Recommended Accessories When Tuning

[stevehayes01]

I think that it is prudent to throw this post up in regards to tuning your ECU.


The draw to more power is a great one and none of us want to run the risk of blowing a motor or a turbo or damaging your car in any way. Given this forum is geared towards the electronics side of tuning I wanted to throw up a quick list of some other things you may want to consider adding to your car to ensure a safe operating condition.


1. EGT/ Pyrometer Gauge --- There are many on the market today and choosing the right one is as simple as making sure the temp scale will read high enough. You are looking for something that will read at 1000C+/1832F. With a gauge that is capable of those temps you should be able to measure your EGT's effectively.

GLOWSHIFT GAUGES Can be had for $90 and will mount in your downpipe.

Or you can look at gauges from companies such as Defi, Autometer, Greddy, etc...These options can run as much as $300 depending on what you want in a gauge.


2. Wide Band A/F Gauge ---In tuning a forced induction car it is especially important to pay very close attention to the Air/Fuel mixture that your car is running. Carefully mapping out air-fuel ratios throughout the range of rpm and manifold pressure will maximize power output in addition to reducing the risk of detonation.

There are many , many Wideband A/F gauges on the market. LC-1, LM-1, DEFI, Autometer, Greddy, VDO and many others. This gauge should run you in the range of $250 with the O2 sensor and bung.


3 Data Logging Tools (semi- Optional) --- The use of a data logger can greatly assist in measuring your cars health and condition. The option for data loggers is pretty vast as well. You can run budget tools such as the Digimoto that a slightly on the slow side of things. Or you can go to Autoenginuity and have a tool that is touted as doing real time datalogging. In this arena the amount you will spend is really up to you and what you can afford to run. The Digimoto will run you $120 or so an is a good base too and you can go up from there all the way to a Tech II at $1500 for a used one.


This is just a rough guide as to what you could add to your car to make it a little safer during the tuning process. Please feel free to add any links you may have or information you may think will help people to stay on track.

[ERP]

I just bought the Digimoto reader last week. I’ve used it before and like it a lot. It’s relatively cheap and allows a lot of generic sensor reading and data logging. It can monitor some interesting data like fuel trim, engine load and ignition timing. I also really appreciate the CEL code read ability and the option to turn it off. I know that as I push my Saab’s performance I tend to get more CELs, and I like having the ability to quickly read and clear the codes. Does the more extensive ECU map reading software have the ability to read and clear CEL codes?

[stevehayes01]

Eric would you please add a product review in its own thread for the Digimoto product? If you dont mind.

Thank you sir!

[renton]

Hi

Datalogging is extremely important when modifying hw or sw or both.
Wideband is the first one, without it you can forget everything.
Innovate tools are quite ok, some problems exists but mainly ok.
RPM, MAP, EGT, and IAT with AFR are good combination.
It is possible to see in real time how system really works, and you can see if something is
going wrong before you blow up your engine.
And of cource Belltronics STI is good when doing road testing

[JW240]

I just bought the "JAW" Wideband controller from http://www.14point7.com. After 30 minutes of assembling and a 50$ Bosch LSU 4.2 WB02 sensor i had a working unit, gives good readings. It can be used as a datalogger as well (AFR/lambda, rpm, sensor temp and 2 inputs). The best part is that the controller is only 70$ with display....
Too bad that i dont have it installed in my car yet.

[J.K Nilsson]

I am using an Innovate LM-1 with RPM-converter. I am logging MAP, TPS and RPM via the RPM converter conected to the LM-1. The next thing to connect is CHT. The sensors is the sensors Trionic uses and I haven´t seen any signs of any disturbances from the RPM-converter. The male connector to the MAP and TPS comes from the T5 crank shaft position sensor. The female connector comes from a scraped engine cable harness, I can fix pictures if someone is interested. This works like a charm.

I don´t think that EGT or MAT will be a concern for me since I using E85 to run the engine. I need all the heat I can get...

Attaching a log from my enginge and Innovates LogWorks3.

The Engine is a 2,5l lpt based on a B234, high compression pistons from VW type 1 and I am using Trionic T5.5.

J.K Nilsson

By the way: I am using OBD II to check the CHT now, checking Ignition timing and short term fuel trim.

[Transalpler]

Just a Question: Where to mount the sensor of the EGT gauge? drill a hole into EG sampler? Downpipe wouldn't make any sense becaue the EGT would be lowered due to an adiabatic expansion within the turbine. Could you post a picture where the best spot to insert the sensor is?
9k B204E, MJ 96

[Hook]

.. Car model?

[jonny72888]

any update on where to put the EGT sensor?

