Uberdata... Explained.

[Evan.]

**I DO NOT TAKE CREDIT FOR THIS WRITE-UP, ITS MERELY GOOD INFORMATION ALL GATHERED TOGETHER IN ORDER TO BE INFORMATIVE**

Intro

Uberdata is basically a FREE piece of software that enables you to modify your Honda ECU's code using a Windows-based program. All of the fuel and timing maps in your ECU are stored in a ROM chip (Read Only Memory). Uberdata allows you to program your own ROM chip with custom maps. In order to do this, you need an OBD1 vehicle, and a "chipped" ECU. This page will explain how to chip your ECU as well as the basic process of burning a ROM chip. For more information on Uberdata, visit the official site here. There is also a message board there to search for questions that have already been asked and answered by others. For more (a lot more) info on modifying Honda ECU's in general, visit PGMFi.org.

ECU Chipping
In order to use Uberdata, you need to add a few additional components to the original Honda ECU. It requires some soldering skills and should not be attempted unless you have soldered before. (Chances are you know someone with soldering skills that could help you). Here is a picture of the P28 ECU that I chipped, before any of the parts were put in:

Before you can solder the parts in, you will need to de-solder the holes in the circuit board since they come filled with solder from the factory. You can buy a "solder sucker" to do the job, however unless you get a nice one (expensive) they don't really work well in my opinion. The cheap and easy solution is to buy some solder braid. It's just braided copper. Simply place it over the hole to be de-soldered, and place the soldering iron on top of the braid. It will then wick up the solder into the braid. It's available at radioshack:

You'll want to use a decent quality soldering iron to get the job done nicely. The important thing is to not use too much heat, and also make sure the iron has a fine tip on it. I'm using a standard Weller iron:

Here is what it should look like after the board has been de-soldered:

The parts that need to be added are boxed in with a dashed white line. The parts consist of (2) .1uF ceramic capacitors, (1) 1k resistor, (1) wire jumper (simply a piece of wire...I used a lead of the resistor), (1) 74HC373 chip, and (1) 29C256 chip (thats the EPROM). The resistor and capacitors have no polarity, so you don't have to worry about installing them backwards. The 74HC373 chip does have a polarity. Pin 1 will be on the left side of the pic (you'll see in detail later one). The same is true for the EPROM chip. Since it would be impossible to burn a chip and have the tune be perfect, it becomes obvious that you don't want to solder the chip in. Instead, use a socket so that it can be removed. You have two options: for less than $1, you can get a standard DIP socket. The problem is these are very hard to insert and remove the chips since there are 28 pins (it requires a lot of force and is hard to grip the chip). Your second option would be a ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) socket, which costs less than $10. It is a socket that has a lever: pull up the lever, set the chip in/lift it out, and flip the lever back - VERY nice to have since you'll be doing this many times while tuning. Be careful when ordering the ZIF socket, as many of them are too large to fit on the board without running into things. The first ZIF I bought was made by Aries, and it was a very quality piece, however, it was too large and bulky to fit without a lot of modification to other components on the board. I ended up ordering a different one that was much more compact. I am unaware of the brand, however it is blue and is referred to as a low-profile ZIF. The only problem was that the lever end of it was in the way of the 74HC373. The easy solution is to buy a standard DIP socket as mentioned above. Solder this onto the board. Then, stack the ZIF onto this socket, which raises the ZIF away from the board enough to clear the surrounding parts. This setup worked very well for me. The following picture shows the too-big-to-fit ZIF in the back-left, the low-profile ZIF in the front left, and the DIP socket on the right:

The ZIF socket stacked on the DIP socket for added height:

And finally, a couple of pics with all of the parts installed:

I ordered most of my parts from www.jdr.com except for the low-profile ZIF socket and DIP socket, which I obtained from www.jameco.com. The following table containse the exact part numbers that I ordered. You'll notice that I ordered two EPROMS. This way, it will be easier to burn one while the other is installed.

