Is this Digital Multimeter Good Enough?
 

Hey,

I bought a dmm at radio shack and was wondering if you guys could tell me if its the right one for tuning the tps? I know there should be no right or wrong but just wanted to see. And does anyone have tips on using the dmm for the tps? Thanks

-Andrew

btw if you want more pics to see the dials just ask because the pics came out to shiny but i'll try to take more.

...yes, but analog would have been nice... coincidentaly I have that same DMM and have used it many a time It eventually breaks, and the POS design makes it so you can never actually get the cover to close properly

Hey there was a analog one over at radio shack, it was actually cheaper than the digital one thats the reason i didn't open this one, because i might exchange it. Keneth did the actual thing itself break or the case only. Its just i always hear that digital is better because of a more accurate reading. Any more people? Oh yeah what's a good/Cheap timing gun?

-Andrew

Any $10 meter from radio shack works well with our cars, analog or digital. The main drawback to using the digital is that novices seem to get confused on the "power" of the scales' reading (have to pay attention if you're on a milli-volts or volts scale, for instance, to interpret the numbers). Absolutely nothing on our cars needs to be accurate to the hundreth place (two numbers to the right of the decimal), yet that is what most digital meters display, and it seems to confuse a lot of people...

For the TPS adjustment, a 0-3v or a 0-5v scale works best for accuracy...

Kenteth suggested the analog because it will show range spikes where an analog gauge will not show them because it happens too rapidly for a digital meter to read. well at least i hope that's why he suggested the analog over the digital. ;)


digital gauges are good for quick testing, analog are good for diagnosing problems. both have there pros and cons.

I see so..keep..or? I'm a newb at this I understood what wayne said about setting the scales. If i keep it i'll take a better pic to see if i'm right abotu the scale. As for the timing gun thing? just the cheap 20 dollar ones good enough? Thanks for the help guys. and Karack, inuyasha rocks!

for the TPS i would get an analog meter, it would better suit what you are going to use it for as you can set the TPS and test to see if it is good at the same time. the timing light can be cheap but make sure it is accurate, i have a fairly cheap sunpro timing light that i use and it works fine for setting base timing.

and HELL YEAH INUYASHA ROCKS! :) too bad they finished the episodes though...

to set the TPS you can either set it at the TPS connector to read 1 ohm or you can set it at the ECU to 1 volt after the engine is warm and engine off. after you set it do a sweep with the throttle and see if the voltage jumps up or down at any point, if it does then check your connectors, if the pins look good and are clean then replace the sensor.

...
more accurate? analog is *always* more accurate because there is no digital 1/0 stepping. Think of a hill compared to a set of stairs, which has the greater resolution.

Anyhow, the case broke, and then about 6 months later the actual DMM broke. I bought another from partsexpress for $9.00 thats lasted more than a year. Its bulkier, and the cover doesn't break off (there is no cover)

Karack-- you seem to know what you're talking about... you've got the idea. btw... note the edit buttom :P

Alright cool gotcha guys, i got 3 s4 tps' so ones gotta be good! and i'll go back to radio shack and throw the digital one in their faces and pick up the fat analog one. And buy a timing gun at autozone or one of those stores. It seems that karack does know what he's talking about, i'm actually kinda stalking him..... ;)

Edit- Roughly something like this? http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...%5Fid=22%2D218

I prefer digital myself.Maybe I'm just lazy and like to see the numbers at a glance and not have to look at a needle on a scale and add up what the value is. I can understand what they are saying about the needle on the analog showing spikes better but I see nothing wrong with digital and prefer it over analog myself.

lol, i hope i'd know a little about cars, it is how i pay my mortgage... :)

Keep the digital. Period.

If you have a series four, set the tps with a hot engine and at idle. Approx 1 volt.

I use a cheap Harbor Frieght digital. It was less than ten bucks and just as accurate as my Simpson Model 260 analog. I prefer the digital.

Analog is only more accurate if you can interpret the meter correctly. For the TPS, a few hundred ohms is accurate enough. There are penty of expensive digital meters that don't have any stepping. Hell, my $10 generic meter doesn't step, and goes down three decimal places, which is MORE then enough for 99.9% of hobby work.

Analog meters aren't very good for someone who has asked "is this digital meter good enough?". Digital readings require no interpretation.

Edit...And I can't figure out if this is 2nd gen enough to stay here, or get moved...Any other mod who feels like this could go somewhere else, be my guest.

Now here comes the digital ones :) Aaron you can move it if you want maybe we can get more opinions :)

A analog meter belongs in a museum along with slide rules and buggy whips and carbuerators. But they do have a place. On the shelf.

not exactly, i have found myself reading my digital ohm meter thinking resistance was a few ohms when in fact it was auto reading Kilo-ohms. most all meters have different settings, so unless you read the manual and pay close attention it is easy to misread any type of meter.

as i said, there is a meter for every purpose, analog meters can catch spikes where (the digital nazis) digital meters will not. the older automotive scanners were a pain to diagnose problems with because they couldn't catch voltage spikes, they just within the past few years finally put in a digital wave (analog style output) function because the meters can read fast enough now to actually map the spikes since the display won't update fast enough to show you the spike.

i doubt the digital guys will admit it but unless their meter has an analog output display as well, it is not an all around diagnostic tool, at least not an accurate one. it will bite them in the ass one of these days, as it did to me. only upside to them is they do get better every year and most do have analog mapping now.

If I'm looking for surges and spikes, I will use the proper equipment; a scope. If I am checking voltage/resistance/current/inductance/etc. I will use the proper tool; a multimeter.

Regardless, ANY meter is fine for adjusting the TPS. Hell, if you know Ohms law, all you need is a voltmeter.

but as i posted, an analog meter serves 2 purposes here. to set the TPS and to test it. ;)

I got a inductive timing gun with a compression tester, vacuum tester and a dmm for 50 bucks :) I think i might stick with the dmm ;)

not to argue but are you implying that digitals cannot do the same?

nope, they can only update the display so fast. an electrical/resistance spike can happen in milliseconds where you can see it on an analog meter or an oscilloscope. only an expensive digital meter with capabilities of mapping into a generic analog display would be able to work. an example of this would be using an SAFC2 with its mapping display, if you have any voltage spikes the analog map would show them but it is using a digital signal to map the display.

My Fluke 88 multi-meter works awesome, but expensive.