Gary Lewis

This article says "The General Motors Corporation will recall 244,000 four-cylinder Pontiac Fieros - every one ever made - because of a nagging engine-fire problem that contributed to the company's decision to stop making the two-seater." Then later down it says "In 1987, the company recalled 125,000 four-cylinder versions produced in the 1984 model year after engine fires occurred in one of every 400 cars. The company said engine connecting rods, which link the pistons to the crankshaft, could blast through the side of the engine, causing an oil leak that could lead to a fire. General Motors made some alterations in that recall, including one that raised oil capacity to four quarts from three." That must be what I remembered.

Replacing the rear main is not an easy task in the vehicle, even with the tranny out. One guy said "If I ever think about doing that again with the engine in the vehicle I'll pour gasoline on it and set it on fire!" I've actually done it, and I'll not do it again in the vehicle. Instead I'll pull the engine, and since you are already part way there that would be my recommendation to you - assuming the rear main needs to be replaced. But if it isn't leaking, or isn't leaking quite a bit, I'd leave it alone.

I wasn't around them much, but heard good things about them. Save for the fires, that is. That was a wiring harness issue? I was into sports cars in the late 80's, having just moved back from the UK where there were several of them, and liked the look of the Fiero. But then the Miata came out and I wound up with an early '90 one of those.

Glad you like SEM. But they make a spray-on texture that might work nicely on the top of your door panels. I've not used it but have heard good things about it.

Looks like a nice truck. Price may be a bit high, but then that's the asking price.

Dave - For a trash-hauler your are raking in the trophies/wins! Well done! Do the people at these shows figure out just how well done your truck is? How different it is? And do you put out the picture albums of all the work you've done?

Yes, that IS a nice picture. Looks like something off the cover of a brochure. Bummer about the bumper, but glad you got it swapped out. Well done!

Wow! That was some storm! I hope you see Spring soon and can do mechanical work again.

1980 - 81 had the grille w/o the emblem. 1982 - 86 had the emblem, but with a different egg crate.

Wow! Yes, I think I can just about work out why it didn't work. Almost as easy as figuring out why my power steering nor brakes worked today. Glad you got that sorted. And yes, hardware cloth sounds like a good solution.

Right, they aren't listed but we are logging them. And we have no idea how they are calculated. In your case your IMPG is either 0 if the MPH is 0, or 60 if the MPH is other than 0. And your MPH is always in the 200's, regardless of whether the truck is moving or not. My IMPG is more realistic in that it is 0 until the truck moves, and then it gives reasonable numbers - assuming it means Instantaneous MPG, as I think it is possible to see 17 MPG at a steady speed of 45 MPH. But the MPG #'s are wonky, so I'd sure like to know how they calculate those #'s. And a search for Binary Editor and IMPG hasn't turned up anything helpful. I'm thinking that this is one of those questions I'll ask Ben when I go down for the dyno tune. Let's see if we can get a list of questions together for that day. Oh yes, when I open any of my files or your file in the chart function of BE neither IMPG or MPG is in the list of things to chart. But it is in the data.

You may be missing something. The theory goes that if you can run 87 octane gas at 9:1 with iron heads you can still run 87 octane gas at 10:1 with aluminum heads. And while that one point of compression might only give 3% more power, it is power that would be left on the table if you went with 9:1 and aluminum heads. But, the one point more compression with aluminum heads to run the same octane fuel is not hard and fast. It isn't 1.00000 and you can still run 87 octane. It varies by engine configuration, cam duration and overlap, shape of the combustion chamber, thermostat, and even the flow path of the coolant. IOW, I'm not saying it is a given that you can run 87 octane with aluminum heads and 10:1 compression. I'm just trying to explain the theory.

Been playing with the chart function in Binary Editor, and it shows what is going on with the RPM on deceleration. In the chart below you can see that I closed the throttle at about 43 MPH and the RPM, MPH, and Idle Speed Controller all started coming down together. But at 35 MPH the ISC went up, as did the RPM - to about 1900. And it stayed that way, with the clutch pushed in, until we coasted down to 19 MPH at which point the ISC started dropping and, therefore, so did the RPM. So I need to find out what is causing that, and I'm betting it is the dashpot. I could easily change the dashpot setting, but I might need an idler pulley and a belt before I test it out.

