WildmaN

Hey everybody, I want to get a air/fuel ratio gauge so I can adjust my Z's mixture. Tell me if this gauge will work. Here is the link, and it is the cheapest I can find for the most part.

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...5&autoview=sku

NismoPick

Yeah, it works fine. I have a video clip of an E36 BMW tuning w/ that a/f gauge... it looks good.

NismoPick

Here's the vid. Right click & save as 1.31MB

http://nismopick.define-touge.net/fi...%20490bhp.mpeg

wreckedj30

you and your right click save as....i got that hood cam. vid. though.

WildmaN

Thanks NismoPick, I will probably get it here soon. Tired of running rich, and hope to get him tuned correctly. So it seems, that I hook it up to my o2 sensor? Or do I have to get another 02 to use this gauge? Bear with me, this is the first time, I am messing with something like this. I just want my Z to be running where he should. Maybe I will hook it up inside somehow. But I might need help on doing that. I noticed nismo619 had a custom pillar mounting his a/f gauge. That would be kind of cool, if I could mount it that way.

skittle

i have a custom a-piller like that in the bmw. if i can ever get some cash saved up i can try making a few more out of glass.

jfairladyz

the gauge runs off of your existing O2 sensor.

WildmaN

Thanks guys for the feedback. I decided to get the Faze gauge at Autozone. It is $39.99, plus tax. I want it also because it is a white face, and lights up blue.

nismo619

thats the gauge i got.. mine works great ! i had to do minor work on the gague pod.. tho.. i read in the instructions on how to " mold " the pod with a blow dryer ! and wow let me tell u it was no " walk in the park " i really like how mine came out and mine works awsome ! the only thing i have notcied is when i booted to 10psi it will hit " super rich blue " and flashes super blue makes my facel ight up blue ! pretty cool !
i just bought a used tach gauge from my friend for 80 bucks its a autometer thou... im wanting a FAZE....

SHADY280

o.k nismo619, what guage pod did you buy that was close enough to fit our s130's, i want to get one, but cant think of a vehicle with a small enough a-pillar like ours.

WildmaN

Yeah 619 tell us, I want to go that route also. It would be cool to mount it on my a-pillar. Don't leave us Z guys in the dark. Spill it man, spread what you know. Anyway that would be cool of you bro'.

Also woo hoo my 2000th post, with just regular posting. He he

jfairladyz

First gen Miata pods are supposed to be a very close fit. Most of the pillar is the exact same width as the Z's with the exception of the lower part of the pillar where it flares near the dash. With a little trimming and some manipulation with a heat gun I imagine you could get one to fit just right.

here's a pic of one being mocked up in an S30 (pic is of the pod straight out of the box before any heat manipulation/trimming). I cant imagine it being too much different in an S130.
http://album.hybridz.org/data/714/medium/new_009.jpg

WildmaN

Like this auction? The seller said the pic is different than the actual product. But it says '91-'98 Miata's. Is that 1st generation?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Autom...spagenameZWD1V

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mazda...spagenameZWD1V

There's another one on auction. Looks like actual pod.

KTM200-280zxt

Yasin on HybridZ verified that the 1st gen Miata pods are the closest fit. I used one for a 5.0 mustang, but that took a lot of work.

And Wildman, I just bought a $5 Ebay one, no different then the $30 Autometer my friend just bought.

WildmaN

How did you find it, are there more?

chinesekid

i was told... if you dont have the wide band o2 sensor.. it wouldnt work.. because if you just hook it up to the o2 that we have.. the reg one... its not a right reading and all your getting is a light show because the o2 is switching from rich to lean and you cant tell...

NismoPick

These ARE meant for narrow-band O2's. The ecu does do a "sweep" which is sometimes noticeable at mid throttle, and no load. But these "cheaper" narrow-band a/f gauges don't work w/ wide-band and vice versa.

In short, YES, this a/f gauge will work. It works fine on my car... as well as hundreds of thousands of other cars.

veyenyl

Just keep in mind that the narrow band O2 is only accurate around stoich (14.7:1). It will tell you if you are above or below that but you have no idea by how much.

WildmaN

Allright guys, let's not turn this into a big arguement. All I wanted to know is will the cheap ones work with our existing o2's. If so cool, I will get the Faze one from Autozone here soon. It doesn't have to be absolutely totally accurate. Just something I can work with. And hopefully solve my richness problem. Anyway keep the suggestions coming. But keep it civil, like adults. We are all Z brothers here, and we help each other out.

NismoPick

The Faze one works fine. I have a Faze that I keep as a spare in my garage so I can hook it up to any car. It's a great tool to see how your engine is running.

jfairladyz

90% of the narrow-band a/f gauges on the market use identical components on the inside. So dont worry about the cost. If there was any decision to concern yourself with over a/f gauges its whether to use a narrow band or wide-band type. Wide-band wont work with your existing O2 sensor though. You'd have to have a wide band sensor (for the gauge) in addition to your existing narrow-band O2 sensor (for your ECU). As was stated above, a narrow band gauge will ONLY tell you if you're rich or lean. An a/f gauge that utilizes a wide-band )O2 sensor will tell you the actual air/fuel ratio. If you're just trying to trouble shoot or get an idea of how your car is running then a narrow band is all you need. If you're trying to tune you car to make the most power possible, then a wide-band is really the only way to go.

Heat Rave R

Whether or not to get an A/F Gauge is something I'd been debating recently as well. I did have an Autometer A/F gauge on a previous car, but I got rid of it shortly after; I found the bouncing LED light very distracting in its pillar pod. And this is coming from the guy with all the lights, gadgets, and other "distracting" doodads in his car! I don't know if it'd be any less distracting if it were a vertical LED bar-type and/or mounted in the center triple gauge cluster. I would like such a gauge for warning purposes at least, but I don't know if I would still find it distracting.

Bleach

I can't find any other posts I made on this issue so I'll continue here.

I bought the Autometer A/F gauge last summer. Plugged it in and it only lit up one orange light on the far bottom right. No signal change even when warmed up. I eventually took it out of the car when it was dead. (no light at all) It wouldn't even light up when connected right to the battery.

So I returned it to Summit and got a replacement right away. I'm happy with Summits service.

I tested the new A/F gauge in the engine compartment and it worked perfect. Powered on... (light on far bottom right was green this time) and when connected to the O2 sensor it read in the middle.

So I installed it in the dash, wired it in, and now it just reads the far right bottom green light. No signal I guess.

For my test out of the car I put the purple wire right on the same feed line that I'm using right now while its in the dash. Nothing has changed on my signal wiring setup but it won't work! I'm not happy. I don't think I'll get any suggestions but I just wanted to tell of my troubles. I'll look into it tonight. I'm running the thin purple wire to a slightly larger wire that goes over to the O2 sensor. Maybe this time I'll take a shortcut through the firewall on the driver's side and run just the Autometer small purple wire directly to the sensor. Maybe that'll do the trick. I did see it work earlier in the evening! Or maybe the gauge doesn't like to be in a gauge pod

s/cL3.0

Yeah just run it direct to the O2 sensor.. Drill a hole and just do it.. What are you grounding it to??

NismoPick

How did you connect it to the O2 wire? Remember that the majority of the O2 wire is shielded. It shouldn't matter if the lead is touching the shield, UNLESS the shield is grounding out.