I've been pondering a variety of neat little gauges & indicators I can make that would be useful for me, and potentially useful for other FC types as well. Right now most of my stuff is aimed at the S4 crowd, mostly because that's what I own & develop on.

The devices I build would be most likely on professionally done PCB (Printed Circuit Boards), and would be available in both a kit form for those comfortable with soldering, and in a prebuild form for those not. While anyone could design & build these, the economy of scale works nicely with electronics (especially PCB production).

Cost will be as low as I can get it and still have a decent unit. I know FC owners are, as a group, flat broke, so the goal is to get most of these units well below $100 (some of them significantly below). The kit will obviously be less expensive than the assembled unit.

Things I'm pondering:

Code reader for S4 diagnostic codes. Tie into the diagnostic connector, and provide an easy way to monitor the outputs.

O2 sensor mode readout: While the O2 sensor test light can be directly used to monitor O2 sensor output, a flickering light can be distracting. This would have 3 lights: Lean, Closed Loop, and Rich.

Injector duty cycle monitor: I'm not sure if this will be analog or digital, but it would show you the injector duty cycle of primary & secondary injectors. This could also be used to monitor BAC duty cycle.

RPM switch: Based on the DIY RPM switch, and possibly in a module with 2-3 switches.

"Full ECU output module" - this would be a fairly complex unit, but would tap into most of the ECU outputs and provide information on pretty much everything the stock ECU was doing.

HUD: Heads Up Display. I'm not entirely sure how I'll implement this yet, but it would most likely have a tach, digital speedo, and potentially a water/oil temperature gauge, or at least a warning lamp (Hey, look down, idiot!).

Other ideas?

-=Russ=-

 

Awesome intentions! I'm really looking forward to buy at least half of your units Way to go!

 

Knock sensor monitor...

Fuel injectors monitor...make sure all 4 injectors are firing.


-Ted

 

I think it'd be nice to have some of the options combined in one device for convenience...

 

I'll need some info on the knock sensor's outputs - I don't have one to play with, but that's a great idea. Is it a straight voltage output, or frequency, or... what comes off it?

I can design something that confirms the injector drivers are firing from the ECU... I'm not sure how I could easily test the injectors themselves. Suggestions? Where does the problem normally live?

-=Russ=-

 

I actually do plan to have some combo devices. However, I want to develop & debug the individual devices first.

The long-term goal is a panel that can tuck under the radio that displays all the info in various easy to read forms. Possibly with the addition of a HUD unit for some of the data (speed & tach, mostly).

-=Russ=-

 

yes knock monitor i will buy 2

 

<geeky bits deleted>

I think I can build a fairly inexpensive knock meter. It won't do anything fancy like tie anything to the engine RPM, but it should show more or less the raw data from the knock sensor.

Anyone have a working knock sensor they can send my way for R&D?

Also, can I fit a knock sensor to a NA motor? Does the hole for it exist on the NA irons?

-=Russ=-

 

kk. Bump for updates.

I now have a knock sensor, and will be running some tests on it in the next week to find out what it's putting out and how I can interface with it. I have enough parts in to do quite a bit of R&D now.

Also, I have the S4 ECU/O2 test lamp setup for sale - $15 shipped right now. I can't promise the price will stay there, it just depends on demand and how much time I have to build them.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=485934

I'm hoping to have a knock sensor unit working by the end of December. Hopefully I can get something together in time for Christmas, but it really depends on how busy I am at work and how hard the signal processing is going to be. Fortunately, I have a SAFC-II with knock sensor input, so I can compare that with what my device is putting out.

Any other suggestions?

-=Russ=-