Beginner questions about modelled fuel

[Mark W]

Hi guys

I recently installed a link g4 v5-6 in my 98 wrx, so far the forum has been a great help with getting me started. Ive had a good search around but was hoping i could get some advice on creating a modelled fuel tune.

My setup is.. 
98wrx stock internals
link g4 v5-6
aps intercooler and exhaust
550 injectors
340 aeromotive fuel pump
fuel reg (at 50psi)
high flow tdo4
race quality ingition leads
manual boost controller(3 port bcs sitting on the bench not installed yet)

The engine is freshly reconditoned as is the high flowed turbo. All the items are brand new, fresh plugs etc. My auto knowledge is average at best but i have a good friend helping who is a very talented mechanic and a great tuner but mostly specialzing in Autronic.
The link went in no probs, calibrated fine and we turned off the fans (thanks to the forum) which came on but i had no understanding about traditional and modelled fuel at this stage. We started putting in injector details, fuel pressure etc and then went to the fuel table to try and get it started. All the numbers were 0 in the fuel table from the v5-6 basemap provided and we started playing around trying to find something to get it going. I kept reading things about the master fuel number and couldnt find it. It was then i switched back to traditional, found the fuel main, found the right numbers in the fuel table and got it started. It sounded really nice and very promising. That was it for that day and it will continue on the road tomorrow hopefully.

I watched scott's webinar and realized how confused we had been about the features of the link. I had no knowledge of the higher precision but different tuning style of modelled fuel. I think we can manage to come up with a tune on traditional tune for now but will work on a modelled one over time as we learn. I would like to know about the process and workflow of creating a modelled fuel program. Eg. which parameters to set up first? Can it be theorectically written before you start the car?

I also would like to know about why the lambda\afr gauge is not showing any reading? Is it something to do with being lambda only for modelled fuel? 
I had changed the units to afr to please my autronic mate. We have an external wideband o2 sensor we have been using and are going to run simultaneously to check if it reads correctly.

Any advice on building a traditional tune too would be appreciated, im not 100% sure we have everything set up right now but we have no errors. Id be happy to send the file soon to get looked over if anyone is interested to see if there is anything strange in there.
Learning the software is very frustrating but im getting more comfortable with it, problem is i dont know how to tune a car yet, my friend knows but hes hard to pin down for a days work and has spasms about the link software not being the same as autronics which looks like a game of pong.

I apologise for my extreme lack of knowledge, i bought the link under advice, reading about its good reputation but now im determined to learn how to use it. Ive had my car for 16 years and previously had a very unpopular mictrotech mt8 in it before my engine gave up. Im tired of endlessly searching for reliable people to maintain my car and hope to be able to do more myself.

Thanks 

Mark

[Steve]

Bout learning...

Hpacademy.com

Is a great place to start. The g4 is also one of the ecus they use alot. Should fit you perfectly.

 

[Scott]

Hi Mark,

For a modelled fuel setup in the Link ECU, you can setup a lot of the settings before even running the engine. The more accurate the information the better. Things like the injector flow rates, dead times, short pulse width data, fuel stoich ratio, engine capacity, base fuel pressure, fuel density and injector rated fuel pressure can all be set up before hand. Other things like Fuel table, fuel charge cooling coefficient, and charge temp table really need to be done with the engine running.

As you've noticed the modelled fuel mode does not have a master fuel number. All the additional settings used by the ECU in modelled fuel mode mean it is no longer necessary.

The 'Lambda 1' reading will display only in lambda units when in modelled fuel mode. When in traditional fuel mode 'Lambda 1'  can be displayed in AFR or Lambda units. If 'Lambda 1' is still reading 0.000 all the time then upload your base-map and we'll see if we can identify the problem.

HPAcademy is certainly worth looking into they offer some good value courses on our ECUs and also general tuning.

Scott

[Mark W]

Thank you for your replies. I have noticed hpa academy and will check it out further.

We got the car cruising very nicely using the extra o2 sensor we plugged it untill the old wastegate actuator died. Im waiting for a replacement.

As i said we got the car cruising nicely but the marker does not move vertically in the fuel table? We have adjusted accel enrichment etc and it drove very nice but cant adjust it into boost.

Why doesnt that marker move vertically like it does in the others? Have we got the vacuum lines wrong?

Thanks scott, i will include the file if you could have a quick glance at it. Apologies if there is some noob settings in there

number one problem is getting the o2 sensor reading

number 2 is explaining to me why the fuel table only moves horizontally.

Its definitely a long road ahead learning how to do a modelled tune but will be worth it.

 

Thanks again

Mark

 

aaMark Subaru.pclr

[Scott]

Hi Mark, 

 

number one problem is getting the o2 sensor reading

Looking at the Analog Inputs section of your base-map I see you have An Volt 4 configured as Narrowband Oxy. Is your O2 sensor a wideband type unit? If yes, and it is wired to An Volt 4, then An Volt 4 should be set as Lambda 1.

number 2 is explaining to me why the fuel table only moves horizontally.

Fuel table 1 has axis of engine speed and MGP (Manifold Gauge Pressure). If the cell in the fuel table is only moving horiztonally then this indicates that the ECU is not seeing the MGP reading (from the MAP sensor) changing. If you look at the MAP or MGP readings do they change when you change engine conditions? What do they read when the key is on and engine is off (and you are connected to PCLink)?

Scott

 

[Mark W]

Sorry for the late reply, we are using a wideband o2 sensor, plugged into the cars socket, i will change it to lambda 1 and hopefully get something showing on the screen.

When we plug the narrowband o2 sensor back in what should the settings be to make it work?

Presently i cant start the car because im waiting for an actuator to be sent to me but we will look into and test the o2 and the map sensor asap. Ive been worried about it not working before the link went in. 