Part Number Quantity Description Source
29C256-12PC 2 This is the chip that you burn with Uberdata JDR
74HC373 1 The other chip that is reqired JDR
R1.0K 1 1K resistor JDR
.1UF 2 .1uF capacitors JDR
102744 1 Low profile ZIF Socket Jameco
40336 1 28 Pin DIP socket Jameco


Additionally, I have recently located all of the parts you will need from one source. DigiKey is where you can find them. Their inventory selection can be overwhelming, so here are the part numbers you will want:

Part Number Quantity Description
AT29C256-70PC-ND 2 This is the chip that you burn with Uberdata
MM74HC373N-ND 1 The other chip that is reqired
1.0KEBK-ND 1 1K resistor
399-2127-ND 2 .1uF capacitors
A347-ND 1 Low profile ZIF Socket
AE7228-ND 1 28 Pin DIP socket


And for a final update to this page, I'd like to add that you can find ALL of the necessary chipping parts at moates.net. It is a great deal in my opinion, and you're guaranteed to get the correct parts the first time around. It's under the name of "UBER1 UberData Modification Kit".

Uberdata Datalogging

When tuning a vehicle, it is almost essential that you have some form of datalogging. That way, whether you are doing a WOT pull or tuning part throttle, you can easily review what needs to be modified in your maps. Some widebands come with a datalogging feature, such as the Techedge. However, Uberdata also has a datalogging feature that can communicate directly with the ECU. The only thing you have to come up with is an interface to connect your ECU to a laptop. The ECU uses TTL communication while a computer uses RS232. There are a couple of ways to convert from the ECU's "language" to the laptop's "language". You can either use your USB port or your serial port. Some laptops only have one of these ports, so you will want to base your decision on that first. In my case, my computer has one of each, however since my EPROM burner uses a USB port, I opted to use the serial port for datalogging so that I wouldn't have to constantly swap cables. Below is an outline of how to make your ECU "datalogging-ready". This writeup assumes you have decent soldering and electronics skills.

 

[Evan.]

Serial Port
The piece of hardware that is required to use the serial port is the MAX223 and can be purchased here for around $20. The way that I decided to use this was to cut a hole in the side of the ECU housing and mount it there. If you do any drilling/cutting of the ECU housing, always remove the main board so that you don't get metal shavings all over it.

Once it is mounted, you will need to connect four wires from the MAX223 to the ECU. These are transmit, receive, power, and ground. Start by desoldering the holes on the ECU circuit board. For tips on desoldering, refer to the ECU chipping section of this site. The holes are the part of the board that says "CN2". Use holes 1-4; #5 is not used:

Finally, connect the wires to the MAX223 unit as follows:
TX to pin 4 of CN2
RX to pin 2 of CN2
Ground to pin 1 of CN2
+5V to pin 3 of CN2

Here is the final result:

I picked up a serial cable from RadioShack (part #26-117B):

USB Port
A cheap USB solution that has been discovered is a datacable meant for connecting a cell phone to a computer. It turns out that it has the correct circuitry that allows it to be used for datalogging purposes. The cable is available through RadioShack (part #17-787), however it is considered to be a discontinued item. I had no trouble finding a couple at my location, so chances are you could find them there as well. If you do find them there, they are marked down to $10. Otherwise you will have to resort to finding them on Ebay. It probably won't be under the same part number though.I also once heard from someone that they are available at Circuit City, although I have not verified this myself. Here is what the package looks like:

Drill a hole in the side of the ECU for the cable to go through. I used a strain relief to prevent damage in the case that the cable is pulled on. Also, it protects the cable from being worn by rubbing on the metal of the ECU case. A rubber grommet could be used as well. Next, cut off the phone plug end of the cable, and carefully remove about an inch of the outer insulation. Unbraid the shielding and twist it neatly. You can cut the plastic that is woven with the wires inside. Strip the brown wire and twist it with the shielding. Then connect this to pin 1 of CN2 on the ECU. The orange wire will go to pin 2, and the red wire goes to pin 4. Rather than connecting the wires from the cable directly to the ECU circuit board, it is wise to use intermediate wires of a medium gauge. This is because the wires inside the cable are small and fragile, not to mention the shielding is too big to fit through the circuit board hole. Be sure to tape it up well. To be safe, I insulated the remaining unused wires in the cable from eachother by cutting them at different lengths, then taping them to the cable. Finally, I tied the cable out of the way onto the support brace:

