My ‘05 OBXT journal

[KZJonny]

Not to highjack, but since BTSSM is being discussed here, and much of the old archives on the information seem to be gone, I wonder if someone can tell me if you can use it while on a COBB/AP tune.

I would assume so, since the values it is looking for are going to be in the same places, just within the framework of whatever the AP installs on the ECM. It can't be reinventing the way it works in the car, just modifying the variable within it. (I have heard all sorts of things about COBB/AP over time, including that even when unmarried it leaves behind some sort of fingerprint on the ECM, like a Stage 0 type thing... who knows. So many rumours.)

And then, if it is the case that they are not mutually exclusive, would there be any way to view both at once? I suppose that wouldn't really be needed, since they would overlap anyway, but....

I am interested in looking at learning views and the like, but I don't know if that is possible without Accesstuner being available to me now. At least, it would definitely not be as easy as popping it all up on a laptop or whatever.

[xt2005bonbon]

I actually don't know/can't remember if BtSsm can communicate with an ECU that is 'married' to a Cobb tune.

[RumblyXT]

36 minutes ago, KZJonny said:

Not to highjack, but since BTSSM is being discussed here, and much of the old archives on the information seem to be gone, I wonder if someone can tell me if you can use it while on a COBB/AP tune.

Ask away bro, I don’t mind at all. The whole tuning thing is a learning process for me, so I actually welcome all the feedback/questions on this thread.

[RumblyXT]

Did some monitoring today.. not sure why I still have a positive 10.30% value indicating I still have a vacuum leak?

After clamping the port that was leaking before, I repeated the smoke test and didn't see any smoke coming out anywhere else around the vacuum hoses, I/M, etc..

Should the leak test be done from another area of the motor like post I/C? or starting the smoke test from the turbo Inlet hose is enough?

[xt2005bonbon]

How long have you been monitoring the idle after fixing your vacuum leak? 

Actually, remind us also what intake you have and what kind of tune you have uploaded. Is it an OTS Cobb tune or stock?

[RumblyXT]

On 7/14/2023 at 11:05 AM, xt2005bonbon said:

2. check the 'VVT L' and VVT R' angle values. Usually, they remain zero at idle. When you begin to push the car, both angles should be non zero and in sync. If one of them is quite off from the other, then that is an indication that one of your OCVs is not working right. Either it is slightly stuck, or poor oil flow to it.

3. Misfire per cylinder. That is self explanatory. A count of 1 or 2 at random is OK. Pay attention to what they show at idle too.

Which is the RomRaider parameter that monitors Active Variable Valve Timing?

I couldn't find 'VVT L' and 'VVT R' parameters to monitor them. Are they maybe listed under a different name?

Also, I may have missed it, but I don't think I saw 'Misfire' as a parameter either..

Edited August 7, 2023 by RumblyXT

[RumblyXT]

14 minutes ago, xt2005bonbon said:

How long have you been monitoring the idle after fixing your vacuum leak? 

Actually, remind us also what intake you have and what kind of tune you have uploaded. Is it an OTS Cobb tune or stock?

I just got around to connect the PC and ran RomRaider monitoring.. I hadn't had a chance to do so before.

Honestly, I have no idea what tune the previous ej255 had at all.. I tried finding out this info. before, but I was never able to get in touch with the previous, previous owner. Being that the ej255 came a mix of parts installed (AEM CAI, Grimspeed BC, Invidia DP, Aftermarket I/C), someone had suggested it was probably tuned with Open Source and not Cobb.

btw, I modified the CAI by cutting it into a Short Ram Intake..

Edited August 7, 2023 by RumblyXT

[xt2005bonbon]

VVT could be called OCV or something on romraider. Can you provide the full list of parameters you are able to view on romraider?

 

So you do have a CAI. I forgot about that. So yeah you do need to be tuned for it. The MAF sensor is very sensitive to changes applied to air filters. So, now we are not sure whether you were properly tuned for it AND you did modify the CAI. So assuming you no longer have a vacuum leak, and the MAF sensor is working right (which I think it is), the tune needs to be fixed (e.g. adjust MAF scaling curve). 

Another question: are you running the injectors that came with the jdm engine, or the ones you had before?

