Okay, so today I wanted to mess around with my car and figure out how to actually measure the turbocharger RPM. It’s something I’ve been curious about for a while, and I finally got around to doing it.
First, I gathered my tools. I’m no mechanic, but I’ve got some basic stuff. I needed a sensor, of course, and I went with a cheap speed sensor I found. Also, I used a multimeter, some wires, and a little bit of know-how from some online forums.
The Setup
I started by figuring out where to even put the sensor. I mean, the turbo is tucked away in there pretty good. After poking around for a bit, I found a spot on the turbo housing where I could kinda-sorta get the sensor close enough to the compressor wheel. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best I could do without taking the whole thing apart.
Next, I wired up the sensor. This was probably the trickiest part because the instructions that came with the sensor were garbage. I ended up finding a wiring diagram online that seemed to match what I had. I connected the sensor wires to my multimeter, making sure I had the positive and negative leads right (fingers crossed!).
Taking Measurements
With everything hooked up, I started the car. I let it idle for a bit to warm up, then I slowly increased the throttle. I watched the multimeter like a hawk, waiting for the readings to change. At first, nothing. Then, as the engine speed picked up, I started to see some numbers! They were jumping around a lot, which made it hard to get a precise reading, but it was definitely showing something.
- I idled the engine and noted the (very low) readings.
- I increased the RPMs in small increments, watching the multimeter.
- I tried to hold the engine at a steady speed to get a more stable reading.
It took some trial and error, and honestly, I’m still not 100% sure how accurate my readings are. The sensor placement wasn’t ideal, and the numbers were fluctuating quite a bit. But hey, I got something, and it was pretty cool to see the numbers go up as the turbo spooled up.
The reading was done,It was interesting.