My experience with the SD2ver1.1 chip

[84BuickGNYorkPA]

Well had been chasing a problem tough for me to diagnose, forcing me to keep the SD2 chip out of the car. Sunday (yesterday) I finally got to install the chip, updated the power logger with the latest version, set the fuel injectors to 60 lbs, changed the 4 settings that came with the version 1.1 instructions, set the wideband to PLX, turned the key and it fired right up checked the a/f at idle looked great. Drove it to work today watching the CF (fuel correction) value on the scan master, noticed that I needed to pull some fuel on parameter 5, 6 & 7 so when I came out from work I tweaked those parameters and was on my way. Car idles great at 13.8 a/f and sticks like glue at WOT @ 11.0 a/f and 18lbs boost. Alky pump is out of the car now so the boost will go back up to 25 or so once I'm back on the alky.
So far very impressed with the chip, and just for the record the old LC1 wideband was the cause of all my grief the last few months...the new PLX is very simple to hook up, why did I wait so long to swap it out ?

Chuck

 

[TurboDave]

just for the record the old LC1 wideband was the cause of all my grief the last few months...the new PLX is very simple to hook up, why did I wait so long to swap it out ?

Chuck

Gee, color me surprised! There have been a lot of people fall victim to the idiosyncrosies (sic) of the LC1 system over the years.

Anyway, congrats on getting the SD2 up and running!! I'm quite sure you'll be having a lot of fun when you get into tweaking to perfection!
I'm sure loving mine!!!!!!

 

[TurboTdr3.8]

Sweeeeet !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[84BuickGNYorkPA]

Just made up a cheat sheet for the chip, helps me stay organized while tuning. I'll put it in a separate thread, it's also over at Eric's website http://www.turbotweak.com/forum/showthread.php?2302-SD2-ver1-1-Cheat-Sheet

Chuck

 

[84BuickGNYorkPA]

Had a issue today with the car, not running right, pull over in park at idle, check scan master settings, notice some "jumping going on" example, scan master showing mph jumping to 3 then 0 back and forth. Pulled the ECM, checked to see if the power logger, slipped down, still seemed good and tight, sprayed the ecm pins with electric cleaner, noticed they where now more "shiney", so gave each pin a dab of electric grease, put it all back together and all is well.
So I thought I would put this out there, use the electric cleaner on all connections and follow it up with electric grease...

Chuck

 

[TurboBob]

hm, interesting. I've not experienced connection issues in any units I have installed (I have installed quite a few). But perhaps the detailing of the connector needs more discussion in the installation instructions.

Certainly just a dab of grease is sufficient, I'm wondering if there is a good way to polish the connections as well (scotchbrite maybe)

thanks for the feedback.

Bob

 

[84BuickGNYorkPA]

Bob,

My other thought is USB cable connection at the power logger board (I did not spray electrical cleaner in that area or use die electric grease) or possible the cable itself might be on the fritz, but for now if it doesn't give me any more trouble I'm not touching it.
By the way at work, the person who taught me how to build computers, way back, taught me to use die electric grease on every connection, and I would do this for years, but sort of got out of the habit lately. Well this just taught me that it could be the difference of the car purring along in 3 months or giving you something to scratch your head about.
Gotta run, off to do another computer repair, I have a side business of fixing, building, repairing personal computers.

Chuck

 

[TurboBob]

Bob,

My other thought is USB cable connection at the power logger board (I did not spray electrical cleaner in that area or use die electric grease) or possible the cable itself might be on the fritz, but for now if it doesn't give me any more trouble I'm not touching it.
By the way at work, the person who taught me how to build computers, way back, taught me to use die electric grease on every connection, and I would do this for years, but sort of got out of the habit lately. Well this just taught me that it could be the difference of the car purring along in 3 months or giving you something to scratch your head about.
Gotta run, off to do another computer repair, I have a side business of fixing, building, repairing personal computers.

Chuck

I wouldn't grease up the USB, and if you are going to grease up the other stuff, go easy on it. I have never needed it on low voltage connections.

Bob

 

[84BuickGNYorkPA]

Replaced the USB cable coming out of the power logger/ECM it runs under the dash for the scan master and wide band connections, apparently doing a hard turn and running the cable up along the ECM was a no no, that took a few years to show it's ugly head. All is well again in my little world, Buick is back on the alky and never ran so good as it does now, with the new USB cable. What led me to the problem was the car would run ok for a while, as in a few days, then out of the blue usually at a stop light, it would stall. Take the ecm out and then put it back in with out unhooking anything and I was good to go for a few more days..... as I said life is good again in my little world....

Chuck

 

[huntsg]

Chuck, I'm interested in what intermittent problems you were having. I seem to have some of the same issues. I'll go days with no problems and then all of a sudden it will stall twice on the way to work as it struggles between open and closed loop modes. If I stop and reposition my ECM (I can no longer put it behind the kick plate as it seems that either the Powerlogger gets dislodged or the signals to the ECM get scrambled or both) the problem usually goes away. How was it that you ran the cable? Steve

 

[84BuickGNYorkPA]

Instead of bringing the new cable out and doing a 90 degree turn so it would run up along the ECM case, I let it come straight out and then ran it up gradual and tucked it under the carpet as it ran across to under the center console. The usb cable can be a little tricky to find, I actually have two power loggers and used the cable from the 2nd set up. I only have two because I like to have a spare everything for this car.

Chuck

 

[TurboBob]

once the weather breaks eric and/or I will make a video on installation back in the stock location.

The PL has always been sensitive to pressure on the circuit board, the difference now is that the PL is running the engine (essentially) so a data glitch can cause an issue.

So, a good clean connector, and no sideways pressure on the PL itself are what are needed.


Bob

 

[84BuickGNYorkPA]

Bob,

Yes, I pulled the usb cable off the power logger board while the car was running with speed density 2 and the car shuts off, so yes definitely need good connection everywhere.

Chuck

 

[Jerryl]

Bob, would it make sense to solder the critical contacts of PL & ECM?
Not sure of all are critical or not . . .

 

[TurboBob]

I was looking into that a few months ago, its not as easy as it sounds, since some of the connections are inaccessible with the unit installed. Realistically there have been very few problems with the hardware, the one limitation is stress on the PL unit.

I'm certain there is a way to solder the installation, I need to get a spare ECM and experiment with it. Additionally I need to look at options to support the PL more strongly. The current version has an extra foam strip on the top side that helps. Perhaps more of it is needed.

Bob

 

[Jerryl]

I was looking into that a few months ago, its not as easy as it sounds, since some of the connections are inaccessible with the unit installed. Realistically there have been very few problems with the hardware, the one limitation is stress on the PL unit.

I'm certain there is a way to solder the installation, I need to get a spare ECM and experiment with it. Additionally I need to look at options to support the PL more strongly. The current version has an extra foam strip on the top side that helps. Perhaps more of it is needed.

Bob

I figured that. Like the saying:
If it was easy everybody would be doing it. Thanks for the response.

 

[84BuickGNYorkPA]

Update, not a hick-up since replacing the USB cable !! When the roads are dry and it's above freezing I drive it, so I was driving it pretty regularly for a long while.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk