SPA Guage Problems???

[JR2]

I was just curious as to how many of you that have SPA guages have had problems with them By problems I mean failures of sensors, failures of LCDs etc...



Please respond to the poll and then give details and how you resolved the problems.

 

[JR2]

Now that I got the poll started and I voted I can explain my problems. My boost sensor failed (giving erratic readings) about two weeks ago and I have returned it to SPA to have it checked and hopefully replaced.

Now today while driving across town the EGT protion of my guage just sort of locked up. It was giving a reading but it would not change much or as fast as it should and the values where wrong for for the driving conditions. I got home and started checking and found that one of the two wires in little yellow connector on top of the thermocouple is broken off the thermocouple. So I have sent SPA an email about this too.

 

[LSMITH]

I voted for other problem, and it really was not a problem but I am trying to be as honest as possible with the selections available. My boost guage was acting up going from -33 to 66 PSI and back and forth, all over the map. It was the din connector on the pressure transducer not getting good contact with the pins. I spread the pins a tiny bit and coated the face of the din connector with dielectric grease. It started in the super humid fall weather we had last year, and took me about 30 seconds to diagnose. About 3 minutes of repair time and I was all set. I have had zero issues other than that in about 60K miles that I have had it. I absolutely LOVE my SPA.

 

[willyslover]

JR2. . I bent my thermo couple a bit to clear the stuff in there... the bend caused a short in the stem of the thermo couple about 1 year later [read out was not lowering after temp and very slow then didn't drop at all]... thanks to a member [he is not in the replacement part business so would rather not say who] had a replacement thermocouple. . replaced it and Zero problems since. . that was about 3 months ago... I'm told that you need to be very careful how much the bend is do to the small stem v/s interior insulation on the wires there. I

I didn't vote as I think they are the very best out there and will be adding more soon

 

[Ted Constantine]

I lost both the thermocouple and the pressure sensor. The thermo went with in a couple months of the gauge install. I was sent a new thermo couple by DIS no questions asked. the pressure senor went this fall. This I can understand because they just noticed that the plugs on the back of the sensor could not handle the vibrations of our engines. I guess that is something that only time would tell and an issue with retro fitting the gauges from racing apprications. SPA sent me the new boost sensor and i have to send the busted one back but have not yet. BTW the new one has no plug, I just spliced it in and the new gauges have a different plug down the lead rather than the senor mounted version.



Ted



Boost went +/- 120 or so

EGT leveled at 300

 

[rubberneck]

no problems what so ever, love em, love em, love em

 

[Steve G]

I've only had a boost sensor fail. Sent it back to SPA and they replaced it and have had no other problems.



Steve

 

[barryg41]

I had the exact same problem as LSMITH. Did the same thing to fix it also. I also had an erractic thermocouple at my auto trans. I did the same thing as I did with the pressure transducer and all was fixed.



I am HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY Oo. Oo. Oo.

 

[Berserker]

Problem w/Trans temp-Diff temp gauge

I'm having a problem with my trans temp/Diff temp gauge right now. My boost/EGT gauge works just fine.



Sometime I turn on my truck and that gauge doesn't even come on. Sometimes it comes on while I am driving or doesn't come on at all. Once, yesterday, I turned on my truck, the gauge came on 2 minutes later and the little battery logo came up flashing. I don't have any power problems. That little battery light flashed the whole trip.



I checked the power wiring and everything looks good. Both gauges share the same negative and positive connections. I'm wondering if I just got a bad gauge.



On another note. I really want to find a pressure/pressure gauge. I would like to have pre and post fuel filter pressures.

 

[Fred Swanson]

When I initially put my trans temp/pressure gauge in, the sending unit for the temp was bad. I've had 3 of the small thermocouples go bad on the EGT/Boost setup, due to vibration and bending.



None of my pressure gauges have experienced any problems.



I'm more than happy with these gauges.

 

[csutton7]

two bad fuel pressure/oil temp displays(the replacemement for the original bad one lasted 4 months)



bad fuel pressure sender



boost guage does the LSmith thing once in awhile--so Brandon and I figured it was the connection--need to get some di grease and check it out--



I do think these guages are awesome---



I need to call DIS..... chris

 

[Sled Puller]

Originally posted by csutton7





boost guage does the LSmith thing once in awhile--so Brandon and I figured it was the connection--need to get some di grease and check it out--



I

Ditto on that, have not fixed it yet.

