Boost Gauge Installation need help

[JSteward]

I don't know how many others viewing this site are in my shoes, but I am very new to diesels. In fact, I don't have much experience with gas engines either. But I do have common sense which I hope will help me with this project. Here's my dielema:

I need to install my boost gauge. I know it needs to go into the "intake manifold inlet." I don't know where that is. Is there any pictures that anyone knows of that can show me where this is on my truck? Also, I've read that it needs to be installed between the I/C and the plenum, but I don't know what that is. I haven't found any pictures of these on my truck.

Thank you for ANY help you guys can offer me.

[Robyn]

You can remove the air top hat ( aluminum unit that bolts to the very top of the intake) drill and tap a nice hole in the top hat that will accept 1/8th pipe thread and then reassemble the top hat. You may need a new gasket or two.
This will make things nice a clean and you wont be messing with any of the electronic sensors.
*****Dont drill and tap with the top hat on the engine*****
Hope this helps
Robyn

[Hubert]

JSteward,

I'd suggest you buy the diesel page reference book on the 6.2/6.5, and a Haynes diesel book. Neither are very expensive. The diesel page book is written for the avg joe and easy to understand and has really good technical info and tips. The Haynes manual is good for pictures and skimming through. Not the best book but OK and will educate you on terms and such.

Then if you want to turn wrenches get an Alldata subscription and a factory manual printed by Helm Inc. Then with this website you could research almost anything you ever wanted to know about the 6.5.

[lfytsmith]

I have recently installed EGT and Boost gauges in my '94 6.5TD. I bought the service manual from SSDIESELSUPPLY.com. I would highly recommend though that you go to John Kennedy's web site kennedydiesel.com and look under tech tips. The picture for air intake modifications shows the boost gauge nipple on the left side of the intake plenum. I drilled and tapped mine on the truck but I had removed the turbo and airbox to drill the EGT hole in the exhaust manifold. The other thing you may look at is the upper intake modification on Kennedy's site. While you have the thing off it may be worth your time. Good luck with your project.

[JSteward]

JSteward,

I'd suggest you buy the diesel page reference book on the 6.2/6.5, and a Haynes diesel book. Neither are very expensive. The diesel page book is written for the avg joe and easy to understand and has really good technical info and tips.


I already bought the 6.5L reference book from the diesel page. I also bought the 6.5L repair booklet and Q&A disk set. Of all this, guage installation was barely mentioned and the only reference in these I could find was an article by Gale Banks Instrumentation (P1), but there was not much detail in where to tap and all the pictures in these books are of very poor quality. You can tell it is a picture of an engine, but the resolution is so low, the picture is too blurred to make heads or tails of anything.

I'll check out the Haynes manual and the ssdieselsupply manual. Kennedy's info about putting the sensor near the phlenum sounds interesting; as soon as I figure out what it looks like and where it is, I'll probably do that.

...I didn't know installing these gauges would be such a big deal! I feel like a high school drop out in the presence of Ph.d's of Mechanical Engineering.

[Hubert]

Well I went to look at the ssdieselsupply book (just in case it was another good reference book for me too) and its the official shop manual published by Helm inc I referred too. Quite pricey; I would not suggest buying it until after the other 2 books and kind of know your way around and terms. The Haynes manual the pics are not that great either but its a reasonable purchase.

The helm book is the official shop manual and has info on the whole truck and for info on gassers too. My biggest complaint about it is its sometimes hard to find stuff in it its so big and the index is limited. It assumes you have access to the special GM tools.

[DmaxMaverick]

You may not find much info or diagrams on boost gage install because it is very simple and straight forward. The goal is simple. Connect the gage to a boost source. Period. How or where you get it there is not critical. If you have specific questions, you'll do best asking them here. The "intake manifold inlet" is anywhere between the plenum and the turbo. The instructions are generic because it just doesn't matter. If you have an intercooler, it will be slightly different, but still doesn't matter. Robyn's advice is simple, complete, and a prefered route for your application. If you had a Powerstroke or Cummins, it wouldn't be the same, but the instructions would be. All you need is a 1/8" NPT tapped hole somewhere in the intake between the turbo and plenum.

As far as documentation goes, you can't do better than www.alldatadiy.com . They offer the same "book" the dealer uses (Helm), plus all the TSB's and recalls, at a much reduced price. It has a searchable database, so you won't get lost in the index.

Stay away from the Haynes or other knock-off manuals. They'll create more confusion than they cure.

[jspringator]

The EASIEST thing to do is get a brass T and mount it in the sensor hole on the top of the intake manifold (or whatever that big flat thing on the top of the engine is called), and mount the existing sensor on one side, and the guage sensor on the other. Works for me.

[Shikaroka]

The EASIEST thing to do is get a brass T and mount it in the sensor hole on the top of the intake manifold (or whatever that big flat thing on the top of the engine is called), and mount the existing sensor on one side, and the guage sensor on the other. Works for me.

Yeh, that's what I did.
I can try to get a picture today.
It cost me about $12 at my local hardware store for the adapters and I didn't have to drill a thing.

[JSteward]

Excellent!!

[Shikaroka]

Sorry for the delay.
Here is a picture of my setup. (first time posting a pic, hope it works)
If you need help finding the adapters, I can probably put one together for you. My dad works at the hardware store I got all the pieces at.

http://www.thedieselpageforums.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Boost_T_1.jpg

http://www.thedieselpageforums.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Boost_T_2.jpg

[JohnC]

I hate to do this to you, but that's the air intake temperature sensor, not the boost sensor, and it won't work nearly as well up there in that "T" as in the manifold. The boost sensor is the flat black gizmo next to it, but it mounts in a cavity with an O-ring seal, not easy to duplicate at the hardware store.

[john8662]

John's right!

The Air Intake Temp (AIT) sensor won't be as functional on a T as it would in the direct airstream of the compressed air off the turbo. The AIT sensor has a cage/orifice on it to direct airflow into it.

Still looks cool though for what it's worth :cool:

J

[JSteward]

John's right!

The Air Intake Temp (AIT) sensor won't be as functional on a T as it would in the direct airstream of the compressed air off the turbo. The AIT sensor has a cage/orifice on it to direct airflow into it.

Still looks cool though for what it's worth :cool:

J


That adapter looks exactly like the one I built. I finished the project a few days ago. Thanks for the pic.

What happens if the air intake sensor doesn't work properly now?

Thanks

[Shikaroka]

I have seen and heard of many others doing what I did, and it was the quickest and easiest route.

I never called the air temp sensor a boost sensor, I know exactly what it does. I don't think the T will affect it's effectiveness much, if anything it may make it read a little low which could be a good thing.

As I've stated (maybe in another thread), this is a temporary solution. I was wanting to check my boost quickly. I did not have a pipe thread tap yet and I did not want to pull of the intake. I am also considering the marine intake so that I can run an intercooler, so I didn't want to go through the trouble of pulling it off and tapping it yet.

[jspringator]

What happens if the air intake sensor doesn't work properly now?


It won't cut fuel when intake air temps get high. If you have a EGT gage you can just let off the gas when they start to edge up. I always thought of IAT as an indirect way of monitoing EGT's.