Turns out I have a Utcomp, but which?

[Layton1985]

I have a Utcomp where my clock used to be, I didn't know what this was until adaxo pointed it out to me, I thought it was standard on the car, how do I know if I have the pro or the basic one?

Also it has FAR reading on it which just stays on 19 as far as I've witnessed yesterday, is there a way of knowing if I have a wideband o2 sensor? I've just paid £175 for a innovative wideband afr, I could send this back and spend the money on something else I can upgrade or repair, thanks for your help

[foxdie]

Hi Layton1985

We could do with some pictures of both the screen and the UTCOMP controller probably located behind the dash near the main ECU (which is located to the left of the drivers foot).

[Layton1985]

79253

79254

Not had a look for the control box as of yet, the three tiny buttons are located just behind the left hand side of the steering wheel on the cluster panel that houses the Speedo etc, berry neat job,

The time is wrong on it, not sure how to change that as yet, I did get into the setting some how as the capacity of the fuel tank could be changed etc, might be a stupid question but how does it know how many mpg you are doing?

Also the display shows kilometres and litres per kilometre etc so guessing it had a foreign owner, I do know through digging that a club member called marksparks or sparksmark or something owned this car, I come across the original sale ad, it was up for £2000 a couple of years ago I paid £3000, which so far I don't think is a bad deal, but I haven't looked for rust yet.

The car suspiciously passed it's mot without any advisories but didn't even have any screen wash in that I noticed driving home on the motorway, it wasn't raining it was **** off the road and I couldn't see properly, rain would have kept the screen clear atleast, and the wipers were insufficient.

[Layton1985]

79255

[swinks]

Looks like you have basic version of either 1.x.x (from group bay years ago) or bit newer 2.x.x.
The best way to check is to locate main unit, hook it up via usb cable to laptop and launch provided UTCOMP software.
You will need to download UTCOMP software first from (software works only with installed .NET Framework 4.0 or newer):
https://www.reveltronics.com/en/products/universal-trip-computer-utcomp
Once you launch provided soft, it will tell you which firmware you are running.

To have wideband reading on UTCOMP you will still have to use wideband controller. UTCOMP it's only display unit, you can't hook directly wideband o2 sensor to UTCOMP, you need 5v analog from controller.
You can use though narrowband output from o2 sensor for display narrowband readings 0-1v.

[Layton1985]

Thanks for that, I was just reading about the o2 sensor I have bought and was trying to find out whether or not it can be wired into the ecu so that the ecu can adjust and trim the fuelling for optimum power and efficiency but can't find a solid answer,

To me it would make sense for it to be wires into the ecu as to be fair it is no good us being able to see whether it is rich or not because there's nothing you can do about it whilst your driving but if the ecu sees it and trims the mixture accordingly then performance will be optimal

It may not be able to wire into standard ecu but I'm looking at a stand alone unit in the future and wonder which to get?

This is the wideband I have bought

79261

[swinks]

That's wideband o2 sensor/controller and display all-in-one. That will do the job. You can hook your ecu o2 (narrowband) input to Innovate 0-1v output.
Also you can hook up Innovate 0-5v analog output to UTCOMP display, to have readings there, but you don't need to. Having already displayed values on Innovate gauge.

[Layton1985]

How is it a controller though if it isn't wired and mapped into the ecu? It can't adjust the air to fuel ratio can it? In the future I want a stand alone ecu but want to pick one that will work a wideband o2 sensor for better performance

[TAR]

Its a controller because it can provide a narrowband output which is compatible with the VR4 ECU. Its a sensor as its able to tell you accurately what your air/fuel ratio is. The sensor is important when tuning your car so you know your tune isn't running the car too rich or too lean.
:happy:

[swinks]

Lee, controller is built-in in display gauge. It has 2 outputs, wideband 0-5v and narrowband 0-1v. Please read pdf manual.

[Layton1985]

Sorry it's a late reply, I've had twins last week.

I understand it has narrowband and that the ecu receives these measurements and trims the fuel accordingly so my question is with tbat in mind the wideband sensor would be useless as the ecu will always trim the fuel within the narrowband parameters in turn never using the wideband?

I'll look into gettin the pdf? Somehow n reading it but I reckon the dummies guide if anyone has one would be better

[paulg23]

Hi Lee.

A narrowband O2 sensor is basically a fully self contained device that can indicate whether the engine is running lean or rich. It connects directly to the engine ECU. If the ECU is running in closed loop mode it will read the signal from the sensor and adjust the fueling to suit. If it indicates lean, the ECU will gradually richen the mixture until it indicates rich, it will then gradually lean the mixture until it indicates lean. This cycle runs continuously.

A wideband O2 sensor is not self contained. It needs a controller to work. The controller outputs a number (often an analogue voltage) which represents the AFR. Most aftermarket controllers also support a display and have the ability to generate a narrowband output. This is connected to the cars ECU such that it still thinks it has a narrowband connected and the ECU controls fueling as per the above paragraph.

Fitting a wideband to a standard car is pointless unless you have a problem to diagnose or are going to be doing some mods. I fitted mine when I installed LPG. It does not have a display but sends data to an Android tablet. It does have a narrowband output.


http://www.megamanual.com/PWC/LSU4.htm is worth reading.