What are the most important gauges to get????

[Rimcrew]

I also have added oil pressure to my CTS, with an alarm at 15 p.s.i. If I lose oil pressure, I should be able to shut it down before too much damage occurs.

 

[AH64ID]

Since you are not running a power adder or timing box a Boost and Pyro gauge is not really needed, the engine will run at what it does and that has been deemed safe.

A better add to the trans tmep would be fuel pressure(s). Since you have an 04.5 you might still have the filter mounted pump and that you want to monitor always, even a retro to the tank you should monitor as they don't always work as they should. I would add LP pressure and rail pressure to your 3 gauge set above the rear view. That will give you the the most useful set in a decent place to glance at them.

If an when you want to add power and more gauges, a 2 or 3 set module on the top of the dash is the optimal placement. You can add boost, pyro, and possibly a drive pressure gauge there to easily monitor important things right in the line of view of the road.

Whne you buy the gauges buy the optional lighting harness controller and use it to control the back lighting. The EV2 lighting does match dash illuminations correctly when tapping the dimmer supply. It will always be too bright unless you dim it down and flicker at lower settings.

The A pillar set is by far the WORST location to put gauges. The blind spot is already too large and by adding gauges makes it really bad. In addition having to refocus on the a pillar tends to take vision away form the road worse than any other location, they are almost too close to be usable. The dash and rear view location do not require as much refocus and you still have peripheral vision on them you loose at the a pillar.

Spot on!

You don't want a pyro on a stock tuned 04.5-07, it will just scare you into buying a programmer that you may or may not want. They were tuned for emissions and run high EGT's that most diesel owners cringe at, when in reality the cylinder temps are lower.


I would start with trans temp in the MOPAR SRT-10 A-Pillar. Then if you ever add a tuner you can add boost/pyro/fuel in the triple dash pod. If you wanted to go with 2 now I would get trans and fuel in the triple dash pod with a blank.

I have ran a non MOPAR a-pillar, triple overhead, double steering column, and now the triple dash and single a-pillar from MOPAR, with a singe pod down on the lower dash. Even with my retracting sun screen my current setup has a smaller blind spot than the standard double or triple a-pillar mount.

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[mwilson]

After looking at these dash pod photos I have a question.

Does the apparent blockage of a good third of the driver's side defroster duct affect the windshield during freezing rain or defrosting in general???

Not downing the set-up, just curious.

Mike.

 

[AH64ID]

The ducts are not covered at all. I haven't had an issue with the defrost and have had that setup since Nov of 2009.

 

[Jim W]

Yea but with my big hands I would have a hard time cleaning the inside of the window.

That's why I went to the A-pillar pod. The other problem with the pod behind the mirror is that is where my I-pass needs to be. Could not access the I-pass when I need to I move this between the truck and my wife’s car need to pay the tolls on the toll road. The Joy of living east of the Mississippi river.

 

[JJPage]

Yea but with my big hands I would have a hard time cleaning the inside of the window.

That's why I went to the A-pillar pod. The other problem with the pod behind the mirror is that is where my I-pass needs to be. Could not access the I-pass when I need to I move this between the truck and my wife’s car need to pay the tolls on the toll road. The Joy of living east of the Mississippi river.

Mine are set up just like yours, but have the boost and trans temp swapped, then I have a RP on the steering column. The pillar mount really hasn't been a blind spot problem, but might be if I ever hook any of them up. I just installed them so other diesel owners would believe my truck was souped up.

 

[Wingate]

A Westach combo gauge and a SRT-10 Mopar pillar yields a grab handle and boost/egt's. Mine's worked flawlessly since 10/06.

yep! same thing I have! flawless, looks factory, lets me see what the added fueling does for EGT when towing.

 

[Shadrach]

I find the dash pod a minor inconvenience when cleaning the inside of the windshield and unless you dim the dash lights at night there is a minor reflection in the windshield if you are outside the city. It does take a little bit longer to defrost the windshield, not because it blocks the defroster vents but because the air must go around the pod. Overall I like the dash pod best.

I do recomend however if you plan on installing gauges, if possible, do it before you do any performance mods. That way you will have a base line to go by. I also recommend using gauges with a 270* sweep, like most of the ones shown here. David

 

[jgillott]

I find the dash pod a minor inconvenience when cleaning the inside of the windshield and unless you dim the dash lights at night there is a minor reflection in the windshield if you are outside the city. It does take a little bit longer to defrost the windshield, not because it blocks the defroster vents but because the air must go around the pod. Overall I like the dash pod best.

I do recomend however if you plan on installing gauges, if possible, do it before you do any performance mods. That way you will have a base line to go by. I also recommend using gauges with a 270* sweep, like most of the ones shown here. David

I agree, cleaning behind it would be the only minor issue I can think of. No issue defrosting.

 

[AH64ID]

I have never thought of the dash pod as a pain for cleaning windows, at least no more of a pain than an overhead that didn't stick, and a a-pillar without a handle. I'm 6'4" and use it

A baseline for gauges is good on a pre 2004.5 motor, from then on it's not a baseline. If you run a tuned 2004.5 like a stock one, in terms of EGTs, you will melt something.

 

[JJPage]

Mine are set up just like yours, but have the boost and trans temp swapped, then I have a RP on the steering column. The pillar mount really hasn't been a blind spot problem, but might be if I ever hook any of them up. I just installed them so other diesel owners would believe my truck was souped up.

I cannot believe you folks let me say this without some kind of comment...:-laf. My gauges are definitely useable/connected.

 

[AH64ID]

I cannot believe you folks let me say this without some kind of comment...:-laf. My gauges are definitely useable/connected.

