air/fuel guage

[kiwee]

had my guages installed over the w/e by jeff at lockdown (thanks), great job!
i understand the idea behind the guage and what the main readings are, in th red; running rich, wide open throttle, higher gas consumption, no reading, running lean, low gas consumtion, better mileage, foot off gas fully.
now my question is, when you have your foot steady on, or at idle, the pulsing reading. the guage will pulse back and forth steadily. what is this telling me?
i have heard this is a stoichometric (sp? ) reading. is it? what is it telling me?

[CrazyCaker]

It's telling you that your O2 sensor and ECU are working! http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[tekkie]

Unless its a wideband it tells you nothing http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif the basic a/f meters go all over the damn place so its more for looks than anything. The 02 readings bounce around quite a bit thats why the a/f does a large sweep, the stock 02 sensor is not capable of reading a big range so the slightest change throws the gauge a long way. Plus the sensor is not real accurate and the readings are not in true real time there is a delay back to the gauge. With a wideband you replace the stock 02 sensor with what they call a labratory one which is capable of reading a larger range and its very accurate. Now you can see things in real time and get an accurate number of what your a/f is, the gauge bounces around a bit but nowhere near like the others. One of the other big factors is that the stock 02 sensor only uses a 1v output range where the widebands use a 5v range so of course with the larger range of numbers come more accuracy http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

If your not running a piggyback - standalone then you really have nothing to worry about cause your a/f levels are not going to blow your motor anyway http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

I remember a post from before that YP5 posted I believe that also explained what the stock 02 sensor was capable of reading somewhere between 13-15 I believe. The AEM Uego I have is capable of reading somewhere around 10.x - 17.x so as you can see the range is much greater.

I can attest that the stock one is nowhere like the Uego, my Uego is barely moving when I am driving and the autometer one I have is making me dizzy http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[kiwee]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (CrazyCaker @ Nov. 01 2004,08:29)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">It's telling you that your O2 sensor and ECU are working!  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
yeah, thanks joe....... smartass!
i found this from brian_mp5t on the azmerican board, thanks brian!
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">To answer the original question. It's normal and you will get used to it. Someone mentioned above but I will clarify a bit. A Fuel Injected car like the Protege uses a ECU, Mass Air Sensor, Injectors and O2 sensors to maintain ballance of the A/F ratio. Too much fuel, poor economy and performance. Too Little fuel, BOOM!

The Mass Air measures how much air is entering the engine and the ECU decides how much fuel to add with the injectors. Then the O2 Sensors tell the ECU how well the mixture was burnt and modifies the injector pulse. This happens constantly. The back and forth is the ECU Adding and Adding till it gets to the top of the parameter set by Mazda and then subtracting and subtracting until it's too low. Think of the A/F Guage like a thermometer that reads from 20.0 Deg to 20.1 Deg. It's a very narrow field of view and that's why it bounces so violently. As was stated... Lean should only happen when you let off the gas to slow down. No Fuel is required to stop as you know. Normally it stays Rich during load periods like over 120 Km/H. Hope it helped. Later...Brian
___[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

[CrazyCaker]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kiwee @ Nov. 01 2004,09:03)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (CrazyCaker @ Nov. 01 2004,08:29)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">It's telling you that your O2 sensor and ECU are working!  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
yeah, thanks joe....... smartass![/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/devil.gif

[kiwee]

i know the guages i have on my car are pretty much pointless (if anyone says rice, i'll kill 'em), i did this mainly for looks.
however, i knew the reading is called stoich and i wanted to know what it all meant.
really, it boils down to the car reading how much aor/fuel you are taking in and mixing, and at idle, the car adding fuel and air

[Nutella]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kiwee @ Nov. 01 2004,09:32)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
stoichiometry concerns the calculations of equations from chemical reactions, where they use ratios of grams per mol as a standard unit. 1 mol = 6.02 x 10^23 atoms or molecules (Avogadro's Number)

[CrazyCaker]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Nutella @ Nov. 01 2004,10:37)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">
stoichiometry concerns the calculations of equations from chemical reactions, where they use ratios of grams per mol as a standard unit. 1 mol = 6.02 x 10^23 atoms or molecules (Avogadro's Number)[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
http://www.msprotege.com/vbb225/images/smilies/kopkrab.gif

