Moderator Curtis Jacobson Portland Oregon (4593 posts) Registered: 10/12/2007 02:16AM Main British Car: 71 MGBGT, Buick 215 |
AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
My bride gave me an air/fuel ratio gauge for Christmas. (She's such a romantic.) However, I didn't get it installed until last night. Other mods were higher on my to-do list, and those mods necessitated re-tuning the carb.
I played with the gauge a bit today until a thunderstorm blew in. Then I took this snapshot to brag on. Wow!!! As you guys know, I don't enjoy fine-tuning carburetors, but this little gauge makes the job a whole lot more entertaining. And the results? Within an hour, my engine was running better than ever before. Way better. Of course I could have tuned the carburetor by old-fashioned methods. For me, that was a painful proposition. I would have procrastinated.The gauge makes tuning so much more convenient and productive. Now I just need to figure out how to turn the brightness down. Okay, and maybe it's running a tiny bit rich at idle... |
67MGBV8 Chris Jones Denver, Colorado (36 posts) Registered: 10/24/2007 03:11PM Main British Car: 1967 MGB Tourer 215 c.i. Buick |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
Curtis, I'm with you on this one. I found that the air fuel gauge was just the thing to get the jets and rods tweaked just right on my Carter AFB 9400. After struggling to get a decent tune, I installed the DynaJet WideBand Commander and made the adjustment needed in a couple of hours. I was also able to select a jet size that will allow me to pick a couple of sets of rods that I can swap in when I am driving at higher and lower altitudes. It's amazing how much air density and temperature affect the mixture! I live at 4600 ft and when I travel to 7-8000 ft I can watch the mixture rich up by a full unit. Here's a picture of my installation, it dims with the dash panel ;<) The Wideband Commander comes with a laptop interface and recorder that allows up to 10 minutes of recording capacity. Note Vacuum and Voltmeter in the same cluster.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/2009 04:45PM by 67MGBV8. |
kstevusa kelly stevenson Southern Middle Tennessee (985 posts) Registered: 10/25/2007 09:37AM Main British Car: 2003 Jaguar XK8 Coupe 4.2L DOHC/ VVT / 6sp. AT |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
EFI handles these situations seamlessly and keeps the A/F ratio correct. Altitude is usually not a problem here in the South. Just humidity and Temps.
Looks great Curtis. See you in Durham! SAFETY FASTER! |
donfaber Don Faber Terra Alta WV (117 posts) Registered: 10/31/2007 10:53PM Main British Car: 1979 MGB 3.9L Rover V8 |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
I want to install an air fuel ratio sensor and gauge in my 79B (Rover 3.9L, edelbrock 1404 carb). Any recommendations?
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MGBV8 Carl Floyd Kingsport, TN (4557 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 11:32PM Main British Car: 1979 MGB Buick 215 |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
I use an Innovate tailpipe O2 tester. Works great. They make a number of permanent solutions.
[www.innovatemotorsports.com] |
Spitfire 350 Phil McConnell Perrysburg, OH (Toledo area) (258 posts) Registered: 01/11/2010 09:19PM Main British Car: 74 Spitfire 350Chevy |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
I have an Edelbrock led model mounted to my dash. I'll text you a photo, I still have your number.
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Moderator Curtis Jacobson Portland Oregon (4593 posts) Registered: 10/12/2007 02:16AM Main British Car: 71 MGBGT, Buick 215 |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
I'd still recommend the AEM. Looks like mine is 14 years old already. It'll continue to work great for you if/when you upgrade to EFI.
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BlownMGB-V8 Jim Blackwood 9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042 (6500 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 12:59PM Main British Car: 1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
The Innovate is slow, which can be an issue if you are using autotune or running datalogs. The AEM is faster and they seem to have good support but I have seen some reliability issues.
Jim |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
innovate was the best 20 years ago with their LM-1. Then they launched a disaster of a product (the LM-2) and they haven't ever regained the lead.
