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Thanks guys. Test drive with the new a/c today was a success. Luckily, record highs in the area today (88F) - and it quickly got too cold inside on the lowest fan speed setting - had to blend in some heat. Doin' the snoopy dance...36F degree vent temps.
Last edited by Michael Yount; 07-23-2017 at 08:22 PM.
Did a good bit of research on that. No sticky tires/hard launches or abusive shifting AND I'm traction limited - in that case it seems 3rd gear is the weakest link. But, I'm old....and not very hard on the car. If it breaks, I'll just put an Astro A5 or a TKO in it -- A5 bolts in with just a clutch disc change; TKO will need a new disc, shorter driveshaft and revised mount. Not too bad. The tranny I have in it was a T5z (2.95, 1.95, 1.34, 1.00, .625) bought new from Ford Motorsport for the car when it had the 5.0L in it. About 40,000 very easy miles on it. Tight, quiet, good synchro action -- I think it's gonna be fine too.
Last piece of the puzzle was getting a working cruise control back in the car. I was able to use my existing Rostra cruise switch to actuate a Dakota Digital drive-by-wire cruise. 2 magnets on the driveshaft with a pickup -- and wiring up everything else was a piece of cake. Works flawlessly.
I had a choice of 1 or 2 --- and went with 2 as it put 'em 180 degrees apart = less chance of vibration. LOL
I'm old -- not much gear grabbin' going on. In any event, I can't film it while I'm doing it, and the wife won't ride with me while I'm doing it. So - use your imagination.
Last piece of the puzzle was getting a working cruise control back in the car. I was able to use my existing Rostra cruise switch to actuate a Dakota Digital drive-by-wire cruise. 2 magnets on the driveshaft with a pickup -- and wiring up everything else was a piece of cake. Works flawlessly.
Any more details on this? Sounds like it's a system that is independent of the GM electronics, right?
CRC-2000 model. Completely independent from the GM systems other than the fact that it plugs into the dbw throttle and provides a piggyback for the OEM plug. I talked with them about using the GM output from the VSS (that would normally go to a GM speedo I reckon) in conjunction with the CRC-1000 model. But they were very insistent that the 1000 model only be used in an otherwise all stock GM model that simply didn't come with cruise control. Apparently there's a market for that - maybe inexpensive trucks or something. Their experience has been that if anything has been modified (any engine swaps qualify) that the 1000 model electronics are liable to not like something. So I followed their guidance, bought the CRC-2000. This unit as well as their throttle cable actuated cruise units are built by Rostra down here close to me in NC. I had a Rostra cable cruise unit in the car when it was 5.0L powered. I contacted the folks at Rostra and they confirmed I could use my existing Rostra switch to actuate the CRC-2000 unit. Works as well as the OEM cruise units in my 2015/2016 daily drivers. You can see the control switch at about 4 o'clock on the steering wheel.
Last edited by Michael Yount; 07-23-2017 at 08:27 PM.
Hmmm...I am wondering if this will work with a Holley Dominator. I see no reason why not. I already have a speed signal going into the Dominator from my T56 VSS...I can also program an output a "speed out" from the Dominator. Hmmmm...
Andrew
Last edited by Project GatTagO; 01-07-2017 at 01:48 PM.
I assume the Dominator is dbw? Give the folks at Dakota a call Andrew....their description makes it sound (to me) like it's designed to 'talk to' a GM ECU. But I'm the wrong one to be guessing....once we get much past plug 'n play on these things, I have to defer to others. I should add --- I also exchanged emails with the folks at Rostra who designed the unit. They're actually more knowledgeable than the tech folks at Dakota.
I assume the Dominator is dbw? Give the folks at Dakota a call Andrew....their description makes it sound (to me) like it's designed to 'talk to' a GM ECU. But I'm the wrong one to be guessing....once we get much past plug 'n play on these things, I have to defer to others. I should add --- I also exchanged emails with the folks at Rostra who designed the unit. They're actually more knowledgeable than the tech folks at Dakota.
From what I can tell it just plugs inline with the pedal. I am using a Gen IV pedal with my Dominator. My guess is that it monitors the pedal TPS and the TB TPS and uses that to keep the throttle blade open enough to maintain desired speed. I see no other interface with the ECU, so it shouldn't care if the ECU is GM or Holley. DBW is optional on the Holley Dominator only.
LOL -- I used the magnets, sensors that they provided when I talked with them about what I was trying to do. Moving magnets + fixed sensor (I think) = Hall Effect. As opposed to a fixed magnet and moving 'teeth' (like the VSS).
