Problems with LM1 and Romraider

I tried my first hand at hooking up LM1 to my car today. For a newbie in anything hands-on, it was a breeze. All I had to do was (the LM1 manual is very detailed in this):

1. Hookup my LM1 to my cigarette ligher power source (cable provided by Innovate)
2. Do a test power up
3. Connect my O2 sensor my exhaust clamp
4. Connect the wideband sensor cables to LM1
5. Ensure that the sensor has warmup
6. Do a sensor heater calibration
7. Do a free air calibration

And I'm good to go! Ok, almost, I connect the LM1 serial cable to my laptop and I could use LogWorks to view the data (in addition to the LED screen on the LM1)

But.. when I tried to use Romraider's ECU logger, it just could not do any logging when chose the LC-1 (it only displayed 0). I had mistakenly thought that if LC-1 would work, so would the LM-1.

For those who don't know LC-1 is also a wideband o2 sensor but it does not have the handheld LCD display.

I searched through romraider's site and found that LM-1 is not supported. Shucks..

Well, the good news is that I also bought the LC-1 but I didn't want to use it as it has to be welded to my exhaust pipe. Hmmm how about using LC-1 with my exhaust clamp then?

Well, back to researching again coz hooking up LC-1 to my car means fiddling with wires which I am not so comfortable. I found one link which a guy shows how to do it with his Honda (See http://www.lukekailburn.com/lc1.html)

How about someone showing how it's done on a subaru?

Innovate LM1 + LMA3

Oh yeah, I almost forgot... My Innovate LM-1 Aux Box Kit (Digital Air/Fuel Ratio Meter plus the LMA-3 Aux Box Cable) arrived today (together with the exhaust clamp)!

Yippee!! More precise AFR tuning to come.

The picture on the right shows the LM-1 with all Wideband 02 sensor and cables.

Here in the picture on the left are the LMA3 items.

Cool huh?

Cost Me (USD):
Order Total : $564.00
Shipping and Handling : $55.00
Discounts : $28.20
Grand Total : $590.80

I got mine from http://tunertools.com/proddetail.asp?prod=IN-3756. I ordered the item last Friday and it arrived in less than a week. I'm impressed. I highly recommend this site.

If you have any questions, feel free to email Llyod at sales@tunertools.com. He's very helpful and patient in answering any queries. :-)

Removing Speed Limit

Ok, I know I'm supposed to talk about MAF scaling next but I just learned something new today - removing the speed limit so I guess I'll talk about it first.

All 2002 to 2005 edm sti has speed limit of 255 kph. To remove this speed limit:
1. Open ROM in RomRaider
2. enable "Speed Limiting Disable (Fuel Cut)" fix (under misc category)
3. enable "Speed Limiting Disable (Wastegate)" (not applicable for mine)
4. save ROM file
5. Flash to car

It's that simple! :-)

Screenshot of "Speed Limiting Disable" turned on in romraider:

Ecuflash, Romraider and My first flash

What's flashing? Well, its not doing full-monty for sure. Its basically extracting the rom information from the ecu, making changes to parameters and writing back the information to the rom. In a nutshell, that's how engine tuning is done with ecus. I use Ecuflash to perform this operation (Read more here: http://www.openecu.org/index.php?title=EcuFlash).

Here's a screenshot of ecuflash:


Understanding the parameters and their relationships is key to doing a good tune.

Well, my first flash was basically to disable the following OBD2 codes:

P0365 Camshaft Position Sensor B Circuit (Bank 1)
P0390 Camshaft Position Sensor B Circuit (Bank 2)
P1308 OCV Solenoid Valve Signal 2 Malfunction (Open)
P1309 OCV Solenoid Valve Signal 2 Malfunction (Short)
P1306 OCV Solenoid Valve Signal 1 Circuit Malfunction (Open)
P1307 OCV Solenoid Valve Signal 1 Circuit Malfunction (Short)

Why? -
Well, unknowingly, I had bought an STi ECU instead of a WRX ECU (darn..the guy told me it was a WRX ECU). My WRX wiring harness does not support all the sensors required by an STi ECU..thus throwing all those errors.

Eg. My Euro MY03 STI ECU is expecting to see two camshaft position sensors but my Euro MY03 WRX's wiring harness supports only one sensor.

Also, the Oil Control Valve solenoids control the AVCS on the STI. My WRX didn't have AVCS and, therefore, my WRX's wiring harness is missing all the wires necessary to implement AVCS.

Disabling all thoses codes fixed the CEL from coming on.. hope it doesn't affect my tuning tho.

For more info on Subaru OBD2 Codes see this link:
http://www.scoobypedia.co.uk/index.php/Knowledge/OBDIITroubleCodeDefinitions

But how did I make those changes - well I used a software called romraider (formerly known as enginuity). You can read more on romraider here: (http://www.romraider.com)

Next... MAF Scaling!

New ECU

I'm currently running on ECUTek with the mods mentioned earlier. My dyno chart is shown above. I paid quite a sum to get it tuned on the dyno.. well, I'm kind of satisfied with the results but I always thought..hey if others can do it, so can I right?

So I bought myself another ecu (cost me $300). My intention is to use this ecu and opensource tools to tune. If anything goes wrong, or I need to go to the track, I still have my spare ecu to to use.

My Mods

Ok, let me get started with my engine mods:

JDM Sti Engine (MY05)
STI injectors
PE1825 turbo
APS 70mm CAI
stock downpipe
Fujitsubo Catback Exhaust
Turbo XS Replica Topmount intercooler
Larger radiator
HKS Oil Cooler
Methanol Injection
JDM Sti 6 speed Gearbox
ARC Thermostat
SAMCO radiator and intercooler hoses

Hmm..that's about it I guess :-)

Introduction

This is my first blog post! :-)

I'm going to embark on a tuning adventure of my Subaru WRX MY03. Besides serving as a diary to record my exploits, I hope I can share the knowledge I have learn to others who are in similiar shoes - know very little about tuning but very passionate to be an expert in one. :-)