What kind of boost gauges does everyone have?

[Andy_Mac]

When i got my B4 RSK it had a autogauge boost gauge which from looking around is one of the cheaper options. I\'ve heard they can be out by a few psi and could anyone who has or previously had one confirm.

My problem is when on primary boost it only shows 3-4 psi and i\'m not really sure whether theres a leak or just a s*** gauge. I took the car to a mechanic a while back and he couldn\'t find anything he thought was off with the car, and since i haven\'t had it for long don\'t really know what the power should feel like when running sweet. Also could i get confirmation of what boost others are getting off the primary?

So basically what gauges are worth getting and are pretty accurate, defi ones look to be the best bet but someone with experience may sway me to another brand.

[Kiwi_Fozze]

i have a "calibre" branded boost gauge, from supercheap (it only cost like 30 bux!!)

it\'s about a half psi out.

my other gauges are autometer, they seem alright, do the job.

[MercuryFree]

I used to have an autogauge in my old car and it was surprisingly OK.

In my current car I have a Blitz and it is excellent, but they\'re quite expensive so I would hope so!

[ADIKT]

electronic with a stepper motor. Prosport are good. Defi would be the best

[petrolheadjman]

Autometer are very good. American quality

Autogauge not so much

BUT old school autoGAGE by autometer are good.

Anything expensive will be good

[Guest hate-evoz]

got what i think is a factory sti boost guage as its on the steering coloumn on the steering wheel.. works well. shows how much I boost exactly everytime

[Stoffa]

Ive got a period correct Omori gauge, high end japanese one. matches my white dash perfectly, even matches at night

[Marky]

You should be getting anywhere around 10-12-14psi on primary (it seems to vary something wicked depending on what else is done with the car) - but actuator pressure is 7psi so to get LESS than that, something is quite munted or your gauge is telling porkies.

What do you get once the second turbo wakes up? "Should" be seeing around the same, some see upwards of 15-17psi.

I have a black blitz one - matches the dash/speedo font and colour etc perfectly - strongs sell brand name gauges diiiirt cheap online by the way (subaruspeed.co.nz)

[D-Style]

I did some testing with my own test gear with a number of different gauges.

Autogauge and a couple of other "Supercheap specials" had errors.

Autometer, VDO, somne old school Trust, HKS maunal gauges were spot on.

I did a couple of Defi boost/oil gauges and one eletronic GReedy (all I had access to) One Defi had an error around the 15psi (was about .5 psi out) but others all good.

The Autometer Liquid filled gauges are the best manual ones, Any Bling Bling ones like Defi are good to.

[DacerX]

I have no gauge since I have no boost ;D

[subi4snow]

I have an autogauge boost gauge and when the car is off it reads 5 vacuum. Haven\'t got around to replacing it as I don\'t play with my boost levels at all really. My autogauge oil temp and water temp seem to work fine

[Andy_Mac]

I\'ll give the 2nd turbo a go tonight, don\'t ring it out that hight often. What should it roughly read when off boost? Off memory it will sit at about -10 when at around 2000rpm

[Marky]

At idle you should have about -20 "ish", depending on how healthy your motor is / vacuum leaks etc and will drop lower than that when engine braking

[Joker]

 JoKer said:

mine in front of the water gauge inside dash cluster

we had a thread somewhere with everyones gauges...

[me=JoKer]searches with search function/googlbot[/me]

edit: found it : Gauges - SHOW US what you have

[Andy_Mac]

Yea i saw that one a while back, i was more interested in what people thought of their gauges, quality wise

[G-unit]

i have a apex-i, works mint

[Andy_Mac]

ok so at idle it shows 13psi vacuum,

at 3-3.5 heavy acceleration it shows 3-4psi,

and at around 6k its at roughly 12psi

does that sound more like a faulty gauge or primary turbo has seen better days?

[twinturboboy]

I would say your primary could be on the way out mate, but in saying that one of my GTBs suddenly had a low reading and I found that the vac line that goes to the tee was slipping off under pressure - therefore giving a wrong reading - my other GTB has an Electronic STI gauge - which is brilliant, will always give an accurate reading

[Marky]

It "sounds" like neither to be honest - I\'m no expert - but a poor idle vacuum combined with low boost levels I\'d be thinking maybe an intake leak (probably post turbo) not that there\'s many places for them to happen on a suby

Maybe see about borrowing a gauge off someone before you go delving into things. Does it use a horrendous amount of gas (like under 350-400km to a tank), idle bad or do anything else out of the ordinary?

3 or 4 psi it\'d feel like an absolute slug on primary, and like I said earlier that\'s below wastegate actuator pressure hence thinking of a leak (or like you said, potentially a dud primary turbo)

[Andy_Mac]

i know it has a very minor oil leak on the primary turbo, becomes greasy around intake but doesn\'t actually drip. took it to a subaru specialist mechanic who seemed to think it wasn\'t a major and shouldn\'t affect performance.

fuel consumption seems alright don\'t know exactly but its not bad enough to have considered it a problem.

idling seems alright, maybe a tad low though sometimes it seems like its getting near the point where it wants to stall.

[twinturboboy]

Another thing to do too is check your AFM and spark plugs - and see if its throwing any codes

[Marky]

Try another gauge maybe - also where is yours connected to? Hard trying to guess a problem if not 100% there\'s even a problem there.

A dead / dieing turbo wouldn\'t affect the idle vacuum at all - -13 is really poor and if the car feels fine otherwise, don\'t get worked up just yet.

[Andy_Mac]

checked spark plugs a few weeks ago and were fine.

is that tee\'d in where it should be. and the second pic is where the line had been squashed my the cable ties which i moved about a week ago, don\'t think that should have affected anything though.

reckon its worth taking it in and getting a thorough look through for leaks?

[Joker]

what kind of KM\'s do you get per tank?

[Marky]

I see your problem

The boost gauge line - see how it tees off to the intake pipe? (The blue joiner just halfway to the BOV)

That\'s fcking up your readings I\'d put money on it. I still don\'t know why that hose goes to the intake - (It\'s literally a bleed from the manifold to intake?) I removed it on mine and it drove better afterwards, I believe it\'s not on the rev-D models either.

Try sticking the boost gauge on the nipple on the far left as we look at it - just blank off the hose, it\'s just the charcoal canister purge thing so wont hurt - see if you notice any change at all