In my opinion (as an electrical engineer) I wouldn't use positaps on ANYTHING. Some will say they have had great experience with them, but I say do it the right way, cut the wire, splice in, solder, and use a good heat shrink that has glue in it to seal the joint from any moisture. Doing it any other way had eventually caused me issues. Sure it may have taken 5 years for the issues to show up, but they always do unless you do it right.
MOTIV RE|FLEX - ADVANCED I/O INTEGRATION
- Thread starter fmorelli
- Start date
I was thinking about trying to get the male/female pins already in use and making my own spliiter. But need to find the part numbers. That should be reversible and functional without cutting and soldering?
Yea if you pull the pin out of the connector, then get the proper opposite end designed for that connector, pus them together, and heat shrink over that, then attach the same as original pin to the other end of the wire and push it back into the original connector that would work. Not all types of connectors can you do that with though, some require the housing to work right.
The key is that the solder makes an air tight connection, and then heat shrink seals that in so you don't get corrosion. You can do without the solder if you have a good mechanical connection and it's sealed (and the quality of that mechanical connection will also depend on surface area, ( which is something the positaps lack).
The key is that the solder makes an air tight connection, and then heat shrink seals that in so you don't get corrosion. You can do without the solder if you have a good mechanical connection and it's sealed (and the quality of that mechanical connection will also depend on surface area, ( which is something the positaps lack).
Cut and solder or just stripped casing, soldered and shrink wrapped
If one considers the possible outcome if a wire or two becomes disconnected when you're beating on it, you'll decide to solder!
I’m having the same issue since 6 month i have B58 coils i will try your solution of routing the wire back away as i can in the firewall and hopefully that would help as mine spike and fluctuating really high
I think I found parts to build a harness without cutting or splicing the OEM harness for around $33. Going to try it out and if it works, I will share part numbers/where to buy from.
OK, I got these 2 parts from Ballenger Motorsports. The pins look identical to the ones on our harnesses. So my plan is to depin the female side of the connector, remove the DME pins from the factory connector, then put the 5 things you need into the female connector (canbus hi/low, crank, MAP, intake cam). Next take the leads you depinned from the connector, and solder them and the leads from the Reflex so all 3 are connected. Take the female pins and put them into the factory harness.
The only possible issue is the waterproof grommets might have to be cut off the leads from the female connector. Below are the part numbers.
As soon as I get my Reflex flashed I will get it all installed this way.
The only possible issue is the waterproof grommets might have to be cut off the leads from the female connector. Below are the part numbers.
As soon as I get my Reflex flashed I will get it all installed this way.
One issue I wanted to ask about. Trying to flash to bootloader on my Reflex. Connecting the harness to the under the hood power/ground points using alligator clips and trying to get the bootloader program to recognize things. Using a multimeter, it shows 12.6V at the power/ground pins on the main harness, but almost seems like the Reflex isnt powering on. Bootloader app isnt picking it up. Anyone had any issues like this? Dont think it is a harness issue, power issue, or data cable issue. So kind of out of ideas.
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Have you tried using a different micro usb cable? It took 2 or 3 different cables to finally get mine to connect.
I just bought the cable from their site, and it worked. Must have been related to the cables I was trying.
OK, got everything setup, although Aux fuel is showing as 111psi (and doesnt change) and Ethanol (CAN) shows 0%, which I would think it would be at least 5%.
I ended up using the positaps for now as the pins on the female pins that came on the leads with the connectors above didnt fit the factory harness. I am just going to get factory leads so I can splice in.
That being said, I checked the CAN hi/CAN low pins at the RFX main harness, and they were both like 2.4V or so, which I think indicates the signal is received and in its 'recessive' state.
I checked the light blue wire for the external fuel pressure sensor, and it was showing like 4.3V, which I assume is near the upper end of its range and maybe corresponds with 111psi (which the factory LPFP sensor is showing the appropriate 72.x psi).