[RumblyXT]

I chopped the CAI modifying it into a Short Ram Intake.

Except for the turbo which is the jdm VF38 twin scroll, everything above the long block (the Intake Manifold, yellow injectors, T/B and engine wiring harness) were all kept domestic.

Well, the I/C is jdm too but it’s a stock one, which looks exactly like the domestic I/C.

The exhaust manifold is also jdm, because of the twin scroll turbo.

And one last detail which might be important now, the O2 sensor is now located at the beginning section of the DP. KZJonny thinks it might actually be better there now.. That’s their jdm location..

 

Edited August 7, 2023 by RumblyXT

[RumblyXT]

Something a little odd I’m noticing is the left fender/side of the car is getting hotter than the Right side.. a whole 20 degrees. Not sure if this might be related to the heater core coolant bypass/#4 cylinder mod I did..

Coolant temperature however is normal, remaining at 208-210 degrees..

The outside temperature of the engine seems to stabilize and even out Left and Right eventually.. but during warm up the Left side gets quite hotter now.. 

Edited August 7, 2023 by RumblyXT

[Enlight]

If anything, the cylinder 4 mod should bring the temperature down. Could it be that the driver side got more exposure to the sun? Although, it does look overcast in your photo. Could even be direction of the wind. Maybe try getting surface temp directly off the block next time, could help to rule out environmental factors that can affect the fender.

[RumblyXT]

1 hour ago, Enlight said:

If anything, the cylinder 4 mod should bring the temperature down. Could it be that the driver side got more exposure to the sun? Although, it does look overcast in your photo. Could even be direction of the wind. Maybe try getting surface temp directly off the block next time, could help to rule out environmental factors that can affect the fender.

It was overcast indeed, not hot at all at the time of the readings.. the temps I took are from the car/engine itself, without any external influence..

Edited August 7, 2023 by RumblyXT

[RumblyXT]

2 hours ago, xt2005bonbon said:

 Can you provide the full list of parameters you are able to view on romraider?

Sure.. 

Edited August 7, 2023 by RumblyXT

[RumblyXT]

I think these are the ones you were referring to. The last two? Intake/Exhaust VVT L/R angles? 

I have to say, RomRaider is awesome, seems it allows to monitor just about anything with a sensor on the car..

And this being for a car that’s almost 20 years old, imagine for today’s cars, probably a whole more parameters..

Edited August 7, 2023 by RumblyXT

[xt2005bonbon]

Yeah, I was referring to 'Intake VVT Advance Angle Left/Right. And for misfires, it is these:

 

 

BtSsm can monitor all of these stuff too, but from a phone or tablet :).

And that is interesting that the driver side fender is quite hotter than passenger side. I don't recall someone ever checking these temperatures before. I would have thought it'd be the opposite since the turbo is on the pass. side.

Edited August 7, 2023 by xt2005bonbon

[RumblyXT]

22 hours ago, xt2005bonbon said:

How long have you been monitoring the idle after fixing your vacuum leak? 

I forgot to ask you, of the so many present, which parameter should I use to monitor idle?

[RumblyXT]

9 hours ago, xt2005bonbon said:

Yeah, I was referring to 'Intake VVT Advance Angle Left/Right. And for misfires, it is these:

 

 

BtSsm can monitor all of these stuff too, but from a phone or tablet :).

And that is interesting that the driver side fender is quite hotter than passenger side. I don't recall someone ever checking these temperatures before. I would have thought it'd be the opposite since the turbo is on the pass. side.

Got it, thanks!

In regards to the temps, that's what I thought too, the Right side would be hotter. Once the car warms up, the temps even out bilaterally. The higher temp on the Left side is only during warm up.. weird.

 

[RumblyXT]

On 8/6/2023 at 8:26 PM, xt2005bonbon said:

How long have you been monitoring the idle after fixing your vacuum leak? 

Pardon my noobness.. I had never done this before..

I did a bit of research and understand now what you meant in regards to monitoring the Fuel Trims..

Thing is I no longer seem to have a vacuum leak according to the smoke test, but I keep getting these elevated A/F % values..

