My wide band gauge seems to be back in good working order. The question is, how many think it will continue to function correctly?

Here is what I think happened: I think the old super rich tuning fouled the sensor, and then it eventually burned itself clean. It now seems to read correctly all the time, just as it did when it was new.

The reason I asked, is I bought a new Innovate gauge and it is still in the box. These things are pretty expensive, and I am wondering if I should take it back, and trade it on some other currently desired goodies. Or, do you think this thing will flake out again? How likely is it that this sensor will fail once more? The thing is, I am not sure what brand of wide band sensor this company used, and they are out of business now, as near as I can tell. Their web site is down anyway. I am certain they used some mainstream part, but I have found that most auto parts store counter guys seem to be pretty useless if you cannot give them an application with which to look up something?

So, get out your crystal ball. Should I just keep this inovate gauge on the shelf, install it, or take it back?
Sam

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It's quite possible the sensor may have gotten coked.

I've got a hunch it uses a Bosch LSU4.2 sensor. Could you post a picture of its plug here?

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/


I just got in...........

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

The current Wide band gauge is called Lamda Boy, and was produced by a couple of guys out West. The sensor has a plug on it that looks like a small parallel port computer plug. I can take a picture of it, and send it to you via e-mail. I am still a little ways away from having my own editable web space, which I think is what I need to get a picture here. This signature is being hosted by one of our good friends here on the forum.

I thought for awhile maybe the heater went bad, because it would work after the car warmed up, but now all of a sudden it is fully functional again. I could take the sensor out and look at it I suppose.
Sam

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http://www.turborx7.com/images/Technical/kit.jpg

That connector is a custom jobber. The sensor doesn't look like a bosch lsu4.2 (what is in your innovate kit) The sniffing end looks different. Which innovate kit did you get? I'd rather keep the innovate kit because sensor replacement is as easy as going to your local vw dealer...

That's it. It looks like someone is still selling this unit. If so, then maybe I can get a new sensor. I never thought to go on line with a search. I just went back to the original web site, which was not active at the time. Thanks for taking the initiative here. If the sensor is still available, then at least there is some value on the used market to the Lambda Boy.

I'm not sure which inovate kit I have. It has three pieces of primary hardware: the gauge, the sensor, a translation module, and then assorted wires, and a CD with instructions and data logging software. I haven't installed it yet because it takes a 2 1/16" dash mounted hole, which is a project still in progess. My fuel pressure gauge is still just hanging off the side of the console for the same reason. Don't worry it has a remote sending unit.

Since initially writing this post, I went and studied theWeb Site for the link Pierre posted above. While I could not find the link through the web site to the Lamda Boy, I did find the reading there very interesting. It is devoted to tuning and modifying Mazda RX7 turbos from the mid 1990's. While it seemd to be one man's opinion in most instances, he sounds like he is using a very thoroughly documented, and scientific approach on what to modiy first, second, etc, etc, and how to tune for each of these mods. I know they are talking rotary, and not pistons, but the information seemed extemely relevant, and useful. I think it deserves reading by all here who are fooling with EFI and turbo'ed slants.

Sam

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Disclaimer - I work for one of the larger Innovate sellers...

That looks like an NTK sensor, probably an L1H1, only someone's hacked the stock connector off of it and attached a DB9 connector. It's a different critter from the Innovate unit, which uses a Bosch LSU4.2 sensor.

There's currently two basic Innovate gauge units on the market, with a third set to come out soon and one obsolete version. The most expensive is the XD-16 (there's an older version called the XD-1), recoginzable by the LED sweep around the outside of the gauge. Then there's the DB series with a digital readout in the center and no other LEDS. The newest one is the G series, an analog type gauge with a stepper motor.

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

I went out and looked at the box, and it says XD-16 on it. Tell me some good things about this, Matt. Don't worry about sounding prejudiced here. I would respect your opinions more than the counter guy who sold me this. Maybe you can give me some advice on hooking it up as well. It is nice to know you are available as a possible resource.

Sam

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I use an LC-1, although with no gauge, in my Dart. The calbration LED burned out, and it won't connect to a computer if you leave out the "terminator" plug unless the moon is right - two mistakes that made me think mine had a more serious problem. Innovate's tech support was very good at getting this straightened out. My boss uses one in his MR2 with the XD-16. I'm thinking of adding a G3 gauge or their older analog model at some point to my Dart.

The biggest issue we've seen is that they are somewhat sensitive to grounding. The older model you could break if you accidentally had a large offset between the ECU and the LC-1; they've fixed that in the newer ones. But they still get unhappy if you don't ground them well.

Overall, they usually hold up pretty well in tests. The XD-16 gauge has an interesting feature compared to Innovate's other gauges - it's driven off a straight digital output rather than running a signal through a DAC, which means your reading is exactly what the processor inside the LC-1 sees. If you are data logging through your ECU and the ECU's AFR readings don't match what you see on the XD-16, trust the XD-16 and check to be sure (1) your ECU is correctly calibrated to match the LC-1's output programming and (2) you don't have a ground offset between the LC-1 and ECU.

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair