as much as i like the Parallax 28030, i'm always on the search for a cheaper alternative that is just as capable.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arduino-FT23...item3cbfdfc861

this happens to look promising. it uses the same FT232RL that the parallax unit does, except instead of needing a MAX232 on the other side of the adapter, this SHOULD be able to interface directly to the ALDL port, correct? well, maybe with a resistor/diode combo as is done with a MAX232 due to communication being done on a single circuit instead of 2 circuits like a normal serial application would do?

looks to have power, transmit and receive LEDs and every pin broken out that would be required for 8192 baud comms. not sure about 160 baud, but for me it's certainly not a dealbreaker since i'm looking to use this for a testbench that will only ever see 8192 comms.

 

excellent news:

i was sitting on this for a while, but i finally had time to test it today.

all you have to do to get this working is plug in the USB side, connect the "GND" pin to the ALDL pin A (ground), and connect the RXD and TXD pins to ALDL pin M. no resistors, no diodes, no MAX232s, just connect 2 wires and it works.

crazy. for currently $8.80 shipped, it's a hell of a deal. should help anyone making a homemade cable out.

i don't have any way to test 160 baud, but it was working flawlessly in my test car(95 monte carlo w/3100, it's the V6 P66 flash unit).

the one i have now is going to be used for my 16149396 testbench, but i get the feeling that i'm going to be ordering many more of these.



IMO: you could solder wires directly to the pins, and knowing me, i will, but it does come with 4 wires that you can push onto the headers(they seem to have decent resistance to them from being pulled off). there is also a jumper that goes across the RXD and TXD pins, as long as that is connected, it works. the receive and transmit LEDs also work correctly as well.

 

nice post

 

What software is used to read the data that it transmits?

 

the FTDI virtual COM port driver allows pretty much any software that will read a serial signal (tunerpro being my favored one) to use it. you can obviously also write through it, should your ECM support it.

 

Is there an "easy" ECM that can be swapped into a 3rd gen for on-the-fly"burning" to the memory vs having to do chips? I ask because I am just starting to get my feet wet on tuning & would rather not do the PROM thing if I don't have to.

 

umm.... factory ECMs? the 94-95 LT1 unit for V8s, or the 93-95 3.4 unit for V6.

otherwise, no, not really. the EBL is an option, though i'm not certain if it falls into your "easy" category or not. it also doesn't use the ALDL cable for upload/download either IIRC, though i may be wrong.

it may be different for your situation, but i actually prefer PROM swapping.... in the off-chance that a programming goes wrong with a flash unit, i'm pretty much screwed and would either need to pull the PROMs out of it anyway via desoldering and flash them in a PROM burner anyways, or buy another PCM.

that and in my situation, it's actually quicker to swap the PROMs than wait for an upload to finish. the 93-95 V6 P66 unit completes a flash in 2 minutes and 30 seconds for both PROMs, but i can pop the hood, get out of the car, lift hood, slide ECM cover, swap PROMs, slide cover back, close hood and get back in the car in less than 60 seconds. having a W-body is sometimes an advantage.

 

dynamic efi, or use a ostrich

 

LOL, why didn't i mention an emulator?

yes, that's certainly another path, one that will work with almost every OBD1 ECM too.

 

Thanks guys!

This works on MAF then? Just wanna check before I buy. I wanna start by datalogging & learning to read/interpret what info I get from the ECM, before even trying to modify. I'm pretty sure mine runs pig rich, since in Reverse I can just smell the gas as I back into the exhaust & forget running the engine with the car backed into the garage. Whole house ends up stinking!

 

Great find Saar, thanks!

Blackenedbird there are many options, start a thread questions/plans and budget.

 

No.....My question relates to the product the OP started the thread on, so no New Thread is required.

 

Okay sorry , I guess I misunderstood post #6 where you asked if there was an easy ecu swap flash bins without having to burn proms.