Using Datalogging
It is easiest to learn by doing in this case, but I'll give you a brief preview of what the datalogging in Uberdata can do. Start by plugging the ECU into your computer. Next, find out what COM port your serial or USB port is set to (this can be seen in Windows Device Manager). Otherwise if you don't know, just use trial and error until you see it working. Select the COM port in Uberdata under the datalogging tab. Then check which parameters you want to monitor. The graphs will begin plotting and you have the option of saving graphs for later reference. If you have a wideband and you'd like to interface it with Uberdata, you will need to feed the 0-5v output from your wideband to the O2 sensor input on your ECU. Since the ECU cannot interpret a 0-5v signal, you will have to burn a ROM that has closed loop disabled (misc tab in uberdata). When you disable closed loop, the ECU no longer varies fuel delivery based on what the O2 sensor reads - instead, it only reads from the fuel maps that you specify in Uberdata. If you're using a wideband with Uberdata datalogging, be sure to select the proper wideband in the datalogging tab, as different wideband manufacturers use different voltage-to-AFR tables. One cool feature of datalogging is the lambda log which is simply a table that corresponds with your fuel table(s). As you drive around, Uberdata will fill in the values that the O2 sensor reads whenever the ECU reads from a particular cell. This is a very nice way to tune. Here is an example:

You can use the following suggested air to fuel ratios when tuning for the best gas milage in part throttle and highest reliability in boost:

Finally, after you have monitored some data, you will find a file in uberdata called "datalog.csv" which is a comma-separated file of values that were logged. If you want to prevent this file from being overwritten, just rename it. It can be opened in Excel or notepad.

Tuning


The following is meant to be a rough guide to get beginners started in the art of tuning. I do not have much experience myself in this area of cars, however, I have learned a lot already and would like to share what I know. I will basically outline how I tuned my car with Uberdata. There are many routes that you can take, some of which may differ from what I did. For example, if you have a different wideband oxygen sensor than I used, then you'll be using different logging software, etc. Also a note: this writeup was done with Uberdata version 1.63. Some things have probably changed in newer versions but you should be able to figure out the new stuff without much trouble. Also, I have probably missed some fine details so it wouldn't hurt to check out the Uberdata Forum on the same site listed below. Enough babbling....lets begin.

The first step is to make a basemap. This serves as a rough idea as to what the fuel and timing maps should be. Generally (and hopefully) basemaps are very conservative, meaning they provide more fuel than is needed as well as retarding the timing more than is needed. The idea is to start rich and slowly lean it out until you have reached your target Air to Fuel ratio. Same goes for the timing maps.

The setup that I tuned with Uberdata consists of a B16A with a Jackson Racing Supercharger at 6psi. It has DSM 450cc injectors at stock fuel pressure, with the stock fuel pump. When you use a standalone system like Uberdata, you generally set the timing at the distributor to stock. Consult your shop manual for details. On to making a basemap.....

 

[Evan.]

