Motorcycle Engine Oil Preassure and MyChron3 Question

[awegrzyn]

Car: F1000 Speads RM04
Engine: Suzuki 1000 K4 2004 with wet sump.

Today I setup MyChron3 XG Log. Everything is fine except 2 things:

1. Oil Pressure. I set the oil pressure to PSI .1 and it gives me pretty high read out of a range 80 - 120. Is this normal? What should I set the limits to?

When I switched to BAR as oppose to PSI I did receive this range: 4-12. ?
Numbers seem high to me.

2. Gear calculation. I don't have a manual, so I'm not sure how to program the gear selection. When I jack the rear of the car up and run it in a gear MyChron3 does not display a anything in the gear selection. I don't even see 0 in there. When I start the car and MyChron3 initializes it blinks 0 for a moment, so I know the light itself works.

On the dash there is a Menu button. I pressed that thing and it said: Calculating Gear, but nothing really happened. I can figure this one out, but the oil thing is puzzling.

[Northwind]

I don't know what rpm you were running your engine when you saw the range posted. If your engine was cold this is normal at the higher rpm with low temp. When the oil warms up it will fall to about half of the cold temps. I do not rev my engine during warm up. Just let the motor sit and idle until your temps reach operable range. I had an experimental oil cooler balloon and rupture from the cold temp scenario and reving above 4000 rpm.

[awegrzyn]

It was mostly at idle. I get about 90psi at 2000 rpm. What do you consider low oil pressure in PSI for an engine like that?

[sracing]

My bet is you have the Mychron programmed for the wrong OP sensor. There are at least 3 OP sensors 0 to 3 Bar, 0 to 5 Bar and 0 to 10. Check your sensor programing and make sure you are set for the proper one. The Bar reading is stamped on one of the flats on the sensor nut.

[924RACR]

Sounds like you probably have the gear set up to show calculated gear, vs. measured.

If you have a (functional) gear position indicator, you can use that as an input to indicate gear. I personally prefer this, as it'll be more exact than the alternative - calculated. Though it's not the same system (I have a DL1 with Dash3), my DSR ('08 GSXR) taps into the stock sensor, and works very nicely. Actually, the Dash3 display is only so-so, compared to the MyChron - we made our own external display for a clearer gear indication, but that's another story.

The alternative, calculated, derives gear from speed and RPM. Since it's a calculation, it'll only be after the fact. We use this in our ITB car, which runs a MyChron3.

So I recommend the former; not sure about the MyChron3, but in our homemade gear position indicator, it'll show exactly what gear is selected at any given time, even if the clutch is in, and will even show false neutrals!!! I didn't realize, when I was speccing-out the system, that it'd have that capability, but it is a wonderful thing.

So try to set it up to use the sensor, for a more accurate reading.

Details on how to calibrate that gear reading should be in the manuals, which are available on AIM's website if you need...

Oh, and +1 for the wrong sensor cal on the oil pressure...

[David Ferguson]

I believe you question regarding the oil pressure is "What to use for the alarm values?" If so, then typically there is no high alarm, and a low value of 20 psi (about 1.5 bar) should only show the alarm light when the oil is hot and idling. It should never come on under power.

If you problem is "My oil pressure reading with cold oil and idling is 120 psi" -- then perhaps you really have a 5 bar sensor, but have selected the sensor type as 10 bar. (which will cause it to read twice as high as the actual reading).

For calculated year, you need to drive the car (unless the wheelspeed sensor is on the rear axle). It requires a about 10 seconds or more in each gear. You will need to do this each time you change the engine/rear sprocket as that changes the relationship between RPM and Speed.

To force a new gear calc, I usually change the gear detection method to none in Race Studio 2 software (under the Configuration tab) transmit that to the dash (it will warn about the gear method change), then change it back to calculated and transmit again. Now it will re-do the calculation next time you run the car.

Driving at idle speed but selecting each gear in the paddock is sufficient to do the gear calculation calibration.

Tapping into the Suzuki GPS (Gear Position Sensor) and attaching this to channel 5 of your XG-Log is the best method of gear detection. The advantage to that is it works even when the clutch pedal is depressed (like you're stalled and trying to find neutral). At least you will see what gear you are in...

[iamuwere]

I can't find the XGlog version of this guide in a very quick search, but here is the general procedure that I think is the same basic idea between all of the devices.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=h...ce_109_eng.pdf

[awegrzyn]

I did figure out my problems. MyChron3 XG Log does not read Suzuki ECUs, therefor I can't have ECU gears show up on my dash. Only AIM EVO4 does read them except K4 engines. My engine is either K4 or K5 looking at the number: T711-131024 but I have no way of confirming.

