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How to take and post datalogs on the forum

95K views 373 replies 71 participants last post by  IHTFP08  
#1 · (Edited)
There aren't too many datalogs posted on the forum and one of the reasons for this is that the forum doesn't have native support for hosting the .csv file type and people are a little reluctant to log.

Here's a quick crash course on how to log and how to share/post these to generate discussion. You don't need ATR to download, view, and share logs. With a modified car, it is always good to periodically take logs and make sure there are no issues. This is also an excellent way to check how the tune you are running performing with your fuel and modifications.

1. First of all, make sure you have the correct map loaded on your AP and that you've driven the car with that map and the usual fuel you use for a good 20-40 miles to allow fuel trims to settle.
2. Set the correct logging parameters in the AP. We created a short video on how to change logging parameters for the AP V3. This is the same for the Focus or any other platform supported by the COBB AP V3.


COBB has also posted a number of useful videos. This following one is for the AP V2


3. A basic set of parameters to log are these:

Accelerator Pedal Position (The throttle pedal position. This is not the same as the throttle plate since the car is drive by wire. This is just what the driver is doing with the pedal)
Actual AFR (Yes the car comes with a stock wideband O2!. This is the actual AFR. Lower numbers are richer, higher numbers are leaner)
Airflow Mass (The Focus ST uses speed density to estimate actual mass airflow using its pre and post throttle pressure sensors. It is a calculation based on a model, not a direct measurement like MAF based cars)
Boost Pressure Actual (Boost measured at the manifold)
Charge Air Temp. – (CAT) (This is the temperature measured AFTER the intercooler before the throttle body. If too high power will be reduced and it tells you if your intercooler is overworked)
Coolant Temperature (Important for the car to be warm when logging. ECU applies compensations based on coolant temperature)
Engine Speed (Engine RPM)
ETC Actual Angle (The throttle plate position angle)
Fuel Rail Pressure Actual (What pressure the injectors are seeing. This is important that it stays constant at WOT around 2100-2200psi)
Ignition Timing Corr. Cyl (1-4) (This is where the ECU pulls timing mostly due to knock. If you see large negative corrections you need to adjust the tune for the fuel you are using)
Ignition Timing (Cyl 1) (This is the amount of timing advance currently running after all reductions are applied)
Load Actual (Amount of load the engine is seeing. This is related to airflow and engine speed and is used in a lot of engine calculations)
WGDC Actual (Wastegate Duty Cycle - this is what controls your boost pressure)
STFT (Short Term Fuel Trim - these are quickly changing corrections to the fueling mixture based on the feedback from the wideband O2)
LTFT (Long Term Fuel Trim - these are learned correction factors based on feedback from the wideband O2)

A more advanced list is this:

- Accel Pedal Position
- Actual AFR
- Boost Pressure
- Charge Air Temp.
- Coolant Temp.
- ETC Angle Actual
- Engine RPM
- FRP Actual
- Ign Corr. Cyl1
- Ign Corr. Cyl2
- Ign Corr. Cyl3
- Ign Corr. Cyl4
- Ign Timing Cyl3
- LTFT
- Load Actual
- Oct Adj Ratio Lrn
- STFT
- WGDC Actual

A note on the parameters being logged. If you are logging all the ones in the advanced list make sure your display parameters are some of these. Adding additional display parameters that are not also logged will exceed the logging bandwidth for the AP and you will get an error to remove some parameters.

4. After setting the AP correctly, take the car to a safe, straight, long piece of road and set the AP to be ready to start logging. Get in 3rd gear or 4th gear and hold the RPMs steady at around 2500RPM.
5. Press the center button of the AP to start the log.
6. Floor the throttle and hold your foot down to redline.
7. Get off the throttle, slow down safely.
8. Stop the log by pressing the center button.

You can repeat steps 4-8 as many times as you like to take more logs.

Datalogs generated by the COBB AP are in the .csv format. This format is can be opened and viewed on your computer with a number of programs. The most popular are:
- Microsoft Excel
- Open Office
- You can upload these to your Google Drive and open them from there. Google Drive has built in support.

Using the AP Manager you can download these logs from your AP. Link to the AP manager below.

COBB Tuning - Ford Accessport V3

Now you want to share these. Simple stuff due to the number of cloud services available.

1. Get an account with Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. It's free and datalogs take very little space so you should have no problem hosing these. I will used Dropbox as an example.

https://www.dropbox.com/

2. Upload the log to your Public Folder on Dropbox.
3. Right click on the log and select -> Copy Public Link.

Paste that link in your thread on the forum like this:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48912771/Focus ST Logs/2013 Focus Stage 1 93 LT 20130108.csv

Here's something else fun to do to check your performance. If you take logs on a nice, flat, stretch of road you can use these logs to estimate the power your car is making using a tool called Virtual Dyno which is actually free. This is a lot cheaper and if you are consistent can be an excellent tool to see what changes to your tune and hardware are doing:

http://www.virtualdyno.net/

A Vdyno sample below:



Done! Happy Logging and Sharing!
 