Haha, good one. I missed it compleaty.

 

[Mark31]

I cannot believe you folks let me say this without some kind of comment...:-laf. My gauges are definitely useable/connected.

Bossman, uz as good at shuckin and jivin as u is at renchin

 

[cerberusiam]

I cannot believe you folks let me say this without some kind of comment...:-laf. My gauges are definitely useable/connected.

Placebo gauges, not too uncommon.

'sides, I was waiting for the punch line. :-laf

 

[spin05]

A baseline for gauges is good on a pre 2004.5 motor, from then on it's not a baseline. If you run a tuned 2004.5 like a stock one, in terms of EGTs, you will melt something.

What does this statement mean?????? Got to remember im a virgin dodge cummins owner.........hahaha

 

[RoosterXP]

What does this statement mean?????? Got to remember im a virgin dodge cummins owner.........hahaha

When you start adding power (tuners and stuff) your EGT (exhaust gas temperature) will run hotter due to the increase in injection timing and fueling, especially crucial (if you bumped up your power) when towing to keep an eye on your gauges, EGT's tend to run hotter.
Also when you start adding power, this makes the turbo spin faster, ie more boost, and all other working parts of the truck are stressed a little more.

As for the gauges, I opted for the Edge CTS. I didnt want to hook this to that or have all kinds of wires going to other parts of the truck.. this baby just plugs into your OBDII port and walla. Although I did get the EGT probe, but it still looks "unmessy" under the hood!
I use the Trans temp, Engine Coolant temp (ECT) Exhaust temp (EGTE) Fuel Rail pressure FPR and Boost. there are about 20 more you can choose from as well!

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[AH64ID]

What does this statement mean?????? Got to remember im a virgin dodge cummins owner.........hahaha

Starting in 2004.5 the emissions got stringent enough that the truck was tuned with emissions in mind, not how Cummins would have made 325hp without the EPA.

In a nutshell Cummins was able to meet Jan 1, 2004 emissions by a mixture of hardware and tuning. The tuning reduces cylinder pressure, which forms NOx. The reduced cylinder pressure comes from reduced timing, the reduced timing means that the EGT's are hotter but the cylinder temps and pressures are lower, the increased EGT's also helps the catalytic converter function.

A bone stock 2004.5-2007 truck has no problem hitting 1450° EGT's and holding them while towing. If you were to load up a tune on your truck and run 1450° while towing there is a good chance you would melt a piston. This is becuase the good tunes for the 2004.5-2007 trucks correct the retarded timing profile, by advancing it. Advanced timing leads to increased cylinder pressure, increased cylinder temperature, more hp per gallon burned, better economy, and lower EGT's. So a properly timed truck at 1450° is putting a LOT more heat into the piston than a stock timed truck at 1450°.

So gauges on a stock 2004.5-2007 doesn't give you a baseline, or show you temps that are safe to run with a tuned truck. If you fully understand this, or don't plan to tune the truck then fine but realize you will be above the max safe value quite often, because people refer to pre 2004.5 max temps as the max safe values.

When you start adding power (tuners and stuff) your EGT (exhaust gas temperature) will run hotter due to the increase in injection timing and fueling, especially crucial (if you bumped up your power) when towing to keep an eye on your gauges, EGT's tend to run hotter.
Also when you start adding power, this makes the turbo spin faster, ie more boost, and all other working parts of the truck are stressed a little more.

As stated above an increase in timing generally leads to lower EGT's (until we get into effects on spool, and other custom tuning issues.. let's not go there, yet...).

Any truck from 2004.5-2012 (too little known about 2013+, but I gather they run more timing stock with SCR) that runs a tune with advanced timing will see lower EGT's for the same amount of fuel. The stock timing is SO low, that you send a lot of heat out the exhaust, instead of into the piston on the powerstroke.

On stock fueling and timing alone a 2004.5-2007 truck can pick up about 40hp/100ft/lbs at the rear wheels and drop EGT's by about 200°, more or less depending on elevation. That is 100% stock fuel, nothing added but timing.

Peak boost can also go down for the same fuel with increased timing, because the heat is used to make hp and not wasted in the exhaust that drives the turbo harder.

The 2007.5-2012 6.7's are the same, but I don't know the exact numbers.

In 96-98 stock timing peaked at about 14°. In 2004.5 stock timing peaked at around 6° (the full table goes to 9.1° peak, but the fueling/timing table goes higher than commanded). Timing in used areas of the map goes as low as -9.5°, and WOT at 2,000 rpms (towing) is around -6.5°, that makes for a late, high EGT burn, with lower efficiency. On stock injectors and full stock stock fueling timing is better peaking around 18°, increased power, economy and decreased EGT's.

You have deletes, if you are running hotter with deletes than you were without them then you are running too hot.

 

[RoosterXP]

You have deletes, if you are running hotter with deletes than you were without them then you are running too hot.

Before I did the deletes i could hit 1350 easy..without hauling! now even when i pull my boat i have only seen 1150 on the pyro..

 

[AH64ID]

Before I did the deletes i could hit 1350 easy..without hauling! now even when i pull my boat i have only seen 1150 on the pyro..

Sounds about right, a lot of that is the advanced timing. Regen while towing could have taken you a bit hotter still.

 

[Shadrach]

A baseline for gauges is good on a pre 2004.5 motor, from then on it's not a baseline. If you run a tuned 2004.5 like a stock one, in terms of EGTs, you will melt something.

I agree with your statement in post # 37.Good explanation. I am used to older engines. I still prefer my 03 I have seen many guys melt pistons because they added a "chip". It's good for parts sales. David