Adding Gauges

[MyFirstRanger]

I have a Insight CS that was on my 2005 F250 that I sold and then got my Ranger. Any way I installed it in my Ranger and was able to get the Battery Voltage and the Transmission Temp and the MPG so far. I'm trying to get Oil Pressure but don't see it in the PID's, you can pick from 56 PID's so I might have missed it. Has anyone else put an Insight in their Ranger?

 

[RonD]

Ford no longer uses an oil pressure sender in their gas engines, they use an oil pressure switch, above 5psi the switch closes and gauge moves to just below 1/2.
Idiot light only uses the opposite, switch is closed when below 5psi(light on), then opens when above 5psi(light off)

So no oil pressure data would be available via OBDII

I assume the F250 was diesel if you had an oil pressure reading via OBD II, I think they kept using sender instead of a switch.

 

[MyFirstRanger]

Yes, my F250 was a 6.0L Diesel...

Thanks for the info on the oil pressure switches on gas engines. I'll check to see if Edge makes a oil pressure sensor for the 4.0L Ford engine...

 

[RonD]

Oil pressure senders are available, $13, problem is the gauge can't understand it and it is not part of the OBD II wiring.
Wire just goes from Sender/switch on block to dash board gauge, no connection to the PCM(EEC) for monitoring.

 

[MyFirstRanger]

Edge has a EAS (Edge Accessory System) that can add sensors to engines like EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature), outside air temperature and has sensors that can be used to check pressure they are pricey though. The EAS adapter cable is $30.00 the EAS universal sender is $156.00 and the EAS pressure sensor is $135.00 . That's a bit to expensive for me to see the oil pressure, that's for sure...

 

[RonD]

Always wonder about that Outside air temperature gauge, had it on a few vehicles.

Always been partial to rolling down the window for that info, but to each his own

As cheap and bright as LEDs are now I am surprised there are not any cheap and thin HUDs(heads up displays) for adding gauges to lower windshield.

 

[adsm08]

Always wonder about that Outside air temperature gauge, had it on a few vehicles.

I never got the point of that either, but people around here seem to be obsessed with them. I take at least one call every other month to the effect of "My friend has a vehicle just like mine, but their car has the outside temp display and mine doesn't, but I see my screen has the printing for it. Can I bring it by and have you guys turn that feature on?"

We also have one customer who is super pissed that his AIT readout doesn't update instantly (must drive 20MPH or faster for 75 seconds to get it updating so it isn't reading radiant from the engine) and doesn't match the bank thermometer to the degree. He yelled at me on the phone when I tried to explain it to him. Then he called Ford customer service and cried to them about it.

 

[MyFirstRanger]

The only thing I really miss about my outside temp display is that you could start a conversation knowing what the temp was outside at a moments notice I have the radio on it announces it a few times each hour... (It would cost me over $216.00 to hook it up to my Insight CS)

 

[adsm08]

I really don't understand the point of a lot of these fancy gauge systems. What ever happened to just driving?

My tach works half the time, if that. My fuel and temp gauges haven't worked in two months, oil pressure light doesn't work at all. In fact I think the only three indicators on my dash that actually work right more often than not are the CEL (which is always on), the speedometer (that one is a little important) and the charging fault indicator.

I know my oil pressure is good because I don't hear the lifters chattering like they would if I had low pressure. I know I have fuel because I haven't exceeded my fuel range. I know why my CEL is on and I am saving up for the parts to fix it. I don't need my tach to tell me when it is time to shift, my ears can do that. In fact the one piece of operating information I am most interested in most of the time is one that was never available on the factory cluster. Fuel pressure. I can tell you more about what is going on in my engine by the fuel pressure than any other one piece of information.

If a nice mechanical gauge pod came along cheap I would probably go for it, but I wouldn't spend hundreds of dollars on one.

 

[MyFirstRanger]

I hooked up the Insight and looked to see the PID's I could monitor on a Ranger. I towed a large 5th Wheel RV 10,400 lbs (F250 6.0L Diesel) and expecting to tow a smaller 5th Wheel 3800 lbs with this Ranger. I want to know if things are close to normal when I'm towing 4500 lbs. I can slow down, stop and or get repairs before an idiot light tells me too late and I have a large repair bill. Oh it is also an OBD II code reader and it can erase codes, if needed. And it's something to play with too...

 

[simpler=better]

I never got the point of that either, but people around here seem to be obsessed with them. I take at least one call every other month to the effect of "My friend has a vehicle just like mine, but their car has the outside temp display and mine doesn't, but I see my screen has the printing for it. Can I bring it by and have you guys turn that feature on?"

We also have one customer who is super pissed that his AIT readout doesn't update instantly (must drive 20MPH or faster for 75 seconds to get it updating so it isn't reading radiant from the engine) and doesn't match the bank thermometer to the degree. He yelled at me on the phone when I tried to explain it to him. Then he called Ford customer service and cried to them about it.

Thanks, you helped me out. I always wondered why my temp never updated after the initial startup-I don't have the VSS wired up to it. Now ot figure out how to make a fake VSS signal on my '98