November 6, 2020

15. ECUMaster Kit

Continued mounting the ECU Master kit. Had started to make the keypad frame a while back, wanted to keep it bolt on so it was easy to make a new one if it needed to move or alter the design at some point. So was a bit rough and ready but turned out ok, I’ll try making one out of aluminium once I get better at tig welding. Finished off with some matte black paint. As well as the CAN keyboard the fire extinguisher control unit and battery isolator reset button was to be mounted to the frame.

Needed some where to mount the battery isolator and wanted somewhere to mount the Stilo Verbacom unit, phone and usb chargers so made a mounting plate in the centre behind the handbrake. Got a radlok connector coming for the battery ground to that’s quick and easy to remove if required.

Used the same idea for the PMU and GPS mounting. Thought this would be best on the front bulkhead. Keeps it out the way in case a passenger comes along.

Made the initial loom to connect the ECU Master kit to get in up and running. Connected all items on the same CAN bus, had to change the keypad CAN bus speed but was nice and easy using the ecu master software. Still worked by connecting them all up even with different speeds then just changing the computer interface to 500 kbit/s to change the keypad to 1 mbit/s, so couldn‘t be more simple.

Once the PMU, ADU, battery isolator, GPS and CAN keyboard were talking to each other I set about getting rid of the key and ignition barrel using the PMU to turn the ignition on and start the car. Since stripping lots of the wires out the ignition 1 circuit didn’t do anything so just needed power for ignition 2 and starter which were powered directly from the PMU. If anyone is interested in how the PMU and ADU are programmed I could do a post about that, however both the manuals get you most of the way there. The procedure is pretty simple, firstly the battery isolator needs turning on, then turn ignition 2 on, then hold for the starter.

Started the rear loom for the tail lights. Plan was to combine brake and rear lights to have dual brake lights, and both indicator and reverse lights together so can have dual indicators. Can always take a bulb out if it’s pointless. Having an LED rain light too. Used the existing taillight connectors and wires and connected these to a deutsch DT series connector to continue the loom onto the PMU. Makes it easy to test the lights by turning all the output on on the laptop prior to assigning the switches or controls.

I did wire in the spoiler light into the same circuit as the brake lights but doesn’t seem to be working so will need to have a look at whats causing that. It’s getting power so assuming the spoiler light is just broken.

We then deviated from the original plan and decided to bite the bullet and go to a stand alone ECU. It was always the idea that we would go to a stand-alone later down the line but rather than messing around sorting all the wiring out now to work with the standard ECU and UCH and then changing later we may as well get it done now. And will be tasty to have features like a pit limiter, traction control for wet starts etc.

Along with the wide band oxygen sensor, decided to get a new coil pack and a range of sensors. Main ones being engine oil temp and pressure sensors. Hoping to use the existing coolant temperature sensor, but would be even better if I could replace it with a new one but haven’t looked what thread size the coolant sensor is yet.

Moved the coil pack to the side of the engine in preparation for ITBs and potentially a different manifold, no decision have been made yet though. Made a custom bracket which bolted to the same location as the engine hoist bracket.