Perfect Tuning CANbus Gauge for MS3 (PxS)

FMOS Racing

FMOS Racing

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Universal gauge for MS3, MS3Pro, Ultimate, MS2, Microsquirt - Perfect Tuning

The Perfect Tuning Universal Gauge is a new product. The gauge is compatible with all the Megasquirt ECU except the Megasquirt 1:
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I'm running the Perfect Tuning gauge in the white truck, and wondered who else here is using it? I have it mounted in a single gauge pod on the A-pillar and installed it with no irreversible modifications to the truck's interior.

I've recently gotten the gauge to run a pressure sender for fuel pressure, and will install a second one for oil pressure. The gauge is communicating the pressure values to the PxS for datalogging, and I'll post a how-to on that to this thread shortly because some of it took some "that's not apparent" from tech support (which was very responsive).

The alarm features in the gauge are pretty awesome, too.

I'm trying to figure out how to get the PxS to communicate transmission temperature to the gauge (the PxS can send a ton of information to the gauge, but since running an E4OD isn't a normal MS3 function, it's not one of the values included in the list). I've gotten it to send the internal ADC02 value that comes from the microsquirt that runs the transmission, but that's a raw number that is showing resistance or something, so it's a decreasing curve rather than an increasing line, and thus not particularly useful.
 
I put one in my truck too but not doing anything crazy with it yet. Got fuel pressure and oil pressure to the gauge but haven't set it up to communicate that with the PXS yet.

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So is it possible to scroll through different values. I need to get on my pimpxshift install soon.
 
What do you mean, Glen?

The gauge has about 10 different screens that you can scroll through and set different values on. Some are "fixed," like the AFR graph I usually run, but a lot are configurable.
 
To get the values from the gauge into TunerStudio for the PxS:
CAN-bus/Testmodes tab, CAN Receiving menu - Any CAN ADC from 16 and going higher can be used. Offset 0 is Input 1, Offset 2 is Input 2. If you use all 3 gauge inputs, the offsets will be 0,2, and 4.

1688480126097.png

Advanced Engine tab, Generic Sensor Inputs menu item -
1688480163473.png

I found that using "Raw" worked, but it made the value 10x the actual value. Using a "Divide" of 10 truncated the decimal place (which, if you think about it, doesn't really matter much, but it makes the data logging graph look weird). So, the "Linear, 0, 102.3" settings make the numbers come in as you'd expect. Another way to do it is to leave it "raw" and use a calculated field in the log viewer.

Sam @ Perfect Tuning was very informative as I tried to get this all sorted out. It's a little different for us than for a basic MS3 installation due to the CANbus already being used for the Microsquirt that runs the transmission.

I was really happy to see what the oil pressure was like on this almost 300K motor!
 
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Thank you for that info! Definitely want to get my gauge to communicate with tuner studio as well. I was also pleased to see my oil pressure on my stock bottom end motor was pretty decent, especially for being beaten on for half its life with boost. Seems as it is 47-50 psi when I first crank it up and it settles into around 20 psi when all the way hot idling.

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slow94 said:
I was also pleased to see my oil pressure on my stock bottom end motor was pretty decent, especially for being beaten on for half its life with boost. Seems as it is 47-50 psi when I first crank it up and it settles into around 20 psi when all the way hot idling.
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That's pretty much what I'm seeing. My red truck is ~5-10 psi lower, but has always beat the "10 psi per 1000 rpm" rule of thumb, so I haven't worried about it. It's had a tough life.
 
FMOS Racing said:
That's pretty much what I'm seeing. My red truck is ~5-10 psi lower, but has always beat the "10 psi per 1000 rpm" rule of thumb, so I haven't worried about it. It's had a tough life.
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I will say I run 20w50 oil as well as I figured with an old tired motor that sees 20+ psi it would be good for it. Probably be a little less psi with a thinner oil.

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As I watch it more, the white truck gets down to about 15 psi at hot soaked idle, and runs upper 40s psi at ~2500 cruise, both of which are very similar to the red truck. I run 5W30 synthetic in both, either Mobil 1 or Valvoline, whichever is on sale.

In the bigger picture, flow is actually more important than pressure. The critical factor is having enough fresh oil flowing across the bearings to pull out the heat so that thermal expansion doesn't kill the tolerances and wipe/spin bearings. There has to be enough pressure to maintain the "hydrodynamic film" that the rotating parts ride on, but that takes a lot less pressure than people might think. If the pressure is higher than needed, then you're losing power to pumping loses, and could be showing a problem with a restriction preventing adequate flow.

I'm actually more and more impressed with how solid the white truck is with so many miles on it. I've had plenty of cosmetic things to deal with, and it was in desperate need of gaskets and valve seals when I brought it home, but Ford put together one helluva truck in the mid 90s.
 
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FMOS Racing said:
As I watch it more, the white truck gets down to about 15 psi at hot soaked idle, and runs upper 40s psi at ~2500 cruise, both of which are very similar to the red truck. I run 5W30 synthetic in both, either Mobil 1 or Valvoline, whichever is on sale.

In the bigger picture, flow is actually more important than pressure. The critical factor is having enough fresh oil flowing across the bearings to pull out the heat so that thermal expansion doesn't kill the tolerances and wipe/spin bearings. There has to be enough pressure to maintain the "hydrodynamic film" that the rotating parts ride on, but that takes a lot less pressure than people might think. If the pressure is higher than needed, then you're losing power to pumping loses, and could be showing a problem with a restriction preventing adequate flow.

I'm actually more and more impressed with how solid the white truck is with so many miles on it. I've had plenty of cosmetic things to deal with, and it was in desperate need of gaskets and valve seals when I brought it home, but Ford put together one helluva truck in the mid 90s.
Click to expand...
Wish I could track down the guy who put my motor together back then and shake his hand. It has defied all odds over the years.

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