LC-1 (wideband O2) and PC install

[Moby]

Sorry it took so long, here is the wiring guide for this remote unlock that I used. Look at page 18 for the "standard 5-wire" circuit. This is how our central door lock switch works. Works great.

http://kb.directed.com/Attachment186.aspx

 

[Spook50]

Sorry it took so long, here is the wiring guide for this remote unlock that I used. Look at page 18 for the "standard 5-wire" circuit. This is how our central door lock switch works. Works great.

http://kb.directed.com/Attachment186.aspx

Nice. Since I only modded my switch and its harness to do the relay mod, I'm going to get a replacement from a junked 62 and do this. I'm already feeling the need for a remote thanks to lugging the kid around. Kiddo needs to walk soon and start carrying her weight

 

[Moby]

Been a few months since I did anything with this but over the past week I finally coded up a Centrafuse plugin to display my LC-1 wideband's output. In the pic below the button has the current wideband value. It automatically connects when Centrafuse starts up. It's button so that I can disconnect from the COM port if I need to plug in my Split Second MAF box.

The next project is to write a plugin that consumes and displays data from my phidgets box. This will include outside air temp, oil and water temp, oil pressure and the level of ignition retard from my J&S knocksensor. I've also just about got monitor auto dimming running via a light sensor through the phidgets box.

 

[wengejor]

subscribed.

good stuff.

 

[wengejor]

Can you estimate instantaneous MPG with this?

 

[Moby]

Sorry, missed your post. Esitmate mpg? Only generally - if it's ~14.7 I know I'm going to get better mileage than if it is 13. This is more of an easy long term way to make sure that I've got the tuning right for the MAF conversion without the distraction of having to run the MAF conversion software and having to switch back and forth between that software and the Centrafuse program that controls everything else (phone, music, radio, nav...). Now Centrafuse has it integrated.

 

[Moby]

OK, got the oil pressure and the outside temp working and displaying in Centrafuse. I'm using a 8/8/8 board from www.phidgets.com. Effectively this is an analog/digital converter. It reads 0-5volt values and converts them into a 0-1000 value. It connects to the PC via USB and has a nice programming API. It allows for 8 analog signals in along with 8 digital in and 8 digital out.

For the oil pressure I used a linear .5-4.5 volt, 0-150psi Honeywell unit. It is 1/8" NPT so it installs directly in the T fitting where I have my stock sending unit and previously had my Nordskog oil pressure gauge. Because this is linear the conversion is a simple range convertion to get from volts to psi.

For the outside temp unit I'm using a Phidget precision temperature sensor. This sensor has it's own formula for converting from the 0-1000 value to C and then C to F is easy.

I integrated these into Centrafuse with another custom plugin that simply interfaces with the phidgets board, reads the values and runs the formulas and updates the display. Currently I read values at 300 millisecond intervals but the phidgets board is capable of 1 ms samples.

In the attached pic my oil pressure is 19 psi at idle with sump oil temp at 230 (0w40 full synthetic Mobil1). With sump oil temps closer to 200 my idle oil pressure is closer to 30-35 psi. I can get up to 240 degree sump temps with sustained highway driving so I'll be adding an oil cooler this spring. Even at this temp my 2000 rpm pressure is 60 psi.

The oil pressure worked out so well that my next project is going to be a software controller for my rear helper air bags (again, integrated into Centrafuse). I've got onboard air for my air lockers. I'll use a 2 way Ridetech valve control and 2 0-100 psi Honeywell pressure sensors. The sensors will display the current pressure in each bag. I'll have up and down buttons for each bag. Each button will trigger a digital output on the Phidgets board that will control the values in the Ridetech controller (down to dump and up to fill). I probably won't have this together until after the holidays.

 

[wengejor]

I was looking into a TPMS (tire pressure management system) for my wife's car because she is paranoid about tire pressure. Have you thought about using this A/D board and software to do this? There are some wireless tire pressure sensors that are available but not sure if there is a generic hub that converts the wireless signals into a voltage for your A/D.

 

[LCOwner]

A couple thoughts come to mind when I read this:

Very cool but I get in my rig to get aqway from the computer and wtf are you listening to.

 

[Moby]

I was looking into a TPMS (tire pressure management system) for my wife's car because she is paranoid about tire pressure. Have you thought about using this A/D board and software to do this? There are some wireless tire pressure sensors that are available but not sure if there is a generic hub that converts the wireless signals into a voltage for your A/D.

I've seen some kits before but they have the wireless receiver in the display. I'm sure that a solution is possible but I haven't looked into it too closely. A standalone system would be a much better solution for most scenarios.

 

[Moby]

A couple thoughts come to mind when I read this:

Very cool but I get in my rig to get aqway from the computer and wtf are you listening to.

I'm a software engineer, and I've worked at Microsoft for the past ~12 years, so generally I really enjoy this type of thing, and debugging stuff like buggy drivers that cause blue screens isn't too daunting. This started off with my severe annoyance with the cost of the nav/entertainment system in my wife's car and how pathetically unusable it is (especially since their commercials make it sound like they are God's gift to design and usability).

It also became a quest to get rid of all of the add on systems that I had collected over the years - hands free phone, nav, aftermarket stereos that inevitably were overpriced and limited, and aux gauges - and has allowed me to add more functionality without adding more systems (backup cam, outside temp, next up a rear air bag controller...). Other than the touchscreen the interior dash area is now much more stock like.

But I wouldn't generally recommend this