#4 ·
Thanks Alex for this info regarding datalogs. The info in the forum link below may also be helpful for sharing datalogs...

Graphing and sharing datalogs
 
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#5 ·
#6 ·
Great post!

Ignition Timing Corr. Cyl (1-4) (This is where the ECU pulls timing mostly due to knock. If you see large negative corrections you need to adjust the tune for the fuel you are using)
What kind of numbers should we watch for and in which situations? Im running on 92 octane gas on a 91 tune and mostly get values of 0, but sometimes I get up to a 3 or a -1. What does that mean?
 
#7 ·
Great post!



What kind of numbers should we watch for and in which situations? Im running on 92 octane gas on a 91 tune and mostly get values of 0, but sometimes I get up to a 3 or a -1. What does that mean?
Take a wot log as described above, post it here and I'll take a look. It's important to see the whole picture.
 
#11 ·
I posted a thread a while back for the SCT and went nowhere. Vdyno couldn't figure out time information even though it was there so I could never get it working. Has anyone used Torrie's new log setup file and got Vdyno to work?

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#13 ·
#14 · (Edited)
Ok, here's a 3rd gear pull prior to my FMIC install.
View attachment 31233
Graph looks a little funny - was it on a flat straight road? Attached are the graph and modified file:

Image


https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/48912771/Focus ST Logs/ST_Fan/dl8wmi 2-6k WOT 3rd gear_Test2.csv

I trimmed down the file and only kept the following columns and renamed them as follows:

- Time (sec) - Time
- manifold absolute pressure kPA - Boost (kPa)
- measured afr bank 1 - Actual AFR (AFR)
- rpm - Engine RPM (RPM)
- throttle angle desired - Accel. Pedal Pos. (%)

I also removed the commas and the decimal points from the numbers by setting the cell type as general and moving the decimal point over. I did this for every column except the Time column.

The AFR and Boost don't show up which is a little perplexing but I will look into it in a little bit.

Even if you trim your log like this for Vdyno, keep your original since it contains important information for tuning/analysis.

EDIT:

I also made a couple more changes to show AFR and Boost in PSI

For AFR it is easy. Yours is shown in lambda. To convert to AFR simply multiply by 14.7 since a lambda of 1 is 14.7/1 AFR
For Boost, yours is in Kpa. To convert use the following formula: (Boost in KPA - 100)/100*14.5
 
#18 ·
Runs complete, got 2 solid pulls one with stock plugs and one with 1 step colder same road. I formatted the files for Virtual Dyno and calculations for Boost and AFR as Alex instructed but the runs still look strange. The colder plug run looks very strange on Virtual Dyno.

On the non-formatted logs I've added a Boost PSI and AFR column which show up in LiveLink as separate PID's apparently.

Only mods on these runs were Unleashed V5A, OCD Cold Pipe, Levels FMIC, FRPP CAI and Levels FMIC. Didn't turn the meth on for these runs.



View attachment 2nd 4th stock plugs 2500 to 6k.zip
View attachment dl11 4th 1step colder plugs 2500 to 6k.zip
View attachment vdyno 2nd 4th stock plugs 2500 to 6k.zip This run was a second pull on the same log so I chopped it down.
View attachment vdyno 4th 1step colder plugs 2500 to 6k.zip
 
#19 ·
Runs complete, got 2 solid pulls one with stock plugs and one with 1 step colder same road. I formatted the files for Virtual Dyno and calculations for Boost and AFR as Alex instructed but the runs still look strange. The colder plug run looks very strange on Virtual Dyno.

On the non-formatted logs I've added a Boost PSI and AFR column which show up in LiveLink as separate PID's apparently.

Only mods on these runs were Unleashed V5A, OCD Cold Pipe, Levels FMIC, FRPP CAI and Levels FMIC. Didn't turn the meth on for these runs.

View attachment 31307

View attachment 31302
View attachment 31303
View attachment 31305 This run was a second pull on the same log so I chopped it down.
View attachment 31306
The red run definitely doesn't look right. One of two things could be happening.

1. There was wheelspin or clutch slip
2. The logging device you are using is not synchronizing the requests on the CAN bus with time well and the time and RPM data do not line up.

The blue run looks reasonable. Set your correction to Dynojet - not virtual dyno under the Options to get a fairly accurate idea of how things would look on a Dynojet dyno.
 
#20 ·
I'll redo the run. There could be wheelspin. I will redo the run tomorrow. Thanks for all your input :)

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#21 ·
Don't get too hung up on Vdyno numbers... especially if you're trying to compare to what numbers other cars are putting up. Just be sure to use the same stretch of road when taking logs and just use the numbers to compare any changes you may make.
 
