Portable wideband

Hi guys, I'm looking at buying a portable wideband set up for road tuning. I want to be able to log AFR, MAP and RPM via a laptop. Iam after a dual channel unit so I can use it on 'V' series engines and would like it quick and easy to hook up and remove much the same as tuners have when you go to a dyno. I have been looking at the LM-2, any suggestions or good points would be appreciated.

Cheers

I've personally used an LM2 for the last 5-6 years with pretty good success. I've had a couple of issues with the connector failing which I would put down to the amount of use it saw as well as being handled a bit too roughly on occasion.

I've found the LM2 reading aligned perfectly with the Motec PLM in my old Dynapack dyno which made for a seamless transition from the dyno to the road. You can log various parameters through the LM2 and view the data in log works however I almost always feed the LM2 data into an ECU for logging there.

The LM2 has a USB output that can link with a computer but I don't think it would integrate with an ECU software this way (I've never tried). The LM2 has 0-5V outputs which can be wired into an ECU though to allow the ECU to get the lambda input, which would allow the auto tune your talking about to work.

The Innovate clamp is good to an extent but it clamps onto the side of the exhaust and the intake for the clamp is therefore on the outer edge of the exhaust, which can cause some inaccuracies. I have this clamp attached to a length of 2 inch diameter pipe that I put up the exhaust, I've found this to increase accuracy especially at lower engine speeds. Using a tailpipe 'sniffer' is fine for most tuning but you'll struggle to get an accurate reading at idle as it'll measure some of the ambient air.

Thanks for your reply Andre and crew.

Basically all I want to do is log MAP, RPM and AFR standalone through what ever software the wideband controller comes with. ( I will then have to try and marry up what cell to alter after I look at the log ) Most of the ecu's I play with are older microtech's and probably wont read a wideband imput hence my choice of this. ( I will be tuning a haltech 500 sprint soon so I may have luck with that one but the rest are microtech's )

The main thing I am after here is an easy connect to an rpm signal and map so preferably a vacuum line into the wideband controller and a clamp over the spark plug lead or something like that. Same as if I was to go to a dyno- quick an easy hook up.

Does this sound like I would be happy with an LM-2?

Thanks for your reply Andre and crew.

Basically all I want to do is log MAP, RPM and AFR standalone through what ever software the wideband controller comes with on a laptop computer. ( I will then have to try and marry up what cell to alter after I look at the log ) Most of the ecu's I play with are older microtech's and probably wont read a wideband imput hence my choice of this. ( I will be tuning a haltech 500 sprint soon so I may have luck with that one but the rest are microtech's )

The main thing I am after here is an easy connect to an rpm signal and map so preferably a vacuum line into the wideband controller and a clamp over the spark plug lead or something like that. Same as if I was to go to a dyno- quick an easy hook up.

Does this sound like I would be happy with an LM-2?

Bathurst_Bully, if you were to wire in the LM2's analogue cable to the ECU you can use the 0-5V output signal to allow the ECU to do it's auto tune.

Turnem, the LM2 has an optional cable which picks up RPM and it also has 0-5V inputs through the analogue cable that I mentions which you could wire a MAP sensor to, it doesn't have a built in MAP sensor unfortunately. What you might want to consider is a LMA-3 Multi-sensor Device (AuxBox), which paired with a LM2 will give you the built in sensors and also it will be able to convert a tach signal into an RPM signal for the logger. This would give you a lot more options for logging as well, I'd consider this a more complete package since it would be an independent logging system that you could just make a sub-harness on your ECU's which will hook up to it.

Thanks Chris, I will look into that now!

cheers

@ bathurst_bully on some select applications you can directly connect the LM2 USB into the laptop and log AFR values in the tuning/logging software. For example EcuTek allows this as does HP Tuners. For most other ECUs you'll need to wire the AUX output into an ANV input on your ECU or data logger. As mentioned by Chris, if you want to purchase Innovate's AuxBox then you can use the LM2 as a fully featured logger.

Hi all..

How about the Zeitronix Zt-2 Wideband kit? Looks comprehensive and can do 2 channels I believe. Anyone has hands-on experience ?

It's a Zeitronix that's installed into my Dynapack, I'm not sure if it's the ZT-2 or not though, it's a good piece of kit but the connectors can work their own way loose so it's always worth double checking once you've finished your set-up.

Thanks for sharing your info Chris.

Does anyone know if innovate sell a map sensor that will plug in to the LM-2 and work with out configuring or messing around?

The MTX range of gauges are all linkable so if you bought one of their boost gauges you could link and monitor them together

HI everyone,

I bought the 2 channel ducks nuts innovate LM2 kit last week with the rpm inductive clamp and a GM 4 Bar map sensor that I am going to configure to work with it.

I really like how simple it is to use and configure, it is very user friendly. I compared it to another wideband meter I have fitted to my car. I found the LM2 wouldn't read quite as fast but was very close. The only query I do have is when I started my log and then saved it to the SD card and downloaded it into logworks on my laptop, I thought it was a bit laggy to read/log AFR from say zero to full noise which is 32 psi at 7500rpm. There was also recorded AFR's in there that I don't believe e.g a spike to 0.72L

at full noise my other wideband meter displays 0.78L and almost sits there. The innovate log is all over the place....

have you found this yourself Andre?

otherwise maybe my other wideband meter is out.. I didn't think this was the case however because it matches up to the haltech wideband on my mates dyno...

thanks in advance

EDIT: it has been calibrated and the sensor is new

Theres an option in the LM Programmer software to adjust the sampling rate from the sensor. By default it's set to instantaneous which can give you a very noisy trace. Try setting it to 1/12 or 1/6 sec to give you a more filtered lambda output. While I can't find any reference to it, I'm reasonably confident that the displayed lambda on the LM2 is quite heavily filtered to give you a smooth and stable reading - this might be what you're referencing when you say it doesn't respond as fast as another meter?

I don't use logworks so I can't really comment on the speed of the logging from experience unfortunately. If you're seeing an outlier in your data such as 0.72 and everything else is say 0.78 then I'd repeat the log and see if the data point was a one off in which case you can ignore it.

Thanks very much Andre, I'll give that a go! Sounds good

Questions are for asking so,don't worry about it.

The live wire is your 0-5v output, the earth should go into a sensor earth. This is to try and stop the voltage variations you can get from just wiring in a live sensor feed, let's say lambda is at 2 volts but the ECU would read as 1.1 lambda, with the earth wire connected it should read more accurately without needing to put an offset in the software.

If the loom has a wire for the OE narrow band sensor I would use this wire to input the signal, the earth wire should go into a sensor earth on the loom. what's the application so I can dig out a diagram or post one if you have one.

In the ECU rescale the narrowband sensor input to suit the wide band

If you're going to be putting a wideband signal down what used to be a narrow band wire the ECU will be programmed to see 0-1V for the narrow band signal, you'll need to programme it to understand the 0-5V wideband signal.