View Full Version : Home built in dash live engine monitor
Dessertrunner
12-19-2006, 02:32 AM
I was thinking given some of my problems with my engine such as high idle, surging at 2,000 to 3,000 and irricate fuel economy that I might build a in dash engine monitior that would look at a couple of critial engine funstions as well as trends. Things I would monitor O2 sensors, engine temp, air bypass etc. I am sure that my problem is one bank fighting with the other in terms of info so the car is trying to decide which O2 sensor is giving correct detail.
The job could be done using a PLC and feeding to a touch screen that would supply the info and the data could be down loaded to a laptop when required. I have attached the link to the kind of screen whit examples displays that can be had remember that it operates with what is call Pages and they can be stepped through.
What do you all think.
http://www.c-moremicro.com/
Tony
SVXRide
12-19-2006, 09:10 AM
I was thinking given some of my problems with my engine such as high idle, surging at 2,000 to 3,000 and irricate fuel economy that I might build a in dash engine monitior that would look at a couple of critial engine funstions as well as trends. Things I would monitor O2 sensors, engine temp, air bypass etc. I am sure that my problem is one bank fighting with the other in terms of info so the car is trying to decide which O2 sensor is giving correct detail.
The job could be done using a PLC and feeding to a touch screen that would supply the info and the data could be down loaded to a laptop when required. I have attached the link to the kind of screen whit examples displays that can be had remember that it operates with what is call Pages and they can be stepped through.
What do you all think.
http://www.c-moremicro.com/
Tony
Tony,
Excellent idea. Cobb makes something similar that works in all other Subarus (I think) -- they call it their "ACCESSPORT", I believe.
Why not just use the Subaru Select Monitor as a starting point?
-Bill
svxistentialist
12-19-2006, 09:42 AM
I was thinking given some of my problems with my engine such as high idle, surging at 2,000 to 3,000 and irricate fuel economy that I might build a in dash engine monitior that would look at a couple of critial engine funstions as well as trends. Things I would monitor O2 sensors, engine temp, air bypass etc. I am sure that my problem is one bank fighting with the other in terms of info so the car is trying to decide which O2 sensor is giving correct detail.
The job could be done using a PLC and feeding to a touch screen that would supply the info and the data could be down loaded to a laptop when required. I have attached the link to the kind of screen whit examples displays that can be had remember that it operates with what is call Pages and they can be stepped through.
What do you all think.
Tony
Tony you ought to contact SVXtacy, who had an interesting monitor system built into his turbo car.
In fact, he is selling or has sold the car now. Check out his install at
http://www.svxtasy.com/
Click the Electronics link.
He would give you good information if you sent him a PM.
Joe:)
Sounds to me like shooting quail with missles.
It also sounds like you have an unmetered air leak.
svxistentialist
12-19-2006, 05:22 PM
Sounds to me like shooting quail with missles.
It also sounds like you have an unmetered air leak.
Beav.
So. Kain tuck has some really large quail, that give off a fair amount of heat as they fly?
All the jokes and rumours about everything being way bigger in America, they are true, then?
Joe:p :)
Dessertrunner
12-20-2006, 12:37 AM
I plugged the car into the subaru test unit today and looked at all the test info I think a air leak mite be the problem the O2 sensors behaved differently with one reading .02 and the other .7 when the car was crusing the numbers reveresed. I need to check them on my other SVX as they were jumping all over the place and would have thought they should have been more even and more consisdent.
Tony
Dessertrunner
12-20-2006, 02:27 AM
Beav since posting the last reply I took your advise and went and had a look again for air leaks this was about the 6 th time. I used a mirror and a torch to get under the intake manifold and guess what I found the hose off the induction solenoid value. Put it on then took the car for a drive and it seems to have fixed the problem. It is night time here so I have left the battery terminals off over night so the computer can relearn tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion it seems in spite of the number of times you look it is always the sysptoms that should be followed.
Tony
svxistentialist
12-20-2006, 03:12 AM
Tony
Despite Beav pouring cold water on this idea :rolleyes: , I have looked at it a number of times for the SVX. There is no transmission oil temp gauge, or any temp gauge other than water. And nowhere to fit a boost gauge, if compressed air is yore thang;) :D
Because there is nowhere to put gauges that will not look like the car has been ricered, if I may coin a phrase, behind the stereo cover would be a good spot for a single din monitor screen.
This would have the benefit that you could vary the information/virtual gauge for whatever you were checking, oil temp, o2 mix, whatever. Plus it would be neat and unobtrusive.
I'd like to see anybody come up with suggestions that would fit in a single din slot.
Joe :)
Dessertrunner
12-20-2006, 03:38 AM
Joe I have a SC kit so I have needs to know what is happening with the engine that is why I thought the plan was a good one. Also I need the practice with programing. Not sure if we can get a touch display that will fit in the Din slot but I will check.
Tony
svxistentialist
12-20-2006, 03:58 AM
Joe I have a SC kit so I have needs to know what is happening with the engine that is why I thought the plan was a good one. Also I need the practice with programing. Not sure if we can get a touch display that will fit in the Din slot but I will check.
