Ferrari Tuning Tools

When clients come to me with drivability issues the first place we normaly go after a thorough inspection of the harness connections is exhaust gas reading to help define and isolate the nature of the problem/s:



You can notice in both photos the "Essential Tool", the Scope/Gas Analyzer.

JR,

That must be one EXPENSIVE piece of equipment.

It's huge !

And I was lookin' at a $5000 EGA and being in shock.

Was learning how to use it simple and quick ?

Hi Joe,

Yes the Full Scopes are Big $$$ mine was $23K, but impossible to be without, because putting my nose up those tailpipes to sniff the exhaust myself was getting tiring...;-)

Seriously though, you can't properly tune engines without one. Running too rich for example washes the oil from the rings and valve guides/valve stems and knocks many miles and years off the life of an engine, OTOH running too lean will act like a bad injector or bad plug wire which without the gas readings could lead to mis-diagnosis.

Learning to use one isn't hard, learning how to use one properly and proficiently takes tons of practice. The numbers are the easy part, learning what they mean and more importantly what to do about bad numbers is the hard part. Like most of lifes endeavors, practice is the key.

Hello JR,

Do you think the $5000 ones are a waste of $$ ?

Or can a novice get quite a bit of use out of one ?

Joe,

For the average person trying to diagnois and tune a 2 gas analyzer is generally all one would need like this one:
http://www.aep.bigstep.com/digital.htm

which is very simple or perhaps an older 4 gas model (that I recc. picking up used) in the $1000-$2500 range depending on their sophistication and accesories from a used machine source such as these guys

http://www.atec1.com/diagnostic_analyzers.htm

however, if you are planning on Tuning for Ca. IM 240 Ph III tests you will need a 5 gas to read Nox.

Another essential tool is the 30K wagon:

Hi JR,

That's neat. Made me chuckle.

Ya see, with the rear sub on a wagon like that
if you're 1/2 way into a 30k and someone starts barkin' about the costs
you can wheel their engine/trans into the parking lot and tell them to come pick up their lump of ____ and _____ ______ ___ ______ !




Joe