00:00 This is street stock racer Jason Dulles.
00:21 He's finishing up his first season racing and doing well, but not everything has gone
00:26 exactly as planned.
00:30 Earlier in the season, Gulledge lost the biggest single investment most racers will make in
00:34 their program, his race engine, due to catastrophic failure.
00:38 That's a big hit for anyone to take.
00:41 After all, engines don't come cheap.
00:43 Since then, Gulledge has had a new engine built and certainly wants to make sure it
00:47 doesn't happen again.
00:48 But, like many racers, he struggled with his carburetor settings.
00:52 Trying to run that fine line between maximum power and throttle response on the one hand,
00:57 while avoiding going into damaging detonation on the other.
01:01 So to help make the task of carb tuning infinitely easier, and also protect his expensive race
01:06 engine, Gulledge is installing a dual sensor air/fuel ratio gauge from Innovate Motorsports.
01:14 This is Innovate's DLG-1 dual lambda gauge.
01:18 It can monitor the air/fuel ratio in both the left and right bank of the engine separately,
01:23 which is a huge deal in oval track racing where g-forces not only affect the driver,
01:27 but the engine too.
01:29 The Innovate package is surprisingly affordable and includes everything you need to get up
01:33 and running.
01:34 This includes two O2 sensors, the 2 1/16 inch digital gauge, and the wideband controller,
01:41 or the "brain" for the system.
01:45 We tagged along with Gulledge as he installed the gauge in his race shop one evening between
01:49 races.
01:50 Being able to monitor your air/fuel levels can be a big edge on the track, since we're
01:54 now in the age of unleaded fuel and reading spark plugs has become a lost art.
02:00 Installing the new gauge is simple and straightforward.
02:02 It doesn't require any special tools or fabricating skill.
02:05 And as you'll see, Gulledge's shop is typical of many racers' shops.
02:10 It's a workable area, but we're certainly not talking about a NASCAR cup facility here.
02:15 Gulledge begins by marking where he wants to place the high-end Bosch O2 sensors Innovate
02:19 provides in a pair of short exhaust tubes.
02:23 You can install the sensors directly in the headers just beyond the collectors, but for
02:27 fitment in this particular chassis, Gulledge needed to go with the short extension.
02:31 After finding the best location that provides enough clearance for the sensors, Gulledge
02:36 marks the locations on the pipe, then drills 1-inch holes for the weld-in bung.
02:41 Just make sure that the bung is somewhere between 9 and 3 o'clock when everything is
02:45 mounted up.
02:46 Otherwise, condensation can collect and puddle in the sensor which will damage it.
02:51 If you aren't comfortable with a welder, most muffler shops will gladly weld the bungs
02:55 in for you for just a few bucks.
02:57 But as you can see, it's not a tough job.
03:00 Gulledge does it right on the floor of his shop.
03:02 If you're running a crossover or catalytic converters, make sure the sensor is placed
03:06 upstream of either.
03:08 Next, Gulledge finds a place to mount the gauge.
03:12 He doesn't have any room left on the race car's dash panel, but the 2-1/16 inch gauge
03:16 is standard size, so we found this gauge mount for a few bucks at the local auto parts store
03:21 and riveted it in place.
03:24 In the off-season, Gulledge says he'll rebuild the dash to accommodate the gauge.
03:30 Next, he finds a safe spot for the control module.
03:35 The module is also sealed from the elements and well built, so it can go practically anywhere.
03:40 But this spot behind the dash makes the most sense.
03:43 Finally, we're ready to install the sensors.
03:45 A dab of anti-seize will keep the sensors from galling in the bungs so that they'll
03:49 be easy to remove later on if necessary.
03:52 It was simpler in this case for Gulledge to install the sensors into the exhaust extensions
03:57 and then bolt them into the car.
03:58 But if your exhaust system is already installed in the car, it's not difficult to weld in
04:03 the bungs and install the O2 sensors with everything in the race car.
04:07 Like we mentioned before, just make sure the O2 sensors are pointed down to help maximize
04:12 their working lifespan.
04:16 Connecting everything up is the final step.
04:19 The cables from the O2 sensors to the control module are sealed to keep out dirt and grit
04:23 which can destroy electrical connections.
04:26 To help keep everything straight, Gulledge labels the left and right side cables with
04:29 a paint pen, but this is really a preference thing.
04:33 Make sure to zip tie all the cables securely as you route them back to the control module
04:37 so they can't come into contact with the driveshaft, the exhaust, or any other moving or hot parts.
04:43 Hooking up the rest of the electrical connections is a piece of cake.
04:47 Innovate labels all the connectors and provides a set of well-written installation instructions
04:52 so it's easy to understand exactly where everything goes.
04:56 And that's it.
04:58 Installation is that simple.
04:59 Now let's see how it works.
05:05 When you first fire the ignition, the O2 gauge goes through a short period while the
05:13 sensors heat up and then start reading your O2 levels in real time.
05:17 In our case, the top line is the engine's left bank and the second line is the right
05:22 bank itself.
05:24 Innovate warns that if the sensors are placed near the end of the exhaust pipe, you may
05:27 get a false lean reading because the sensors are picking up oxygen from the atmosphere.
05:32 But this is only an issue at idle and low RPM levels.
05:35 It clears out as soon as the engine is revved up and the O2 sensors see a steady flow of
05:39 exhaust gas.
05:42 Right away, Innovate's DLG1 gauge proved invaluable.
05:46 Gulledge quickly learned from the gauge that he had overcompensated with the carburetor
05:50 settings on the new engine and was running slightly rich.
05:54 The Gulledge changed the jets from 68s in the front and 77s in the back to one size
05:59 smaller all around.
06:01 This brought the gauge reading into our target 12.5 to 13.5 range, which is right where we
06:06 want to be.
06:10 Now that Gulledge is finally confident that the carburetor is set up properly, he was
06:14 understandably anxious to get back to the racetrack.
06:18 We only dropped one jet size, which won't equal a dramatic change in performance, but
06:22 Gulledge did say it made a huge difference in his peace of mind.
06:26 The engine ran well, throttle response was excellent, and the driver could finally concentrate
06:31 solely on his job behind the steering wheel instead of worrying about engine heat.
06:35 Plus, as it gets cooler later in the racing season, or if he travels to different locations,
06:41 knowing whether the car needs a jet change to stay properly tuned will be as simple as
06:45 running a few hot laps and seeing what the innovate gauge tells you.
07:04 (lion growling)
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