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Pre-Purchase Questions for Link G4X for Subaru v1 WRX


Luka

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Looking to purchase a G4X from a local dealer for my v1 WRX along with a Link IAT + 4b MAP.  Was hoping for some points of clarification before I take the plunge. My goal is street use with bigger turbo/injectors + built bottom end + support mods.

  1. What's the difference between the IATB (Bosch) and IAT1-8 sensors? 
  2. Assuming I successfully complete setup and get the car running, can I start driving? Or do I have to get it tuned immediately? 
  3. Is it necessary to get a wide-band or will the stock o2 suffice to get me started?
  4. Does the stock knock sensor work? 
  5. Does the Check Engine Light remain functional? 
  6. Is there any way to monitor sensor values/error codes in real-time without a laptop/Link Dash? 
  7. OBD: PCLink Help says to use CANPCB and then wire to OBD connector however, the end of the CANPCB cable seems to be a J1708 connector not an OBDII connector? Do I need an additional J1708 -> OBD cable, or is it something completely different and I need to make my own OBDII cable and connect leads directly to the CANPCB? 
  8. Is there anything I'm missing/should be aware of?  

Thank you for your input,

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2 hours ago, Luka said:

What's the difference between the IATB (Bosch) and IAT1-8 sensors? 

The flange, as far as I'm aware the sensors should be pretty equivalent but different cars have different mounting options.

2 hours ago, Luka said:

Assuming I successfully complete setup and get the car running, can I start driving? Or do I have to get it tuned immediately? 

Depending on how well you've set it up and accounted for the mods you've done you might be able to do some street driving but you would want a wideband and to be very comfortable with detecting knock. I personally have done street driving on my own cars pre tune but I am quite confident with setting them up and starting the tuning process on the street. The safe advice is make it so it runs and drives a little but don't put it under any real load, even safer is once you are sure everything is working trailer it to the dyno.

2 hours ago, Luka said:

Is it necessary to get a wide-band or will the stock o2 suffice to get me started?

I always like to have a wideband, makes all forms of troubleshooting much easier and means you can be a lot more confident that it is running safely. Given that you're changing injectors I would consider it absolutely vital for anything more than simply getting it started and idling.

2 hours ago, Luka said:

Does the stock knock sensor work? 

Don't see why it wouldn't but ask your tuner what would prefer.

2 hours ago, Luka said:

Does the Check Engine Light remain functional? 

Yes the Link ECU controls the CE Light, you can have it display fault codes or use it feedback on any random thing you can think of. I commonly use the CE light to indicate when the ECU is detecting knock as well as displaying fault codes.

2 hours ago, Luka said:

Is there any way to monitor sensor values/error codes in real-time without a laptop/Link Dash? 

You'll need a gauge of some form, there are a lot of different CAN based displays on the market but depending on what you want to show you might need to narrow that search down to ones that allow customisation of received values. I usually just have a laptop with me because I'm constantly playing/testing. If you want to spend vary little money you can theoretically control misc analog gauges using PWM outputs or you can just turn LEDs on and off. What specifically are you wanting to keep an eye on?

2 hours ago, Luka said:

OBD: PCLink Help says to use CANPCB and then wire to OBD connector however, the end of the CANPCB cable seems to be a J1708 connector not an OBDII connector? Do I need an additional J1708 -> OBD cable, or is it something completely different and I need to make my own OBDII cable and connect leads directly to the CANPCB? 

If you want to use the OBD port in your vehicle you will need to wire it into one of the CAN ports on the bottom board (I'm assuming you are looking at buying a plugin). The OBD functionality is reasonably limited and less efficient/slower than more generic CAN based displays, It can be used but I personally prefer not to.

2 hours ago, Luka said:

Is there anything I'm missing/should be aware of?  

If you're buying the plugin be aware that not every input/output is exposed, look at the pinout of the specific plugin you want to buy to see if it has enough pins available for all the functionality you want to add. If the plugin doesn't quite have enough connected to the main header and expansion ports more can be brought out but this requires modification of the ECU by our inhouse service people, if you are running into this issue consider purchasing from the wire in ECU range. An example of this would be that on the WRXV1-2 plugin ECU it doesn't have the built in E-Throttle controller pins exposed so if you are wanting to move to E-Throttle in the future consider a wire in or have your tuner talk to Link before purchasing to get those pins exposed on your particular ECU.

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@Vaughan

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. We don't have many v1 Subaru's in Canada so this information is tough to come by.  I'm feeling a lot better and excited about getting the G4X though :)

One Last question, hopefully:

8 hours ago, Vaughan said:

If you're buying the plugin be aware that not every input/output is exposed, look at the pinout of the specific plugin you want to buy to see if it has enough pins available for all the functionality you want to add. If the plugin doesn't quite have enough connected to the main header and expansion ports more can be brought out but this requires modification of the ECU by our inhouse service people, if you are running into this issue consider purchasing from the wire in ECU range. An example of this would be that on the WRXV1-2 plugin ECU it doesn't have the built in E-Throttle controller pins exposed so if you are wanting to move to E-Throttle in the future consider a wire in or have your tuner talk to Link before purchasing to get those pins exposed on your particular ECU.

Is there any table/chart where I can see which pins are not exposed in my specific application? Or somewhere to see ass possible pings and then I can go through process of elimination? Page 8 section 1.3.3.1 in https://linkecu.com/documentation/WRX2X.pdf mentions in passing that Aux 9 & 10 are not exposed, and then on page 17 on the pinout diagram is says Injector Drives 7 and 8 aren't exposed but there's nothing explicit about what all the limitations are. 

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7 hours ago, Luka said:

Is there any table/chart where I can see which pins are not exposed in my specific application?

Pinout diagrams showing the exposed pins are available both on the website in that plugin document and in the help manual that comes with PCLink. I've attached a copy of the V1-2 pinout here. This pinout is on page 16 & 17 of the plugin manual you linked.

 

Capture.PNG

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working backwards from what the top board is capable of and what is shown in that pinout the following aren't exposed:

  • Injector drives 7 & 8 (would need extra hardware to work as injector drives so not really able to expose these with a flying lead).
  • Ignition 5 & 6
  • DI 7, 8 & 11
  • Analog Volt 7, 10, 11 & 12
  • Analog Temp 4
  • Auxiliary Outputs 9 to 16

 

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