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The laser temp tool was 70% off so of course, I bought it! Immediately put it to work measuring temps where the header meets the head.
Significant and repeatable differences occur with cylinder 3 running hotter than the others and 1 cooler. Do the following results indicate an issue or are these still all ok?
You need to get the IR thermo gun closer to the exhaust pipe.
The instructions should give you a "cone" of measurement based on distance. The greatest accuracy is when the lens is closest to the target, otherwise the sensor sees too wide of a target, which lowers the average temperature the sensor sees.
While the IR guns are great for quick readings, if you seriously are concerned about the temps, you need to buy a thermocouple module for your digital voltmeter. You clamp or hold the thermocouple directly on the header pipe wall and to get an accurate reading. It won't be as accurate as an EGT probe in the exhaust stream but it will be very accurate for making cylinder to cylinder comparisons.
Having said all that, the IR guns are great for quick and dirty temperature readings. Have a couple of them myself.
You need to get the IR thermo gun closer to the exhaust pipe.
The instructions should give you a "cone" of measurement based on distance. The greatest accuracy is when the lens is closest to the target, otherwise the sensor sees too wide of a target, which lowers the average temperature the sensor sees.
While the IR guns are great for quick readings, if you seriously are concerned about the temps, you need to buy a thermocouple module for your digital voltmeter. You clamp or hold the thermocouple directly on the header pipe wall and to get an accurate reading. It won't be as accurate as an EGT probe in the exhaust stream but it will be very accurate for making cylinder to cylinder comparisons.
Having said all that, the IR guns are great for quick and dirty temperature readings. Have a couple of them myself.
This is good advice.
An IR gun is also a great way to quickly identify a misfiring cylinder---the exhaust manifold pipe temperature of the offending cylinder will be much lower than the others due to incomplete combustion.
Also very handy for checking coolant issues. But again, they are not always 100% accurate (especially the cheap ones), and different materials and colors emit IR radiation differently, so it's not always an apples to apples comparison (most IR guns come with a chart for converting readings between different colors and materials).
An IR gun is also a great way to quickly identify a misfiring cylinder---the exhaust manifold pipe temperature of the offending cylinder will be much lower than the others due to incomplete combustion.
How much is "much lower"? 50%?
I wasn't concerned about exhaust temps--just trying out the new purchase. I'll try and get closer with it.. but it's tight & hot in there! In any case, if these values seem pretty normal as already suggested, I won't worry about it
I wasn't concerned about exhaust temps--just trying out the new purchase. I'll try and get closer with it.. but it's tight & hot in there! In any case, if these values seem pretty normal as already suggested, I won't worry about it
How much lower depends on the severity of the misfire, but if you had a misfire bad enough to lower EGTs in one cylinder, you'd know it! The IR gun is handy for telling which cylinder is misfiring, not if one is!
For accurate measurement of EGTs for datalogging, etc you need proper EGT probe(s).
08-13-2018, 05:44 PM
Exhaust temps at head
