ZFuel

[FastWoman]

Thinking about a "kids mode," my own kids mode is a defeat switch that nobody can figure out and that only one other person (who also drives the car) will ever know. I mostly have this defeat switch to prevent theft by joy riders, but I recall when one young man in our family, a very green novice sailor, took a small sailboat of ours out in some very rough weather when we told him he couldn't. It was weather not even a very experienced sailor could handle! He apparently flipped the boat as soon as the sail went up, and he screwed up some of the rigging. He's also quite hard on cars. Anyway, with my defeat switch, "no" really does mean "NO FRIGGIN' WAY IN THIS LIFETIME, BUDDY!"

So I have a 1's and 0's idea for Bluetooth/smartphone implementation: How about an application that locks out the ECU unless you punch in a code on your smartphone? That would be a feature offered nowhere else in the collector car universe, and I think it would be pretty easy to program! And if you choose to let your teenage son drive the car to the prom, you can assign him a special access code that will start the car and run it in a low-performance mode. (You could have different performance modes for different drivers, that would come up automatically.)

The only possible downside would be if you aren't able to use your smartphone for some reason. If the battery is dead, then you could plug it in to the cig outlet to boot it. But if you've lost it, or it's been stolen, then you're out of luck, unless there's some "code" entry button for input directly to the ECU. It could be a one-button input, and you would simply push the thing multiple times, like pulse dialing on an old telephone.

Anyway, I think that would be the ultimate defeat mechanism. NOBODY could run the engine without the code (or without replacing the ECU).

[superlen]

Sarah,

I like. Once the bluetooth module is on there, it's a no brainer to program in a code. You could also have the code expire after a certain amount of time and/or uses. When I add the module, I'll implement that. However, for now, you'll have to use one of the external inputs configured as a lock out, with a hidden toggle of course.

Another thing I thought of was you have to know the secret throttle code to start. So you program in that after power up you have to see the throttle position go from idle to WOT, hold for a number of secs then back to idle, ect. Each user could program in their own pattern.

While not as cool as the smart phone, it's got nostalgia going for it as it reminds me of pumping up the hitachi flat top carbs on my old 260 to get it started.

I doubt I'll actually add the throttle sequence lockout, but the external input lockout is already structured in the firmware. I was just planning on it being On/off, but I could code it to look for a sequence and you could hook the input to an external button.

Hmmmmm, I just realized something. With the programmable pins, if you just used pin 3 instead of pin 52 (one of the external inputs) HellFire would automatically assign the lockout function to the throttle & bingo you can do the foot pump feverishly while your date wonders what the hell you are doing as opposed to just discreetly twiddling with a button under the seat in order to get your motor running. (is it just me, or does that last sentence sound slightly dirty) :embarrass:

Len

[Pharaohabq]

So I was thinking a little more about this. I don't know how much you've programmed into the System yet. But on a ECU like you've made it shouldn't be too hard to setup a diagnostics mode. Basically you want to test the actual function of different parts. You can start it up and say okay ECU, tell me my CHT, the ECU would read and put up it's reading, then in the software you'd also have it display it's expected range. Current Temp: 180C (Expected value: 160-190C) Current operating session: 12 minutes.

Perhaps something like that. Maybe on a dropdown on the Dashboard with your Tach etc. That way on your from page you can access various functions monitored in realtime. Maybe 5 or so fields. Current O2 reading, current A/F ratio, etc.

Oh Oil Temp is something I've always wished our cars could read.

Phar

[CG240Z]

Do you really need oil temp? I had it on my Vette and it was nothing more than a cool factor. I'm not so picky with this upcoming ECU. I'm just looking forward to my engine running better and to be able to monitor the main sensors on my laptop.

[superlen]

I have diagnostic routines out the wazoo as that's the first code I write when I begin testing a new system out. I have error codes just like a normal ECU that can be set and if you have an idiot light connected to one of the outputs it can come on like the wifes minivan. I'll most likely adopt the same codes as used in my 06 dodge daytona. That way when I write the CAN bus code, the HellFire can be read by an off the shelf scanner if someone cares to do that. They will just have to tell it, it's an 06 Daytona.

Two of the main diagnostics I think are important are the AFM & the CLT. Earlier in this thread there is discussion about diagnosing the AFM. It's no problem for me to find any dead spots on the AFM and within reason just "fix" them. As the AFM wiper moves around during normal driving, I'll be constantly doing and FFT on the incoming data stream looking for the telltale signal of a dead spot. Once I see a continuous problem in one area, I pop a code so the user knows what's going on and then determine what the value should be (as best as possible using surrounding data points ) & use that for fuel calcs. I don't know how well it will work until I test it, but my gut instinct is that it will work great. There is one caveat. If the dead spot happens to be right in the sweet spot of your daily cruise and the AFM wiper just hangs out in that one dead spot for a long time without periodically bouncing out of it, the algorithm will fall apart. Sadly, the area where your wiper hangs out the most IS the area the carbon traces wear the most of course. There will also be a dedicated "TEST MY AFM" section in HellTune where the user can see the realtime graphed output of the AFM and can see the overall wiper health on their AFM.

