She's running under full power !

[Rob]

It's been a while since you heard from me. I've been (am) very busy with work and am usually not at home during the week. (That's also why I have not been attending any meetings).

Anyway, this weekend I finally was able to rig up a VSS and had her running under full power. All I can say is Holy Sh!t !! Man, that thing is fast, I have a feeling it will be able to keep up with my WRX.

The gearing is wayy to short for the motor, but I have a feeling I'm going to need to replace the tranny anyway.

Things to do before I can really get her on the road:
- Mount battery
- Build shroud and ducting for Rad
- Lexan quarter windows with ducts
- Rear apron and deck lid

BTW, does anybody know whaty kind of oil I should use for the tranny ?

Thanks!

Rob.

[Wally]

Congrats!

80W90 for the tranny will do fine.

[Jim]

Rob,

I'm doing same conversion as you with the difference that my engine is the non turbo version EJ20 JDM!
I'm having problem with the VSS(i dont have it)and when the temperature reach 70celcious the engine cannot rev under 3000rpms but when it's cold it revs at the limit 6500rpms!
Seems that the ECU turns the engine in safe mode.

Do you know where i can find one of those and where it has to be connected?

Keep up the good work!

Thank in advance,
Jim

[Rob]

Hey Jim,

I rigged up my own VSS, see here:
http://www.vanbran.com/bug/conversion_main.htm
check page 9 and 10.

As to the RPM's, are you sure it's temperature related ?
If you do not have a VSS, the motor won't run over (I think) 3k RPM.

Rob.

[gonebuggy]

Pics and or videos or it didn't happen!

Alex

[Steve C]

Hi

I saw a post on another VW forum and the guy had all sorts of trouble with his Subaru powered VW car on a dyno because the VSS ran off the front wheels and it didn't turn while the car was being dynoed, so running your off the CV is brilliant and cost effective as well.

I bought a VDO one that fits on the speedo cable and it was not cheap.

Steve

[Rob]

Originally Posted by Steve C

Hi

I saw a post on another VW forum and the guy had all sorts of trouble with his car because the VSS ran off the front wheels and it didn't turn while the car was being dynoed.

Steve

Never though of that, but yeah, that *would* be a problem on the dyno.
Since the front wheels don't turn, the ECU things you are standing still, and won't rev over 3K.
Mine's hooked up to the rear axle anyways

Rob.

[Eatoniashoprat]

Originally Posted by Rob

Never though of that, but yeah, that *would* be a problem on the dyno.
Since the front wheels don't turn, the ECU things you are standing still, and won't rev over 3K.
Mine's hooked up to the rear axle anyways

Rob.

This won't help you since you already have it hooked up, but on my ej22 OBD2 bus I made a little circuit with a 555 timer IC and it spits out a square wave just like the original VSS to keep the computer happy. Basically a VSS simulator. The result is my computer thinks I'm doing a certain speed all the time but I don't get a code and no problems in 30,000 miles. The two things I found that the computer uses VSS for is 1) limits revs when you're not moving and 2) changes the idle air motor so slow the engine down if you're cruising and let the the engine idle down, otherwise rpm drops to quick and the engine dies. Thats my experience anyway.
Just another option that might help somebody

Mike

[Rob]

Originally Posted by Eatoniashoprat

This won't help you since you already have it hooked up, but on my ej22 OBD2 bus I made a little circuit with a 555 timer IC and it spits out a square wave just like the original VSS to keep the computer happy. Basically a VSS simulator. The result is my computer thinks I'm doing a certain speed all the time but I don't get a code and no problems in 30,000 miles. The two things I found that the computer uses VSS for is 1) limits revs when you're not moving and 2) changes the idle air motor so slow the engine down if you're cruising and let the the engine idle down, otherwise rpm drops to quick and the engine dies. Thats my experience anyway.
Just another option that might help somebody

Mike

Mike, that's good info. I want to 'trick' the computer in thinking that some of the other sensors are still there so I can get rid of the CE light.
Can you give me some more info on the IC you used and do you know if it could also be used for the other sensors ?

