HELP!-Exhaust Gas Analyzer

HELP!,

IS THERE ANY ONE IN MY AREA THAT HAS A "Exhaust Gas Analyzer", SO I CAN TUNE MY 87 TR CORRECTLY?

BORROW, RENT, LOAN, PITCH IN AND HELP TUNE IT UP?

CLEARWATER, FL

 

If you don't have any luck borrowing one, they are just $199 to buy new: http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/innovate-digital-wideband-controller-with-sensor-p-41.html

 

That will not provide the needed information.

What is needed is a 4 gas analyzer.

 

WHAT I HAVE SEEN IS THIS LOW COST UNIT, SEEMS TO BE WHAT I NEED.

BUT HOW MANY MORE TIMES WILL I USE IT?

SO WITH SOME LUCK, SOME KIND INDIVIDUAL WILL HELP OUT!

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&productId=200318179&R=200318179

 

Ah, of course. Different type of tuning for emissions rather than performance, then, I guess.

 

Exactly, these cheap units that only measure CO are often very inaccurate, if you bump them they will change their readings, CO is not that usfull in itself as the poster needs a 4 gas analyzer that measures the most important reading HCs which is unburned fuel.

Look around you can find old smog machines cheap that are outdated for smog certifications but make sure they work as parts are outrageous for them and the techs charge upwards of $150 an hour to service them

 

That measures CO only. It is like a doctor doing an exam and measuring your weight without checking temp, blood pressure, and pulse rate.

To little information to be of any use.

With all the money saved by doing it yourself you can afford to buy a 4 gas off Ebay and having it calibrated.

 

SEEMS AS IF THERE SHOULD BE SOMETHING YOU COULD PLUG INTO YOUR EXISTING O2 SENSORS.........................I MEAN, THERE ALREADY READING THE EXHAUST GAS...............CORRECT?

MAKES SOME KIND OF SENSE............IN LAYMENS TERMS.

 

Low emissions = complete burning of fuel = best performance.

 

All o2 sensors are reading is oxygen. The system assumes everything else is in order. Putting it in order is your job and for that you need a 4 gas.

 

I purchased a 4 gas Sun MGA smog analyzer for tuning the cabs on my BB as each cylinder has a test port in the exhaust so I could tune each cylinder,

Bought for around $500, when the unit starts up it does a calibration test on itself and every 15 minutes, also has a major calibration test procedure using calibration gas, has all the bells and whistles such as RPM readings and so forth

 

I also bought an older but excellent Sun 4-gas analyzer off ebay. The machine had very little use, and came with extra filters, hoses, and other fittings. It weighs a lot and shipping was very expensive. I think my total cost (including shippint) was around $950 to my front door all the way from Washington state.

I have tried to adjust the fuel mixture on TRs many times using cheapie meters, wide band 02's...and crap like that - WITHOUT SUCCESS. As soon as I used the 4-gas unit I noticed an immediate improvement in idle and driveability. I'm no expert or anything, just an enthusiast with shallow pockets. But the 4-gas analyzer is one of the best tools I've ever bought. It won't take long for the unit to pay for itself.

It is a delicate dance to get both banks truly balanced for mixture, idle air-bypass, and vacuum. But once things are set they seem to stay that way. The richness adjustment is VERY sensitive, and you should try adjust towards to rich direction until things are optimum.

Again, I'm just a regular guy - no mechanic or anything. So with open arms I invite Rifledriver (one of my fchat hero's) to expound on the unwashed masses some more of his vast knowledge and wisdom on this subject.

 

CARGUY,

$950.00, COULD YOU NOT HAVE A SHOP ADJUST EVERYTHING FOR LESS THEN THAT?

UNLESS YOU CONTINUE TO USE IT ON OTHER VEHICLES, I GUESS IT WOULD NOT BE USED TO MUCH.

MAYBE OPEN UP YOUR OWN INSPECTION STATION, HAHA

 

If it's just to check if it will pass emissions then the $50-100 ebay one will probably do.

Dave

 

Did you even read the thread?

 

"chuckle................................."

 

I need it to adjust my CO levels, from what I understand is the correct way to set up your base fuel mixture.

 

I thought of getting one of the gas analyzers but in order to do it correctly you need to tap into each separate exhaust port...right?? If you use the thing that goes into the exhaust pipes at the back of the car you get a mix of gases from several cylinders. Also the front bank on a 308 would be almost impossible to access. Please clarify or expand on this reasoning.

 

My car is a 87 Testarossa, each bank is independent of each other, two fuel injection systems, two distributers, kind of like two 6 cylinders working at the same time, you can set each bank independent of the oher, when they are both on, it runs well, if they are both set wacked out from a previous tinkerer, it runs horrible. The only way to get them close is by the use of a co sniffer. Measuring each bank and adjusting as needed, then go back and set your idle and air bypass, and start the process over again until you have everything working together.

I think in your situation you need to set it up like a motorcycle with 4 carbs, by the means of a synchronizer, to balance all cylinders and then sniff the pipes to get them within specs.

 

It's been a pet peeve of mine since the '70s that you can get specialty tools from Sears or any mail order company to compress coil springs or struts, or test your alternator, or read your temperature-variable tire pressure to four decimal places, but the minimum two gas EGA that's been needed for a basic tune-up on injected cars has never been available to the public at an affordable price.

A few relatively low cost units have appeared, but then quickly vanish.

Part of this is that EGAs require a lot of calibration and maintenance to operate, using the chemical analysis mechanism that they've used for decades. But there's no economy of scale -- the prices keep going up, despite a larger market among shops and state inspection stations.

And then there are the stories about states finding that their inspection stations have been improperly failing cars for emissions, because the inspection analyzers weren't calibrated.

I think part of the issue may be what would happen when the home EGA says it passes, but the state EGA says it doesn't.

When you buy a second-hand, out of date model off e/bay, the issue doesn't arise: the old unit is presumed to be the one in error.

Is it paranoia, if they're out to get everybody?

 

Ferrari motors since the Daytona have provided the ability to test each cylinder individually if needed. The need has only existed on carburated cars for tuning. On the injected cars it is only used for diagnostic purposes.

 

Due to the advancement of technology calibration is not as big an issue as it once was. The O2 sensors in the 4 gas units only last about a year so I have my machine calibrated once a year and it is not very expensive. My machine is not used for smog purposes, only tuning and diagnostic so there is no legal need to do it.

 

Yep, a 4 gas analyzer is very valuable for knowing where you are prior to hitting the rollers for inspection........

That $950 one time cost seems reasonable to me......

It's got blinky lights, charts and graphs, prints out a little paper!
MAGIC!

 

If your state uses a dyno an anayzer is useless for a pretest.