I've been using the LC-2 wideband for almost a year now (under 3k miles) and have had an intermittent error code 8 (sensor timing error, manual says typically a damaged sensor). Started happening after a few months of use. Doesn't happen all the time and goes away after turning off/restarting the car.

Unit is wired correctly with an isolated power source, which is the radio relay for the removed Bose system.

I've been using the heat sink bung extender from the get go. The sensor is installed in an old school PFS downpipe just before the main cat. It is not in the top half of the pipe as Bosch recommends, but it is close to the 3:00 position, a bit below. I don't think the sensor is getting condensation damage due to the bung extender shielding it and I always start the car immediately and don't allow the sensor to heat up before the exhaust.

I tried the free air recalibrate.

I put in a different sensor after a few months, calibrated, and same issue happened immediately.

I have not tried re-flashing firmware.

Under boost I am running rich (10.5), so I'd really like to take some fuel out. I still have the air pump hooked up and it's at 18-19 AFR at idle. Cruise is close to 14 or so.

City low rev cruising the AFR reads really lean like 22 when the air pump is on. I have a suspicion this is when the sensor throws the code, but haven't confirmed. I don't think it ever threw the code until I reconnected the air pump clutch connector.

Page 3 of this thread really sharpens some of my suspicions about the setup's reliabilty: https://www.miataturbo.net/ecus-tuni...s-84638/page3/

 

I've had numerous issues with my old LC-2 that eventually failed on me during dyno tuning. After going through multiple LC-2's I eventually switched to an AEM X-series and have had no issues thus far. They aren't that expensive either.

 

I personally think Innovate has bad heater control of their sensors and that's why they overheat. The whole heat sink thing is a joke. I've used the actual Bosch wideband system (thousands of dollars, lab grade, sold by their subsidiary ETAS to commercial customers) and it never overheats sensors even throwing sustained 950C+ exhaust at the sensors (around 1800 F). You don't have to put in a heat sink either.

 

Ugh... thanks. I was afraid I'd have to buy a second unit. Wish I'd seen this when shopping. I like the fact that wiring is simplified by the controller intgreated into gauge.

I enjoy your instagram btw!

 

Great, another waste of $$ Do you see any harm in keeping the heat sink with this or the AEM? Or should I just put it on the shelf with my other oddities and trinkets?

I spent like a freaking day sanding a crush washer to get the hole on it clocked right.

 

I've had mixed results with Innovate widebands but still run an MTX-L Plus. I had to replace the first sensor within 1,500 miles of use and this second one has a similar amount of miles and I believe it may be acting up again.

 

Still haven't tried reflashing the firmware because I'm trying one thing at a time.

So I had this same problem early on about two months in to use. Swapped sensor and calibrated - same problem. I decided to re-check wiring connections - good connections - no issues. The only other change I made is I routed the cable better and placed the coiled sensor cable flat in the center of the passenger footwell under the floor mat. The coiled section of cable had been right next to the blower motor and on top of the ECU. The problem went away. I thought it could have been a signal interference problem due to proximity to the blower motor (magnetic field, motor operation inducing current/voltage/etc in the coiled cable). Seems plausible, right?

Fast forward... I recently moved all that around again putting in a bigger aftermarket blower motor. Throws E8 on the WB almost immediately. So I look at cable routing again. It's right next to the ECU again and the cable is running along with the harness - I guess I moved it all and kinda routed it under the kick panel this time.

So, I take the cable where it goes thru the firewall and was running next to harness and separate it best I can. Then I move the coil back to the center of the footwell away from the ecu and blower. No WB errors on the ride in to work. We'll see how it does next drive... has anyone else experienced something like this?

 

Several drives and still no sign of old error code 8 since moving the sensor cable away from ECU, main engine harness, and blower motor.

 

Cleaned the car, moved the cable, and the damn error code came back with a vengeance. I'm pretty sure EMI is causing the issue, so I bought some conductive EMI shielding tape an Amazon , wrapped the sensor wire, and grounded it to chassis with a ring terminal. Drove around for an hour or so and so far so good.

 

I've always had problems with the the Innovate throwing an error. I added my own additional DIY heat sink (a bent piece of aluminum plate) that has helped a lot, but it still throws the error when sitting in traffic.

 

I personally think the heat sink thing is voodoo, especially as far down the pipe as mine is mounted.

What error code did you get? 8 Same as mine?

 

I think there is something to it getting hot - it seems to work better when there is air flow. However, I get an error on a different car with an LC-1 mounted further back on its header (and certainly not as hot), so it could be they just have, and had, a bad design. I won't buy anymore WB sensors from them.

 

Update - Still running without a single error code since I EMI shielded the wire. Think I finally found the fix.

 

Thanks for sharing. I'm going to have to try that, since I randomly get E8 or sometimes the gauge just pegs all the way at full lean and stays there till I reset it.

 

Thanks for the EMI tape idea! I have the Speedhut AFR gauge and was having similar issues with the AFR’s jumping like crazy. This fixed the issue.