A little disgruntled that a $300+ guage needs "fixed" to work properly.

Gene

 

[csutton7]

Sled Puller--yes-yes-yes---the guages are great, but should last longer than that--I know some have, but mine have not... . chris

 

[RADdodge]

Might Be, Might Not Be...

I have a Fuel Pressure/Oil Temp gauge. I see two problems that I don't know to be the gauge's problem, but I'm not sure and haven't figured it out yet.



1) The Fuel Pressure negative (minus) sign keeps flashing. I have a hard time believing the pressure is going from 16 to -16 and back. It usually is the same value, just the negative sign flashes occasionally. I thought it might be a grounding issue on the sensor, so I ran a separate ground to the sensor. I think there was about 4-6 ohms between the sensor and ground. Now there is about 0. 6 ohms. Maybe still too much? I've swapped the sensor and gauge with the same result. Still searching for the answer.



2) The other thing that I've noticed, at night with the backlight nice and visible, at times seems to fluctuate and lower in intensity, like something in the truck is turning on and causing interference and lower voltage to the gauge. This will last for a minute or several minutes at a time. The gauge doesn't show the low voltage sign. I've tried different circuits. A different gauge. A different sensor. I guess I'll probably have to live with this one for awhile. Don't have a clue at the moment. I can't say that it's a problem with the gauge yet either. TBD, TBC, etc.

 

[JohnMcIntyre]

Both my pre- and post -turbo thermocouples failed within days of each other (after ~10k miles), but HVAC and SPA replaced them under warranty with no hassles. Since then, the temp. sensors on the rear diff and transmission pan have also failed (after ~20k miles) over the space of almost a year, with regular winter temps down to -12 degrees C and some European summer high temps upto +25 degrees C



In the latter case, the fault was located not with the sensors themselves, but the "head/plug cap" unit which interfaces the gauge signal wiring to the sensor body mounting. The replacement units have a much chunkier appearance and should be more than capable of withstanding normal wear and tear/vibes from the CTD and the road conditions. Again the guys at SPA (UK head office on this occasion) exchanged the faulty ones with no questions - took my word for it over the telephone, didn't even see the faulty units. )



In summary, apart from these glitches, I am still very happy with my Mk. 1 SPA gauges set-up. The product set is evolving and my own personal experience shows that they are listening and continuously improving upon the original design - Mk. 2s now have adjustable back-lighting but I am happy with the Mk. 1s in this respect.



Despite these few problems, I would still recommend them to other TDR members. Their customer care policy cannot be faulted!

Hope this helps!

 

[Snow man]

My boost/EGT guage acted up,exactly like JR2's did,first the boost was going nuts,still is,i think its the connection at the sensor. then last week the EGT was reading real high,and locking up,then it went to 1486 and styed there,with the red light glowing. I checked all connections,all good. If i pull off the trandsuder? the little square box,under my dash,the rading drops to 32-as sso as i plug it in,even with the yell ow EGT wires unhooked it climbs to 1486-so i think the square box is bad,SPA hasnt returned my E-mail in over 2 weeks now,and im toiwng a 6 place snowmobile trailer 7 hrs next week,id sure like to have a working EGT guage with my DD3's,and all that weight. I ll post the ifx when i get it fixed. I love these guages other than that.

 

[Ted Constantine]

Hey Snowman,

if you are getting no joy from the email route call Ron Mathis at SPA. 317 271 7941 He was great in dealing with my bad connector on my boost sensor.



Doews anyone know when the new gauges are going to be in general circulation??



Ted

 

[Snow man]

Thanks TEd,will do,I was just out checking the connection the boost sender,it looks good,i bent the pronds slightly,and then put dielectric compound on them,ll see if it stil acts up when i go out in an hr.

 

[JR2]

I don't know for sure but I think there is a new guy at SPA in the US. I sent Ron an email and got a reply from Partick Lynch. He handled my problems and I am geting a new boost sensor and thermocouple. His email is -- email address removed --

 

[TxDieselKid]

SPA, ON THE WAY....

I hope they have these problems fixed with the DG211 that's on the way to the house.



Andrew