The oil pressure if fixed as well. SRACING was right. My oil pressure channel was programmed to the wrong sensor VDO 0-10 as oppose to VDO 0-5. Now the pressure seems correct, but I saw it drop to about 18 PSI at idle. Good pressure at higher revs.

Step by step I understand more about the car. Thanks guys.

[Nicholas Belling]

Pressure at idle on Suzuki engines when hot can be freightningly low.

We used to see low to negative numbers sometimes at low idles when the oil was hot in the 230 - 240 temps and using Vdo sensors as their calibration isn't the best at the bottom end of the sensor range.

Oil pressure though should be above 40 psi at peak rpm. But 50+ is even better.

So basically don't be to concerned about idle pressure.

I think your car was from vancouver. That is a 06 engine?

George dean will be able to help you know the year of engine based off the serial number.

Keep learning and asking questions. The formula world is a steep learning curve no doubt.

But your fellow racers have a vast amount of knowledge and are willing to help !

[awegrzyn]

^ Yes, my oil pressure at higher RPMs is in the 50's, so all is good there. I did not know about different sensors showing different ranges.

The car is from your area, but I thought you were from Bellingham, which I just came back from and liked a lot.

[glenn cooper]

I don't know what rpm you were running your engine when you saw the range posted. If your engine was cold this is normal at the higher rpm with low temp. When the oil warms up it will fall to about half of the cold temps. I do not rev my engine during warm up. Just let the motor sit and idle until your temps reach operable range. I had an experimental oil cooler balloon and rupture from the cold temp scenario and reving above 4000 rpm.

that thing was made from a water rad core?

[awegrzyn]

Here it is for reference.

T709-XXXXXX = 2001-2002 Model
T711-XXXXXX = 2003-2004 Model
T713-XXXXXX = 2005-2006 Model
T715-XXXXXX = 2007-2008 Model

So even Evo4 will not help me as AIM does not support K4 motors. I will calc my gears. Thanks.

[924RACR]

You still ought to be able to tap into the engine wiring harness, directly to the sensor feed (from sensor to ECU and dash), and use that as an input for gear. Just a matter of some wiring, plus cal'ing the sensor in the dash.

This is what I have set up in my DL1/Dash3...

Per my notes, correct me if I'm wrong, on my '08 GSXR it's pin #22, a pink wire, at the ECU that has the gear position indication.

In fact, from the measurements in my records, the following is the mapping. Note that the voltage can vary slightly with engine on vs. engine off; for this reason, when you do calibrate the gears, you'll want the engine on. David can confirm, but I seem to recall that it's a matter of selecting the right setting in the setup menus on the dash.

So, the mapping:
Gear Volts
1 1.8
N 5
2 2.3
3 3
4 3.7
5 4.4
6 4.7

YMMV...

[awegrzyn]

^ I could find that wire you're talking about. The problem is I have no idea how to "map" those values you provided to the dash. MyChron3 does not allow me to use ECU gears unless I specify the ECU make and model. Otherwise the gear indicator from the ECU is disabled.

This is the difficult part: "matter of selecting the right setting in the setup menus on the dash." as no manual describes your approach.

[924RACR]

Ulp! Time to RTFM...

I have a Gold XG, but it's not ECU-capable, so YMMV... Does your XG Log have an explicit input connection labeled "Gear" or not? Mine does, but I believe it's a bit of an unusual one... not exactly the same as the XG Log, but close.

OK, per the manual for mine, gear calibration is performed using the laptop plugged in and in online/calibration mode. Do you have the manual? If not, here's the link, assuming it matches up properly with your unit:
http://www.aimsports.com/pdf/manuals...GA_eng_110.pdf

Gear calibration procedure starts on pg 69. There is also a procedure for using the dash itself (without computer) to calibrate the gear sensors, via the menu options as I mentioned.

Hopefully you have a spare connector for the junction box you can run your gear position tap into? It might also be useful to verify with a voltmeter that you have the correct wire etc (by selecting gears with ignition on, make sure the measured voltage is reasonably close to what I've listed)...

HTH...

[LLoshak]

Some engines will have more oil psi than others. And when cold, <60 degrees it goes up a lot! No worry, just let the motor warm up. 150psi is not enough to rupture a good racing cooler but with that said, I wouldn't go do a lap on a cold engine either.

Oil temps should at least be 160 degrees before heading out IMHO.

Oil psi on the track at full operating temp (>225) seems to be from 38-58. And at idle after a session, can fall into the single digits, so keep the revs up!

For a bullet proof oil system, run our Moon Super Cycle oil pan, Synthetic whatever-50W oil, set idle to 2K and fill oil to the point where, while holding RPMS to 3K, top off oil until air bubble JUST disappears in sight glass.

A for the gear indicator, I always have just ran the pink wire from the barrel sensor to the AIM. Works great!