Jacobs Exhaust Brake /SPA gauges Drilling and taping question?

[CRuD]

I have a 2001. 5 6 spd and am getting ready to put on an exhaust brake. I plan on getting the SPA gauges for my baby sometime (maybe fathers day)and I want to prepare the elbow now so I don't have to take it off in a month or so.

On the elbow there are flat areas on each side, they look like they are there for that very purpose.

The questions are:

Which side did you drill and tap and install the sensor ?? Or did you drill and tap else wheres??

I already have been told about the cigar lighter problem, I may just go with the BD switch on the shifter.

Thanks

See Ya

Chris

AKA Dubster

 

[Evan A. Beck]

Put the pyro probe in the exhaust manifold, and get the reading where it's hottest. Real easy to do, just pull the turbo before you start, so no shavings get in the housing. Be sure to clean everything out real good before reinstalling the turbo. Takes about an hour to do.

 

[red1ton]

When my SPA gauges were installed, the manifold was drilled and tapped with grease on the drill and tap. A small magnet followed to get any filings that may have fallen down into the manifold. Didn't take the turbo off. I don't think it is necessary. No problems with any filings hitting the turbo blades. My BD brake came with a port for the egt sensor. Didn't use it. IMHO, the readings are better preturbo.

 

[Jack in Alaska]

Brake & SPA gauges

I agree entirely with Red1Ton. The grease and magnet trick worked fine on both my truck and my sons 2001. I tried to install the probe originally on my Pacbrake elbow. Bad idea as it was in the way of the brake flap inside causing the brake to be inop.

Installing it preturbo is the way to go. More accurate and instantaneous readings.

I know it is real hard to start drilling holes in your new Cummins engine but "Turn mothers pictue to the wall" and get after it.

Don't use teflon tape on your boost sensor when screwing it into your engine. It will not ground properly causing it to drive you nuts until the problem is discovered. I did it today. Took off the tape and it works fine.

 

[EMDDIESEL]

Ditto, Pre turbo all the way. No need to remove the turbo, Just use grease and a magnet. What few pieces you miss wont hurt your turbo at startup. The turbo is not spinning fast enough. Have installed almost a dozen Thermocouples this way.

 

[CRuD]

Thanks for the replies. Now I have to figure out if I want to go Pre or Post turbo. Why do so many go post turbo?? Easier to install??



See Ya

Chris

I finally filled out my profile

 

[Michael Hughes]

Chris,

Pre turbo lets you know how hot the EGT are right away. This will let you know if you need to get out of it when pulling a long hill etc... Post turbo give you an idea how hot your turbo is before shutting down the engine. I have both, and I am glad I do. I have found that the post turbo tempatures are hard to tell without the probe. I have pulled off the highway and seen tempatures right at 300° and other times it will be over 400°. I have also been driving at slow speeds and find that the tempature was over 400°. I plan on keeping my truck as long as I can, so I put both probes in and put a switch on the guage. If you would like to see how I installed me Westact probes and guage, take a look at myHow-To . Hope this helps.

 

[dresslered]

Just like Michael says! Pre-turbo for "BOMBing" and Post-turbo for cooling down! Pre-turbo is much more responsive but the Post-turbo will take much longer to cool down since the turbo is acting as a big heat source (the two temperatures are not related).

 

[Shelby Griggs]

This is one of those perpetual topics, along with oil and a few others. Anyway, does anybody have an answer to the original question, can you drill the Jacobs e brake on those bosses?



I agree that both pre and post would be nice, I was thinking of a gauge pre and a thermocouple hooked to an automatic shutdown post.



If you don't modify the engine, would not a post turbo location be best to be used for shutdown purposes? Can a stock engine reach dangerous levels of EGT's? My guess is no, because there would be a lot of warranty claims. The TDR represents just a small fraction of the CTD on the road, with probably +90% of all owners having never heard of a pyrometer and could care less. My point is that stock I don't think you have to worry too much about even installing a gauge (it is on my wish list, though!), but even if you are stock, I feel hot shut downs could do damage.



Shelby

 

[dresslered]

Sorry Shelby, I forgot the original question. According to Jacobs, the boss was intended for a pyro installation. I took careful measurements with my Jacob's Ebrake elbow and was afraid that my 1/4" beefy VDO pyro would be too close to the flapper. I chose to tap on top of the elbow (looking at it in its installed position). It works great, and I love the gauge and the E-Brake.



I'm with you, and since I am running a completely stock engine, I am only concerned with cool-down temperatures: I only use a post turbo sensor. Also, I tend to believe that it would be extremely difficult to get a stock engine to reach dangerous levels on the EGT's (although, where there is a will, there is often a way).



If you email me (home), I can send you a pic of my pyro location. Good luck,

 

[CRuD]

Thanks again for all the info.

This is what I did and it works fine. I may not have worded my question very good and caused confussion.

I drilled and tapped with a 1/8"NPT on the boss on the fender side of the brake and put a plug in it for now. After I drilled it I moved the flapper and it cleared the drill bit by about a 1/4 inch. That was the anwser I was looking for. So if I luck out and get the SPA gauges for fathers day it will be easier to install.

Thanks again for all the above info. I am stock and am looking for the post turbo temp for shut down reasons mainly. I rode in the "Red Rocket" (John's truck) and was surprised on now fast the temps climb. His truck is "slighty" BOMBed.

See Ya

Chris