Rob.

[Eatoniashoprat]

Rob,

The IC I used is just called a 555 timer, its very common. Its a device that can be put into two modes, stable or astable. Astable mode makes it just output a pulse at a whatever speed is dictated by the resistors in the circuit. If you run into problems with your VSS or somebody else wants this info I can make a circuit diagram to upload with all the necessary components.

The only other CELs I get on mine are thing like fuel tank pressure and temperature. If these are the same ones you're getting, they're very easy to trick. Below is info for correcting the two codes I got. I didn't actually go through with this to get rid of the codes because I'm not running a CEL, I just scan it if I notice a problem.

183. The fuel temp info to ecm is wrong. It's expecting to see 4.71v or less. That should be easy to fix, just send 5v thru resistor to that ECM wire. You may have some other sensor that provides the right voltage. Just jump it to that terminal.

463. Fuel level sensor. It expects more than 10.9v with ignition on, around 3v when running. That should be easy fix. See if your current fuel sender provides 3 vdc. Then send that voltage to ecm.

Let me know if you are getting other codes and I may be able to help

Mike

[Steve C]

Hi Rob

Your solution for the VSS is brilliant.

Something occurred to me a while ago regarding the VSS, what happens when you put the car on a dyno, will you get a error code because the front wheels aren't turning and operating the VSS?

Maybe someone else has got around this, but I thought that you could spin the VSS with an electric drill at the appropriate time to avoid error codes.

Steve

[Eatoniashoprat]

Originally Posted by Steve C

Hi Rob

Your solution for the VSS is brilliant.

Something occurred to me a while ago regarding the VSS, what happens when you put the car on a dyno, will you get a error code because the front wheels aren't turning and operating the VSS?

Maybe someone else has got around this, but I thought that you could spin the VSS with an electric drill at the appropriate time to avoid error codes.

Steve

When I was figuring my van out I just had the ecu VSS wire, a 5v wire and a ground. I would just touch the VSS wire to the ground and 5V a couple times and even if it was very slowly it would work. For most of the ECU's I don't think the computer cares what the speed of the VSS is saying as long as it has a signal that goes from 5V to ground continuously. This is just my experience. So for the dyno you could just do that during the run and hopefully it would work.

[Rob]

Originally Posted by Steve C

Hi Rob

Your solution for the VSS is brilliant.

Something occurred to me a while ago regarding the VSS, what happens when you put the car on a dyno, will you get a error code because the front wheels aren't turning and operating the VSS?

Maybe someone else has got around this, but I thought that you could spin the VSS with an electric drill at the appropriate time to avoid error codes.

Steve

As much as I'd love to take credit for the solution, It's not mine
The guys at the Subaru-Vanagon group came up with this.

As to the Dyno question: the VSS is on the rear axle, so it would work just fine

Rob.

[Steve C]

Hi

The VSS that I have is one that hooks up to the speedo cable, so if I dyno my car I would need to make arrangements to trigger it. I'm pretty sure the VSS. informs the management software that the car has stopped, you wouldn't want to have an error code show up during tuning.

I now have plug & play Autronic SM4 ecu for my car which has an Autotune feature, I just need to buy O2 interface for it and then I could do most of the tuning on the road.

Steve

[Eatoniashoprat]

Originally Posted by Steve C

Hi

The VSS that I have is one that hooks up to the speedo cable, so if I dyno my car I would need to make arrangements to trigger it. I'm pretty sure the VSS. informs the management software that the car has stopped, you wouldn't want to have an error code show up during tuning.

I now have plug & play Autronic SM4 ecu for my car which has an Autotune feature, I just need to buy O2 interface for it and then I could do most of the tuning on the road.

Steve

Ya my van is still subaru ecu but I have a Apexi Power FC for the beetle. The one problem with the little VSS simulator circuit that I have is that it is on all the time, so the high idle you get while driving the car is there all the time. I would be nice if when stopped it would idle down some. I think I'm going to try the reed switch idea seems it seems fairly cheap and easy/quick.