Scangauge does, dunno about the rest.

 

Lets try that again
Can the DM-200 gauges, show codes thrown and reset them? They are pretty sweet. if pretty expensive.

 

The website indicates they can read codes as well as rest them
--dang those do look cool

 

Yeah, I'm saving up for the PLX system... but it's gonna be $$$$ to do all the things I want to do with it (OBD, EGT, Wideband O2, actual boost, maybe more temp probes for the intake). But it's really slick.

 

Might check this out for more info on them too. It compares the crazy expensive DM-200 OBD2 to the even more crazy expensive DashDAQ.

http://www.dashdaq.com/specs/plx.htm

also versus the Scangauge

http://www.dashdaq.com/specs/scangauge.htm

Personally I have the Scangauge at the moment. It works, but its appearance is definitely out of place in the Mini's interior.

I am looking to possibly upgrade to the PLX stuff at some point or adding some real gauges for boost and oil temperature/pressure.

 

Personally I really like my scangauge, where I have it it's pretty unobtrusive yet easily readable. If my car didn't have an oil pressure/temp gauge I'd probably want an aftermarket set of those. The PLXs look really cool but I think a scangauge and an aftermarket boost gauge are cheaper than just the OBD PLX display. I also want a wideband O2 sensor and EGT gauge eventually though.
As far as reading boost on the scangauge, it's not that difficult because you really don't read it. To determine boost from the MAP you subtract whatever atmospheric pressure is (which the scangauge reads when the car is on but the engine's not running, from whatever number it displays, this is usally about 14.5-14.7psi. The thing is, most of the time you won't even care how much boost you have, it's like a temp gauge, do you care that your engine is at 195 degrees or 200degrees? Not really, you care more that it's not outside of normal operating temps so the numbers the scangauge gives you aren't as important as the change in numbers (if that makes any sense). If you always see 26psi on the scangauge (around 11.5psi of boost) at 3500 rpms and one day you floor it and only see 22psi (around 7.5psi of boost) at the same RPM you know you probably have a problem.

 

You don't have your SG programmed to display boost instead of just MAP? I do...

 

How?

Anyway, I have my Scangauge mounted in the little recess right behind cupholders... it looks really good there, and the red screen matches the MINIs orange better than the orange on the Scangauge. Routed the wiring under the floormat, too, so you can't see any invasive wiring. Simple setup, and looks good.

Have gotten compliments by passengers and by security guards who do secondary inspections at my place of employment... it does look a bit out of place to me though... pictures in a bit.

 

I read the how-to that was on here a while ago, but just never programmed it. I swear I was going to but I just kept putting it off and then one day I realized, it really wasn't that important for the reasons I noted above. I'll get an actual boost gauge sometime down the road since a sweeping needle is even easier to notice changes in.
Scangauge programing thread: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...angaugeii.html

 

Hmmm, DashDAQ . . .

I could use it in place of my KUDA mounted GPS.

 

Here's my Scangauge!





It is by the toggle switches, I think it looks good there, and you can route the wiring under your floor mats, so it is not visible. I love it, very handy tool.

EDIT: That wire next to the steering column is my radar detector... not the ScanGauge. Anyway, I forgot to add that the Scangauge is still very visible from the driver's seat. I didn't think it would be, but it worked! Mounted with the included Velcro.

 

That looks really nice, Noegel! I've been considering the PLX gauges, but the cost is a bit much for this cheap bastid

I was also considering the Scangauge and was going to put it in exactly as you have - great minds think alike and all that! It's good to see a picture of it with the orange backlighting, I think it matches up pretty well with the Mini's dash lighting. Thanks for confirming my choice, now I'm off to find it for the "nice price"...

Good on ya!

 

Its because that how the computer process the information. Its how it takes real time (well what it was when the car was started) barometric pressure readings to alter fuel.


Yes, it is a better indication, especially on cold days.

Just because the coolant is warm, it does not mean the oil is warm as well.



The optimum setup would be both water and oil temp gauges, along with oil pressure, boost, EGT and wideband air/fuel ratio gauges.

Why not get a selection of analog gauges and a ScanGauge?

 

Huh? And that differs from the 1st gen cars HOW? I'm not following you - both have sensors that report absolute pressure... both have ECUs that interpret that... both feed MAP data upon request via OBD... the car shouldn't know or care that the ScanGauge is taking what is being reported as MAP and doing math on it and displaying it a different way... but for some reason, the 2nd gen car DOES....

 

Thanks for the compliment! It is actually the red backlighting... I have it set on Red 1 Blue 0 Green 0. The "orange" is a hideous pale orange... like a yellow orange... ew. But yeah, looks good!

I still must know how to convert the MAP to Actual Boost Levels. I'd have to check the average atmospheric readings of my area... I'm near the coast, but not on it, maybe fifty miles away... this is Texas Hill Country though. Elevation varies greatly.

 

Its probably just a quirk of the system.

Cars with MAP sensors, except the early ones that used standalone BARO sensors, need to calibrate at startup so the car has an idea of the atmospheric pressure at a given time.

Some of these cars do different things with this information. Some use this info merely to zero out the readings. If you have ever had the chance to get your hands on a real scan tool, like a Modis or Determinator, you will see that the computer usually has both readings listed, one that gives you an absolute pressure, and one that gives you a corrected reading based on the calibration.

I would just say the new computer likes using absolute. Theres no real reason it needs to see an adjusted reading.

The computer only knows what you tell it. All the computer cares is that there is some device requesting information from the system. It relays they proper info via the CAN-bus, and thats it. It doesnt act any differently because the ScanGauge is connected.

 

Just subtract 14.7 from the absolute reading to give you an approximate "gauge" reading.

 

I get all that.

So we're in agreement that neither of us has a clue why the ScanGauge has to display MAP at the same time as calculated boost on a 2nd Gen, but not a 1st gen.

 

All I can say is a quirk of the new CAN-bus design. Its just the way this computer displays it. Siemens did if for some reason. The don't do things for no reason.

 

That's only if you are at sea level... as in, driving on the beach. You can't do that if you live in, let's say, Colorado, or any inboard state. That's why they want actual boost levels, not atmospheric readings.

 

Its an easy rule of thumb to use. The variance is not a whole lot. Just check what the average is for your area and use that.

 

Yep, just use 14.7 psi as your baseline, and subtract off 0.25 psi for each 500 feet in altitude above sea level. If you do this, you'll never be more than half a percent off. (Of course, local weather changes will affect the atmospheric pressure as well, but I'm assuming you don't want to carry around a barometer in your car).

In fact, you can make the math even easier by using 14.75 as your baseline rather than 14.7, and I think the error is still under half a percent.

 

... and seeing as no one actually uses the boost reading to "adjust" anything they're doing in real time while driving... it just doesn't matter whether it's accurate or not. All that really matters is watching variance over time in the event that you're troubleshooting something (like a bad bypass valve, or looking at the effects of a new IC or meth injection on boost levels, etc.)

 

just to put more argument out there for an accurate boost gauge, not map gauge...

I can drive from sea level to approximately 4500 feet within an hour. I actually do that quite frequently, usually once a week to go snowboarding here in the winter...

 

So, subtract 2.25 from the MAP reading when at the top and 1.125 when half-way up.