[Brian MP5T]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kiwee @ Nov. 01 2004,09:03)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (CrazyCaker @ Nov. 01 2004,08:29)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">It's telling you that your O2 sensor and ECU are working!  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
yeah, thanks joe....... smartass!
i found this from brian_mp5t on the american board, thanks brian!
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">To answer the original question. It's normal and you will get used to it. Someone mentioned above but I will clarify a bit. A Fuel Injected car like the Protege uses a ECU, Mass Air Sensor, Injectors and O2 sensors to maintain ballance of the A/F ratio. Too much fuel, poor economy and performance. Too Little fuel, BOOM!

The Mass Air measures how much air is entering the engine and the ECU decides how much fuel to add with the injectors. Then the O2 Sensors tell the ECU how well the mixture was burnt and modifies the injector pulse. This happens constantly. The back and forth is the ECU Adding and Adding till it gets to the top of the parameter set by Mazda and then subtracting and subtracting until it's too low. Think of the A/F Guage like a thermometer that reads from 20.0 Deg to 20.1 Deg. It's a very narrow field of view and that's why it bounces so violently. As was stated... Lean should only happen when you let off the gas to slow down. No Fuel is required to stop as you know. Normally it stays Rich during load periods like over 120 Km/H. Hope it helped. Later...Brian
___[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Yeah! http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[Brian MP5T]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kiwee @ Nov. 01 2004,09:32)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">i know the guages i have on my car are pretty much pointless (if anyone says rice, i'll kill 'em), i did this mainly for looks.
however, i knew the reading is called stoich and i wanted to know what it all meant.
really, it boils down to the car reading how much air/fuel you are taking in and mixing, and at idle, the car adding fuel and air[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
The guage is rather pointless unless you can modify your fuel delivery. The car is programed to automatically learn how the engine burns fuel, so there is no need to see how it is working. In my case, I have an extra injector controller and use it along with a EGT to see how the engine is burning the fuel and then make adjiustments to the delivery. An EGT is a much better indicator for warning about runnign lean. As the car runs leaner, the exaust gas temperature shoots up (Spikes) that's the time to back off and come up with a solution to the fuel problem. These are not normally required unless you are asking alot more of the engine in your car. Adding a header and a CAI are really safe mods. Adding a boost controller...that's when you have to start thinking about spending some money$$$

[Scooter]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kiwee @ Nov. 01 2004,09:32)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">i know the guages i have on my car are pretty much pointless (if anyone says rice, i'll kill 'em), i did this mainly for looks.
however, i knew the reading is called stoich and i wanted to know what it all meant.
really, it boils down to the car reading how much aor/fuel you are taking in and mixing, and at idle, the car adding fuel and air[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I didn't actually,....&quot;SAY&quot; it http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

http://therice.org/rice/graphicl/cooking1.gif

Just kidding - I actually liek the look of guages too,...but you were asking for it with your above post.

[kiwee]

werd scooter, hey quick question, how many hands does it take to move that shifter of yours???
http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
hehehehe! you asked for it in your original post!

[Scooter]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kiwee @ Nov. 01 2004,1:44)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">werd scooter, hey quick question, how many hands does it take to move that shifter of yours???
http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
hehehehe! you asked for it in your original post![/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
none,...I bought auto so I can keep both hands free. 1 for the steering wheel,..and the other one's on your girl's lap in my passenger seat http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/devil.gif

EASTSIDE!!!!

[CrazyCaker]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Scooter @ Nov. 01 2004,2:47)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kiwee @ Nov. 01 2004,1:44)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">werd scooter, hey quick question, how many hands does it take to move that shifter of yours???
http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
hehehehe! you asked for it in your original post![/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
none,...I bought auto so I can keep both hands free. 1 for the steering wheel,..and the other one's on your girl's lap in my passenger seat  http://ib2.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/devil.gif

EASTSIDE!!!![/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
http://www.msprotege.com/vbb225/images/smilies/lol.gif

[kiwee]

all those mods and your car is auto..... how disapointing

[Brian MP5T]

To each it own. It's not my taste, but it can still be a great car even if it an ATX.