGT. I can understand it in my airplane where it lets me adjust the mixture for proper fuel flow and cylinder head cooling. But what can you do while driving? If it's just a diagnostic tool to report to your mechanic I might see your point in wanting one.

The melting point of aluminum is 1221 degrees f.
Some diesels can generate over 1300 degrees egt, or more.
There's a fine line between cylinder quench and meltdown when pulling hard. Higher egt's can be an early indicator of many things needing attention. Fuel delivery, cac, cooling, pump timing etc.
Or when to just back off the throttle...
Sorta like a cheap insurance policy for those that care.
Those that don't are the diesel horror stories you hear about.

[engine103]

I don't disagree with anything you said. It was just a question. A properly running diesel should nearly always be in parameters under normal driving conditions, and you the operator should know your equipment as if you are pushing it too hard or not. And I do care. (wow we are only one post difference so now I know your as smart as me not to mention I'm ex PNW)

[jcussen]

Originally Posted by Alpine36

The melting point of aluminum is 1221 degrees f.
Some diesels can generate over 1300 degrees egt, or more.
There's a fine line between cylinder quench and meltdown when pulling hard. Higher egt's can be an early indicator of many things needing attention. Fuel delivery, cac, cooling, pump timing etc.
Or when to just back off the throttle...
Sorta like a cheap insurance policy for those that care.
Those that don't are the diesel horror stories you hear about.

Have had pyros on my last 5 coaches. 3 stock and 2 with cummins official insite hp/torque upgrades. On these coaches, Allison would normally downshift if full throttle and speed not increasing, but in some cases, full throttle would not dictate a downshift and engine exhaust temps would rise. Have seen temps sit at 1350 F. for a minute before I manually downshifted or let off on the throttle. This may not immediately damage the engine, but the cumulative results could in time. Exhaust gas temps give you an immediate indication of engine overload, as will coolant temps, but only after a period of overload. These are 15 or 20 year old coaches where the ecm does not read exhaust temps, perhaps newer coaches do, and derate or alarm.
I know many would be happy with a speedometer and a check engine light, but in my case, the more I know about what my engine is doing, the happier I am.

[Captain Morgan]

Originally Posted by jcussen

Have had pyros on my last 5 coaches. 3 stock and 2 with cummins official insite hp/torque upgrades. On these coaches, Allison would normally downshift if full throttle and speed not increasing, but in some cases, full throttle would not dictate a downshift and engine exhaust temps would rise. Have seen temps sit at 1350 F. for a minute before I manually downshifted or let off on the throttle. This may not immediately damage the engine, but the cumulative results could in time. Exhaust gas temps give you an immediate indication of engine overload, as will coolant temps, but only after a period of overload. These are 15 or 20 year old coaches where the ecm does not read exhaust temps, perhaps newer coaches do, and derate or alarm.
I know many would be happy with a speedometer and a check engine light, but in my case, the more I know about what my engine is doing, the happier I am.

I'm also the type of person that's not satisfied with couple of gauges and a few idiot lights. When I installed the BlueFire system I was happy to see it had gauges (text and graphical) for EGT. However, I was then disappointed when I couldn't get it to display any values and then found out Cummins doesn't transmit it. I recently had my ISL 9 uprated from 380 to 450 hp by Cummins and want as much feedback from the system as possible.

[Xmcdog]

Always liked to have a pyro on any truck I drove. I had to request it on quite a few and the only time I ever had engine trouble was when I didn't have one. A case of beer to the service manager sometimes helped to get one fitted.
. Coin of the realm.