Big Blue's Transformation

[85lebaront2]

Got the new pulley and belt on and started it up. No problemo.

Then I pulled and plugged the air line to the idle speed control solenoid and adjusted the idle speed down to ~600 RPM with the idle stop screw on the throttle body. Plugged the hose back in and she idles at ~650 now.

And I wrote a new "tune" to it with the dashpot set to 128 MPH before it takes effect. Hopefully that will solve that problem.

So we are going to take it on that trip to Owasso in a bit to see how it does. More this afternoon...

I would order a new idler only and repair the old one and have it as a spare. I would consider it necessary due to the hydroboost.

[Machspeed]

Well, we got the painting done and decided to go to "lupper" to celebrate.

What is "lupper"? Smart choice eating locally....LOL!

 

[Gary Lewis]

Well, we got the painting done and decided to go to "lupper" to celebrate.

What is "lupper"? Smart choice eating locally....LOL!

Bill - I put a new pulley on the old tensioner, but have another used pulley that I may stick in the toolbox. And another belt for that matter.

John - Breakfast + lunch = "brunch". Lunch + supper = "lupper".

And now for my daily report. The Reader's Digest version is I BROKE IT!!!!!!

But here's the longer version. I'd written a change to the ECU setting the speed for the dashpot parameter to 128 MPH, which is the maximum. But it either did nothing or made it worse as around town the R's went to ~2000 until I got the truck down to ~15 MPH, at which point it slowed down.

I found that as we went to Owasso, which is about 20 miles away, so I did a bit more looking and found the parameter shown below, which is Dashpot Maximum Based off Vehicle Speed. As you can see, it was set to increase to .4 @ 10 MPH, .6 @ 15 MPH, and 1.0 @ 20 MPH. That fit pretty nicely with what I'd been seeing, which was that at anything above 20 it had a LOT of dashpot and it dropped some between 20 and 15.

So I changed that to .4 for everything from 10 to 127.5 MH and wrote it to the ECU. Sure enough the dashpot was significantly reduced, but it was still too much. So we stopped while in Owasso and I changed that to .2 from 10 MPH up and told it to write it to the ECU. But part way through the write I got an error message and from that point it refused to write to the ECU saying I needed another token.

Luckily the truck would run, but it was so rich that at idle it blew black smoke. We got it home, but it bucked and jerked the whole way.

Ben explained to me last week that if something like this were to ever happen he'd have to get on and help me through it. So I've sent Ben a text message, but I'd sent him one last night about something else and he hasn't responded to it. So I also emailed the other two in Core Tuning, Adam and Clint. Hopefully one of them can help me.

[85lebaront2]

Bill - I put a new pulley on the old tensioner, but have another used pulley that I may stick in the toolbox. And another belt for that matter.

John - Breakfast + lunch = "brunch". Lunch + supper = "lupper".

And now for my daily report. The Reader's Digest version is I BROKE IT!!!!!!

But here's the longer version. I'd written a change to the ECU setting the speed for the dashpot parameter to 128 MPH, which is the maximum. But it either did nothing or made it worse as around town the R's went to ~2000 until I got the truck down to ~15 MPH, at which point it slowed down.

I found that as we went to Owasso, which is about 20 miles away, so I did a bit more looking and found the parameter shown below, which is Dashpot Maximum Based off Vehicle Speed. As you can see, it was set to increase to .4 @ 10 MPH, .6 @ 15 MPH, and 1.0 @ 20 MPH. That fit pretty nicely with what I'd been seeing, which was that at anything above 20 it had a LOT of dashpot and it dropped some between 20 and 15.

So I changed that to .4 for everything from 10 to 127.5 MH and wrote it to the ECU. Sure enough the dashpot was significantly reduced, but it was still too much. So we stopped while in Owasso and I changed that to .2 from 10 MPH up and told it to write it to the ECU. But part way through the write I got an error message and from that point it refused to write to the ECU saying I needed another token.

Luckily the truck would run, but it was so rich that at idle it blew black smoke. We got it home, but it bucked and jerked the whole way.

Ben explained to me last week that if something like this were to ever happen he'd have to get on and help me through it. So I've sent Ben a text message, but I'd sent him one last night about something else and he hasn't responded to it. So I also emailed the other two in Core Tuning, Adam and Clint. Hopefully one of them can help me.

I had an issue with mine when trying to reflash the ECU, I drove from Newport News back to Exmore I think with the TPS unplugged so it would at least run. Turned out I needed to do a reset of the ECU by unplugging the keep alive power fuse.

[Gary Lewis]

I had an issue with mine when trying to reflash the ECU, I drove from Newport News back to Exmore I think with the TPS unplugged so it would at least run. Turned out I needed to do a reset of the ECU by unplugging the keep alive power fuse.

