Hey guys, thought I would share my new Ultragauge. Seems like a great product. Bought it so I could monitor temperature, voltage, etc.... Has lots of features and only cost about 70 bucks. Anybody else use this and whats your experience. Setup was pretty straight forward and gauge selection wasn't too difficult.

 

Have you left it overnight yet? I have had my comfort access not work and I have to reset the time. Just wondering if it's just mine.

 

I mounted mine next to the tacho with a custom mount made from plumbers putty. It's pretty much perfect.

 

Had a engine failure light come on today. Turned car off and restarted and the light Did not illuminate. Hmmmm, could it be the Ultragauge?

 

Fixed the problem with the instruction manual. What a great little gauge.

 

Do you find it annoying that the Ultragauge control buttons are on the back side?
This seems to make setting its configuration a two-handed operation, unlike the Scangauge, which is controlled from the front.

 

No. I have it set like I want it now. I did it in the garage and it was pretty user friendly. Wouldn't try changing it driving down the road.

 

your mount is sweet... Nice job...

 

So besides the lower cost (which is always a nice "feature") what made you pick this over the Scangauge? I'm curious as I have the Scangauge on my wishlist but the Ultragauge seems a little (ok, a LOT) more user friendly. What gauges do you have it programmed to display? For the price, I guess I'll just buy it and check it out for myself. I'm so glad you posted this as I have never heard of it until now.

 

With my Scangauge (on a VW Jetta) I reset the fuel consumption when filling the gas tank, and sometimes I use the extra trip odometer. Other settings remain constant for months at a time.

Thinking about moving the Scangauge to the MINI Clubman.

 

Thanks!

So No one else havin problems with needing to reset the clock after being left plugged in over night? What was the problem that was sorted out by reading the manual???

 

I'm using Coolant temp, Intake Air temp, Voltage, Timing, Engine load, and MAP. Would have liked to have Oil temp and Oil pressure, but no go unfortunately.

 

I had to configure it to not scan at startup because it was setting of a check engine light. Page 32 of the manual I think.

The reason I purchased this over the scan Gauge was cosmetic and price. Scangauge is ugly IMHO.

 

I'm still sorting things out on my Ultragauge, and I noticed my clock being wrong, but the bigger issue is possible battery drain. I didn't use our 2 week old MINI S for a couple days after installing the Ultragauge, and found the battery totally dead this afternoon, had to charge it a while, and then jump start it. Any chance the Ultragauge caused an excessive current draw?

 

Yes, I am also having some issues. I have an open email with a tech and we are working on a few issues. Here is the one for the battery drain.

Date: 04-06-2011 12:42:07
Name: UltraGauge
Message:

If you check your owners manual, you will find that the Cooper warns that there may be battery drain if short trips are made.
We have done some investigating and found that the Coopers electrical systems stays active and draingin for more than a minute after the ignition is switched off. Hence the battery drain. To ensure that UG does not add to this, set the "Power on Detect delay" to 200 seconds.
See page 35 of the user manual

Regarding the check engine light, have you accessed the trouble codes to determine why the light is on?

Best regards,

UltraGauge Support
http://www.ultra-gauge.com
Support is available Monday-Friday, 9-5pm Pacific Time

 

That's some pretty helpful feedback from support. I'm not sure how good Scangauge's support is but +1 for UG. Will probably pick one up next payday.

 

Yep. Got a battery drain problem myself. Have had to unplug it after each trip. Why couldn't they put a battery in the unit to power it when the ignition is off? And what the F is the car doing for a minute after shutdown? I remember going to the drive-in and having to start the car every 20 mins. Is there any way to increase the battery capacity??

 

What's a "drive-in"?


j/k - God I miss those...last drive-in movie I saw was Critters.

 

Awesome device! What a great price!


I like the looks of my PLX it totally looks stock in the Cooper dash. But the price is horrific and the OLED screen blows chunks (can't see it in the sun and it suffers from horrible burn-in).

 

Thanks a bunch, Sherlock. I'll try the 200 second "Power on Delay."

What about the clock reset? I don't see the solution here, or in the manual. Thanks all, great forum. I hope I can return the favors.

Dave

 

Interesting, I've never seen this one before.
Can this read Boost pressure? I saw on the site that it can read MAP in psi But I do not know if it is the same thing..

 

I hope someone can tell us about MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure), definitively.

I'm convinced it's the "boost," but remember, you need to mentally subtract 1 atmosphere, which is about 14.7 psi. I've been watching our 2011 MINI S, and when you're off the throttle, braking with the engine, it's 12 or maybe a bit less, so there's a little vacuum, which makes sense. Under full throttle, it goes up to the high 20's, which means my boost is max'd at about an additional atmosphere, or a boost of about 14 psi. -- Dave

 

I'm very interested in the Ultraguage. Lots of functionality, looks good and the price is great.

To those that have it, did the 200 second "Power on Detect delay" setting fix the battery drain issue?

I want to pull the trigger on one but I can live without the dead battery.

 

Still testing mine out but so far so good. I also have a check engine light issue that we are working on. Will update that issue soon.

 

Thanks! Looking forward to your update. Hope all goes well, seems like the Ultragauge is most economical way to display engine data in the MINI.