Link G4 Plus Software Tutorial: Navigating PC Link
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Navigating PC Link
05.17
| 00:00 | - PC Link is very user friendly and easy to navigate around but like any software, it takes a little while to understand how it is laid out and how to access the menus and functions. |
| 00:11 | We're going to take a quick look now to get an overview of PC Link before we look at some of the specific controls. |
| 00:17 | Let's start by opening PC Link by double clicking on the icon on your desktop. |
| 00:23 | When you open the software to start with, there isn't much to see, since we aren't connected to an ECU and we don't have a map open. |
| 00:31 | Across the top of the screen, we have a number of drop down menus which allow us to perform certain tasks such as opening and saving maps, adjusting the connection settings, connecting to the ECU, swapping display modes and controlling data logging. |
| 00:47 | We also have our help menu which is a great place to find specific information about setting up functions. |
| 00:54 | Here we also have a list of keyboard shortcuts and access to wiring information. |
| 00:59 | You can see here we can also check for information about an ECU if we're connected to it and lastly the about option will tell us what version of PC Link we're running. |
| 01:10 | Most of the commonly used functions from these menus are replicated by handy icons across the top of the toolbar on the screen. |
| 01:18 | And they also have a keyboard shortcut to speed up operation. |
| 01:21 | For example, here we have the open file icon which lets us open an existing tune file. |
| 01:27 | Right beside this is the save icon which will save the tune file once we've finished. |
| 01:34 | Next we have the save as icon which lets us save the tune file with a different name. |
| 01:39 | This is handy if you're modifying an existing tune but want to keep a copy of the original file. |
| 01:45 | Now we'll move over to the connect icon which lets us connect our laptop to the ECU. |
| 01:50 | Beside this, we have the store icon which saves the tune file into the ECU. |
| 01:55 | It's important to remember that with the Link G4+, any changes that you make to the tuning will be lost when the ECU is shut down unless you store them. |
| 02:04 | For this reason, I recommend storing frequently during a tuning session. |
| 02:08 | If you make some changes to a tune and you don't like the result, you can click this undo icon and it will reverse any changes you've made since your last store. |
| 02:18 | This is great if you make a mistake but only works if you store your changes frequently. |
| 02:22 | Next we have some logging controls. |
| 02:26 | The Link G4+ has a very powerful built in data logger and this is really helpful when you're tuning. |
| 02:32 | This record button will start the logger and pressing it again will stop it. |
| 02:36 | You can then review the log file later. |
| 02:40 | Lastly we have a button that we can use to change the displayed units from metric to imperial. |
| 02:46 | We'll look at these functions in more detail later. |
| 02:48 | To learn more about PC Link, let's open a tune file. |
| 02:52 | We do this by clicking on the open file icon. |
| 02:55 | I'm going to open one of the base maps that is supplied with PC Link for the moment. |
| 03:00 | We're going to select the G4 Storm sample file. |
| 03:03 | With this file open there is a lot more happening and we can start to learn how PC Link works. |
| 03:09 | First of all you can see here that there are three tabs at the top of the window. |
| 03:13 | These tabs are labelled config, tuning and logging. |
| 03:17 | And these are called pages. |
| 03:19 | Basically a page is a configurable display that shows us information we need to do a certain job. |
| 03:25 | For instance, if we click on the config tab, we have a page that is laid out to help us configure the ECU to do the initial setup work and make it work with your engine. |
| 03:36 | There is a help browser that will give you guidance when you click on any options and we can monitor the status of any inputs and outputs down here on the bottom of the screen. |
| 03:45 | If we click on the tuning tab, we have a page that is set up to help us tune the engine. |
| 03:50 | This is where we're going to spend most of our time when we're tuning. |
| 03:54 | We have the fuel map here, along with a graphical representation of what the table looks like. |
| 04:00 | By using these buttons we can move the table graph around to suit. |
| 04:04 | Below the fuel table we have a list of values which lets us keep an eye on parameters such as engine RPM, manifold pressure and coolant temperature. |
| 04:14 | Beside this we have a list of limits such as RPM limits, MAP limits and speed limits so we can see if any of these are active. |
| 04:23 | Next we have some larger numerical displays of some of the more critical inputs we want to keep an eye on such as coolant temp and intake temp. |
| 04:32 | This lets us quickly and easily watch critical parameters while we're tuning. |
| 04:36 | Next we have an analog gauge which by default is configured to display the output from a wideband sensor. |
| 04:44 | And to the right of this we have a bar graph that shows throttle position graphically. |
| 04:48 | If we click on the logging tab, another page will open which displays any current log data. |
| 04:53 | We'll cover the data logging a little further along in this course so for now we're going to leave it. |
| 05:01 | The default pages are a great starting place but each page can easily be customised to show you any information you want to view. |
| 05:09 | You can also add your own pages and set them up however you want. |
| 05:13 | We're going to look at this a little later. |
