Signal extender for diesel engine.

[Manzy85]

Hi guys, I'm a bit of an electronics/micro novice, played around with a picaxe many years ago, that's about it.

I am after opinions on whether an arduino would be correct for my project. I have a diesel ute that has an electronic injector pump. To increase the fueling, I need to increase the length of time that the fuelling solenoid is held open for. This solenoid is operated once per engine revolution (4 cylinder 4 stroke), so at the very maximum of 5000rpm it would be operating at 83hz, most often at half this.

I need something that will sense how long the solenoid is operated for, then increase this time by a certain percentage (most likely simply based off the 0-5v throttle position sensor output).

Is this possible using an arduino? Obviously I would need some sort of mosfet to be able to handle the current of the solenoid, just not sure if its possible to send the signal, and extend that signal on the single wire.

Thanks in advance,
Brendan

 

[Gryd3]

Hi guys, I'm a bit of an electronics/micro novice, played around with a picaxe many years ago, that's about it.

I am after opinions on whether an arduino would be correct for my project. I have a diesel ute that has an electronic injector pump. To increase the fueling, I need to increase the length of time that the fuelling solenoid is held open for. This solenoid is operated once per engine revolution (4 cylinder 4 stroke), so at the very maximum of 5000rpm it would be operating at 83hz, most often at half this.

I need something that will sense how long the solenoid is operated for, then increase this time by a certain percentage (most likely simply based off the 0-5v throttle position sensor output).

Is this possible using an arduino? Obviously I would need some sort of mosfet to be able to handle the current of the solenoid, just not sure if its possible to send the signal, and extend that signal on the single wire.

Thanks in advance,
Brendan

Some notes for you:

It's possible, but not always safe to over-write the signal to tell it to hold the solenoid open longer.
You may need to intercept the signal, or the output and put the arduino, picaxe, etc... inbetween so that it can read the input and control the output to complete the original circuit.
Please also note that this modification could damage the vehicle and make future repairs very difficult to locate if you were to sell the vehicle.

I would much rather suggest you look into reprogramming the ECU, or look at installing a 'chip' commonly used to tune the vehicle instead of trying to make your own.

 

[Alec_t]

Pumping more fuel in won't necessarily give the engine more oomph (if that is your intention), since it would upset the air/fuel ratio.
Such a modification may be damaging, as Gryd3 says, may be illegal if it defeats emission controls, and may invalidate your insurance.

 

[Gryd3]

Pumping more fuel in won't necessarily give the engine more oomph (if that is your intention), since it would upset the air/fuel ratio.
Such a modification may be damaging, as Gryd3 says, may be illegal if it defeats emission controls, and may invalidate your insurance.

Good call... usually dumping in more fuel will simply cause the mixture to burn 'rich'. More oomf comes from more oxygen.
Of course... if the mixture is burning too lean , this could help ... In any case. It's still something that should be done with an ECU mod, and a friend with a shop so it can be tuned correctly.

 

[Manzy85]

A diesel makes more power the more fuel is added, until it melts a piston. I already have a chip on it, but a cable and software to tune it is no longer available. It doesn't give me the amount of fuel I require for power I'm after, it is also very crude, has no inputs such as throttle position or boost. Engine and turbo are not standard. Ecu is not flashable. Only other option to is fit a mechanical fuel pump, something I'd prefer not to do if an arduino can do what I require.

Thanks for the idea of making the arduino intercept the signal, and the send its own modified one, that sounds like it would work well.

 

[Alec_t]

A diesel makes more power the more fuel is added

Only if you can add more oxygen too, to convert that fuel to combustion gases.

 

[Manzy85]

Only if you can add more oxygen too, to convert that fuel to combustion gases.

It's a turbo diesel, it has no throttle butterfly, and always has an excess of oxygen. If properly delivered, it will melt the internals of the engine before it runs out of an appropriate amount of air. If egts get too high, just turn the boost up for a bit more cooling air.