Engine PID normal values

[theurgy]

Hey guys,

So before I get flamed and get a ton of messages about getting a Cobb Accessport, for day to day driving I have an Aeroforce Interceptor gauge installed in a Ventpod which I use to monitor specific values such as Boost, Fuel Pressure, Air to Fuel Ratio and most recently Knock Retard.

I guess my question, has anyone made a comprehensive list of what one should expect to see as normal values for all the things that a system monitoring device like this gauge can do. Like what are the "everything is running a-ok, perfectly fine" values.
And maybe a list of what are the best active things to look at when monitoring your engine.

For example

The full list of PID's that it can display are:

1. INTAKE AIR- Intake Air Temperature
2. BOOST TEMP SENSOR – Calculated actual boost air temp. based on sensor output
3. COOLANT TEMP- Engine Coolant Temperature
4. TRANS TEMP- Transmission Temperature (gas powered automatics)
5. RPM- engine Revolutions Per Minute
6. MAF SENSOR LB/M- Mass Air Flow (lbs/min)
7. DIRECT INJ PRESS – Direct injection fuel pressure
8. INJECTOR PULSE WIDTH
9. INJECTOR DUTY CYCLE – 0-100%
10. MANIFOLD PSI- Manifold Air Pressure (psi)
11. THROTTLE POS PCT- Throttle Position percentage (0-100%)
12. THROTTLE VOLTS- Throttle Position sensor output (0-5 volts)
13. MILES PER HOUR- Miles Per Hour
14. KNOCK RETARD- Knock Retard (degrees)
15. IGNITION ADVANCE- ignition timing advance
16. SHORT TRIM B1-short term fuel trim bank#1
17. SHORT TRIM B2-short term fuel trim bank#2
18. LONG TRIM B1-long term fuel trim bank#1
19. LONG TRIM B2-long term fuel trim bank#2
20. COMMANDED EQ RATIO – Commanded Equivalency ratio
21. LAMDA – Wideband O2 sensor equivalency ratio
22. A/F RATIO – Wideband O2 sensor displayed as Air/Fuel ratio
23. O2 CURRENT – Wideband O2 sensor current
24. BATTERY VOLTAGE- Alternator/battery output voltage
25. ENGINE LOAD-calculated Engine Load (0-100%)
26. Calculated Engine Torque (Auto trans)
27. Miles Per Gallon – instantaneous fuel economy
28. Calculated net horsepower
29. VALVE TIMING – Valve timing in degrees
30. Analog 1 – analog input #1
31. Analog 2 – analog input #2

Which one of these is most important to look at regularly, what values should I expect and in plain english what does it mean?
Do some of these values depend on others?

If I'm asking a stupid question, by all means, please let me know.
However I am curious as to what the typical Valve Timing is or ignition timing advance means?
What is normal for this?

Oh and I know some of those values are self explanatory like RPM and such, it's the other one's I am curious about.

[jv92red]

I won't tackle that list but from your mod list I see fair amount of power mods but I don't see internals. With a flash and TMIC you most likely will need an upgraded pump/internals sooner than later.

I run a Hyperfail flash with a CS TMIC and have already run out of fuel pressure on the stock HPFP so i need internals myself. But everycar is different so... Can that Aeroforce gauge datalog?

[f-castrillo]

I'll try my hand, I'm bored tonight.

