A friend of mine running a 125 shot on a stock LS-1 '01 camaro got an auto meter phantom a/f ratio gauge and ever since he installed it, it hasn't worked right......it always registers lean, if it registers at all. I know its hooked up right, I helped him, and we double checked everything. Most of the time its says its so lean it doesn't even register....anybody else have this problem with autometer. He said he could send it in for recalibration or something but is too lazy to do it. Is there any others that anyone can recommend. I want my nitrous install to be as safe for my car as I can make it. I bought the kit about a month ago, but haven't installed it yet....I'm going with TR6 plugs, new plug wires, FPSS, possibly a gauge for fuel pressure inside the car(I think the electric senders are like $200). Any other things anyone can recommend for safety? My motor has 40K on it and some bolt-ons.....stock internals. Should I do some timing retard?? BTW, my kit is the new wet EFI kit, I think its "Gen 2 or X or something...). I've been going through N20 tech, but any further pointers from you veteran sprayers out there would be greatly appreciated....I saw the pics of the guy that had the fire acouple days ago from the nitrous backfire, and I almost shat myself(not really), but damn! That got me thinkin.....

if they gauage doesn't go all the way up and all the way down when he is not wot it is broken. if he is at idle it should go from lean to rich and keep doing that. double check how you spliced intot he wires and make sure your on the right wires if not the gauge is dead.

are u sure its not really running lean.....

i would make sure.....i have one and mine works fine

what? if the gauge just sits at lean then it isn't working only times the gauge works is at wot. but you must know that since you posted.

dont know what u mean by that.....

but at idle and not at wot it just goes wherever and then at wot it regiters and should stay at one spot and get really steady

correct and he stated in the first post it always stays lean so why woul dyou say maybe it is running lean if you know it goes all over at idle?

I don't know, I think his gauge is just messed up. Anyways, I just mainly want to know if these things are USUALLY an accurate and worthwhile precautionary measure to help me not grenade my motor. I know theres no guarantee that won't happen, but isn't running lean one of the big causes of detonation??? along with excessive heat, and advanced timing..etc.etc....

no they are not that accurate to rely on get a acual a/f gauge with wide band o2's if that is a worry of yours. I would just suggest you dyno tune it and make sure it is running withing a good a/f ratio after that it is very unlikely to have a problem.

Thanks for the help......I appreciate it.

anybody else have any opinions or pointers????

you could also use a gauge like this wich is alot more accurate. http://www.speedshop.org/store/scrip...p?idproduct=15

that gauge may be more accurate but the o2's can still be outa whack.

Just because they add a decimal point and three numbers doesn't make it accurate. It is still hampered by the very real limitations of the stock, narrow-band O2 sensors. They just aren't intended to be accurate at anything other than 14.7:1.

As far as the seemingly faulty AutoMeter gauge, why not just put a scanner on the PCM and see what the source O2 sensor is reading. If the sensor is "working" and the gauge isn't, then either the wiring is faulty or the gauge is broken. You could also check the voltage in the wire to the AutoMeter gauge to see if you are getting the correct voltage signal from your wiring job. You need to use a very high impedance solid state meter, to avoid damaging the O2 sensor, and you have to recognize the voltage you measure this way may be a couple 100mV lower than the reading the PCM would see... but at least it would tell you if you are getting any signal at all to the gauge.

Thanks for all the help.

get a scanmaster

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/fbody/scan28.JPG