LC-1 wide band controller

[Bob Cowan]

I want to semi-permanently install the LC-1 controller in my car. It can feed signals directly to the ECU. The harness from the Bosch sensor is about 2.5' long, and plugs directly into the controller.

http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/products/lc1.php

The "problem" is that the lead from the sensor is only about 2.5' long. That requires mounting the control box in the engine compartment. For a lot of reasons, I don't want to do that.

Is there any reason I can't extend the leads on the sensor another 3-4' ?

[geoffav]

Originally Posted by Bob Cowan

I want to semi-permanently install the LC-1 controller in my car. It can feed signals directly to the ECU. The harness from the Bosch sensor is about 2.5' long, and plugs directly into the controller.

LC-1 Lambda Cable with 02 Sensor : Wideband Controller Cable for Dyno, ECU, Data Acquisition, or Gauge Applications

The "problem" is that the lead from the sensor is only about 2.5' long. That requires mounting the control box in the engine compartment. For a lot of reasons, I don't want to do that.

Is there any reason I can't extend the leads on the sensor another 3-4' ?

I wouldn't think that would be a problem. The LM-1 has a 10 foot cable. A quick email to tech would be a good idea. They normally respond right away. I didn't see anything in the info I previously downloaded but I never considered an extension.

[Wayne Presley]

Bob, the LC-1 control box is built into the end of the cable and can be subjected to underhood temps and environment without issue. Innovate does not make an extension harness for it.

[Tennessee Tim]

Any extension cable for the Bosch LSU sensor should work. Here's one:

Bosch Wideband Extension Cable, 4' - 034Motorsport | Performance Parts for Audi, Porsche, and Volkswagen

Tim

[Bob Cowan]

Originally Posted by Wayne Presley

Bob, the LC-1 control box is built into the end of the cable and can be subjected to underhood temps and environment without issue. Innovate does not make an extension harness for it.

I know that's probably true. There are thousands of these LC-1's out there, and most of them are mounted inside the engine bay. But, I tend to get a little OCD about that kind of stuff.

Originally Posted by Tennessee Tim

Any extension cable for the Bosch LSU sensor should work. Here's one:

Tim

Tim, that's exactly what I was looking for! I was going to try and figure out how to make one just like that. Thanx.

[tirod]

It's not just simple car primary wire, it's a designed electronic circuit. Extending the wire harness means matching the type wire and insulation to minimize voltage drop. That's the real issue - the extra connections and increased resistance can alter the signal.

Sensors generally read in tenths of a volt, better to extent the harness with the vendors approved methods, than hack and tap a circuit.

[Bill Hughes]

At the gage of wire used on this product, voltage losses of any reasonable amount would cause the wires to get hot. The signal currents are in the milliampere region.

I have doubled the length of mine with no problems at all. Wire designated as electronic circuit means that it has no difficult UL or CSA rating to pass. It is a safety code thing, or lack there of.

[tim-in-oakton]

Use at least the same gauge or heavier wiring and you'll be fine. That said, I have mine in the pass compartment, it is well hidden and has been fine so far.

I have mine feeding in via the EGR postion sensor lead, and I then have a Quarterhorse emulator to datalog and to provide dynamically updateable tunes. Unless you locate your WB bung near the narrowband sensors you'll need to tell your tuning/datalog SW to offset the WB readings by a sample (or several) to get good temoral alignment.

I do notice that mine seems to react MUCH slower than the NB sensors do, so you need to take the WB readings with an "averaged" grain of salt.

HTH-
timm

[Bill Hughes]

TIM,

I am also using the EGR position port to get to TWEECER RT. What displacment is your engine, what size injectors and what size MAS. I assume you are using the ford system.

Tim, the LC1 has a narrow and a wide band output. I removed the OE narrow band and have the LC 1 in the bung whwer the old OE sensor used to be.

The old NB sensor requirment is satisfied by the LC1s NB output.

[CraigS]

Bob, to make you feel a little better about an ecu in the engine area. In 98 Lexus did it for the first time. They put a standard looking ecu in it's own cast aluminum w/ plastic cover housing. Worked fine w/ no issues and that setup appeared on several other models later. Then in 07 on one model they started hanging the ecu on the firewall w/o any kind of extra container at all. The ecu box itself may have been upgraded some but it was hard to tell for sure. just some additional data for you while you decide what to do.

[Bill Hughes]

Volkswagen did it in 1971 in my squareback with the analog ecu box.

[tim-in-oakton]

My heap is a stock block (301ci), with 24 lb injectors, but my cam/intake/heads/MAF are all worked over so I need to tune for them.

I'm using decipha's A9L2 base tune (the guy is an evil genius, read all of his posts at EECTuning.org - it will make you smarter!). I'm not sure how close remapping the LC-1 to look like a NB sensor is to an actual NB sensor - assuming your engine is somewhat symmetrical you if you have a Tweecer or QH you should be able to see live how close the remapped transfer fn is to a stock O2 sensor-

Do make sure that you are aware of how the LC1 is configured, how the input to QH and how BE or your editor is configured - this can create confusion if you're not in sync

[fstanovich]

Mine has been on passenger foot box tie rapped to 3/4" tube for 3 years no problems.
I Autox , drag race and street cruise alot.

[Bill Hughes]

Same with mine. I need to learn more about Exhaust pulse delay details though.