WallyP

Just for fun

A long, long time ago, J. C. Whitney (American mail-order auto parts/accessory business) had a gadget...

It was a little round housing that mounted under the dash and contained eight neon light bulbs arranged in a circle. Each bulb was hooked to a wire that ran to one of the spark plug wires and wrapped around it many times. When the plug fired, the induced voltage would flash the neon bulb. As the engine ran, the lights would flash around the circle.

Wouldn't it be nice to have one of those on the 928, so you could see instantly if you had ignition on all eight cylinders, or just four, or none?

What about a panel with LEDs...
One hooked to the fuel pump power lead - if it is lit, you have fuel pump power.
One hooked to the injector circuit - if it flashes, you have injector firing.

Think about it, the next time that you are trying to figure out what is going on.

ew928

So we should look at your car at the next meet to find that there's 8 timing lights zipped tied together on one of the parcel trays. Think you can even get colored cellophane to cover the timing light indicators.

dprantl

Or... how about bypassing the IMS relay (if your car has one) and installing a wideband O2 sensor and gauge? The gauge would instantly tell you if there were some plugs not firing but all eight injectors still firing by indicating an overly rich mixture. There are so many other benefits to accurately seeing your AFR at any time and it only costs ~$350 and is an easy install.

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft

heinrich

Agree. I'm not surewhy but I have never been able to get an induction timing light to work on a 928.

H2

Wow...!!! Great ideas!!

H2

danglerb

This $10 tool from Lisle is pretty nice. Place the groove in the tip on a wire, and it flashes each time that wire fires.

http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/lis19380.html

RKD in OKC

Local guy here in OKC had some "diagnostic" LEDs sticking out of the ash tray for some time after he fixed whatever it was he was checking. I think he sold it with them still flashing for whatever reason.

jorj7

Man I wish it as simple and cheap as that to tell when everything is running right. Here is
my solution... of course it's too much for me to monitor so I have to have the navigator
do all the work.