Tony
Yes, sounds good Tony. You have the same requirement. I am supercharging.
As I want the car to look as stock as possible, I would not be all that happy with big 8" screens sitting on the dash. It's true you need the info as near line of sight as possible for safety reasons, but I'm old fashioned.;) :p I will want the interior to look stock when all the tuning is finished, and all that is left to be done is driving and smiling.:) :)
Let me know if you find anything reasonable. I'll send you anything I see as having merit.
Joe:)
svxistentialist
12-20-2006, 04:00 AM
Are you using lan's kit?
What SC kit do you mean? How many lbs boost are you using? Are you changing compression?
Joe
Dessertrunner
12-20-2006, 05:15 AM
Yes I have Lan's kit as yet I have not installed it.
Tony
svxistentialist
12-20-2006, 05:36 AM
Excellent.
Nice piece of kit. That Whipple blower is a good piece of equipment. It should transform the car for you.
The first over-the-top blower Down Under!!;)
Joe:)
Earthworm
12-20-2006, 07:39 AM
Here's a possible solution:
http://turninconcepts10.chainreactionweb.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_126_127_128_146_166&products_id=94&osCsid=a5ac8fd483478621735b50ff939f4569
Edit: may only be for OBD2
svxistentialist
12-20-2006, 11:21 AM
Thanks David.
That is EXACTLY the device I had in mind.
I sent them a query to ask if it works with OBD-1 cars, or if it can be made to work with them.
Thanks for the link.
Joe:)
Dessertrunner
12-20-2006, 12:04 PM
That looks great let me know how you get on.
Tony
I plugged the car into the subaru test unit today and looked at all the test info I think a air leak mite be the problem the O2 sensors behaved differently with one reading .02 and the other .7 when the car was crusing the numbers reveresed. I need to check them on my other SVX as they were jumping all over the place and would have thought they should have been more even and more consisdent.
Tony
That's the nature of O2 sensors. They typically switch ~1x/2sec @2000 rpm when they are in good condition. 'Switch' means crossing the 'threshold', typically figured to be .45v. .45v would be optimum, above that is rich, below is lean. The ECU changes the injector on time (in milliseconds - ms.) to accomodate the fluctuating voltage. Of course this is taking into account all other inputs are steady and nominal.
Dessertrunner
12-20-2006, 04:47 PM
Beav does the ECU decide how much to inject and put the same to all injectors or does it treat each bank of the engine differently.
Tony
svxistentialist
12-20-2006, 06:12 PM
That looks great let me know how you get on.
Tony
Tony
Below is the reply I got. Apparently it can be made to work for some things, but it would be very costly [compared to a few gauges I suppose] using it that way. it can't be persuade to do all the things for an OBD-1 car that it can do with the OBD-11 terminal.
<<<
No. it is not OBD-I only obd-II. Technically you could hook it up
and have it read oil pressure, oil temp, and EGT, but that's would be
stupidly expensive for what would work.
Quoting Joe Devine
>
> Hi there, my question is in relation to Psi3 1-din Subaru monitor
> screen. It says all over the text, for OBD-11 Subarus. My Subaru is
> a '94 SVX and is OBD-1, with no plug socket. My question is this:
> will it work for OBD 1 cars? A secondary question would be, if it is
> not configured to read OBD-1 cars, can it be made to read sensors
> on an OBD-1 car, or would the protocol get in the way?
>
> I am strongly interested because I am supercharging my SVX
>
> Joe Devine
>>>>
So we will have to look elsewhere. Looks good, does not work good.
Joe
Dessertrunner
12-20-2006, 11:15 PM
Joe our cars do have a plug to read data as I have used the Subaru reader and it provides all the function he talks about. It would be good to know if he would tell us how the data is aquired is it requested from a memory location in the ECU or what, reason being it might not be as complex to do the job our selfs.
Tony
svxistentialist
12-21-2006, 01:47 AM
Joe our cars do have a plug to read data as I have used the Subaru reader and it provides all the function he talks about. It would be good to know if he would tell us how the data is aquired is it requested from a memory location in the ECU or what, reason being it might not be as complex to do the job our selfs.
Tony
Tony
If your '95 car has the one colour all over, plus if it has the plug for the select monitor in the dash beside the steering column, not in the footwell, then that car could be OBD-11. Later cars are. It would work, if so.
The '92 car will have the plug in the footwell. It will be OBD-1, and won't talk to this device, the software will be wrong.
The data is acquired from the memory held in the ecu and tcu locations, same as the Subaru select monitor does.
Joe
Dessertrunner
12-21-2006, 02:11 AM
Joe mine is the OBD-1 as the plug is at the foot side. I think if we can find more info then we still might be able to get into the system. The touch screen has ability to look in memory locations and get data simply by programing the unit. I will contact the guy who got into his and see what I find out. If Subaru can get in we should be able to. Found a guy in Australia who might be able to help.
