WIDEBAND A/F sensor

sparksftball69

sparksftball69

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What is the importance of a Wideband A/F sensor?

Is it worth it?

Should i be looking into getting a kit?
 
a wideband reads your air fuel mixture, and the mistake most make is lookin at it while driving down the road

the air fuel guage is best used to meter the mixture at wide open throttle,
it will let you know if you are running lean or rich.

now depending on your mods is whether it is worth it or not, to me I dont think anyone should be without one, especially if you are nos or forced induction
 
If you are stock with minor mods, no need. Once you have a flash done, or start going with more serious mods like FI or NOS, then definitely, just as Stinker says.
 
stinker do you have a guage that matches ours (oil pressure) sort of?
 
1fast10 said:
stinker do you have a guage that matches ours (oil pressure) sort of?
Click to expand...
the one I suggest is the aem , it has a silver face or a black face, they seem to work the best and are better priced than the autometer which is around $100 more or so.

but it doesnt really "match" or say SRT
 
JTS VENOM PERFORMANCE said:
a wideband reads your air fuel mixture, and the mistake most make is lookin at it while driving down the road

the air fuel guage is best used to meter the mixture at wide open throttle,
it will let you know if you are running lean or rich.

now depending on your mods is whether it is worth it or not, to me I dont think anyone should be without one, especially if you are nos or forced induction
Click to expand...

I will disagree with you. An AF meter will give you accurate readings whenever the engine is running. WFO is important but it is no better or worse at WFO or idle.

While not as noticeable with an 8.3L V10, driveability problems are more pronounced with smaller displacement engines. In the motorcycle world poor fueling at say 10% throttle at X,XXX rpm's can be very noticeable.

Additionally, what is considered optimal at WFO is not necessarily optimal at 65mph cruising down the highway. AF meter lets you know what the fueling is at a given throttle position.

Difference between an SRT10 and my GTR1400 is I can plug in my laptop and make minute fueling changes at any RPM and any throttle position. There's no easy software interface with Dodge ECU which greatly limits the effectiveness of having an AF meter for the SRT10.

Real world....I can program a secondary map for my GTR. Primary map is for performance. Secondary map is for fuel economy. Using my AF i can fully map/setup my fueling for both maps throughout all RPM's and TPS. Using a simple switch I can flip between those maps when I desire. With an SRT10 you can look at your AF Meter and say...hmmm, seems to be running rich/lean. Now what are you going to do? Oh, thats right, you're at the capable hands of a tuner. If you don't dyno your truck he can only approx what fueling your truck needs. He'll charge for each change and trust me he's going to error on the side of rich. Many tuners will only spend the time to dial in WFO and not all the other throttle positions.

Anyways....AF meter is only good if you do something with the info. At the very least a person could modify their vehicle and having the AF working know if they are running too lean thus possibly saving a major meltdown.

In the motorcycle world aftermarket company's are producing closed loop performance modules utilizing wide band o2 sensors to automatically 'remap' every time the vehicle is running. You input general performance parameters you want (hp, economy etc) and it will set up fueling and maintain that fueling parameter going forward. Bye bye tuner...

These are no different than what any modern vehicle comes equipped with from the manufacturer except these are adaptive and end user directive.
 
So if you have JMB Catless Mids, you can tap into one of the unused O2 sensor holes?
 
Good point Stinker about looking at the gauge while driving. I have thought many times while Im at WOT trying to take my eyes off the road to look at it. I have a Paxton and Im thinking about installing a light (simular to a shift light) so when the Paxton fuel controler turns on the pumps under boost the light stays on while their on if it goes off under WOT time to get out of it. I know its not fool proof but may help.
 
