Aem f/ic update

Well took the jeep to tune today and of course today there's some kind of short somewhere it's got a constant misfire and spark blowout which are new problems. It would just randomly die too. My gauge cluster is all funky the engine oil pressure is pegged out non stop tach randomly losing signal.... So my guy could only tune a bit of out of boost to get me going hopefully I can find the problem quick and take the jeep to him this week. Again
 
FYI, the harness has been out of production for several months due to the lack of availability of the PCM connector. I spoke directly with AEM on this some time ago and they had no choice but to drop the product.

It was not for lack of sales, they just could no longer get the part needed. Sort of sucks actually...

If you go to the AEM web site, on the forums someone has posted a PDF for connecting a F/IC6 to a 2000 TJ. THe PCM is the same insofar as the connections go and can be used as a guide. Do a search for "jeep" and it should show up. I downloaded it and compared it to my FSM. Looks good to go!
 
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Thing is, drop shipping from the Manufacturer has become the new standard business model so very little is actually stocked. So, when the connector dropped out of existance, the available stock at AEM dried up in a matter of weeks...
 
So, the AEM is in and programmed for Fuel and Ignition with the help from a good friend of mine. Starting from the Base Maps you make at installation, it took us maybe 2 hours to get it dialed in. Best part of the software is that you can see what the Injector Duty Cycle is. As my injectors are loping along at a lazy 50% duty Cycle at 5000rpm, E85 will be a project Gary and I will be tackling. I see a switch on the dash to control the map selection and two maps, gas and E85. Given the Octane equivalent of the E85, I expect to see better performance.

Now I need to tackle the speedometer correction. According to the Manual and AEM's Tech Support, "It can be done". That being said, AEM is not actaully aware that anyone has done it. Boldly go and all that stuff...

It drives like an entirely different vehicle. It very easily hits the speed limiter (118mph). One interesting thing is that as we were romping along, the average fuel economy started going up. By the end of the day, I had gained a tad over 36% fuel economy.

Would I recommend this controller? You bet!
 
One interesting thing is that as we were romping along, the average fuel economy started going up. By the end of the day, I had gained a tad over 36% fuel economy.

How are you calculating that, or are you going by the OHC or something like a Scangauge? If you are that mileage is incorrect as the FIC takes control of the injectors away from the PCM.

Mine has been working fine. Got the external wideband hooked up. I'm still tuning the fuel trims trying to get it close to 0. One problem is with the stock narrow band O2 sensors. I can't seen to make them change. Did you get that function working on yours?
 
You have a point about the mileage not being correct. The number I used for the base point was from the display on the OHC with the Perfect Power driving the extra injector. In both of these cases, the PCM does not really know what is happening. Just sort of a ball park to play in. But you are correct, the OHC is not correct. So to speak...

I will be looking at the trims here very directly. My acceptable range is less than 10% for the short term and less than 5% for the long term trims. My targets are 3% long and 6% short. From what I have read, the stock computer hunts in this range. Trims are a dynamic process. It is for certain I see it hunting at idle from 14.2 to 15.2. I do not believe that we will be able to get it down to factory levels. This is why, I think, AEM says "Off Road Only". Well, that and it lets them sell them in Cali... No piggyback is going to be perfect. Reasonably close though is attainable.

I have not yet made the O2 connection as I really did not see that application being of use to me. The F/IC8 manual says to use it if you "are at the track and need to alter the closed loop AFR" and so on. As I understand the operation of the PCM (please correct me if I am in error) the engine is in closed loop only at idle and at cruise. Under acceleration or deceleration it goes open loop. I gleaned this out of my 98 FSM in the fuel injection section. As the F/IC is a universal fit goodie, this function may work a charm on other vehicles that are closed loop throughout the operational range of the engine. I may just pull the wire as I have pulled the other non-applicable wiring. Your feedback supports my supposition that it will not work in our primitive application.

More fun to follow.
 
