gauge question

[accord upset]

ok everyone familiar with the air/fuel ratio gauges, u know a gauge and a oxygen sensor. in a couple of weeks im going to finish my nos system so i want a gauge to keep my engine from getting to lean on nos. so heres the question do i put the o2 sensor in the exhaust manifold where the stock one was or do i have to put it after the cat???? i've had some peeps tell me i should put it in either place but no good explanation of why i should put it there.

[shepherd79]

so you want to spend money on something that is not going to give you correct reading.
off the shelf A?F gauges work under full throttle, but even than it is hard to figure out what is your mixture.
this gauges have been modified to give you better picture of what engine is running under full throttle.

http://www.gadgetseller.com/gauges

but like i said, non of those gauges would read correctly if you are just cruising around, the gauge will jump from lean to rich all the time.
I recomend wide band O2 sensor.

[ghettogeddy]

well he is doing it for nitrous so i dont think he will be using it with out full throttle

[accord upset]

hes right its not going to be used at anything other than full throttle i was just wondering if i should put the o2 sensor in the manifold where the stock one was or if it should go behind the cat??

[Sabz5150]

hes right its not going to be used at anything other than full throttle i was just wondering if i should put the o2 sensor in the manifold where the stock one was or if it should go behind the cat??

You're using a seperate sensor for it? I have my Autometer light show gauge spliced into the ECU's O2 sensor lead and it dances around like it should.

I'd love to get a wideband, but right now my funds prohibit it.

[EricW]

The o2 sensor should be mounted pre-cat, so it will see the unburnt fuel(oxygen), and where it will see exhaust from all four cylinders. I believe that the stock manifold in 86 was a 4-1 design and the o2 sensor could see all of the exhaust flow. If your just running the A/F with out a wide band o2, I would just tap the wire for the o2 in the floor board next to the drives door that way you don't have to run as much wire. you might also look into replacing the o2 sensor if it is still the original one to hope fully have a more accurate reading of whether you are running rich or lean since that is all you will get from a regular o2 sensor.

[accord upset]

well ive decieded on in the stck manifold location since my o2 sensor does nothing anyway. but what is the diff between a regular o2 sensor and a wideband o2 sensor either way i need a new one. doesnt both have to measure air/fuel ratio in the exhaust. where do i get a wideband o2 at and how much should i be looking to pay for just the sensor and i put it in myself? im gonna be monitering engine close i just did a preformance rebuild on my engine put new stage 3 clutch in it at the same time. i had a budget of like 1500 i could play with and ended up spending more like 2800 on parts and misc. sheit

[EricW]

A wide band has a linear output so you can tell exactly where the A/f ratio is and a stock (non wideband) only tells whether the engine is running rich or lean. Look at this link for a better description about the differences between the two. http://www.pgmfi.org/twiki/bin/view/Library/WideBandO2

If you want a wide band that you can just attach to a laptop you can get them for around $200 but if you looking for one with a gauge that doesn't require a laptop it will be anywhere from $240 to $400.

You can datalog with a laptop and the cheaper wideband or pay $500+ for something like the Innovate LM-1.