[edgecase]

[quote="J.K Nilsson"]

...
The Engine is a 2,5l lpt based on a B234, high compression pistons from VW type 1 and I am using Trionic T5.5.
...

I'm very interested in the high compression pistions ( over 10:1 ) you mentioned, for propane/natural gas conversions, perhaps you can start a new thread or explain some more what VW engines they can be gotten from?

[J.K Nilsson]

...
The Engine is a 2,5l lpt based on a B234, high compression pistons from VW type 1 and I am using Trionic T5.5.
...

I'm very interested in the high compression pistions ( over 10:1 ) you mentioned, for propane/natural gas conversions, perhaps you can start a new thread or explain some more what VW engines they can be gotten from?

A better idea would be to start your own thread where you discuss your goals and thoughts about your project.

J.K Nilsson

[mackan]

Found a nice chart that can come in handy when tuning your fuelmaps ( petrol only ), Lambda vs AFR:

Lambda_vs_AFR.pdf

[WELiN]

Finaly, ive been looking for a good chart for a while, but havnt found one, thx mackan!

[Lysmask]

Here's another with E85 included.

[WELiN]

Here's another with E85 included.

Even better! Thanks

[roijer]

1. EGT/ Pyrometer Gauge --- There are many on the market today and choosing the right one is as simple as making sure the temp scale will read high enough. You are looking for something that will read at 1000C+/1832F. With a gauge that is capable of those temps you should be able to measure your EGT's effectively.

GLOWSHIFT GAUGES Can be had for $90 and will mount in your downpipe.

Bought EGT-gauge and sensor from glowshiftgauges a couple of weeks ago, but it won't work, when i connect the probe, the gauge is maxed out (2400f), just like when the probe is not connected at all. Does anyone know how the probe works or should work?

[turboslippers]

I think I'll remove the ashtray/cig lighter and go for EGT/Wide Band Lambda and boost gauge in a row of three. This might look slightly incongruous as have a pod of 3 (battery, oil pressure and oil temp) above it already but needs must and all that...

EGT I think will defininately be required as measured the exhaust and have established it's a 2.5" system all the way from turbo to tailpipe. Although it has a Abbott racing downpipe some info on the saab 9000 site suggests it's just a stock downpipe with a free flow cat attached to it. Ideally I'd like to run a 'stage 3' map on the car but 2.5" downpipe might prove to be too restrictive i.e definately need EGT gauge to keep an eye on it when I try stage 2 map

Out of curosity, what is the boost demand on Stage 2 map in the T5suite? Abbot have quoted that they set boost to 1.2bar (18psi) for the '270bhp' conversion they've done on mine but I was quite pleased to find this morning, after hooking up a boost gauge, that it's only pulling 12psi. Ok, it could have a leak but it's more likely that it's been turned down by the previous elderly owner. Obviously, the first thing I'm going to do when I get in is wind it back up again (it's got a bleed valve currently...ugh) until I have all the requisit parts to start flashing an ECU

[Dilemma]

Out of curosity, what is the boost demand on Stage 2 map in the T5suite? Abbot have quoted that they set boost to 1.2bar (18psi) for the '270bhp' conversion they've done on mine but I was quite pleased to find this morning, after hooking up a boost gauge, that it's only pulling 12psi. Ok, it could have a leak but it's more likely that it's been turned down by the previous elderly owner. Obviously, the first thing I'm going to do when I get in is wind it back up again (it's got a bleed valve currently...ugh) until I have all the requisit parts to start flashing an ECU

A stage 2 for an aero bin should be 1.25 bar @ peak.
You can manually finetune the boost request map (Tryck_mat) so that it keeps the high request a little longer up the rpm range.

[turboslippers]

Cheers for that Guido, I most definately need the rest of the bits to flash as my ECU appears to have a fairly low boost cut off. The boost gauge I borrowed only read up to 15psi (plus a bit more) so I've just tried and whilst I could hold 15psi in 3rd, if I tried it 2nd it spiked (pesky bleed valve) and hit the cut off. I'm not sure if Abbott changed it all when they redid the ECU but what is standard cut off for a 9000 Aero?

I've turned it back down a bit again as I can't seem to stop it spiking when it comes on boost in the lower gears. Looking at the APC when it did hit the cut off it wasn't at the end of the scale althought not sure if that gauge can register a spike? As the boost gauge needle was on the stop at about 16psi I couldn't gauge this either to see what it was spiking to

Can I get hold of an ECU? Can I b*gger....can't find one anyware at the moment!

[turboslippers]

Sorry Guido....I should read the manul first eh? Page 43 shows standard fuel cut at 1.35bar

I'm now looking for a list of part numbers of ECU's that will be ok to use...