What are normal exhaust gas temperatures?

[sloanxx]

I have a Banks system and sometimes on a longer grade Sepulveda Pass (LA) the temp will get up to 800*. Is that normal or high or? Also how accurate are the Banks gauges, I read that there could be up to a 100* variance with them. Thanks.

 

[me4osu]

Where's the probe?

Is your thermocouple pre-turbine or post? By the looks of the temp. it's probably post.

 

[csutton7]

you got no probs with your EGT's... . chris

 

[TomGolden]

You can see what I have done to my truck in my sig below. So if you are stock, you likely won't have quite the same readings under identical conditions to my truck, or to any other BOMBed truck. Driving on city streets at say 35 - 45 MPH, on flat ground, I usually hold about 400 - 500*. Going up slight hills, it may get as high as 700* - 800* if I'm trying to stay at 40+ MPH. Going down the freeway, crusing steady at 70+ MPH on the flat ground, I can see anywhere from 500 - 600*, depending on ambient air temps (summer, or winter)... Lets say I was climbing the Grapevine heading North on #5 to Bakersfield (I'm figuring you're at least somewhat familiar with that stretch of road since you're from the L. A. area it sounds like) and I wanted to hold 70 MPH, 800 - 900* would be normal.



Now, as someone else already asked, the readings GREATLY depend on the placement of your pyro probe. It can either be pre or post turbo. Meaning is it in between the engine head and the turbo (this is pre-turbo), or between the turbo and the end of your exhaust pipe (post-turbo). It is generally agreed that the more accurate and better choice is pre-turbo, since the idea of the pyro (or EGT) gauge in the first place is to see what the temperatures are inside your cylinders where all that aluminum is (pistons). It has been guesstimated here that there is generally a 300* temp difference between a pre and a post-turbo pyro probe. Some guys even have one of each... .



Old timers and many others will tell you to never go past 1250* (PRE-turbo) since that's dangerously close to the melting point of aluminum. You will also see many members here, especially those of us who drag race, and those who sled pull, who claim they see temps as high as 1700*+!! Keep in mind that those temps exist only momentarily! For a few seconds usually. I also remember several months ago where someone on the TDR claimed that Cummins themselves had tested an ISB (that's our model engine) at 1500* for a steady 20 minutes without having any permanent damage to the engine.



I have no personal experience with any Banks products, but I'm sure they are fine products. After you have driven the truck "enough" miles, you'll develop your own sense of what temps you should normally see under most any driving conditions, and then you'll be able to spot any significant variations when looking at your gauges. I recently had a problem where my pyro became severly erratic, and then just went totally dead. I eventually found the probe was loose in the exhaust manifold. I tightened it up, and it has been fine ever since.



One final piece of advice... . if you ever think about adding a significant fueling enhancement of any type - i. e. larger injectors or a fueling box, also consider a larger turbo. A turbo in and of itself doesn't buy you very much HP compared to a fueling enhancement, maybe 30 HP compared to say 100 HP. But, with a heavy fueling enhancement, you will quickly encounter severe EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) problems that will thereby limit how much you can push the engine in taking advantage of that fueling enhancement. The larger turbo's benefit then comes in by significantly increasing the amount of air in the cylinder's air/fuel mixture, thereby allowing more of that extra fuel to properly burn, resulting in cooler EGT's, and a slight increase in HP.



Hope I've answered the question



Tom

 

[Waterpete]

Sloan,

I think your temperatures are just fine, whether pre or post turbo. I personally try to stay under 1300 continuosly and 1600 momentarilly, pre-turbo.

I only see about 110 degrees difference between pre and post turbo when driving at a steady speed. I have even reversed the two thermocouples to verify their accuracy.

I have recently been wondering which type of thermocouples most people have been using. I have used Isspro's in the past and still have one on cyclinders 123. I also have an Isspro post turbo. I have recently switched to a thermocouple that Mark Chapple uses for his TST power max Comp on cyclinders 456 in conjunction with the automatic temperature power cutback. I see a tremendous difference in the response time between the two types but they both seem to settle out to about the same temp, if given enough time.

For example: when I am seeing 1300 on Marks thermocouple, I am seeing only about 900 on the Isspro. Seems that the Isspro takes some time to register on their meter. This is all happening so fast I can't get exact measurements.

Which thermocouple are you using. All this info is just to give you something to think about in the area of Pyro's.

Pete