Teach me about wideband O2 setups

Mercutio

SCCoA Member
Dave D's been recommending that I install a wideband O2 system for a while now. My transmission and rearend are out of the car, and the clutch I need is on backorder, so since the car's going to be out of action for a while, this seems like a good time to check out a wideband system.

I know nothing about these setups. What brand are you guys running? How much should I expect to spend? Is the physical installation any more involved than welding bungs to the headers? What else should I know?
 
I would recommend Innovate as well, and the MTX-L stuff looks very good. Many (and the part recommended above) are nice in that they take the data and stick it on a serial data bus. Other devices or additional wide bands can be added and their data just shows up in the stream when you try to log things.

The kits tend to come with a single weld on mounting bug. I personally recommend buying a second bug and a plug and mounting a bung in each down tube. This will allow you to do some testing to very bank to bank performance and can help with diagnostics if a problem with the engine creeps up.

If you didn't buy it already, you will have to buy an add on to Binary Editor (assuming you use that) to add the innovate device license, valid for all innovate devices.

Innovate is still serial so you'll likely need an adapter for your computer to go from Serial to USB. Once hooked up with Binary Editor, any data logging will be merged together by BE from the QH and the innovate devices. I.e. I have a LM1 and LM3. The LM3 gave me five 0-5v inputs + pressure so I was able to send to BE AFR, Boost, and Fuel Pressure to be merged into the datalog of all the other stuff. (I had used the other ports for MAFV, TP, and Bat before the QH was available)

The bung that comes with the kits today is 1" tall and places the sensor tip just at the exhaust pipe. Innovate found that the sensors they use are highly accurate without having to be in the direct stream of the exhaust. And pulling them back allows the sensor to last longer, and reducing heating effects. The big thing for users is that putting the sensor in the down tube with the longer bung can allow reliable readings without having to add a heat sink.
 
Is there any Mac-compatible software that will work? I don't have a Windows machine, and I don't want to use emulator software or install Windows as my OS. If I have to, I'd rather buy a small Windows machine to use solely for this purpose.
 
Zeittronix is going to be the best and most accurate. Do not care for innovative lc-1 or lm-1. Have run both and by have had the best resuts with zeittronix.
 
Sorry, mac is not a popular platform for data logging in any industry. The logworks software doesn't work on OS-X, and Binary Editor doesn't work on OS-X, so I'm pretty sure the answer is no.

Personally if I was a mac guy I'd buy one of those netbooks running Windows just for use with my car. They're cheap enough, and if fitted with an SSD, impact resistant enough for use in a car. Then never use it for anything else.

The data output from BE is a comma delimited file so you could view the data on your mac though the tool many folks use , LiveLink from SCT, is a Windows app.
 
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I figured as much. Anyway...do the bungs have to go in the collectors, or can they go in the downpipes ahead of the cats?
 
Ideally the bungs will be at 12 o'clock and as close as possible to the exhaust port of a cylinder. Every thing else is a compromise. They should never get mounted behind the cats, always in front.

The sensors never should be mounted at 6 o'clock and ideally never at or below horizontal. You don't want the sensor collecting condensation inside the body of the housing.

I haven't had the larger bung and I haven't had it with headers yet. Mine is in the down tube just past where the tube becomes horizontal after leaving the manifold. With the earlier shorter bungs my sensor tip ends up directly in the exhaust stream and did have times where it would overheat during tuning. In theory, with the new taller bungs I could move the sensor closer and not have overheating issues.

If you have mid length or shorty headers, in the collector should be possible and will give you a reading of the average of all cylinders. If you have long tubes put it in one of the primary tubes, preferring the cylinder that tends to run lean on our cars. (I can't recall which one, I believe it's the back cylinder.) If you dial that cylinder in the others will be safe.

The closer to the exhaust valve the easier it is to associate the data log with the ignition events when data logging.
 
I just put an Innovate with the digital readout in mine. It was $165 from Robear Racing online and was a pretty easy install. I had the bung put in the leftside downtube where it had plenty of room and drilled a hole in the firewall for the cable to feed thru along with a 'rubber hose' grommet and RTV to seal it up. Works pretty good.
 
Me Too

I use the LC-1 also and have it mounted in the collector on the passenger side of my long tube headers, then run the cable up through the same hole the antennae wiring goes through. Hide the LC1 Connector and stuff behind the fender liner and zip tied it right to the fuel lines and put the fender line back in and you never even know its there.

Keep it clean, dry and easy to get to if you should have to replace it.

Smitty
 
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