Originally Posted by theurgy 1. INTAKE AIR- almost self explanatory. It'll be ~10-15F while moving, and rise at idle. 2. BOOST TEMP SENSOR – Barely above ambient (+~5-10F) is ideal in summer, larger difference is more acceptable in cooler weather 3. COOLANT TEMP- Normal operating temp is 182F, will jump up to ~191F and in between. 4. TRANS TEMP- 5. RPM- 6. MAF SENSOR LB/M- stock car flows ~220lb/min. BT guys can flow upwards of 300lb/min. 7. DIRECT INJ PRESS – should be above 1600 at WOT 8. INJECTOR PULSE WIDTH 9. INJECTOR DUTY CYCLE – 0-100% 10. MANIFOLD PSI- stock car = 15.5 max boost. Custom tune obviously varies 11. THROTTLE POS PCT- depending on tune, it's 70-80% at WOT. 12. THROTTLE VOLTS 13. MILES PER HOUR- 14. KNOCK RETARD- high counts of this (2.0 and up) is bad while in boost. Some KR during spool up is normal. KR is the result of bad gas, timing problems, spark plug issues, and more. 15. IGNITION ADVANCE- 16. SHORT TRIM B1- aka STFT. How much fuel the ECU has to add/pull in order to meet commanded air-fuel ratios. This happens constantly. 17. SHORT TRIM B2- 18. LONG TRIM B1-aka LTFT. ECU takes a batch of STFTs and lumps them together into LTFT. The ECU uses the stored LTFT so that STFT isn't so drastic. 19. LONG TRIM B2-l 20. COMMANDED EQ RATIO – 21. LAMDA – 1 lambda is 14.7:1 AFR. See below. 22. A/F RATIO – At WOT, stock is ~9-11. Most of us tune ideally to 11-12 constant. "Rich" is closer to 0, "running lean" is closer to 14.7 and higher. 23. O2 CURRENT – 24. BATTERY VOLTAGE- 25. ENGINE LOAD- 26. Calculated Engine Torque 27. Miles Per Gallon – 28. Calculated net horsepower 29. VALVE TIMING – 30. Analog 1 – analog input #1 31. Analog 2 – analog input #2

[theurgy]

Originally Posted by jv92red I won't tackle that list but from your mod list I see fair amount of power mods but I don't see internals. With a flash and TMIC you most likely will need an upgraded pump/internals sooner than later. I run a Hyperfail flash with a CS TMIC and have already run out of fuel pressure on the stock HPFP so i need internals myself. But everycar is different so... Can that Aeroforce gauge datalog?

YEah, currently the TMIC isn't installed, it's pending me giving it a polish as well as polishing out a Cold Pipe.

That said, it's winter here so I'll install it come spring.

Fuel Pressure is definitely a concern of mine.
What's the typical values for startup, typical idle, and then WOT?
You say above 1600 PSI at WOT?
I'm above that at the moment, so I'm not too worried.
Fuel Pump Internals is my next upgrade... come spring, still considering my options.

The Aeroforce Interceptor cannot do datalogging, it can do a sort of value replay, however it doesn't save anything to a file.
I'll be getting a Tactrix Openport 2.0 cable for that purpose.
That's what I'll be using as my interface for e-tuning with my tuner.
(and no.. not with VersaTuner, something else).
The Tactrix has to ability to standalone log to a microSD card.

[f-castrillo]

Originally Posted by theurgy YEah, currently the TMIC isn't installed, it's pending me giving it a polish as well as polishing out a Cold Pipe. That said, it's winter here so I'll install it come spring. Fuel Pressure is definitely a concern of mine. What's the typical values for startup, typical idle, and then WOT? You say above 1600 PSI at WOT? I'm above that at the moment, so I'm not too worried. Fuel Pump Internals is my next upgrade... come spring, still considering my options. The Aeroforce Interceptor cannot do datalogging, it can do a sort of value replay, however it doesn't save anything to a file. I'll be getting a Tactrix Openport 2.0 cable for that purpose. That's what I'll be using as my interface for e-tuning with my tuner. (and no.. not with VersaTuner, something else). The Tactrix has to ability to standalone log to a microSD card.

When you aren't WOT, your fuel pressures are going to be below 1000 psi for the most part. Sorry I can't be more exact here, it's just that there aren't really any topics on MSF regarding "strange fuel pressure readings at idle" or that sort, so as long as the rest of the car checks out, you're fine. You'll probably feel something is off with the fuel pump faster than your gauge will show.

1600+ psi at WOT is the goal. A lot of us have our ECUs targeting 1800+ psi at WOT to compliment the increase in boost that comes with custom tuning. The safety precaution here is to upgrade your fuel pump (which you are gonna do) so that it can handle the higher commanded fuel pressures. The stock FP internals commonly crap out with cars running more boost and basic bolt ons, though some have gotten away with using the stock internals on extensively modified cars, mainly because the stock internals can't meet the demand of increased fueling that resulted from a more aggressive tune.