Tony
svxistentialist
12-21-2006, 04:29 AM
Joe mine is the OBD-1 as the plug is at the foot side. I think if we can find more info then we still might be able to get into the system. The touch screen has ability to look in memory locations and get data simply by programing the unit. I will contact the guy who got into his and see what I find out. If Subaru can get in we should be able to. Found a guy in Australia who might be able to help.
Tony
Excellent. Keep me posted.
Joe
Dessertrunner
12-21-2006, 04:43 AM
Joe do you recall if Lan has a program to get into the ECU?
Tony
svxistentialist
12-21-2006, 05:06 AM
Sure he does.
If you bought a system from him, that includes a retuned chip, does it not?
Joe
Dessertrunner
12-21-2006, 12:15 PM
Spoke to Mike and he made the plug but never got round to writing the code, have asked him about if he can help with the "how we would approach the problem".
Tony
Beav does the ECU decide how much to inject and put the same to all injectors or does it treat each bank of the engine differently.
Tony
Well, up until the O2 sensors (and possibly the knock sensors - ask Mike/LAN) become involved it should treat both banks equally. Once those senors become a part of the equation the injectors are split by bank.
Dessertrunner
12-24-2006, 05:15 PM
Beav I asked Mike and he said that the banks are managed as one they are not treated differently. Your comment before about the reading should be .45 I think my car is adjusting all the time trying to get the best mixture as one bank must be running different to the other. Next week I will unplug one O2 sensor and see if I can get the other O2 to give a stable reading.
Tony
Either I wasn't clear or you didn't read it correctly. The O2 voltages should be in a constant state of change. Their voltages typically rise and fall, from .1 to .9 volts, switching around once every two seconds. .45v is the 'threshold', in other words the point that separates lean from rich. Many computers use this threshold as a way of monitoring O2 sensor performance - if the voltage doesn't cross the threshold every so often it determines that a problem exists.
svxistentialist
12-26-2006, 10:05 AM
Howdy Mr Master Tech.
A Happy Christmas to all in Louisville and surrounds.
Joe:)
Trevor
12-26-2006, 02:01 PM
Howdy Mr Master Tech.
A Happy Christmas to all in Louisville and surrounds.
Joe:)
Good to see you posting Beav.
I second the above with further best wishes.
Cheers, Trevor. ;)
Thank You, Thank You. Many happy and joyous returns to both of you.
Dessertrunner
12-26-2006, 10:37 PM
Beav I did get what you ment its just that the two O2 sensor behave so different to each other. During the festive season I took out the injectors and put in the ones from the half cut I have. Upon removal I found that one cylinders was not as clean as the others and it was not the one the exhaust went into. Also it now appears that the polliation gear, is it the EGR was on most of the time which was giving the car grief with the idle. So I hope I am getting closer to sort that out. So far it runs better. You have to wonder when you get a engine coming up to 400,000 k if its not worth just replacing it, but I want to see how many K I can get from it.
Tony
floatingkiwi
12-28-2006, 02:08 PM
Beav I did get what you ment its just that the two O2 sensor behave so different to each other. During the festive season I took out the injectors and put in the ones from the half cut I have. Upon removal I found that one cylinders was not as clean as the others and it was not the one the exhaust went into. Also it now appears that the polliation gear, is it the EGR was on most of the time which was giving the car grief with the idle. So I hope I am getting closer to sort that out. So far it runs better. You have to wonder when you get a engine coming up to 400,000 k if its not worth just replacing it, but I want to see how many K I can get from it.
Tony
This is sort of on the same topic as I too am interested in monitoring the ECU parameters, in fact LAN was going to do something like this if you remember a while ago.
As concerning your Supercharger kit - are you using the Aussie ECU or an american one. I remember one of the aussie guys trying the ECU chip and it was throwing up ECU codes (don't remember which one) which stopped when he removed the chip.
Matt
Dessertrunner
12-29-2006, 03:26 AM
I have got a USA ECU to put in the car. Still have to figure which car as I might do like some of the other guys and get one just for the SC.
I am looking at what I can monitor now and will let you know.
Tony
Dessertrunner
01-02-2007, 04:14 AM
Have found a couple of guys that build hobby circuts for jaycar.com.au and seem pretty clever so my guess is we could get these guys to crack a SVX ECU so we can down load all the data. They also have a number of circuts to make changes to fuel, air & timing using a cheap unit. I will contact them and let you know how we go.
Tony
svxistentialist
01-02-2007, 05:06 AM
Sounds good news Tony.
If these guys are good at hacking code, mention the Subaru Monitor to them. It already can read the sort of engine info we need. If they could hack those monitoring circuits, it might lead to a short-cut in showing the information in the car.
Good work
Joe:)
floatingkiwi
01-03-2007, 05:27 PM
I have got a USA ECU to put in the car. Still have to figure which car as I might do like some of the other guys and get one just for the SC.
I am looking at what I can monitor now and will let you know.
Tony
Yes, thought so. Good luck with the rest of the project.
Matt
vBulletin® v3.8.7, Copyright ©2000-2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.