Ben Head of Core Tuning got me going! He used another token to allow writing to the ECU and that fixed the problem.

He said the problem is that my computer only has one USB port, so I've been running a hub with the dongle that Binary Editor requires as well as the Mongoose cable. And that is a no-no. When you are writing to the ECU and the dongle needs to communicate you may well have a glitch in the write to the ECU. Exactly like I had.

Apparently it doesn't have to be all that special of a computer. Just needs to have at least two USB ports as the dongle and wide-band can share via a hub. Just don't share with the Mongoose.

So I'm thinking about what I want to do here. A little laptop would be nice. But I don't need it all that long, so I wonder about getting my old laptop back from Janey just long enough to get this done.

Having said that, Ben said he doesn't really think I need to come down to put it on the dyno. He's done enough big blocks that he can dial it in over the phone pretty easily, including the timing. I just need to get the wideband hooked up and he'll help me.

 

[85lebaront2]

Ben Head of Core Tuning got me going! He used another token to allow writing to the ECU and that fixed the problem.

He said the problem is that my computer only has one USB port, so I've been running a hub with the dongle that Binary Editor requires as well as the Mongoose cable. And that is a no-no. When you are writing to the ECU and the dongle needs to communicate you may well have a glitch in the write to the ECU. Exactly like I had.

Apparently it doesn't have to be all that special of a computer. Just needs to have at least two USB ports as the dongle and wide-band can share via a hub. Just don't share with the Mongoose.

So I'm thinking about what I want to do here. A little laptop would be nice. But I don't need it all that long, so I wonder about getting my old laptop back from Janey just long enough to get this done.

Having said that, Ben said he doesn't really think I need to come down to put it on the dyno. He's done enough big blocks that he can dial it in over the phone pretty easily, including the timing. I just need to get the wideband hooked up and he'll help me.

I remember Adam telling me the dongle and Mongoose can't share a USB port. I usually plug the Mongoose into one USB port and use my multiple (4) port for Dongle, Wideband and mouse. My old MacBook Pro dual boot has two USB ports, if I use one of my HP wide screens, the old one has 4 USB ports, the new one has 3.

[Gary Lewis]

I remember Adam telling me the dongle and Mongoose can't share a USB port. I usually plug the Mongoose into one USB port and use my multiple (4) port for Dongle, Wideband and mouse. My old MacBook Pro dual boot has two USB ports, if I use one of my HP wide screens, the old one has 4 USB ports, the new one has 3.

Yep, that’s what Ben effectively said. Ok to share the dongle & wideband. Or even the Mongoose if not writing. But no sharing while writing!

[Gary Lewis]

Yep, that’s what Ben effectively said. Ok to share the dongle & wideband. Or even the Mongoose if not writing. But no sharing while writing!

Forgot to tell y'all that I had another problem yesterday. The truck wouldn't crank. I started perfectly in the shop, but when I backed out and got ready to start it again it wouldn't spin.

I assumed it was the clutch switch so pulled that connector out and checked. Nope, power to there and placing power on the other side didn't crank it. But jumpering the starter relay did crank and start it - which answers that question.

I checked all of the connectors on the back side of the EFI PDB and apparently that did the trick. But I'm a bit worried that there's something amiss there.

And, Janey has agreed that I can borrow her laptop, which has two USB connections, when I need to write to the ECU. So I'll be setting it up with Binary Editor and all the files today so I can play with that dashpot value again.

[Gary Lewis]

Ben Head of Core Tuning got me going! He used another token to allow writing to the ECU and that fixed the problem.

He said the problem is that my computer only has one USB port, so I've been running a hub with the dongle that Binary Editor requires as well as the Mongoose cable. And that is a no-no. When you are writing to the ECU and the dongle needs to communicate you may well have a glitch in the write to the ECU. Exactly like I had.

Apparently it doesn't have to be all that special of a computer. Just needs to have at least two USB ports as the dongle and wide-band can share via a hub. Just don't share with the Mongoose.

So I'm thinking about what I want to do here. A little laptop would be nice. But I don't need it all that long, so I wonder about getting my old laptop back from Janey just long enough to get this done.

Having said that, Ben said he doesn't really think I need to come down to put it on the dyno. He's done enough big blocks that he can dial it in over the phone pretty easily, including the timing. I just need to get the wideband hooked up and he'll help me.

Morning report - It's BAAAAACK! The "write" that Ben did last night put me right back to where I was, with the engine running very nicely. However, it took a while to clean out the plugs for it to run smoothly, but after a few minutes of running it is there.

I took it on about a 20 mile jaunt and have several observations from it:

• Speed Control: I absolutely LOVE the newer all-electronic speed control. It really operates much more like one from a modern vehicle. It doesn't work the throttle much as the vacuum is smooth and you don't feel the adjustments it makes. And Resume is nice and smooth, meaning you can engage it 20 MPH below the set point and it'll take you up there at a reasonable pace.