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#24 ·
Consistency is key as you mentioned. This is true with any testing. If done consistently vdyno along with in gear acceleration such as 60-100 times can give you a good gauge of the car's performance.

Also as a sanity check always take more than a single log and if possible one going in each direction on that stretch of road.

Some logging devices will also log faster with fewer parameters so if you're just doing vdyno logs you can really trim down the parameter list.
 
#23 ·
Both runs from last night were in 4th.

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#25 ·
Vdyno can be pretty close if and when it's done and work correctly. I'm sure there's tons of comparison graph such as this online from import to domestic. This comparison was from a member on svt. You can also contact Brad directly for help. I actually worked with Brad to support scanXL datalog. Very nice guy to deal with.



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#26 ·
Since Alex like to share is knowledge, and I like to learn, what would be normal values that we should see when we datalog? And what should we datalog since the AP3 can only datalog so much?
 
#27 ·
I would like to know what the max spark advance should be and AFR. Specifically safe limits.

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#33 ·
If you see a correction JUST as you let off, it is likely false knock due to the drivetrain lash and noise. Remember the knock sensors are just microphones tuned to listed to a particular noise frequency.
If your tune is already at the timing ceiling it won't add any more timing regardless. The tune should then be adjusted for WMI.

In terms of overall timing, here's how things will look:
- As RPMs increase, timing advance will increase because the piston is moving faster and therefore the combustion event must be started earlier in the cycle. Timing is measured as the number of degrees before the piston reaches top dead centre the spark plug is fired.
- As boost/load increases, timing advance will decrease to prevent detonation.

So when you are cruising you will see high timing advance. As you get into boost, your timing will drop initially and then climb slowly as your engine speed increases.
 
#35 ·
That makes sense. Like the vacuum advance on my old Mustangs.

I was led to believe that this car would add timing on its own when detecting the octane increase from the meth and no need to specifically tune for it. I mostly ran it as a cheap IC for insurance but thought it would add 5-10% more power on top but doesn't seem so. Guess it's hard to really tell just from looking at spark advance on logs.



Which plugs already?
NGK's 1 step colder.

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#49 ·
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#52 · (Edited)
View attachment 4th gear pulls Chevron 92 octane.zip

Here are three datalogs I did a few weeks ago. They are 4th gear WOT pulls using 92 octane and running the Stage 1 FSWerks 91 tune. My car is stock other than the RMM and Cobb short shift plate.

I graphed the three datalogs using Vdyno and here is the result:



In Vdyno I selected SAE with the temp set to 33*, my weight of 140lbs, car weight to 3250 (I have a ST2 with moonroof and other items in my trunk so I added 25 lbs over stock weight), tire height to 25.25 (I have winter tires/wheels currently on). I also seemed to have the same issue of Vdyno not graphing the AFR or boost pressure.
 
#53 ·
View attachment 32032

Here are three datalogs I did a few weeks ago. They are 4th gear WOT pulls using 92 octane and running the Stage 1 FSWerks 91 tune. My car is stock other than the RMM and Cobb short shift plate.

I graphed the three datalogs using Vdyno and here is the result:

View attachment 32033

In Vdyno I selected SAE with the temp set to 33*, my weight of 140lbs, car weight to 3250 (I have a ST2 with moonroof and other items in my trunk so I added 25 lbs over stock weight), tire height to 25.25 (I have winter tires/wheels currently on). I also seemed to have the same issue of Vdyno not graphing the AFR or boost pressure.
Thanks for sharing!
The fuel pump struggles a little in the low end when the turbo spools and hits 20-21psi but this is not uncommon since the hpfp is cam driven at at low RPMs the cam speed is low. Looks like there's room with the fuel you are using but the intercooler is having a hard time keeping up in the top end. WA 92 fuel is quite good and it is better than some 93 I've seen.
 
#57 ·
#58 ·
Is there no way to log all of the data rather than a select few parameters? I would rather catch everything and only pick out what I want than hope I chose the right parameters when a problem or symptom pops up. Like trying to log cyl corrections. You can really only choose 1 cyl or drop a ton of other parameters in order to fit the other 3 cyls but then you might have to drop something that you may need.

Thought I read somewhere that if you hook up a laptop to the tuner you can capture more, but maybe that was a different brand.
 
#59 ·
There is only so much information that can travel over the CANBUS at a time and the more channels you log the less clarity you will have. TBH, there are A LOT of channels that are of no consequence 99% of the time. Use the default list and just add timing corrections on 1-4 and swap in/out any channels you believe may be having issues. If there is a real issue going on it will almost certainly either appear in fueling, boost or timing and then you just need to figure out what could be causing it.
 
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#61 ·
Does anyone know if the AP V3 adds any functionality in terms of faster data logging of more parameters over the V2?

Personally im a bit of a logging whore but i'm lazy too. lol I like to have what I need to tune Boost, Timing and Fuel on one log.