I am in the process now of trying to gather up as many AFMs and get a down and dirty flow bench set up so I can to test this out. If anyone has a suspect AFM or extra ones lying around collecting dust, please PM me. The more AFMs I can get my hands on & check out, the better the baseline numbers HellFire can start with and the less user tweaking will be required.

Currently I don't have any plans for a dedicated oil temp, but if someone wanted to add one, they could by attaching it to one of the aux inputs & configuring a gauge in the HellTune UI to read it. The HellFire ECU however wouldn't do anything with the data, just report it to the user via the serial link. I think it might be cool too, but fuel rail pressure would be more exciting to me.

Also, just a quick update. I have both the HellTune UI software and the firmware in the ECU going through some big changes, particularly the GUI trying to clean it up well enough for others to see. There's nothing much to show and tell this week, but rest assured I'm writing code, testing sensors, and generally making forward progress every day.

Len

[FastWoman]

Hi Lenny,

If I could lend you an AFM, I would. However, I don't have a spare.

I like the idea of using OBD2 codes (if I understand correctly). However, the ultimate interface, requiring no dedicated reader, is the smart phone app. There you'd see not only the OBD2 codes, but their translations into English. How cool is that?

Oh, and the check engine light? Definitely. Most people treat theirs as though it says, "Please ignore me. Please ignore me. Pay no attention to the glow from your dash." Some mechanics even tell their customers to ignore the finicky thing because the ECU won't stop throwing a code. However, I've never seen a properly functioning engine that throws codes just for the heck of it. I like having a CEL, and I carry around a code reader in my only post-1996 vehicle. (I've got 1978, 1992, 1994, and 2009.)

I'll make one recommendation, though, for those who do ignore codes or for those who have already noted a less serious problem and can't fix it for a while: You might want to let the user temporarily disable a specific code, so that it will no longer trigger the CEL. That way if anything ELSE goes wrong, he/she will be alerted to it.

Also, I don't know if there's a code for low battery voltage, overheating, or low oil pressure, but it would be great to be able to set up those items to be monitored, so that if an input strays outside of a "safe" range, the CEL will light up. Heck, I'll probably even wire mine to the seat belt buzzer (equipped with a "silence" switch, of course)! That will give it a marvelous Cold-War-era feel, adding a bit of entertainment to my misery.

[superlen]

Sarah,

Are you sure you are ready for...beeeep beeep beeep ?

Here's a bit more about my plan for the codes.

- They will be implemented from the get go and you will retrieve them from the HellTune UI. The ones available to start with will be simple obvious ones like you mentioned above. As the firmware matures, more codes will be added. I will assign numbers that match a common mnf a mentioned previously. Some codes will just be plain unique to HellFire such as "AFM showing X number of dead spots/hr" & I'll either map them to a general purpose MAF code or just have a unique one for us.

- HellTune will show the code along with the descriptive String such as.. "Hey you forgot to clean your CLT sensor and it sucks!. I suggest you get off the couch and fix it".

- The User will be able to ignore Any/All codes via a setup window in HellTune with check boxes for each code.

- When the bluetooth interface is ready, the codes would then be available via your phone.

- When the CAN bus interface is added, you can use off the shelf generic OBD readers to read the codes/sensors. BTW, I have one that's already Bluetooth and I read the codes on my Daytona via an app on my Android phone.

- You can assign an output for the idiot light, but I've also toyed with adding a small led through the case. For now, I'm NOT going to do that as I think most of us will have the ECU covered by the panel and even if not, no one looks there.

- I've considered adding an internal beeper, but it's not present currently.

Len

[FastWoman]

Lenny, FAIW, the '78 kick panel has a rectangular hole through which the ECU's green P/N sticker is visible. If you do decide to put an LED through a hole in the case, that's the place to do it. Also if you want to be super-polished, you can put your company logo there, and it will show through the rectangular window. That could look pretty slick!

[superlen]

Sarah,

I agree, that would look good. I have some kick panels with that hole too, but I'm not sure if all do. I should do some more research. I also considered putting the USB jack there at one time, but some other mechanical internals were in the way. I may still have a solution that would allow this. I think that would be a clean install and easy for the user to jack into.

Logo, P/N, S/N info will be on that side of the box too, but I haven't decided where. Nissan's thoughts on this were a good idea as it is nice to be able to determine the P/N of the ecu without pulling the panel. For the HellFire it wouldn't matter so much. I think having a USB jack with a small sticker/logo/pn right beside it would be ideal.

Len

[mjr45]

On my 75 there is no hole in the kick panel, but I'd be glad to put one in when I get my HellFire.

[superlen]

I ordered some more samples in of potential USB connections. We'll see if you need to break out the jig saw or not.

Lenny

[FastWoman]

Seriously, I wouldn't cut any holes in those interior trim panels. They're rather prone to cracking.