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I drove around with a friend for a while on Saturday, not for this express purpose, but it seemed like an interesting thing to do between stops.

It was very interesting to see the coolant temperatures jump 15-25 degrees at a stoplight, then go way back down at speed.

What do you guys get for Ignition timing? At 50-70MPH, i'm usually running 40-45 BTDC.

at about 45-50 I think i was at about 50 degrees on timing Dave. Although when I was idling I was at 15. Shouldn't I be around 20?

-Ryan

Can people modify this software? Seems like there is room for improvement, and maybe someone can start with this and add other options like data logging, or maybe view multiple variables at once.

Looks like a great bit of software, i'll definatly give it a try when i get a laptop and share my results. I was looking at those tiny toshiba's and it seems they are a popular little computer.

-Brian

I wasn't planning on giving the source out publicly just yet... but if you're fluent in x86 assembly and have a good plan about adding these features, send me an email (address is on the web page) and maybe you can help out.

Out of curiosity, which of the three forms (.COM file, floppy image, CD image) are people using?

I downloaded the .com file for a floppy, but forgot that my floppy drive is probably on its way out or is already, and I then got the cd image and burned a disc.

I used the floppy image to start, and then updated just the executable with the latest version.

There's been no changes to the FreeDOS part, right?

That's correct, Mike.

I couldnt program myself to sit upwards... i can do HTML, but thats about it. I do know quite a few programmers though, and could probably get some help, but they dont know much about cars. Just a thought i had brewin. I am interested in having a LCD display where the stock radio is, that will display everything.

At the moment, i'm searching for the perfect computer. Im juggling the idea of a Shuttle PC board with AMD, or maybe this cute little Toshiba computer (already forgot the name of it).

As soon as I get setup, it'll be easier to do more research.

-Brian

The Toshiba's called a Libretto. The old 50CT and 70CTs can be found pretty cheap on eBay, and they have a 75Mhz and 120Mhz processor respectively. They have an active matrix 640x480 display, and are fully functional Pentium computers, so they're very easy to deal with.

Yeah, i even found one that was at 266Mhz (not sure if it was o/c'd or not). They're out of my price range though. Theres so many other things my car needs that I can spend $200 on.

-Brian

They actually still make Librettos today with the latest processors, but they're mostly only available in Japan I think. I do believe the Libretto 100CT has a 266Mhz Pentium MMX though, so that's probably what you saw.

Yeah, I know what you mean about the money. I invested in my Libretto a long time ago for many other purposes and got an exceptionally good price.

If those are the compact smaller laptops, I really like those.

It's about the size of a VHS video tape.

New version up...

Excellent, i was getting tired of trying to convert to psi in my head while driving. Making the harddrive spin down is also a nice touch. I'll let you know how it works tomorrow. And off topic a little, the FCD I built from your plans is working perfectly, thanks for looking over my wiring.
Thanks again,

Awesome.

You're welcome.

The new version is working great, no problems in the few minutes i got to use it today. I noticed too that the FCD makes the max boost stick around 10.95 psi, no fuel cut is about the best mod i've done to my car. Now all i need is a new clutch and i'm set .

Yes, the FCD works by tricking the ECU into thinking you're not running super high boost.

That's one of the weaknesses of piggybacks: they can interfere with diagnosis because scan tools like this one give erroneous readings.

finally got the laptop today so I tried this, and no go. I'm pretty sure I've got the wires hooked up right, when the prog finally starts it shows the screen with the diagram of the pins and the winring and all that, When I hit something to go to the next screen it sees the parallel port, then it looks for the rom id and that's it. Screen just stays there. What did I do wrong?

That means the scantool isn't actually succeeding in conversing with the ECU.

If the wires are connected correctly, then the problem must be somewhere between the parallel port control circuitry and the ECU.

What kind of computer is it exactly? It's plausible that the parallel port's voltages might be slightly out of range or something.

Dumb question -- the ignition was on when you were testing it, right?

Have you confirmed that the parallel port works by using it to print or something?

You're not running it in Windows or anything like that, right?

it's a ibm thinkpad 755c I believe it's 75mhz but I dunno.

yeah I tried it with the ignition on at first, then I tried it when the car off waited for it to look for the id then turned it on, then I tried it with the car running, etc

I actually don't have anything in the house that uses a parallel port.

it boots into dos then asks for the disk and runs that way.

Ya know, i'm not 100% sure I've got the wires hooked up right. I just cut the ribbon cable and put the wires on that way. Looking with the #1 pin on the right (with the red stripe) the wires should read from left to right 13-25-12-24-11...etc right?

Which way are you looking at the connector? If you're looking at the end that plugs into the computer (so the pins are facing you), then they go 1-13 along the top row, 14-25 along the bottom.

yes taht's how it is. I've got it wired into the first wire coming off, and the last two, (i'm assuming the last wire is Pin 13 and the second to last is Pin 25). I've got Pin 1 connected to left rear +. Pin 13 (i think) is connected to left front +. And Pin 25 is connected to right rear -. Is this correct?

You should check the wires with a continuity tester.

Count the number of wires in the ribbon cable; you might find it's 26, and that the last wire doesn't actually go anywhere.