Thanks for all your help.

 

P.s The software is great to use from a beginners point of view, it takes some minor research to know how to use the basic functionality, gauge and table docking and organisation etc. If you hadnt watched the youtube overview video you would be struggling.

Its a bit confusing working out the initial procedure of setting, up but the forum was just as much help as the help file. Watching the videos about fuel models really opened my eyes as i did not even realize all of the features of the g4.

Getting stubborn mechanics to watch youtube videos is difficult so maybe some of the technical features could be made more evident without having to do that. My mechanic is a little bit blown away by the amount of features and controls of the software, but i see it as very nicely designed customizable software.

Recognizing what feature is for traditional tune and what is for modelled tune is one problem at the moment, maybe it will become more obvious later.

Saving feels a bit risky sometimes, im not quite sure if im saving to the ecu or pc, occasionally the usb cord jiggles or i forget and turn the car off and theres a bit of confusion about whats on the pc and whats on the ecu. Its a great system you have with modified areas being highlighted but m trying to find the colours to tweak those features as they are very hard to read in dark red when the laptop is outside.

Overall great job on the software, obviously lots of thought and design went into it, i would love to set it up on multiple monitors as its a shame to cram it all in on a laptops screen.

the help file is a saviour as is the very friendly forum and scotts knowledge

[Scott]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the feedback. It is always interesting to hear what people think about the product and what their experience has been.

If you set the AN Volt channel the narrowband sensor is wired to to 'NB Oxy' it will work. The problem is the information it provides is just about useless. A narrowband O2 sensor only tells you if you are richer or leaner than 14.7:1, and not by how much. This is the advantage of a wideband O2 sensor.

Recognizing what feature is for traditional tune and what is for modelled tune is one problem at the moment, maybe it will become more obvious later.

When you set the Fuel Equation Mode to Traditional or Modelled the available settings will change to reflect the mode you have selected. For example, the Master Fuel setting is only visible when in Traditional mode. Another useful resource is the PCLink Help page G4+ ECU tuning Functions > Fuel > Fuel Setup

Saving feels a bit risky sometimes, im not quite sure if im saving to the ecu or pc, occasionally the usb cord jiggles or i forget and turn the car off and theres a bit of confusion about whats on the pc and whats on the ecu. Its a great system you have with modified areas being highlighted but m trying to find the colours to tweak those features as they are very hard to read in dark red when the laptop is outside.

When you want to save (store) to the ECU press the F4 key. When you want to backup the tune to your hard drive press the F2 key.

Overall great job on the software, obviously lots of thought and design went into it, i would love to set it up on multiple monitors as its a shame to cram it all in on a laptops screen.

I agree, I wish I had a solution to offer on this!

Scott

[Mark W]

Great thanks again!

I forgot to explain about the wideband sensor, we have an external one with its own display plugged into the car at the moment for tuning, i will definintely look into putting a wideband one in the car. Now maybe i can check if the nb stock one is working.

Will get back to you soon about the map sensor

Many thanks

[Scott]

Many wideband units that have a gauge also have an output wire that can be connected to an ECU. Which wideband make and model do you have?

Scott

[Mark W]

Hi scott,

sorry for the very late reply. I was away holidaying and now are back into trying to get my car running again.

It is an autronics wideband sensor. I will look for an output wire.

I was wondering if i could PM you or is it ok to ask you questions via the public forum?

The stage im at is about to install and set up and new wastegate actuator, before i left we had the car running ok but it gave out after a 45 minute drive.

Im worried about the maf sensor.

I keep hearing about the link being able to delete the maf (is this the same as afm sensor?). How do i go about bypassing the maf and what do we use in the software to manage it?

WRX maf sensors are apparantly notoriously bad. Sorry if the questions are noob questions but i cant find much clear information about whats involved. Theres no point replacing the sensor if im not going to use it which i hear is a great advantage of the link g4.

We had the car idling and cruising quite nice before the actuator gave out but it we had to run it quite rich which didnt seem right. Just about everything in the engine bay has been replaced except the sensors.

Unfortunately i have to wait untill my mechanic friend has time to work on my car but i have time to research.

The plan is, replace the actuator, check the narrowband 02 sensor, check vacuum lines, either replace the maf or work out how to bypass it and then start tuning again. I have a 3 port solenoid also to install after we get it running.

Once we have a cruising tune and everything seems ok i will go to the dyno.

Thanks for your help and let me know if its ok to post these questions.

Mark

[Adamw]

As far as I know in our base map the MAF isnt even setup or turned on so that is not your problem.  You can remove the maf without making any changes.

Rather than replacing parts randomly you would be better to post logs and the .pcl as we may be able to eliminate a lot of possibilities from those.

Also ensure you have done the trigger, MAP and TPS calibrations as per the manual. 

[Mark W]

Thank you, i have sent the .pcl file previously in this thread. Things have only been replaced if they were faulty and all calibrations were successful when we first hooked it up. Im not sure if it means the sensors are actually reading correctly though.

As i mentioned previously too, my main problem is the fuel table was only moving horizontally and the car had to run very rich. Probably something we've done wrong and the actuator was on its way out.

My mechanic is very hard to track down and others are rare and expensive in my area. I also dont go playing around in the engine bay without supervision.

Finding out why the fuel table only moves horizontally is the main priority, everything else seems ok apart from the rich tune. I will get back to you when i eventually get to work on it.

[Adamw]

I'm not sure what you means by "only moves horizontal"?  Do you mean as engine load is increased the crosshairs dont travel down the fuel table?  If that is the case you MAP sensor is not working properly.  But as I said earlier, post a log and we will be able to confirm some of this.  Here is a video showing how to do a log:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P1LRANeO4A