GB Active till 4/23: Ultragauge (Scangauge Alternative)

yea but the empty rural roads dont have mile markers.

 

Some of our county "highways" do... I just don't feel like driving to the middle of nowhere just to calibrate this thing. There's a highway near Denver that's pretty open, huge shoulder, and lots of straightaways... I'll probably just head out there after work and get it done. You only need to drive a mile, maybe 2 at most to get it calibrated.

 

how do you find the refresh rate?

Mine is really off, even the speedo. I entered the 21 gal fuel tank and the sensor told me (while my truck was on E) that I had 105 miles left and 5.2 gallons left.... I thought this was supposed to read where the gas sensor was laying in the tank?

 

I asked about this earlier mate... I have a feeling there's no sensor that actually reads the level back to the computer. So you tell the UG you have a 21.1 gallon tank AND when you fill it up. Then the UG works out the numbers... I need to read the manual more on this topic.

As for refresh rate, this has been beaten to death in this post.

 

As far as the mile markers, can't you map out 1 or 2 miles on a straight road on google maps, then actually drive it, then calibrate?

 

that is exactly what I am going to do. But it just doesnt seem 100% accurate but I can almost guarantee that it will be more accurate than what my spedo and odo is reading.

and if its not 100% with GPS ill just try again and again until i have it right on

 

How would you know if you drove exactly 1 or 2 miles? You could use a GPS device, but it won't be 100% accurate. Not that mile markers will be either, but you'd hope that if you get front-tire to front-tire on the markers it'll be pretty damned close...

My GPS is usually accurate within ~5 meters, so maybe I can just live with that amount of error... Should still be closer to reality than my speedo is today, haha.

 

What is the deal with this window mount? I mean it's not even slanted where the suction cup is. what vehicle has a flat window that isn't slanted? Is anyone really going to use this window mount. I'm Extremly frustrated with that stupid mount

 

You don't bent the suction cup itself, bend the stiff cable just after the cup. That will allow you to fit it any which way you want...

It does take a bit of convincing, just go slow and be careful.

 

Sorry for the doublepost, but I figured out the fuel thingy after trying it again...

2nd gen taco's don't seem to have a fuel sensor that reports to the ECM, as I suspected... so if you want to use the fuel readings it's a manual process. You calibrate the fuel similar to how you calibrate miles... Just make sure you reset the UG everytime you fill up. It supports partial fillups, but I can't imagine they'll be very accurate.

Unfortunate our trucks don't have the sensor for this, but really we're only losing the actual liter/gallon level of the tank, and time/distance to empty. MPG instant/avg does not depend on it.

Also calibrated it on the way home. I just used my GPS to get a rough # for distance. I'd like to calibrate it a little more accurately, but it's definitely more accurate than what it was. Not sure I'll be able to calibrate more accurately using mile markers, I'd like to find some app for mah phone that reports distance more precisely. I know I'm limited by the accuracy of the GPS, but the app I was using only drilled down to the .1 miles. The UG goes to .001 miles... Would like to get it as accurate as possible, but like I said using the GPS in my phone and calibrating it that way was much simpler than using mile markers, and is pretty accurate... just not as accurate as I'd like .

 

Hmmm. Not bad I guess. the mpg instant/avg is the one I wanted most.

 

How are you supposed to calibrate it while driving, or should i have someone else drive so I can calibrate it? Seems a little involved to try to do it myself.

 

Well, only one way to find out!

"UltraGauge automatically determines if the vehicle supports a fuel level sensor. If no sensor is available, the message “No Fuel Sensor Found” will be displayed when MENU --> Fuel Menu --> Level Sender Mode is selected. If not present, see the Disabled setting below for additional details"

Pg. 33 of ze manual. I've been getting friendly with it... tis large, but this thing has a lot of options and is a little confusing to handle at first.

http://ultra-gauge.com/ultragauge/support/Ultra_Gauge_EM_Manual.pdf

Ditto! And the ability to clear codes and correct for MPH is just an added bonus

Having someone help would obviously make it easier... but I just pulled over 2x. Basically I pulled over on a big shoulder, zeroed the UG and the GPS. Drove down the highway until my exit, pulled over again and did the adjustment. The more you drive, the better the calibration I would think. My GPS is semi-accurate, but it's not perfect... I would think this would be about as accurate as using mile-markers tho, y'know?

I might re-check it at random, but so far I'm happy with the initial calibration I did this afternoon.

 

Can I stop multiple times before marking the first mile? Was thinking I could do this in my neighborhood but there's a few stop signs.

 

You can, but keep in mind the faster you go the more accurate it will be.

I drove just over 3.5 miles on the highway... Not sure how well that would work in a neighborhood with stop signs... It would probably work, just keep in mind that it might not be as accurate.

 

Hmmm. I have a highway near me, not a interstate, but I could use my gps to start the mile and end it. Is it better to do 1 mile, or several at once?

 

The larger the sample area and the more distance you travel, the more accurate it will be.

 

Just plugged in my Ultra-gauge. Need to calibrate. I plan on doing several miles on a marked highway with GPS also to check distance. I'll do a short trip or two and then a longer eight to ten mile test and re-cal.

 

I think I am going to just use my gps for now to calibrate it. the nearest highway with mile markers is a little bit of a jog.