I have seen MHD001 and MHD005 pop up, but they are always as shadow codes.
I suspected some kind of connection issue, but the cam, crank, and MAP sensors are all reading perfectly. I rechecked the CAN taps, and they are fine.
I checked to make sure I selected "Motive Reflex" for my ECA, but also have it set in my BIN directly.
Finally I logged in TunerPro RT live and looked at the values. Seems like 50Hz is being reported by the ECA, which I think corresponds with 0. Cant tell if it is working and 0 is the real value (which I really doubt), or there is some other issue. Previously I had the OG Motiv FF module and it was reading properly through the standalone ECA. I did notice that the 'ethanol temperature' value went from 35 to 36 while I was looking at the screen live. Assume that is derived from the ethanol sensor? If so, maybe it is reading?
I saw the fuel pressure value was reading 255, which assume it is hex and reporting the max value. I am at a total loss as to why that would be, unless something happened to the sensor itself, which I find very unlikely.
I messed up and didnt screenshot the rest until after the car was off. The Cam Speed (RPM) was valued and updating appropriately.
I feel like an idiot here. What am I missing?
I ended up using the positaps for now as the pins on the female pins that came on the leads with the connectors above didnt fit the factory harness. I am just going to get factory leads so I can splice in.
That being said, I checked the CAN hi/CAN low pins at the RFX main harness, and they were both like 2.4V or so, which I think indicates the signal is received and in its 'recessive' state.
I checked the light blue wire for the external fuel pressure sensor, and it was showing like 4.3V, which I assume is near the upper end of its range and maybe corresponds with 111psi (which the factory LPFP sensor is showing the appropriate 72.x psi).
I have seen MHD001 and MHD005 pop up, but they are always as shadow codes.
I suspected some kind of connection issue, but the cam, crank, and MAP sensors are all reading perfectly. I rechecked the CAN taps, and they are fine.
I checked to make sure I selected "Motive Reflex" for my ECA, but also have it set in my BIN directly.
Finally I logged in TunerPro RT live and looked at the values. Seems like 50Hz is being reported by the ECA, which I think corresponds with 0. Cant tell if it is working and 0 is the real value (which I really doubt), or there is some other issue. Previously I had the OG Motiv FF module and it was reading properly through the standalone ECA. I did notice that the 'ethanol temperature' value went from 35 to 36 while I was looking at the screen live. Assume that is derived from the ethanol sensor? If so, maybe it is reading?
I saw the fuel pressure value was reading 255, which assume it is hex and reporting the max value. I am at a total loss as to why that would be, unless something happened to the sensor itself, which I find very unlikely.
I messed up and didnt screenshot the rest until after the car was off. The Cam Speed (RPM) was valued and updating appropriately.
I feel like an idiot here. What am I missing?
I had the fuel pressure sensor wires the wrong way around when it left the factory. Check the colors of the wires, which goes where. I struggled with this for a long time and I had connected everything correctly. It didn't even occur to me that the manufacturer had made a mistake.
Try to make sure that the pins of the Deutsch connector of the ethanol sensor are properly connected. The pins of the connector must be pushed to the very bottom so that they lock. When installing, this also caused breaks in the ethanol signal, but that was my own fault.
Try to make sure that the pins of the Deutsch connector of the ethanol sensor are properly connected. The pins of the connector must be pushed to the very bottom so that they lock. When installing, this also caused breaks in the ethanol signal, but that was my own fault.
I think you might be 100% right on the fuel pressure sensor. I looked at the RFX side of the harness and it goes to the right pins on the RFX. However on the sensor side, red is going to light blue on the RFX side. And black is going to red on the RFX side (12v). There is no pinout for the sensor, but that seems suspicious to me. I will try and flip them and see what happens.
One other question, I am used to the OG FF module reading in increments of ethanol content like 0.8% or something. What increment does the RFX one based one measure? I had a thought that maybe it was +/- 5% or something and maybe was rounding down to 0. I am certain the ethanol temperature reading in TunerPro is reading steady and changing as the car runs. I watched it run up from 31->35. If that is true, maybe I am convincing myself there is a problem where there is not?
