I just recently bought a 2004.5 with 58,000 miles on it. As far as I could tell, the only modifications that had been made to the truck were a 4" exhaust, a performance air intake/filter and EGT/Boost/Transmission temp gauges.

When i'm driving, I never see the EGT get above 400F and the Transmission temp never gets above 100. I haven't towed anything with it yet, so this might be premature, but i'm wondering if that is normal, or if the gauges might not be working right. I don't know where the Transmission temp gauge is plumbed in, but I can see that the EGT gauge is plumbed in right on top of the exhaust manifold to the top left of the engine (if you're standing in front of the truck looking under the hood).

Does this sound normal?

 

Tranny temp in this cold weather takes a while to come up to even 130 deg. You have to be in stop and go traffic with the TC unlocked generating heat. EGT is way out of whac. You should see 600-650 deg cruising at 60 MPH. If you get on it you can see as much as 1300 deg on a stock truck.

 

My tranny temps stay below 130 in the winter, even when I am beating on it a little, but I have a double deep pan, too...

Egt's should be a little higher than that.

what kind of guages do you have?


Welcome to the DTR, by the way.

Put your truck info in your sig... go to user cp on the left side of the page, then to edit signature.

 

I wonder if you could have the wrong probe?

Anyhow, with no trailer going up a grade should probably show 600+, and if you floor a stock truck while pulling a trailer up a grade, you would likely see 11-1200.

 

That may not be true. If the pyro is post-turbo, the egt's will be a good bit lower.

I do agree that pre-turbo(where mine is) 600-650F is normal cruising. My truck set to stock will get 1300F if I keep my foot in it long enough. Don't let anyone tell you that they don't get warm at stock levels.

 

Both of these temps are effected by where the probes are installed. I used to have my transmission probe in a port on the side and it had lower temps and took longer to react to changes. I now have the probe in the transnission line and temps are a little higher and react quicker. EGT temps will vary pre and post so..

Tranny temps sound like they are in a similar range as my truck.
EGT sounds low.. 600-800 at 70mph for me depending on hills.

Where is tranny probe?
What type of guages?

Could the exhaust probe not be entered far enough? or to far?
I remember the documentation stating to get the probe even with inside and is what I did. I do not know what would happen if it was to far or not far enough?

 

Normal driving for my pre-turbo pyro is 400 to 1000.. Usually in the 500-700* range. 1000 is pretty normal at 1600 rpms on a small hill..

Something doesn't sound right.

 

I wanted to post some more detailed information and answer some of the questions that you guys asked.

The gauges are automaster brand (which i'm told is a decent brand) and I should have noticed a problem immediately by the fact that the needle on the EGT gauge is at 400F even when the truck is turned off

I snapped some photographs of where the gauges are plumbed in, although i could only find the probes for the EGT and boost pressure gauges (any idea where the Transmission temp gauge probe might be?)

Here is the EGT probe:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25810980@N06/3061743213/

And here is the Boost probe:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25810980@N06/3062577228/

I'm hoping the previous owner didn't run too hot while towing since he didn't know what temp the EGT's were REALLY at. I'm going to try to send in an oil sample for testing next week and we'll see what turns up.

 

Sounds like you don't have a good ground on the pyro.

The tranny is either in the hot line or the pan.

 

Would the ground be in the A-Pillar by the gauge or would it be near the probe?

 

Should be near the a-pillar... trace wires from there.

 

Well, I opened up the A-frame and put a multimeter on the back of the EGT gauge. As I accelerated, the voltage increased, but the needle didn't move anywhere. Does this still sound like a grounding issue? I'm not really sure how to check the ground. It seems to me that if i'm getting the voltage increase, then the probe is probably doing its job and the problem lies somewhere with the actual gauge.

As far as the transmission temp gauge... i followed the red wire into the engine compartment... and found... nothing. The wire wasn't attached to any probe whatsoever *doh* I guess that explains why the needle never moved. Now i need to find a picture of where the transmission temp gauge would be "T'd" in because there is no probe in the transmission pan.

 

I would give Autometer a call after the holiday...

As for the trans temp you want it in the hot line. There is a company that sells an OE hotline with a "t"... I don't recall who thou.

 

The name of the company is DieselManor. I did a search on the forums and found the product last night. It looks like a winner.

I'll give Autometer a call and see if they have any suggestions (or if there is any sort of warranty). Of course, I'm not the original owner, so I might just have to buy another one.

I wouldn't be surprised if the original owner is on these forums! It's obviously a well taken care of truck, and I would bet that he got the gauges, started the install, and then decided to buy a new truck before he finished (the dealership said he bought a brand new 2008 because he wanted a 6 speed transmission for towing). Of course the dealership didn't know a think about what the truck had in it so far as aftermarket parts (hell, they didn't even give me an owners manual or the list of repairs that they did on it when it came in!) but I got a good price on it, so i'm not complaining.

 

Does the autometer have a little brain box? I'd been running an isspro, and it has a brain that mounts under the dash. It gets keyed power, ground, input from the probe. 2 wires from the brain, plus ground and lighting, run to the gauge.

Anyhow, worse case, just replace the whole thing.