34bud said:
Good point Stinker about looking at the gauge while driving. I have thought many times while Im at WOT trying to take my eyes off the road to look at it. I have a Paxton and Im thinking about installing a light (simular to a shift light) so when the Paxton fuel controler turns on the pumps under boost the light stays on while their on if it goes off under WOT time to get out of it. I know its not fool proof but may help.
Click to expand...
thats the only time an air fuel guage is reading your mixture thru the rpms,

at normal or light throttle the pcm wil try to achieve perfect ratio of 14.7/1 so it will dance around from 14-15 or so, so all its doing at that point is reading normal load

to get a proper tune the engine should be under a load such as up a hill, in a tall gear such as third, and do a pull thru the entire rpm range, then at that point the guage will read lean or rich with below 12 being rich and 12 + being lean

do I condone or suggest that someone find a public highway and do a full wot pull thru third or fourth gear? no , thats illegal, I am jsut telling you the correct way to get a reading off the air/fuel guage;)

as far as your light, you can pic up a 1/4 led at radio shack that is small and very bright that will catch your attention and is very un noticable and can put it almost anywhere.:)
 
& since we have a V engine, would it be best to monitor both banks ??????:dontknow: :dontknow: :dontknow:

is there a "best" place to put the WB sensor to get the best/true readin :dontknow: :dontknow: :dontknow:

& i've heard folks gettin down to the nut cuttin & doin each individual cyl.:rock: :rock: :rock:
 
Last edited:
Chuck B said:
I will disagree with you. An AF meter will give you accurate readings whenever the engine is running. WFO is important but it is no better or worse at WFO or idle.

While not as noticeable with an 8.3L V10, driveability problems are more pronounced with smaller displacement engines. In the motorcycle world poor fueling at say 10% throttle at X,XXX rpm's can be very noticeable.

Additionally, what is considered optimal at WFO is not necessarily optimal at 65mph cruising down the highway. AF meter lets you know what the fueling is at a given throttle position.

Difference between an SRT10 and my GTR1400 is I can plug in my laptop and make minute fueling changes at any RPM and any throttle position. There's no easy software interface with Dodge ECU which greatly limits the effectiveness of having an AF meter for the SRT10.

Real world....I can program a secondary map for my GTR. Primary map is for performance. Secondary map is for fuel economy. Using my AF i can fully map/setup my fueling for both maps throughout all RPM's and TPS. Using a simple switch I can flip between those maps when I desire. With an SRT10 you can look at your AF Meter and say...hmmm, seems to be running rich/lean. Now what are you going to do? Oh, thats right, you're at the capable hands of a tuner. If you don't dyno your truck he can only approx what fueling your truck needs. He'll charge for each change and trust me he's going to error on the side of rich. Many tuners will only spend the time to dial in WFO and not all the other throttle positions.

Anyways....AF meter is only good if you do something with the info. At the very least a person could modify their vehicle and having the AF working know if they are running too lean thus possibly saving a major meltdown.

In the motorcycle world aftermarket company's are producing closed loop performance modules utilizing wide band o2 sensors to automatically 'remap' every time the vehicle is running. You input general performance parameters you want (hp, economy etc) and it will set up fueling and maintain that fueling parameter going forward. Bye bye tuner...

These are no different than what any modern vehicle comes equipped with from the manufacturer except these are adaptive and end user directive.
Click to expand...
You're wrong on this one sir. Tony is correct in post #13. At idle or light throttle, the computer is trying it's damnest to keep A/F at the range indicated by Tony. So, an A/F gauge is pretty much worhless there. Were it's priceless is at WOT. :)
 
JTS VENOM PERFORMANCE said:
the one I suggest is the aem , it has a silver face or a black face, they seem to work the best and are better priced than the autometer which is around $100 more or so.

but it doesnt really "match" or say SRT
Click to expand...

I got one of these AEM A/F gauges from Stinky. It's great and looks great up on the pillar next to the oil temp gauge.
 
either way your gonna get all kinds of advice, but I allways get a call after selling one asking why it is staying at 14-15 during cruise, light throttle , hwy driving.
Reason being , pcm is optimizing the fuel ratio

but if you knwo nothing about tuning, you can at least make a run or two and yes have your tuning guy make adjustments since about 99% of folks that drive daily cannot do there own tuning.

so basically you have your own option if you go to modding your truck,
spend $275-$300 nd a couple hours of your time and install an air/fuel guage of good quality, or not and take a 50/50 $20,000 chance with your aluminum engine
 
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