WHYDTYTT: What Have You Done To Your Truck Today?

[Gary Lewis]

On the return trip from Hinton we stopped at the outlet malls in OKC and I had some time on my hands so I made some calls.

• AFR Meter: The first was to AEM, the ones who make the AFR gauge I have. After explaining the situation the guy said he thinks the O2 sensor just needs to be calibrated, that they need to be calibrated about every three months. But that if I've been running this one a year then it may be time to replace it as they don't last very long.

  So I'll go through the calibration process, but I doubt that will do it as I'm getting the same symptoms this time as last and it took replacement then. So that sent me researching the situation and I found this article: Why Bosch LSU wide-band air/fuel ratio (or Lambda) sensors fail so often in aftermarket performance applications. And one thing that says is "If using a stand-alone controller without an engine speed input, never let your controller heat the sensor prior to starting the engine. One way to guarantee this is to power the controller off of its own relay which is not turned on until after the engine is started." I'm thinking this may well be part of the problem as my AEM unit comes on in either Run or Accessory, so I've probably turned the key on for a while before starting the engine, which has a hot sensor getting hit by cold condensation.

  Given that I'm thinking I'll replace the sensor if needed, but be very careful NOT to let it heat before starting the engine. But if it fails again I'll put a relay in the circuit controlled by the oil pressure switch.

• Sony: The next call was to Crutchfield as I was sure I'd purchased the Sony DSX-GS80 stereo from them. As it turns out I purchased it elsewhere but they gave me good customer support anyway. And their recommendation was to do a system reset and test it to see if it holds radio presents and Bluetooth pairings. I did the reset and re-paired my phone and it then immediately forgot the phone when I turned the key off. So I need to try the radio preset trick, but if it fails then they said I need to make sure the keep-alive voltage isn't going away when I turn the key off.

I verified that constant power is being supplied to the keep-alive circuit to the Sony and then spent quite a while with their tech support getting instructions on how to re-boot the system in order to get the Bluetooth to work correctly. And after each re-boot I was to ensure that Auto Pairing was turned off and then manually pair my iPhone and test.

I did all of that but the Sony would auto-pair with my phone each time whether Auto Pairing was on or off. But it seemed to work fine and wasn't forgetting my phone - until I turned the Garmin Montana on. The Sony auto paired with it and the problems started with the phone. I rebooted and let the Sony auto pair with the phone and it worked fine. But when I turned the Montana on again the Sony auto-paired with it and the Sony started forgetting the phone. And I did that with Auto Pairing on as well as off.

Called Sony back and they said the unit is bad and since I entered it into their system in November of 2021 I was within the 3 year warranty and they'd replace it if I sent them a copy of the purchase receipt. Unfortunately the receipt shows it was purchased 3 years and 2 months ago, so they won't do anything for me.

As it turns out I purchased the unit from CarID for $159 instead of the normal $248. So I wonder if it was a return, maybe because of the Bluetooth problem? Anyway, this time I talked with Crutchfield and they said that if I order a new one from them and have the same problem they'll take it back. So it is on order and will be here Wednesday.

[85lebaront2]

I verified that constant power is being supplied to the keep-alive circuit to the Sony and then spent quite a while with their tech support getting instructions on how to re-boot the system in order to get the Bluetooth to work correctly. And after each re-boot I was to ensure that Auto Pairing was turned off and then manually pair my iPhone and test.

I did all of that but the Sony would auto-pair with my phone each time whether Auto Pairing was on or off. But it seemed to work fine and wasn't forgetting my phone - until I turned the Garmin Montana on. The Sony auto paired with it and the problems started with the phone. I rebooted and let the Sony auto pair with the phone and it worked fine. But when I turned the Montana on again the Sony auto-paired with it and the Sony started forgetting the phone. And I did that with Auto Pairing on as well as off.

Called Sony back and they said the unit is bad and since I entered it into their system in November of 2021 I was within the 3 year warranty and they'd replace it if I sent them a copy of the purchase receipt. Unfortunately the receipt shows it was purchased 3 years and 2 months ago, so they won't do anything for me.

As it turns out I purchased the unit from CarID for $159 instead of the normal $248. So I wonder if it was a return, maybe because of the Bluetooth problem? Anyway, this time I talked with Crutchfield and they said that if I order a new one from them and have the same problem they'll take it back. So it is on order and will be here Wednesday.

Crutchfield is my source for most vehicle audio systems. Support is great. Besides, look where they are located.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Crutchfield is my source for most vehicle audio systems. Support is great. Besides, look where they are located.

Is there a Crutchfield vendor review page?

We had a discussion, a few years back when I was upgrading my cab with a dedicated, relay triggered circuit.

[Gary Lewis]

Is there a Crutchfield vendor review page?

We had a discussion, a few years back when I was upgrading my cab with a dedicated, relay triggered circuit.

Yes, there is: Crutchfield.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Yes, there is: Crutchfield.

Appreciate your doing that!

Hopefully we have a bunch of members willing to participate.

[Gary Lewis]

Appreciate your doing that!