One other question, I am used to the OG FF module reading in increments of ethanol content like 0.8% or something. What increment does the RFX one based one measure? I had a thought that maybe it was +/- 5% or something and maybe was rounding down to 0. I am certain the ethanol temperature reading in TunerPro is reading steady and changing as the car runs. I watched it run up from 31->35. If that is true, maybe I am convincing myself there is a problem where there is not?
Ok fuel pressure wires switched and it is reading. Thanks for the help there I wouldn't have figured that out.
No CAN codes. I redid the CAN connections with a Y connection. I had some old harnesses that I sacrificed to do that. I will put in a few gallons of e85 today and see if I can get the reading off 0.
No CAN codes. I redid the CAN connections with a Y connection. I had some old harnesses that I sacrificed to do that. I will put in a few gallons of e85 today and see if I can get the reading off 0.
Hey this might be a dumb question but can I run the reflex box without a map? Installed it'll only monitor ethanol content at the moment (still figuring out what direction I'm going for PI and upgraded turbos, which make sense to do together) and I don't know if having a map loaded without injectors will cause issues. It seems like it will from what I'm reading. I can hold off on installing it for now if I have to use injectors. TIA
I finally have resolved some other problems and now working on getting everything retuned. One question around PI tuning strategy. Do people keep their scalar consistent throughout their tune and adjust PI based on logs? Ex. 1.1 scalar on E10 and 1.4 scalar on E85? That is generally what I am working to do, minus the part before PI kicks in between 2500-3000 RPM where I seem to need more scalar.
I am noticing in my logs that AFR seems more volatile than when running on pure DI. No corrections or anything, but if target is say 11.5, it might go down into the high 10s and up to the high 12s for the next data point. It kind of tells me the DME is seeing too much fuel, then overreacting and going the other way. I am tuning the PI based on STFT in the logs, which I assume the what others are doing.
I am noticing in my logs that AFR seems more volatile than when running on pure DI. No corrections or anything, but if target is say 11.5, it might go down into the high 10s and up to the high 12s for the next data point. It kind of tells me the DME is seeing too much fuel, then overreacting and going the other way. I am tuning the PI based on STFT in the logs, which I assume the what others are doing.
AFR is simply more bouncy when under low load, it's not just pure DI, it's that you're under decent load once your PI turns on.
STFT is a good way to go. 1.1 vs 1.4 is a good staring place, but adjust as needed. running mid to high 15's for gas equivalent lambda during low load for highway is decent way to get 10% MPG back on E85, plus more advanced timing than you run WOT. Be careful with your HPFP pressure in the 2500-3000 RPM range, the pump is not spinning fast enough to keep up with as much load as later RPM, so make sure you have PI in there if you see your high end pressure sagging as that's a sign you're reaching max possible fuel delivery with DI.
The closer you get to proper fuel added with PI and scalar at a given load/rpm, the less the STFT will need to adjust, and thus the smoother your AFR will stay rather than bouncing around. Might also check your spark gap, AFR will bounce around like that if you're breaking up.
STFT is a good way to go. 1.1 vs 1.4 is a good staring place, but adjust as needed. running mid to high 15's for gas equivalent lambda during low load for highway is decent way to get 10% MPG back on E85, plus more advanced timing than you run WOT. Be careful with your HPFP pressure in the 2500-3000 RPM range, the pump is not spinning fast enough to keep up with as much load as later RPM, so make sure you have PI in there if you see your high end pressure sagging as that's a sign you're reaching max possible fuel delivery with DI.
The closer you get to proper fuel added with PI and scalar at a given load/rpm, the less the STFT will need to adjust, and thus the smoother your AFR will stay rather than bouncing around. Might also check your spark gap, AFR will bounce around like that if you're breaking up.
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