By the way I have a 7730 ecu in my car and I flash my tune through the ALDL.

 

Saar, so you don't even need a serial cable to use this board? One side of the board connects to USB and the other goes directly to the ALDL pins in the car? I was going to spend the $18 for a Parallax converter for my serial cable but with this I don't even need 12v power for the cable. Good find!

 

yes, plug in the supplied USB cable (or use a different one, but the one included is like 5.5-6 ft, uses a B style USB connector) on one end, solder or use the supplied "dupont" wires on the other side and it's done.

then you grab the vitrual COM port driver from the FTDI website, install it and you're done.

 

Cool, I'm going to give it a try. If it works then maybe I'll pull the ALDL connector off my serial cable and use it on this. Even better would be a bluetooth connection

 

Got mine today. One question, how do you plug/solder the wires to the TXD and RXD posts if the jumper is installed? Or should I just install a wire on each pin and then solder the two wires together into one to go the ALDL connector?

 

what i did was pull the jumper, clip a 12" section of 22 gauge wire, strip ~1/8" off the end of it, then soldered the wire onto the top of the jumper(the section with the little copper "bridge" sticking out), the pressed the jumper back onto it's pins.

works great. otherwise, you could solder directly to the pins, or use the dupont wires supplied and splice that way, or remove the header entirely and solder the wires through-hole style.

lot of options, just depends on how easily you might want it to be to disassemble/modify in the future.

 

Wow you must have a tiny solder gun to squeeze it into the jumper. I think I'll just use the dupont wires. Do I leave the jumper on the 5v and VCC pins? Do I also need to jump pins A and B in the ALDL connector to enable data flow?

 

just a normal pencil tip iron...

yes, leave the jumper on the 5V selection. i haven't tried it on 3.3V, but 5V works.

as for jumping pins, depends on the application. though IIRC, you'll need a 10K resistor instead of a direct link.

 

Yes, you're right on the 10k resistor, I was just about to edit my post. I used it on my serial cable before so I think I'll need to add that to this setup.

 

The converter works great. I put in the 10k resistor, installed the COM port driver, then just had to tell Tuner Pro what port the computer assigned to the cable. I did a 30 minute datalog without any issues. This was a great find Saar! Thanks for helping me get set up.

 

Not tested, but -> This one might work too, it's much smaller, and from the same seller. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arduino-USB-...-/250955118989

-=Edit=- I tried it briefly, and can't remember how it went (I'll check it again later), but this one only has 3.3V at VCC.

 

that one does look like it will work.

 

Having recently had one of my ALDL cables fail (elmscan5 OBD2) and having to wait for a replacement to arrive to do some needed scanning I think I may start to install one of these as a permanent installation on the EFI conversions I do, then I can just have a usb port in the car and use a common usb cable anywhere, anytime. For around 11-12 bucks this a sure winner!

 

^ exactly my thinking. the one i bought was for my testbench installation, but i'm considering just removing/relocating(hiding) the ALDL connector and just find a neat way to store a removable USB cable in-car.

 

I think it might be better to connect the Arduino FT232RL directly to the ECU. From what I understand there is only one way communication at the ALDL - needs to be two way to write/flash the ECU.

I'm going to look at it against my 1227165 and try to find a way of connecting into it with full duplex.

Got any ideas, or has anyone tried to do that?

I'm putting an NVRAM board in there with $12P on it....

 

MOST(if not all) ECMs that communicate at 8192 baud are bidirectional. all of the 160 baud stuff is unidirectional though.

 

I have an 87 TPI, and I tried the way Saar mentioned but Tunerpro isn't recognizing the hardware. I think I need a 10k resistor but where do you put it?
I even bought an ALDL connector for the final build of this cable.

This is the FT232RL I bought:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/361455471221?
ALDL cable connector:
www.ebay.com/itm/271873772291?

 

The 10K goes between pins A & B on the ALDL connector.

RBob.