Hopefully we have a bunch of members willing to participate.

So far 4 of us have voted and all have given them 5 stars.

I'd set it up so they'd get email each time someone comments but can't find an email address that looks appropriate on their site.

[Ifitaintbroke]

On the return trip from Hinton we stopped at the outlet malls in OKC and I had some time on my hands so I made some calls.

• AFR Meter: The first was to AEM, the ones who make the AFR gauge I have. After explaining the situation the guy said he thinks the O2 sensor just needs to be calibrated, that they need to be calibrated about every three months. But that if I've been running this one a year then it may be time to replace it as they don't last very long.

  So I'll go through the calibration process, but I doubt that will do it as I'm getting the same symptoms this time as last and it took replacement then. So that sent me researching the situation and I found this article: Why Bosch LSU wide-band air/fuel ratio (or Lambda) sensors fail so often in aftermarket performance applications. And one thing that says is "If using a stand-alone controller without an engine speed input, never let your controller heat the sensor prior to starting the engine. One way to guarantee this is to power the controller off of its own relay which is not turned on until after the engine is started." I'm thinking this may well be part of the problem as my AEM unit comes on in either Run or Accessory, so I've probably turned the key on for a while before starting the engine, which has a hot sensor getting hit by cold condensation.

  Given that I'm thinking I'll replace the sensor if needed, but be very careful NOT to let it heat before starting the engine. But if it fails again I'll put a relay in the circuit controlled by the oil pressure switch.

• Sony: The next call was to Crutchfield as I was sure I'd purchased the Sony DSX-GS80 stereo from them. As it turns out I purchased it elsewhere but they gave me good customer support anyway. And their recommendation was to do a system reset and test it to see if it holds radio presents and Bluetooth pairings. I did the reset and re-paired my phone and it then immediately forgot the phone when I turned the key off. So I need to try the radio preset trick, but if it fails then they said I need to make sure the keep-alive voltage isn't going away when I turn the key off.

Strange! How old is your AEM gauge? I have 2 of them, and one has already been used a good bit. I've never had to calibrate the sensor. In fact, IIRC that's one of AEM's selling points. Usually, again IIRC, you shouldn't have to calibrate a wide band sensor. That used to be common with the narrow band's though. The pre-heat thing is interesting. I should probably check that out.

[ArdWrknTrk]

So far 4 of us have voted and all have given them 5 stars.

I'd set it up so they'd get email each time someone comments but can't find an email address that looks appropriate on their site.

I'm on it!

See about customer relations or corporate communications.

They can not only use the feedback, but the kudos too!

[Gary Lewis]

Strange! How old is your AEM gauge? I have 2 of them, and one has already been used a good bit. I've never had to calibrate the sensor. In fact, IIRC that's one of AEM's selling points. Usually, again IIRC, you shouldn't have to calibrate a wide band sensor. That used to be common with the narrow band's though. The pre-heat thing is interesting. I should probably check that out.

Actually, last night I realized I was barking up the wrong tree - I actually have an AEM on the shelf but I'm using an MTX-L + from Innovate. That's because the folks @ Core Tuning said my AEM would read rich.

So today I'll call Innovate and ask why I'm having this problem, again. But I'll also ask about this

Innovate Motorsports 3729 Heat-Sink Bung Extender HBX-1 I found.

The product description says:

The Bosch LSU4.2 wide-band O2 sensor is rated to operate at an exhaust gas temperature of

Maybe I'm overheating the sensor?

[Gary Lewis]

Actually, last night I realized I was barking up the wrong tree - I actually have an AEM on the shelf but I'm using an MTX-L + from Innovate. That's because the folks @ Core Tuning said my AEM would read rich.

So today I'll call Innovate and ask why I'm having this problem, again. But I'll also ask about this

Innovate Motorsports 3729 Heat-Sink Bung Extender HBX-1 I found.

The product description says:

The Bosch LSU4.2 wide-band O2 sensor is rated to operate at an exhaust gas temperature of

Maybe I'm overheating the sensor?

Just talked to Jim at Innovate and he said the main problem people have is that they power the meter, and therefore the O2 sensor's heater, when the engine isn't running. So if you listen to the radio the heater has the sensor's ceramic element HOT, and if you then start the engine there's a wash of relatively cool air that hits the sensor and cracks it.

That's exactly the way I have it wired, so I need to change the wiring to only power the meter when the engine is running. I'll have to see how best to do that, but I'm sure there's an easy way to do that via the relays in the PDB.

Then, after I described my setup, he said I may also be overheating the O2 sensor since I'm running the AFR @ 14.7 and have ceramic-coated headers which keep the heat in. So he recommended the bung extension, although at 2" long I'll have to make a minor change.

In the pic below, which is taken from below the driver's side exhaust, you can see the wide-band sensor for the Innovate AFR meter to the front/right and the narrow-band sensor for the EFI system to the left/rear. Adding the 2" bung extension in the front position would put the wires very close to the tranny, so I'll swap the sensor positions and then there'll be plenty of room for the extension.