Should I perform the smoke test in a different area? Can I move on to tune the ECU even though it's getting these values? I’m a bit concerned on proceeding ever since I read that statement: “vacuum leaks kill engines”..

I wonder what's going on..

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by RumblyXT

[xt2005bonbon]

It's fine to be new at this stuff. And I do not profess to know everything, on the contrary..

You have a CAI which is less restrictive than the stock air filter. As a result, more air can be sucked in than before, given the same rpm. The ECU always tries to achieve a target air fuel ratio (AFR). At idle, it should be around 14.7. Well, since more air is now being sucked in (due to CAI), the ECU will then add some fuel to compensate so as to achieve an AFR of 14.7. In your case, again assuming there are no vacuum leaks AND the tune was not fully set up for this CAI, the ECU is adding 10% of fuel so as to achieve a 14.7 AFR. The tune could then be adjusted so the fuel trim would then report close to 0%. FYI, our ECU can do fuel corrections up to +/-15%.

Have you been driving the car around?

[xt2005bonbon]

19 hours ago, RumblyXT said:

I forgot to ask you, of the so many present, which parameter should I use to monitor idle?

Not much really: fuel correction and learned fuel trim, AFR, misfires, and timing. I do like to keep an eye on intake air temps too to remind not to push the car hard after a long idle in case the IAT is way high (e.g. 150F).

Edited August 8, 2023 by xt2005bonbon

[RumblyXT]

1 hour ago, xt2005bonbon said:

It's fine to be new at this stuff. And I do not profess to know everything, on the contrary..

You have a CAI which is less restrictive than the stock air filter. As a result, more air can be sucked in than before, given the same rpm. The ECU always tries to achieve a target air fuel ratio (AFR). At idle, it should be around 14.7. Well, since more air is now being sucked in (due to CAI), the ECU will then add some fuel to compensate so as to achieve an AFR of 14.7. In your case, again assuming there are no vacuum leaks AND the tune was not fully set up for this CAI, the ECU is adding 10% of fuel so as to achieve a 14.7 AFR. The tune could then be adjusted so the fuel trim would then report close to 0%. FYI, our ECU can do fuel corrections up to +/-15%.

Have you been driving the car around?

I haven't driven it much at all honestly, just a couple of times around the block at around 10-15 mph. I'm concerned I would mess up all this work I've done if I ever push the car above 3K rpm (which is when I used to hear the boost before).

I will try monitoring it next time with the parameters you guys have suggested and running a log/LTV while it's driven.

Edited August 8, 2023 by RumblyXT

[blackobxt]

As long as you keep it out of boost you’re likely not going to hurt it. I’d put it around to collect some data on it and to identify any abnormalities. Grocery store runs and all that just keep it out of power.

[RumblyXT]

Happy Friday!

Been quite busy lately, haven't had much time to even seat on the car.

Yes, I'm making sure it doesn't go into boost, which before was around 3K rpm.

The new 20x engine has pretty much the same mods the previous 255 had with the tune it came with, with the exception now the down pipe is catted and the CAI is now a Short Ram.

 

There's a couple of RR parameters I was advised to monitor, but couldn't find them in the list, for example:

1. I was recommended to monitor Engine Load 4 byte, but what I see available in RR is Engine Load (Calculated) - g/rev

2. Another one is Knock Sum, but in RR the one available is Knock Correction Advance - degrees. Are they the same?

3. And finally Feedback Knock Correction. RR has Fine Learning Knock Correction - degrees. Are these two the same parameters with different names?

Just making sure..

 

 

 

Edited August 11, 2023 by RumblyXT

[KZJonny]

Not the pro here, but I am learning along with.

I believe the answers are something like this:

1 - Yes, load by g/rev is the same.

2 - No. Knock sum is the running total of knock events whereas Knock Correction is how much the ECU is adjusting timing in response to knock detected. I’d argue KC is more important than knock sum, but that is another topic.

3 - Not quite. Feedback knock correction is again the response to detected knock. (Retarding timing) Fine learning is the change made in the map to repeated knock events in a particular cell or cells.

[RumblyXT]

Interesting..

Going by the alphabetical list of all the RR parameters I posted before, it doesn't seem to include neither Knock Sum nor Feedback Knock Correction..