If you do fueling mods aside from using stock injectors with a simple map adjuster the OHC is pretty much worthless for fuel mileage reporting. You change the injectors and it is wrong due to the fact that it measures the pulse width of the injectors and extrapolates mileage from that. While larger injectors alone could just throw it off a certain percentage that could possible be calculated the FIC will throw a real kink into the mix considering that it takes control of the injectors from the PCM.

The PCM is in closed loop most of the time, not only at idle and cruise. You can watch this on your OBD scan tool if it has that option. It should be labeled something like fuel system status. On acceleration it only goes in to open loop at rather hard acceleration. If you attempt to program a fuel trim to change the AFR at a load/rpm point when the PCM might be in closed loop sometime it will eventually drop it back to its 14.7:1 ratio. When tuning you should be watching when the PCM is in closed and open loop.

I talked to AEM yesterday and the had no help to offer on the O2 sensor. AEM suggested putting it in fixed mode and try to manually tune the AFR. I don't think it would work very well as the changing weather conditions will certainly change the AFR. I do have a few things I want to try in voltage mode. I would like to have control over the AFR sooner than the PCM wants me to. The problem is that the narrow band isn't a fixed voltage and is crap off stoich. The PCM looks for a 0-1v wave pattern for stoich. Anything other than that it adds or removes fuel to bring it back to stoich. To the PCM it sees only 3 points: rich, lean and stoich. No in between. What needs to happen is to have the wave output of the O2 shifted to a richer condition.
 
I have now completed the Speedometer calibration. Works just as advertised, F/IC8 only. I also went ahead and wired the wideband to the F/IC so you can see the AFR when the gauges are up on the screen. I also rescaled the maps. The default has a Zero rpm starting point. I changed that to a 300rpm starting point. Engine starts just fine. One reason for the rescale was that I found it jumping between cells at idle and that was causing some fuel trim issues. Now, the idle sets solidly in one cell and the trims settled down to an acceptable level.

The more I fiddle with this thing, the better I like it.

Current Fuel Trim as recorded, 35mph under 1 pound of boost:
Long Term 5%
Short Term 3%

Will take more runs, had to stop for the day due to my disability trying to kill me again... After months of attempting to get the Perfect Power to work right, it is a joy working with the AEM. I started tuning it yesterday...

You are correct about the stock O2 workings. All the PCM cares about is Rich, Stoich, Lean. Then again, that is all that is needed for emissions.

It would take an impossible to happen reflash of the PCM. If we could hack that thing like you can on the 2005 and up PCMs we would not need the piggybacks. Was involved in a 2005 TJ retune. Used Diablo Motorsports software to open up and change the values in the PCM.
 
I also went ahead and wired the wideband to the F/IC so you can see the AFR when the gauges are up on the screen.
Keep in mind that the voltage to AFR is user set, so you may have to mess with that in the settings. I don't have an AEM Wideband so I had to change it on mine.
I also rescaled the maps. The default has a Zero rpm starting point. I changed that to a 300rpm starting point. Engine starts just fine. One reason for the rescale was that I found it jumping between cells at idle and that was causing some fuel trim issues.
I still need to work on that a bit on mine. The more number of points that the engine goes to and also staying at a particular cell is important.
The more I fiddle with this thing, the better I like it.
there is definitely a lot of fiddling that one can do with it. I'm going to fiddle with it like it had strings trying to get the O2 function to work.
Will take more runs, had to stop for the day due to my disability trying to kill me again...
it takes some time to get your tune where you want it. I've had mind installed since 10/16 (11/16 if you could the stupid Z110 reflash that made it undriveable) and I still don't have it where I want it yet.

It would take an impossible to happen reflash of the PCM. If we could hack that thing like you can on the 2005 and up PCMs we would not need the piggybacks. Was involved in a 2005 TJ retune. Used Diablo Motorsports software to open up and change the values in the PCM.

