How to track source of inop analog turbo gauge

[XOC]

I had the typical TD gauge trio installed while I was having some more tricky work done at a local shop. Autometers - all typical except for some reason the first boost gauge I got was 0-60 psi which I did not want.

Anyway, one guy at the shop said they had trouble with the boost gauge and had to go to this place in town and get a replacement ... of course they got another 0-60, but they had it working ... I think. Kind of hard to see < 5 psi on that gauge, but it would climb up around 10 on hard accels so I figured that's how it was.

Well, then that damn thing stopped working too, so I bought a 0-30 VDO. Attached it yesterday to the tube and .... nothing.

I noticed the tube is deformed like it was kinked and then unkinked right where it meets the brass adaptor, but it also seems to have 0 slack and is barely long enough to remove the gauge from the mounting hole.

I am just wondering if there is any air pressure moving through this tube at all. Is this any way I can test that, and if it's dead, how best to trouble shoot? (Obviously it would be best to avoid redoing the tube if at all possible.)

If it's just the end of it, I was thinking I should be able to splice in a few more inches with some additional brass fittings, but that would only make sense if I could figure out if the rest of it is ok.

Any helpful suggestions would be apprrciated. And sorry for rambling. I'm getting hit with my 2nd cold of the year and I'm out of it.

 

[KRISTOLSON]

I would bet the line is kinked or restricted somewhere. You could pull the line off the manifold or charge pipe, wherever it is tapped in, and disconnect the guage on the other side, and try to blow air through with a compressor. If worse comes to worse, you can always try blow through it with your mouth. If you do get flow, you can test the guage with a regulated air source off of the compressor as well.

 

[kingkevindavid]

If it is not registering on the gauge and the tube is connected to the source at the manifold, you may have a leak that not only gives you a bad reading on the gauge but also robs power.
When I installed my Autometer gauges, I didn't initially get a good seal where I "T'd" it into the the manifold. The loss of power was extremely noticeable. I fixed it by putting super glue on the tube then inserting it into the the "T"
Take an old squirt bottle with dish soap in it and spray it on the line and fittings while the truck is running to see if you have a leak.

if there is any question, I would just pull it out and replace it. I have seen where some people use actual rubber vacuum hose. Seems like that would work better and have a better seal.

 

[dpantazis]

its the tube. it could be crushed at the comp connector too. most gauge tubing is plastic. i know REAL parts places have tubing for oil pressure gauges. my local napa had it in stock. i had the choice of alum or plastic.

 

[XOC]

man ... well, thanks guys. maybe i should see if i could replace it with some kind of electrical sender --- the loss of power thing, I think that might be my problem that I thought was the transmission

 

[BIG DUTY]

Check out dieselsite.com, they have a gauge install kit that has all the fittings and line you need to install the boost gauge. They also use a better line that wont kink as easy as the white plastic line. The kit is a reasonable $12.

 

[jestersv]

I used copper tube on mine got it from tymar performance