Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

While I'm awaiting the call from the exhaust shop I'm loathe to take the truck apart to get the AFR meter wired in as he may be ready for it "now".

But it occurred to me that I'd missed telling y'all about part of the conversation with Ben of Core Tuning. I mentioned the initial spark setting of 13 that I'd dialed in and he said "No! Put it at 10 as the factory calls for so we can set the spark table in the computer correctly."

So I do plan to dial it back to 10. But I don't know how to properly set up the tables, and he assures me he can get the last 10 - 15% out of it. So I do plan to take the truck down to Ben and have him dial it in on the dyno. I've not gotten a note back from him, but he did say he and his wife were going fishing, so I'm not surprised.

In the interim I'll get the AFR meter hooked up and datalogging. And then, assuming I don't have a close-in date with Ben, we'll take it to Kansas to show my brother and his sons. Plus, we'll take the bucket seats up so the upholstery guy can pick them up when he comes by in May, although he won't get to them until June.

But before that trip I need to look the AFR over closely so I know we aren't running too lean in certain conditions.

Does all that make sense? Am I missing something I should do?

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...

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, I think I've cracked it. With a little Googling I found this on How to connect a Innovate LC-1 to the EGR input. In part it says:

Locate the Analog Output wire of the LC1 controller. It will be either the yellow (analog out 1) or brown wire (analog out 2). For this example, the brown wire (analog out 2) is used since it is configured, by default, to be the wideband output.

Connect this output to pin27 on your EEC (brown/light green stripe wire – 88-95 5.0 cars). If you are working on a different vehicle, then check your vehicle's EVTM or wiring diagram for correct wire markings AND EEC pinout.

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.

[85lebaront2]

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...

Gary, my Innovate readings show up in my data logs and do not go into the EEC at all.

I can look over at the readout and see what my AFR is any time I am driving Darth. My WB sensor is where the 1990 460 w/E4OD standard sensor would go, in the short H pipe between the two bank's inlet pipes to where the catalytic converter would be.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Gary, my Innovate readings show up in my data logs and do not go into the EEC at all.

I can look over at the readout and see what my AFR is any time I am driving Darth. My WB sensor is where the 1990 460 w/E4OD standard sensor would go, in the short H pipe between the two bank's inlet pipes to where the catalytic converter would be.

Gary wanted true duals.

I'm not sure he has a crossover.

[85lebaront2]

Gary wanted true duals.

I'm not sure he has a crossover.

Jim, mine are dual all the way to the muffler, then just the tailpipe is single coming out of the muffler (which is still the original factory one).

[ArdWrknTrk]

Jim, mine are dual all the way to the muffler, then just the tailpipe is single coming out of the muffler (which is still the original factory one).

Sorry.

When you said H-pipe I was thinking crossover.

I know what your exhaust looks like! 😉

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, my Innovate readings show up in my data logs and do not go into the EEC at all.

I can look over at the readout and see what my AFR is any time I am driving Darth. My WB sensor is where the 1990 460 w/E4OD standard sensor would go, in the short H pipe between the two bank's inlet pipes to where the catalytic converter would be.

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.

[85lebaront2]

Sorry.

When you said H-pipe I was thinking crossover.

I know what your exhaust looks like! 😉

Jim, it is no longer the original 1986 system. When I converted to EFI I found that the exhaust manifolds have a slightly different angle, and due to the length and width of the E4OD, the transmission crossmember is (a) 7" further back than the C6 location and (b) the right side has a special gusset and small curve to allow the dual head pipes to fit. The transmission has a heat shield on that side to protect the solenoid pack wiring. The dual head pipes curve up slightly, then back down where they pass over the transmission crossmember. Right after this kickup, there is the short H cross pipe where the single O2 sensor for the EEC-IV system went, there is an exhaust hanger there so the pipes won't hit the crossmember and there is a flange at that point where the catalytic converter went.

When I drove Darth to my favorite exhaust shop they took a flange from a dead catalytic converter and connected the existing dual inlet pipes there. The original bolted joints are long gone but the basic system from the connection forward of the muffler, over the axle and out is still the original 1986 part, with two exceptions. The muffler heat shield was removed at the recommendation of the exhaust shop and the screens in the tailpipe where cut out in 1994 shortly after I bought Darth (recommended as an improvement much cheaper than anything he could sell me). Since the 1996 bed has a full set of heat shields, the rust inducing ones were removed and thrown away.

 

[85lebaront2]

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.

Gary, on my "hardware" tab, when I click on it, I have the Innovate and TwEECer (I had one for use on the EEC-IV system and when Adam set up my BE originally he put it in there). I don't know if you can add it it or Core Tuning has to do it, but once it is added then it's input is available when datalogging.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary, on my "hardware" tab, when I click on it, I have the Innovate and TwEECer (I had one for use on the EEC-IV system and when Adam set up my BE originally he put it in there). I don't know if you can add it it or Core Tuning has to do it, but once it is added then it's input is available when datalogging.

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!