For ultimate simplicity, just go for an AEM. It's all I ever use. Some real techie folks will argue they are not as accurate as others - they are absolutely accurate enough for anything us guys will ever need. |
minorv8 Jukka Harkola (271 posts) Registered: 04/08/2009 06:50AM Main British Car: Morris Minor Rover V8 |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
I had 2 Innovate LC-1 units and they both kept throwing bad sensor error codes. I sent the first one back to Innovate and it came back with "no issues found". Meanwhile I had bought another one and it eventually had the same issue. After buying several new Bosch sensors I gave up and bought a PLX (don´t know if it is available in USA).
Have not had issues since. At that time it seemed to be quite common issue with Innovate. Maybe it was too clever and sensitive ? Nowadays I have the said PLX and another wide band that is connected to ECU. |
BlownMGB-V8 Jim Blackwood 9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042 (6500 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 12:59PM Main British Car: 1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
The Innovate WB is too slow for tuning out transient spikes on EFI systems when shifting gears but should be fine for tuning automatics and carbs.
Jim |
MGBV8 Carl Floyd Kingsport, TN (4557 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 11:32PM Main British Car: 1979 MGB Buick 215 |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
I use my Innovate LM-2 to tune carbs at idle. cruise, & WOT. Works great for that.
PLX is based in California. Their wide band O2 unit uses a Bosch sensor, as does my LM-2 [www.plxdevices.net] |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
Carl, To answer your question about the LM-2...
Certainly the first few years, innovate struggled initially with LM-2 units being non-operational out of the box, having calibration and communication faults and other issues that prevented them being fully usable. This was not a few isolated incidents, but very common. IIRC, they had lost some pretty important staff members (for whatever reason) and the previously great communication and addressing of any issues, disappeared quickly. Lots of promises to address issues never came of anything, and many - including myself - decided they'd never own an innovate product again. They had a forum for a long time where the guys at innovate would also interact with users, but the LM2 was such a disaster, the board became pretty much nothing apart from a huge barrage of LM-2 complaints, and was very clearly not good publicity, so they shut it down to make the problem go away. I purchased one of the first AEM units, and haven't had any issues with them personally, so continued to use them. I'd hope after all this time, the LM-2 was 100% addressed, but what definitely happened was folks explored (and invested in) other manufacturers equipment, which of course benefited the industry as a whole as competition ultimately breeds innovation and pricing, but lots in the industry won't ever use innovate after getting their fingers burnt. |
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BlownMGB-V8 Jim Blackwood 9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042 (6500 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 12:59PM Main British Car: 1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
I switched to AEM and had the head unit (gage) go bad right away. They had me saw it in half and send them the photo and then they sent me a replacement. Now it looks like the second one may have gone bad as I've tried 3 different sensors with it and none of them work.
Is there a more reliable alternative? I'd like to know as these things aren't exactly cheap. Jim |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
Wow, that's crazy you've had bad luck with AEM. I am sure they had you saw it in half to make sure it wasn't counterfeit?
There are so many different manufacturers out there, I guess it's time to make a switch... |
BlownMGB-V8 Jim Blackwood 9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042 (6500 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 12:59PM Main British Car: 1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
I think it was to make sure it was impossible to repair and resell.
Jim |
DiDueColpi Fred Key West coast - Canada (1384 posts) Registered: 05/14/2010 03:06AM Main British Car: I really thought that I'd be an action figure by now! |
Re: AEM Wideband Air Fuel Ratio Gauge
I’ve used the auto meter wide band gauges for years. I have one mounted in a pelican box that I use for remote testing, I have beat the hell out of that thing and it just keeps going.
I will only use the Bosch O2 sensors with it as the other options have been disappointing. You “must” let the sensor heat up before starting the engine. It only takes 10 to 20 seconds and it stops condensation from destroying your sensor. Some units are faster or slower to display , but the sensor output is analog. So essentially instant. Wired into your ECU it shouldn’t be a problem. Cheers Fred |