Installed and programmed an A/F gauge.
I made 2 dyno trips last year to a local dyno. I was disappointed to find that my various engines, before I killed them, were around 149/150hp. That’s a little low for a pricey .020 motor. What I would find out a year later is that both of my DME’s ran lean, and I didn’t have the experience to suspect the DMEs.
Spending time at the dyno this Summer with Chuck Baader, Jim Levie, and a bunch of DME’s was an education. Now I have a motor that is getting the right mixture. But if my current DME starts running lean, hopefully I’ll figure it out quicker then a year and 4 dyno sessions. I’ll get realtime data in the cockpit and I’m going to connect it to the Traqmate also.
Consider the kinds of experiments you can run with this…Want to know the value of a clean air filter? Swap it out, do some more laps, and then look at the A/F and hp data.
Anything engine management related that you might suspect isn’t operating at 100%, coil, plug wires, plugs, coolant temp sensor, injectors, etc. the combo of the A/F data, and Traqmate hp data should tell you if there was a change after swapping.
Suspect you’re going lean because of a vacuum leak, but you’ve fixed it? The A/F data should tell you.
Want to test your buddy’s DME, to see if it’s rich and strong or lean and weak? Now you can.
If I don’t have to do one dyno day because of the A/F data, then I break even.
The A/F gauge shows you the ratio numerically, but it also has a ring of colored LEDs that you can assign colors and values to. The screenshot below shows interface used to program those LEDs.
http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/products/xd16.php
