Air /fuel meter

J

Jim Nashville

Junior Member
I can see where an air fuel gauge would be beneficial for tuning an engine. Would an exhaust temperature gauge accomplish the same thing? I happen to have an EGT in my shop that I removed from an aircraft engine.
 
if you`re planning to use an EGT gauge in a flathead, i don`t think it will work out too well. the exhaust gases are water cooled!:) and it`s not going to give you a good indication of what is going on in the combustion chamber.
tom
 
A single EGT reading would be only marginally helpful to the average mechanic. Measurements on all cylinders can be helpful but most mechanics would probably struggle to find what to do with the info. There is no "baseline" for guidance and the standard for each engine must be determined before the information becomes useful. The EGT for our Flatheads is much lower than most other engines.
 
We are running our dragster this arvo,first time with the new Racepak data logger.
logs all EGT,s o2, etc,etc 18 functions.
if you want I can post the egts tomorrow.
Lawrie
 
I agree with the above comments. However on simple non turbocharged aircraft engines a lot of engines are equipped with a single EGT probe for one cylinder. Certainly not as good as a system that has probes for all cylinders but much better than nothing. Lean the mixture until you are at max EGT then enrich the mixture to drop the EGT reading around 100 degrees . I'm not trying to make a big deal out of this, just thinking out loud and wondering if I have a tool to possibly simplify achieving the best mixture for a mildly modified street engine. Lawre, I would like to see the numbers that your data logger give you. Is the engine running gas, alcohol, or other racing fuel? Thanks for your offer.
 
The new data logger on our dragster worked FAR better than we expected.
We now know why we broke a few pistons in the last few years,WAY too lean.
EGT,s are at the finish line 6271 rpm 1193 F.Fuel is Methanol.
we pulled 2.20 G,s off the start.
We did 6 runs ,not as fast as we have been but got the attention of the local paper who did an article on the dragster.
I need a bigger hat now.
Lawrie
 
Sometimes it's helpful to use a non contact thermometer on the exhaust header tubes. With the flathead the middle two are combined so probably less helpful but data is data.
 
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