Pyrometer void warranty?

Walker111

Member

Equipment
G5200
Sep 7, 2018
63
43
18
Fburg VA
Where you put it and the quality of the thermocouple could make a difference .... maybe. I realize that you don't have a turbo, but if you're thinking of adding one like @Rdrcr you'll have to decide on where you want to put it. For those of us that have factory turbos in our tractors it's already something to think about.

Back in 2002 when I bought my first F350 SuperDuty 7.3L and mods were all the rage, there were endless discussions on where to install the thermocouple to measure EGTs. I remember back then I installed one post-turbo for the simple reason that if the sensor broke it wouldn't go through the turbo. That said, I don't think thermocouples were breaking off and causing problems but there were "experts" on that Ford forum who insisted that it was a thing.

My current F250 SuperDuty 7.3L came with a thermocouple pre-turbo but only for a turbo temp monitoring system that would shut off the engine once the turbo cooled to a set temperature. I run a chip and programmer from Dp-Tuner, and the programmer has inputs for two thermocouples so I added one post-turbo as well and monitor both. There can be a big difference in pre and post turbo temperature under certain conditions so I like having the two inputs.

I got off into the weeds a bit here and have no idea if there's a significant temperature difference pre and post-turbo on our tractors. I'd like more information in the cab such as turbo temperature (inferred), hydraulic oil temperature, engine oil temperature, water temperature etc, and the question of warranties is a good one.
I ordered an isspro gauge and thermocouple. As for location, at the moment it’s for a completely stock 2501, So it’s just getting a baseline. In the future, if modified the same position/location would be beneficial because of that baseline reading. This is something that might happen a couple of years from now. I have two diesel pickups and enjoy monitoring what these engines can.

thanks for your post and information.
 
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Rdrcr

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Lifetime Member

Equipment
L2501 w/ S2T Turbo Kit = 35 PTO HP (Current), B2601 (Sold)
May 7, 2021
679
753
93
WA
I ordered an isspro gauge and thermocouple. As for location, at the moment it’s for a completely stock 2501, So it’s just getting a baseline. In the future, if modified the same position/location would be beneficial because of that baseline reading. This is something that might happen a couple of years from now. I have two diesel pickups and enjoy monitoring what these engines can.

thanks for your post and information.
I just installed an Isspro gauge on my L2501. The Isspro gauge is great for 'monitoring' engine performance and can handle the outside elements and environmental conditions much better than my diagnostic gauges.

Mike
 

lugbolt

Well-known member

Equipment
ZG127S-54
Oct 15, 2015
5,273
1,962
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Mid, South, USA
did many a pyrometer install

you want the sensor to be as close to the exhaust valve as possible

post turbo egt is often significantly cooler temp than at the exhaust valve or even the exhaust port

the whole idea of watching EGT is to see what's going on, and if your EGT is showing 1300 post turbo, it could very well be 1400-1450-1500 at the piston crown, where it's important. But we don't have piston temp gauges, so what we have is exhaust gas temp, which we use as an educated guess as to what's going on in the important parts of the engine.

all the stuff I've done with alcohol engines, we did at one time have a pressure sensor and a temp sensor in a 16 plug V8. EGT at the end of the exhaust port was showing 1265 at peak, actual measured cyl temp was in the 1400 neighborhood. It ran good, but mind you it's a drag race car, that only runs under that load and temp for a short period of time. In that case, under 5 seconds. On my personal car, I have an EGT bung in each cylinder. On 4 of the header tubes, the sensor is further away from the exhaust flange, has to be due to the design of the header. Those same 4 cylinders are often 100 degrees give or take cooler than the others. I've learned to tune either on a dyno, or at the track watching ET and MPH. Once a tune has been finalized, make a run and log EGT. That way if there is an issue later on, you can re-jet right back to the same EGT and it should be very, very close if not spot-on.
 
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Rdrcr

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Equipment
L2501 w/ S2T Turbo Kit = 35 PTO HP (Current), B2601 (Sold)
May 7, 2021
679
753
93
WA
Assuming someone doesn’t wish to drill into the exhaust manifold, I believe the best compromise for the probe location is in the muffler inlet pipe;

IMG_5065.jpeg


Mike
 
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