Yes, yikes and ouch! Made for an interesting trip home, but sure was glad it was a short trip. And now for some observations from the log/dashboard: IMPG: Bill, do you have this one in any of your logs? If you do, what kind of numbers does it run? How is it calculated? I can't find it anywhere, but it shows on my dashboard and in the logs. Running a steady 43 MPH it was showing ~17.5 MPG. Dashpot: I'm pretty sure that the "Dashpot MPH to Enable Declutch Clip" parameter is the issue. It is currently set to 15 MPH, and above that speed if I close the throttle & push the clutch in the R's go to ~1800 for a few seconds and then come down to idle slowly. But when we get down to 15 MPH the R's come down gently to idle, which is still around 700 since I've not sorted that yet. The explanation on this is "When this MPH is exceeded the dashpot is set to help prevent declutch", so I'm going to set it to 128 MPH, which is the max, and see if that fixes it. I hope so as compression braking doesn't work well with it enabled, and I really wanted compression braking with the boost out today. Still lots of work to do to get things sorted, but even with the idler pulley seizing up today it feels like I'm making progress.

Well, we got the painting done and decided to go to "lupper" to celebrate. So we took Big Blue as I've made some changes to the logging and dashboard and wanted to do some datalogging. When I started the truck up I heard a squeal that went away, and smelled something. Stopped to look and couldn't find anything so we went on. But instead of going to Owasso, which would have been a round trip of 45 miles, we decided to go to Ron's. That was a wise decision because on the way home the steering got really "heavy". And while I was trying to wrestle it around the next corner I realized that the brake boost was gone. Turns out you cannot press hard on the brake pedal at the same time you are using all your strength to turn the steering wheel. But we made it home and here's what I found: And if that isn't obvious to you, here's a closeup. I guess it was the idler pulley.

Percy better be big! Hmmm, just thought of something. My father used to say something about me being "bullheaded". I used to think I knew what he meant, but that may now have taken a somewhat different meaning? Also, does Percy's induced sense include household things? Would that have prevented me from getting into my wife's painting project? Man, painting the ceiling is painful!

Ok, good luck! Hope it goes well.

Bill - Dawn/Marblehead! Now I see, said the blind man. Let me see if I can 'spain the epiphany I just had. As the post on Stang Net says, there are two ways to get AFR data in: Serial: Go to the Hardware tab, as shown below, and enable it there. Dunno if Core Tuning set it up for Innovate initially, but I'll bet they did. And set up that transfer table, which is different from the "via the EEC" transfer table. EEC: You can also connect to one of the unused inputs, like EGR, and bring it in that way. This approach is done via the Transfer Functions button on the Datalog page, and has its own transfer table. Ok, obviously the Serial approach is easier since no wires have to be run to the EEC, although it is a bit more fiddly since now I'll have the serial wire also running to the laptop while logging. But as I won't be logging all that much I think this is the way I'll go. Thanks!

I think what is being said is that compression ratio helps a bunch with MPG due to the increase in power and efficiency as it goes up. And aluminum heads allow you to run about 1 point more compression on the same gas as iron heads. So running 9:1 compression is leaving a lot of efficiency on the table.

Right, not the adventure you want. Is the engine accessible by pulling a cover in the motorhome? That would make pulling the throttlebody much easier.

Thanks, Bruce! I may go. Scott?

