VX lean burn monitor - enhanced how to desired

[GasSavers_TomO]

Originally Posted by McPatrick

I know all about how much time babies/kids can take up, so you probably find yourself without much time on your hand, but do I dare ask if you have a new guestimate as to when you'd have your kit ready (which hopefully would come with a fairly idiot-proof how-to)?

My new guestimate is going to be sometime after the middle of June.
That is when I am done with my school job for the summer and after I get my tonsils out and recovered from that. Then I'll have some time to get things finalized and get some nice instructions together. I'm trying to make it as idiot proof as possible without increasing price. I could go all out and make a connector system that just plugs into the ECU, but then it would be nearly $80 just so you could see if you were in Lean Burn..... not cost effective in my book.

Originally Posted by McPatrick

And in what way do you expect would the info that this indicator gives you change your driving habits when it comes down to religiously obeying the shift indicator already present on the dashboard?

Should I think of a situation for instance when you're already in 5th gear, going up a hill and with the new indicator finding out that you can still drive in lean burn going 55 mph but not doing 60 mph? Or what other situations would the extra information be helpful for?

That is pretty much it...that is why I'm trying to keep costs down as much as possible. So that the money you spend to get the monitor will help you recoup that money and start saving you more in a reasonable amount of time.

[Danronian]

I'll be looking forward to buying one when it does come out. With all the highway driving I'll be doing this summer along with the gas prices going up so much right now, hopefully it will pay for itself quickly.

Edit:

Just saw your VX has the same lights as mine! I really like the projector lighting compared to the terrible factory headlights.

One suggestion for your VX is you might want to reinstall the factory intake if you still have it lying around. Mine actually only pulls air from the engine bay (right next to the radiator hose) so it functions as a warm-air intake, and the small diameter of the VX intake pipe really makes for some good throttle response compared to the three inch aluminum intake I had installed before.

Sorry about the off-topicness.

[McPatrick]

@TomO: great! Looking forward to the kit. Personally I wouldn't mind paying a bit more and being able to just hook it up easily. I'm just thinking; if the VX would have cost $100 more would you still have bought it and since the answer is yes I wouldn't mind the investment.
With the Lean Burn Indicator You pretty much have all the info you need to get the best out of your VX.

[monroe74]

Tom, your VX-related posts have been very helpful to me. Thank you. I want to chime in with a question/suggestion.

jadz said: "is there any way of doing this without cutting the existing wiring"

McPat said: "Personally I wouldn't mind paying a bit more and being able to just hook it up easily"

TomO said: "I could go all out and make a connector system that just plugs into the ECU, but then it would be nearly $80"

Let me summarize what I think the issue is. There's a need to tap into D14 and D16. The main post on this subject, which is full of great information, doesn't address how to do this (how to physically tap the two wires).

I can think of several ways of doing this, which include the following:

A) carefully strip away some insulation; solder a lead to the exposed conductor; use tape to button it up

B) create a custom harness somewhat similar to the Honda test harness (I'm talking about the one illustrated on page 11-25 of the service manual)

I think the method you generally use and suggest is A. I see the merit of this method: it's simple and reliable, assuming you have some moderate dexterity. On the other hand, I could see how some people don't like the idea of cutting into factory wiring, and aren't comfortable with soldering.

I think the "connector system" you mentioned is probably more-or-less what I described as B. The good part of this approach is that it makes it possible for a user to install your device easily, with no cutting and soldering. The bad part is that it adds a fair amount of cost and complexity to your design. I understand why you prefer not to do it that way. I agree that it's not a good solution.

It seems to me that what's needed is a simple, reliable way to tap into the two wires, without having to make use of a knife or a soldering tool. What about using a device that's designed to pierce insulation with a needle? I'm thinking of something like this.

That device is pretty expensive, but maybe there's something similar that's cheaper. A device like this would also be relevant to someone who wasn't ready to install a permanent indicator light, but just wanted to do some temporary monitoring with a DMM.

Just an idea. Personally I really like the idea of chopping up the factory wiring as little as possible, and to do such things in a way that can be reversed with little or no trace. It's so hard to find an unmolested VX, so I like the idea of keeping mine as original as possible.

[GasSavers_TomO]

Monroe - you understand what I'm trying to do really well. The other issue that I have with my project though is the fact that there is a display device that is currently being constructed that will give you about as much information as a SuperMID does, but only cost around $70 total investment.... If I went through and made my lean burn monitor with the OEM style ECU connectors I would end up having to sell my monitor kits for that high of a price, if not more...not really worth it in my book.

So for now, my project is at a stand still. I have a prototyped board made and ready to be installed and calibrated. I fear that this will be all the farther that my project goes though. I will install and calibrate the unit and then most likely do a nice write up DIY for others that want to go this route with their VXs. And in the off chance that someone really wants this mod and does not want to assemble it themselves, I would then be able to build a unit for them.

[monroe74]

"for now, my project is at a stand still"

Thanks for explaining. I understand your situation, and I think your plan makes sense.

"there is a display device that is currently being constructed that will give you about as much information as a SuperMID does, but only cost around $70 total investment"

That's very interesting. Can you say more? Or does someone (you or someone else) wish to not pre-announce what they're doing (more than you already have)?

[McPatrick]

TomO. I too would love to hear more about thsi device you are talking about. And as additional question: would this device also monitor lean burn?

[monroe74]

A little tangent. I just ran into some interesting material.

That's an archive of messages of people discussing O2 sensors. Of course there's lots of material like that on the internet. But what makes this archive especially interesting (to me, at least) is that it's a collection from 1992-1994. This was an early and interesting time in the history of O2-sensor technology. Also, many of the people speaking seem to be very knowledgeable insiders, who were working on PGMFI/ECM/ECU technology at places like Motorola and Ford. This was also an early time in the history of internet discussion groups; at that time, participants in such groups tended to be insiders of some kind. Scientists/engineers, in either academia or industry, tended to have internet access several years before the rest of us.

Here's an example of a comment I found interesting, from a historical perspective: "I worked on such a circuit [advanced mixture-monitoring] for Ford a few years back with the intention of putting it into production vehicles. It turned out that it was not cost effective for the benefits (at least that was their reason for killing the project)."

There's also some discussion specifically about cheap/simple ways to monitor O2-sensor output. That's what this thread is about, so I figured folks reading this thread might be interested.

The archive includes some very clear explanations of how O2 sensors work, clearer than I've seen anywhere else (and I've looked around a lot). And with interesting details that I haven't seen explained elsewhere. Also some good info about how to test an O2 sensor, on and off the vehicle.

[Darkelf]

Originally Posted by monroe74

[snip]It seems to me that what's needed is a simple, reliable way to tap into the two wires, without having to make use of a knife or a soldering tool.[snip]
...but maybe there's something similar that's cheaper. A device like this would also be relevant to someone who wasn't ready to install a permanent indicator light, but just wanted to do some temporary monitoring with a DMM.

I have a solution for this exact problem. An inline 3M connector that costs less than a quarter.
http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.aspx?ID=531

These are very common in the car stereo installation shops. Great little bits of hardware.

[monroe74]

Perfect! That's exactly what's needed.

Now that you mention it, I realize I have a dim memory of messing around with products like that, many years ago, in connection with doing a car stereo installation. There might even be some connectors like that buried somewhere in my basement. But I had totally forgotten, and definitely didn't know what they were called or how to find them. Anyway, I knew something like that must exist, and I hoped someone else would know the details. You've provided the answer.

Thanks for speaking up. Getting this kind of very practical help is one of the best things about a forum like this.