Open up Uberdata.exe (which can be downloaded for free from their site here. Go to the File menu and select "Open". Uberdata includes stock Honda maps from different ECU's. If you have a VTEC motor, open StockGSR.bin. If you have a non-VTEC motor, open StockLS.bin. For my B16A, I obviously chose StockGSR.bin. Next, if you have an LS motor or a GSR motor, you're set. Otherwise, go to the Import menu and select your specific application. Again, I chose P30 since that's a Civic Si (B16A2/3). When the open dialog pops up, select the corresponding .bin file. Now you can see the maps by selecting the different tabs at the top. Fuel Lo is the fuel map that is used when the motor is out of VTEC. Likewise, Fuel Hi is when the motor is in VTEC. If you have a non-VTEC motor, ignore the Hi maps. The same goes for the two Ign (timing) maps. You'll notice the horizontal scale represents the MAP sensor reading, while the vertical scale is what RPM the motor is at. For the fuel tables, the values in the cells are the injector duty cycle. A value of 800 is considered "maxed out" for an injector. To see this as a percent, click the Duty Cycle tab on the bottom and it turns the numbers into a 0-100 scale. Click the Boost tab. The Boost Fuel Efficiency value is how we're going to make our basemap (because in case you didn't notice, there is garbage in the boost portion of the stock Honda maps). A good value for turbos is 110-120. I think I used around 140 or so for my supercharger. Enter a value and press Apply. The value below, Boost Ign Retard, is the amount of timing that is retarded per pound of boost. For example, if you used 1.0, then at 6psi your timing would be retarded 6 degrees from stock. For setups less than 10psi, .8 is a conservative number, even for the high charge temps of a supercharger. Use your best judgement...the lower the number, the more risk of detonation which equals a blown up motor. This will also depend on what octane gasonline you run. Again, enter the value and press Apply. Now go back and look at your fuel and timing maps - you'll notice that the boost portion has now been filled in. Now click the Rev Limits tab. Here you'll find all sorts of parameters. Most of these are self explanatory. I recommend you leave them stock until you have your tuning done. Then go back and play with the fun stuff such as shift lights, etc. Now click the Misc tab. At the top you can disable whatever you need. For example, since I'm running a wideband and not using the stock OBD1 O2 sensor, I disabled the heater to avoid the check engine light. If you're using bigger injectors like I did, you'll have to change your Fuel maps so that you don't dump too much fuel. To do this, simply enter the new size into the New Injector Size box and press apply. You'll see that the numbers in your fuel maps have decreased, meaning they will make up for the larger injector by lowering the duty cycle. In the fuel modifiers section, you will see that the suggested value has changed from 100 to another number once you resize your injectors. Take this number plus 10% of it and fill it in the three boxes above it. The TPS enrich is for when you first get on the throttle hard, how much fuel is dumped right away. Since my JRSC has instant boost, I had to raise this number to around 70 or so to avoid tip-in detonation. Again, if you're using stock injectors, keep all of these numbers at 100.

That about sums up how to make a basemap. Now all you have to do is save it: File -> Save As. The next step is to burn the file onto an EPROM chip to put in your ECU. Your ECU must be chipped to do this; see the chipping section for details. I'm using a Moates USB "BURN1" programmer, and I have been very happy with it. The nice thing about this one is that it doesn't require an external power source, and it is very basic (but still does the job very well). The programmer should come with software to burn files as well as detailed instructions, so I will not go into detail on this part.

I will assume you have a wideband oxygen sensor to tune with, because if you don't, good luck without it as it's nearly impossible to tune without one. There are many different brands with many different prices, but they serve about the same accuracy. Innovative makes a nice setup, although it costs more than what I decided to use. If you're more of a do-it-yourselfer, you may opt for the Techedge kit. You can save a lot of money if you buy the parts from them and assemble it yourself. Either way, make sure the one you choose offers logging capabilities of some kind. For the Techedge kits, there are many options available including Palm Pilot software. Check out the Yahoo mailing list for Techedge where most of the software resides. It is all free; you just have to register with the group.

Well go ahead and see if your car starts. Hopefully it will start and run without a check engine light. If you have problems, double check your soldering connections on your chipped ECU. It is important that you keep your eye on the wideband from now on, so as not to blow your motor, even though you hopefully have a conservative enough basemap. Start by driving around out of boost and see if the numbers are normal. It helps to install the wideband and drive around with it while the car is stock so that you can get used to what the normal numers are. Obviously as you apply more gas it will add more fuel and run richer. When cruising at light throttle, 15.5-16.5 is typical. Any richer and you will get poor gas milage. 13-14 is typical under heavier load (but remember not to boost yet!). If the car seems too rich or too lean throughout the non-boost portion of the map, then you will want to adjust it accordingly. Open up your basemap in Uberdata and highlight the non-boost section of the fuel Map. In the picture below, you will see what to select. Once it's selected, either enter a multiplication & or press the +/- % buttons. Add more fuel if it was lean, or subtract fuel if it was rich. You will quickly get a feel for how much the percentage changes the air to fuel ratio. Don't forget to add the same amount to the Fuel Hi map if you have a VTEC motor.