Ok Bill, please tell me how you are getting the wide-band readings into the datalog. I understand the electrical side with the serial output cable to a serial/USB converter, but how does the datalogging app pick that up? EDIT: Bill see 2nd bullet below, which seems to answer my question, and is easier than connecting to the ECC. I'm finding more info on how to connect a wideband to Binary Editor and want to capture it here, so will come back as I find it and add to this list: : Good discussion on how to connect it. Wish I'd found this earlier. Oddly enough it says Leech is in OKC, which is where Ben Head of Core Tuning lives. Anyway, the discussion on how to set up the transfer function is interesting as he set up another row in the transfer function above 5.0v, with the voltage at 15.9 and the AFR at 22.4. And, he strongly urged you to name the function AFR as that's what EEC Tuner is looking for. Also, when he cuts to the owner's manual of the wideband he's using it is an Innovate MTX-L Plus, just like mine, and he suggested that it should be free-air calibrated. As for the top row of the transfer function, someone asked him why the higher voltage and he answered "This, like basically all functions throughout binary editor, should always have the top and bottom rows that represent theoretical maximums. In this case, 0v is definitely the bottom end. But up top, every computer is different. So you should always input the highest voltage it will allow. Then the next row down is your practical upper limit, which is the documented voltage point for your setup. If for some reason there is a little hiccup in your electrical system and the sensors produces slightly above 5v, the ECU will freak out as it will be trying to perform a calculation that has no known solution. It is said this sort of thing will cause the ECU to reset unexpectedly." Stang Net: Found this post which says "Binary Editor has a nice built-in function where it can datalog and display your AFR from one of two sources -- the first is a supported digital (serial/usb) output from the wideband (Innovate and a few others) which won't pertain to yours. In that configuration you enable it on the hardware tab of BE and select the com port, setting the tag option to "AFR." Now you can datalog the AFR and also make it available on an open spot in your dashboard.

That's great to know, Bruce! Good senders are hard to find. Have a good weekend!

Well, Pin 27 on our EECs is the E4OD #1 shift solenoid, but the BR/LG wire comes from the Delta Pressure Feedback EGR sensor (DPFE), and our pinout spreadsheet shows that at Pin 65, and it is the EGR Valve Position Feed (DPFE Sense). Sure enough, in Datalog I found that parameter and turned it on. Well yes, I did turn datalogging on for DPFEGR_Ford, which Binary Editor's datalog list says is EGR - Exhaust Gas Recirculation Differential Pressure. However, as recently said, I need to correlate the voltage the wideband AFR gives with the actual AFR, and that took some digging to figure out how to do. The web page I linked to earlier explains how to do that by clicking the Transfer Function button in BE. And if you do that you find the table shown on the left, and if you tick the Enable box you can click the Channel 1 Tag dropdown. BUT, there is no DPFEGR_Ford in the list, nor even DPFEGR. However, DPFEGR_Ford is shown in the datalog list. With some looking I found that SYS_DELPR is said to be "EGR delta pressure", which I'm hoping is the same thing as DPFEGR_Ford. We shall see. So then I added "Wide Band AFR" to the Name field, and clicked the Transfer Function Channel 1 button and got the pop-up on the right. Going back to the previously-linked web page I found his explanation to be somewhat obtuse, or maybe I'm dense, but I think I worked through it. But instead of going from 10:1 AFR to 18:1 I chose to use 10:1 to 20:1 since it made the math far easier. As you can see each .5v is 1.0:1 AFR. And with that being done, and pressing OK I went back to the datalogging table and found what is showing below. I've circled the change that Binary Editor made of taking SYS_DELPR out and adding Wide Band AFR in its place. And I've also circled the Transfer Function button in the lower right. So now I just need to get the O2 sensor installed and do the wiring to the ECC and see if it'll work.

Still haven't heard from the exhaust shop, but have been reading up on my AFR gauge, the Innovate MTX-L Plus. Discovered that the AFR/Lambda range of the output is adjustable. Said another way, the stock configuration has 0.0v = 7.3:1 AFR and 5.0V = 22.1. But that seems like I'd be leaving accuracy on the table, so I want to change it to something like 10:1 = 0v and 18:1 = 5v, which should more than double the accuracy. (I'm not sure "accuracy" is the right word?) But that will change the voltage for 14.7 AFR to 2.94v. So now I need to go see if I can set up Binary Editor to do the math on the fly for me. Otherwise I'll have to add a column in the resulting output file and do the math myself. Bill - Do you know if and how? Also, I realized that I don't have the cable that should have come with the AFR gauge in the first place. It provides an RS-232 serial connection, but of course my tablet doesn't have a serial input. So I ordered the cable and a serial/USB converter - just like you are running, Bill. However, while I could datalog that way, I still want the wideband to come into the EEC and be recorded in the logging there. That will make it easier to watch what is happening with everything logged on one row of the spreadsheet rather than in a separate file. But, I want to change what is being logged as well as what is being displayed to not only include the wideband AFR but also some of the "flags", like WOT. So I'm going to be poking around Binary Editor to see what I can find...