• Engine: I really think this thing runs more smoothly than it ever did on the carb. It even has a different exhaust note with the EFI than it did with the carb as there isn't a resonant point that I've detected like there was before. Plus, it now pulls nicely from idle up where with the carb it didn't like to pull below 1200 RPM. I can take corners in third now that I used to take in 2nd. And there are no dead spots, no tip-in issues, nada.

• AFR: I don't yet know what the actual AFR is, but looking at the AFR the computer was calling for I'm seeing from a low of 13.2 when climbing pretty steep hills to a high of 15.4 when descending hills. But when on reasonably-level ground it is calling for 14.7.

• MPG: I don't yet know the actual/true MPG either. But, I have figured out a bit about the MPG and IMPG figures that are being logged. IMPG is "instantaneous" MPG and on my run on cruise at 64 true MPH I saw a low of 6.7 IMPG, which was when the called-for AFR was 13.2, and a high of 31.6. But it seemed to run around 13 - 14 IMPG when on level ground - of which there was precious little.

  And "MPG" is an average of IMPG, but I don't know what causes it to reset. I suspect it would if I closed Binary Editor and opened it again, but it doesn't reset if you just stop recording the parameters and start again. So it averaged my startup and a bit of idling in the driveway and then my ~20 mile jaunt, which was tooling through the neighborhood for a mile or so and then accelerating to 64 and running there on cruise for ~9 miles up and down hill, stopping to turn around, and then coming back at 64 MPH on cruise. And that average was 11.03 MPG, but it was climbing slowly as I drove.

So I'm a happy camper. Except that I'm not sure Janey's computer is going to work to make changes. It is a laptop and a few months ago the battery went bad and became swollen. That apparently pushed on the keyboard enough to damage it, but we didn't notice that because she uses it as a work station with an outboard monitor and keyboard. But I'm having a serious problem even typing on it enough to get Binary Editor loaded. Maybe if I go back to the outboard keyboard I can get that done. We shall see.

[grumpin]

Morning report - It's BAAAAACK! The "write" that Ben did last night put me right back to where I was, with the engine running very nicely. However, it took a while to clean out the plugs for it to run smoothly, but after a few minutes of running it is there.

I took it on about a 20 mile jaunt and have several observations from it:

• Speed Control: I absolutely LOVE the newer all-electronic speed control. It really operates much more like one from a modern vehicle. It doesn't work the throttle much as the vacuum is smooth and you don't feel the adjustments it makes. And Resume is nice and smooth, meaning you can engage it 20 MPH below the set point and it'll take you up there at a reasonable pace.

• Engine: I really think this thing runs more smoothly than it ever did on the carb. It even has a different exhaust note with the EFI than it did with the carb as there isn't a resonant point that I've detected like there was before. Plus, it now pulls nicely from idle up where with the carb it didn't like to pull below 1200 RPM. I can take corners in third now that I used to take in 2nd. And there are no dead spots, no tip-in issues, nada.

• AFR: I don't yet know what the actual AFR is, but looking at the AFR the computer was calling for I'm seeing from a low of 13.2 when climbing pretty steep hills to a high of 15.4 when descending hills. But when on reasonably-level ground it is calling for 14.7.

• MPG: I don't yet know the actual/true MPG either. But, I have figured out a bit about the MPG and IMPG figures that are being logged. IMPG is "instantaneous" MPG and on my run on cruise at 64 true MPH I saw a low of 6.7 IMPG, which was when the called-for AFR was 13.2, and a high of 31.6. But it seemed to run around 13 - 14 IMPG when on level ground - of which there was precious little.

  And "MPG" is an average of IMPG, but I don't know what causes it to reset. I suspect it would if I closed Binary Editor and opened it again, but it doesn't reset if you just stop recording the parameters and start again. So it averaged my startup and a bit of idling in the driveway and then my ~20 mile jaunt, which was tooling through the neighborhood for a mile or so and then accelerating to 64 and running there on cruise for ~9 miles up and down hill, stopping to turn around, and then coming back at 64 MPH on cruise. And that average was 11.03 MPG, but it was climbing slowly as I drove.

So I'm a happy camper. Except that I'm not sure Janey's computer is going to work to make changes. It is a laptop and a few months ago the battery went bad and became swollen. That apparently pushed on the keyboard enough to damage it, but we didn't notice that because she uses it as a work station with an outboard monitor and keyboard. But I'm having a serious problem even typing on it enough to get Binary Editor loaded. Maybe if I go back to the outboard keyboard I can get that done. We shall see.

Wow! That sounds great! Glad it’s coming together.