It's actually NOT producing 4000 PPM - with 2 magnets, a 25.3" tire and 3.55 gears it's producing right at 5,660 PPM. Given that and the fact that it's working flawlessly, I've concluded the "4000 ppm" spec is a nominal spec. I suspect you know a lot more about this stuff than I do -- that's my caveat. The little computer that runs the cruise generates some sort of signal that takes the place of what the throttle pedal would generate once you engage the cruise system. Seems to me, it's that signal that your ECU has to be able to interpret in order for your ECU to tell the dbw throttle body what to do. As long as the Holley ECU can successfully interpret the Dakota Digital's output signal (which was designed for the GM ECU) theoretically it should work. Me -- I'd want to have a long conversation with some folks that knew a lot more about it than me before I bought it.
Last edited by Michael Yount; 01-07-2017 at 02:14 PM.
LOL -- I used the magnets, sensors that they provided when I talked with them about what I was trying to do. Moving magnets + fixed sensor (I think) = Hall Effect. As opposed to a fixed magnet and moving 'teeth' (like the VSS).
It's actually NOT producing 4000 PPM - with 2 magnets, a 25.3" tire and 3.55 gears it's producing right at 5,660 PPM. Given that and the fact that it's working flawlessly, I've concluded the "4000 ppm" spec is a nominal spec. I suspect you know a lot more about this stuff than I do -- that's my caveat. The little computer that runs the cruise generates some sort of signal that takes the place of what the throttle pedal would generate once you engage the cruise system. Seems to me, it's that signal that your ECU has to be able to interpret in order for your ECU to tell the dbw throttle body what to do. As long as the Holley ECU can successfully interpret the Dakota Digital's output signal (which was designed for the GM ECU) theoretically it should work. Me -- I'd want to have a long conversation with some folks that knew a lot more about it than me before I bought it.
For the benefit of anyone that is reading this, as I understand it, Hall Effect is a 3 wire sensor. It gets power and ground and then produces a square wave output. There are also 2 wire sensors (VR) and they produce a sine wave that has a high and low side. The Dominator can read both types of sensors and I am using the VR style sensor that comes stock on all late model GM vehicles.
But you're right. I need to talk to someone that knows this system and understand what sort of interface it actually has with the ECU, if anything other than interpreting the TPS and pedal sensors as I mentioned previously.
My pure guess is that the CSC-2000 gives a steady TPS and pedal signal back to the ECU (these are simply 0-5v signals) then internally it adjusts those values based on speed to "drive" the throttle blades as needed to maintain the desired vehicle speed.
Michael, would you mind PMing the email of the contact person at Rostra?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_effect_sensor The presence of 3 wires does not alone define a Hall-effect sensor. Mine is a 2-wire, where one of the wires is grounded and the other is connected to the Dakota Digital wire identified for 'speed input'. There is no reference voltage. Just a small output that is proportional to speed generated by the magnetic field moving (magnets on the driveshaft) past a coil in the pickup.
I'm also generating a speed signal for the ECU using a GM factory VR type sensor (stationary magnet, moving "teeth") for a T56 transmission with a homemade reluctor mounted on the pinion flange. This is also a 2-wire sensor. Dakota Digital recommended that I NOT try to use the output of this sensor (much more than 4000 ppm) for the cruise unit. PSI Conversions identifies a wire (purple in their harness if I remember correctly) coming from the ECU that is supposed to have a signal that has been converted by the ECU from the input from the VSS to something close to a 4000 ppm signal for use by the GM electronic speedos. They also suggested I not try to use that to run the CRC-2000 cruise.
Summary - I have a Hall-effect sensor running the cruise control and a VR-type sensor providing the GM ECU with the speed signal it expects. Neither are 3-wire set ups. I think (!) the 3 wire set ups basically have a digital switch (on/off) that is triggered by the sine wave input and thus generate a square wave output. The 2-wire set ups generate sine wave outputs I think.
FWIW.
I contacted the Rostra team through their customer service contact -- Carol Durkin. cdurkin@rostra.com Website -- http://www.rostra.com/ Their tech staff is used to dealing with commercial customers who know what they're talking about, not consumers like me who are trying to figure out what we're talking about. So, they can be a little, uh, cold.
Last edited by Michael Yount; 01-07-2017 at 10:42 PM.
10-19-2016, 02:27 PM
If it breaks, I'll just put an Astro A5 or a TKO in it -- A5 bolts in with just a clutch disc change; TKO will need a new disc, shorter driveshaft and revised mount. Not too bad. The tranny I have in it was a T5z (2.95, 1.95, 1.34, 1.00, .625) bought new from Ford Motorsport for the car when it had the 5.0L in it. About 40,000 very easy miles on it. Tight, quiet, good synchro action -- I think it's gonna be fine too. 
