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Tribal knowledge can be both an incredible strength and a crippling weakness. As human beings, we grow accustomed to familiarity, and when we work and play with like-minded people who share our passions, shared knowledge is assumed. But what about the newcomers who want to be a part of what we do?
Sometimes itโs just good to get back to basics and share knowledge verbally and through instruction, and in doing so promote the growth of our industry, hobby, and passion. Thatโs why this article is worth the read whether you know all about widebands or not. If you are new, we cover the basics, and if you are seasoned, consider this a refresher on how to explain a wideband to your friend who is new to performance or your customer if you are a shop. You may even pick up a couple of new nuggets of info along the way!
AEM's Wideband UEGO (Universal Exhaust Gas Oxygen, pronounced โYou-Way-Goโ) Controllers are powerful, cost-effective tuning tools that allow users to accurately monitor the Air/Fuel Ratio (AFR) of their engine.
Accurate AFR data is critical when tuning an engine. Running rich (very low air/fuel ratio, excessive fuel) can cause a loss in power, while running too lean (very high air/fuel ratio, not enough fuel) may result in serious engine damage. Using a wideband air/fuel controller during the tuning process allows you to monitor AFR and adjust tuning parameters to optimize them for maximum power and efficiency.
AFR can be recorded at the collector to get an average AFR across all cylinders, on each back of a V-engine for bank-to-bank averages, or in each individual cylinder. This diagram outlines how to get individual cylinder AFR on a V8 using X-Series inline wideband controllers. All 8 controllers report AFR data to the CD Carbon logging dash over a 2-wire CAN bus connection. This data can be sent to any standalone ECU that accepts 3rd party CAN data.
The short answer is yes!
Deadtime is the delay between when exhaust gas composition changes and when that change is reported by the O2 sensor. While flow of exhaust gases (transport delay) can affect deadtime, the sensing elements response to the gas is the largest contributor to deadtime when an engine is in high RPM under load. With long deadtimes, whatever changes you make to the base fueling will likely be in the wrong location. Reducing deadtime improves wideband feedback control, and can provide a safer, more powerful, and accurate tune.
There are three primary types of UEGO sensors being used in the performance market, NTK, Bosch 4.2LSU and Bosch 4.9LSU. AEM wideband UEGO controllers use the Bosch 4.9LSU, and AEMโs internal Lambda controllers in its Infinity ECUs, and its legacy 4Channel Wideband Controller and original 30-4100 wideband gauge use the Bosch 4.2LSU.
The life of a sensor is determined by several factors. In racing, these sensors live in environments generally designed to kill them.
Other common killers include:
Lambda readings are the amount of oxygen present in the combustion chamber regardless of fuel type, so it is a great tuning tool for vehicles using alternative fuels. Conversion charts are available online.
Free-air calibration is a tedious process for calibrating a UEGO sensor. The sensor must be removed from the bung and introduced to โfree-airโ during a calibration process and requires repeated calibration.
In our experience, using a factory-calibrated sensor leads to better overall accuracy in both the short and long term. However, we understand that there may be instances, like in the middle of an event, when it may be necessary to free-air calibrate a sensor until a new one is installed, which is why AEMโs X-Series wideband AFR controller gauges allow you to use a sensorโs factory calibration, or free-air calibrate a sensor.
We hope that this information answered a few questions and provided some talking points for you when discussing wideband air/fuel ratio controllers with your friends or customers. Do you have more questions? Give us a call or send us an email, we are here to help!