The whole idea behind modifying a stock Honda map is that hopefully you will not have to do much part throttle tuning, if any. For the most part, everything should have the right slope. It's just a matter of making your injectors work with it. If you would happen to notice only certain RPM's that it is lean or rich, then highlight these areas and adjust accordingly. However like I said, this is not commonly needed for basic setups.

Once you have part throttle operating like it should, it is time to tune the boost portion of the basemap. I recommend starting at a low RPM range and applying the gas quickly to wide open throttle (WOT). At the same time, watch your wideband! If it is in the 13's or higher, immediately let off the gas and richen the whole boost portion of the map(s) up (remember - don't forget about the Fuel Hi map for VTEC motors). Also, if your air to fuel ratio was below 11, you'll want to lean it out a little so that you don't foul your oxygen sensor (and waste gas). Once you get it in the 11-12.9 range, you're ready for the fine tuning. Set up your datalogger for your wideband and make a wide open throttle run starting at 2000 rpm and going to the redline (but stop along the way if it leans out!). I recommend 2nd gear for starting out, especially if you're tuning on the street, for safety's sake (and to prevent wear and tear on your setup since you'll be making many runs back to back). Pull over and review your datalog. Highlight the parts of the map that need adjusting and scale them as needed. Be sure to scale the boost levels at the same time...for example: if it was leaning out between 5000-6000rpm, the select this range of rpm for the whole boost portion:

A nice feature of Uberdata is the 2D view that can be selected at the bottom. This allows you to see your maps as lines instead of a table. I like to select the values in the Grid mode then switch to 2D when I go to scale them. It helps to see how they are being affected. You'll see that in 2D mode, your selected cells appear as solid red boxes:

Repeat this process until you have a nice flat air to fuel ratio line when you datalog at WOT. Once you accomplish this, it wouldn't hurt to make a pull in 3rd gear (be safe about it though). This will allow more samples per second and allow some fine tuning if you're picky (which you should be as a tuner). It will also help to review your map(s) every once in awhile in 2D mode and make sure the lines are smoothly flowing for the most part. There shouldn't be any sudden changes in the lines (refer to the stock map for a good example of this). Smooth lines will make for a smoother power band and more accurate tune overall. The following is a datalog plottle in Microsoft Excel that shows how my basemap performed:

Here is after several passes of tuning. Notice how I targeted a 12.5:1 air to fuel ratio:

 

[Matt.]

skipped the part where the resistor has to be bridged.

 

[Steven.]

that copper braid is s**t, dosent work for me lol.

 

[nightryder99]

good write up...cant wait to get mine

 

[alexsracing]

skipped the part where the resistor has to be bridged.

which resister are you talking about?

 

[WalterRonny]

good copy but bad thing is that uberdata will havent more upgrades ..

 

[93turbo16]

good copy but bad thing is that uberdata will havent more upgrades ..

It will now because we have the source code..

 

[WalterRonny]

It will now because we have the source code..

then there will be more upgrades of uberdata?

 

[Evan.]

then there will be more upgrades of uberdata?

you sir are correct.

 

[postal21]

That is out of control... nice modding.

 

[WalterRonny]

you sir are correct.

let me know when you or some guy throw a new upgrade! are you registered in uberdata forum?

what do you think about 1.70 version? it look very good for me..what ver. do you use?

 

[Evan.]

let me know when you or some guy throw a new upgrade! are you registered in uberdata forum?

what do you think about 1.70 version? it look very good for me..what ver. do you use?

I use 1.70 version, real solid - i mean of course they have a few flaws here and there, but overall its much better than 1.66 with new functions / fewer flaws etc.

Yes, im registered to the uberdata forum, theres lots of good info there.

http://uberdata.pgmfi.org/forum/

 

[WalterRonny]

OK!! ill leave to learn about crome then! haha and i will continue practicing w/ uberdata!

btw, ive a doubt about what basemap to use for my hatch.. ive p06 turn p28 chipped.. and i would like to start to buy stuff for to tune myself my hatch (i would like to tune it too when i boost it!!) ..

what basemap i will have to use? P30 will works fine w/ my ecu? my hatch has P30 ecu stock but like i said, ive right now p28.. i guess using p30 will work fine. right?