SCT can tune the OBD II PCM, but I don't know if they can change the 14.7 or when it switched to o/c loop. When I had my PCM reprogrammed (not SCT) I asked about that and they said they couldn't do it. Even if it was a later PCM I have heard they aren't that friendly a say GM or Subi to changing them. E.G. Chrysler PCMs are a bitch to change.
 
Will take more runs, had to stop for the day due to my disability trying to kill me again... After months of attempting to get the Perfect Power to work right, it is a joy working with the AEM. I started tuning it yesterday...
Wait, aren't you the same guy that kept giving me crap everytime I mentioned abandoning the perfect power unit in favor of one from aem?
 
So.....?

Anyone throw together (or have the time to) a diagram to make it easier for the rest of us illiterate bunch?
 
After I wired in the UEGO input, I verified that the laptop display matched the gauge. Not too surprisingly, the AEM F/IC UEGO input cals match the AEM Wideband. I went with the AEM wideband just for this reason. I have to spend the next few days recovering from yesterday. Way too much done...

XJCasper, If you do a search on the AEM Forum for "Jeep 4.0", you will find a very nice thread that has a PDF attached. THe PDF gives a connection chart for the F/IC6 (and the F/IC8 as it turns out) showing the PCM connector, the PCM connector Pin Number and the AEM wire color and designator. Pretty much everything you need.

I mounted my F/IC above the Brake Booster, I'll post a picture later. As my air intake is a good 6" lower than the F/IC, I figure that I will have bigger issue with water before it gets wet. Actually, I just power washed the engine a couple of days ago to get rid of the coolant that sprayed from my failed, original, upper hose.


Mr. Yan... One can only hope that you will not drag yet another thread down the drain. But, to answer your inquiry, at no time did I ever tell you to get a Perfect Power. What I strongly suggested was that you buy some sort of controller and install it. Given the two plus years that you have wasted on a used system, doing nothing, one can only wonder just what, exactly, is preventing you from being successful. As I see it, the only thing stopping you is you.

As as yet another courtesy to you, Here is a list of AEM parts that will provide one possible solution. I am in no way stating that this is the only solution or even the best solution. Just the one I and others here have chosen.

AEM Part Number Nomenclature
30-1913 F/IC6 (No Speedometer Correction available)
30-1930 F/IC8 (With Speedometer Correction)
30-4100 Air Fuel Ratio Gauge

For the Fuel Injectors sizing, that would be determined by whether or not there is an intent to run E85. I will be building an E85 Map so I am using 40 Pound Injectors.
 
I mounted mine inside because the AEM is no where near water or weather proof. The case has several holes from where the plugs go through and where the flashing button is. The board is also not sealed in epoxy or anything. Not only that but if its inside you don't have to run the USB cable outside of the vehicle to connect to the PC inside the vehicle. The only problem with mounting it inside is that the harness for the AEM is about a foot or so too short. I spent some time soldering, heat shrinking and re labeling the wires on the harness prior to install. Since I didn't use all the wires on the harness I just cut off the ones that were unused and used those to extend the harness. I think I only needed like 3 feet of extra wire added. I ran the wires through the hole that would be occupied by the clutch pedal. I still have to seal that up a bit better.
 
All good points and it is, by far, the better solution. But, it is extremely difficult for me to get under the dash, so that was the prime driver for location. What I have done is to pack dielectric grease into the backside of all of the holes in the connectors. I also removed all of the wiring that was not going to be used and basically packed those locationse, again from the back.

It may well prove to be a mistake. At the very least, I will need to keep an eye on it to make sure the grease is present.

The com cable was to biggie as I used the one I pulled out to pull in the AEM cable. I have a USB port. See below:

P9090005.jpg


I then made an "A-A" cable to conect the laptop to the port. Saves having wiring dangling...
 
XJCasper, If you do a search on the AEM Forum for "Jeep 4.0", you will find a very nice thread that has a PDF attached. THe PDF gives a connection chart for the F/IC6 (and the F/IC8 as it turns out) showing the PCM connector, the PCM connector Pin Number and the AEM wire color and designator. Pretty much everything you need.

Awesome. Thank you
 
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