Extremely Lean Reading on LC-2 Wideband
Extremely Lean Reading on LC-2 Wideband Ok guys, I want to get a few more inputs on this subject before I am comfortable with what I was told by Innovate Motorsports tech support.
When I was gathering up parts for my build, I picked up an Innovate Motorsports LC-2 wideband. My buddy has one and it works well for him. After a bit over a year on my build, I finally got it fired up. At idle the wideband reads between 19.5-22.2. I have tried 2 new sensors, multitudes of re-calibrations, and even ran a designated power line and grounded the unit off of the battery. All of this with no change. Well, since I bought it so early in my build, the warranty was up. So, I bought another one. Absolutely the same reading. Went through the same testing procedures with no change.
I called the Innovate tech support, and he said that with my build, including the high flow exhaust and cam overlap that it can read that high at idle. He said I would have to put it under load and drive it down the road for it to read correctly.
I grew up building old school engines, so this is my first time using a wideband sensor. Does this sound correct? I do not want to put a load on the engine and possibly cause damage if the answer I got from them is not correct.
Any help would be appreciated. I have a friend coming over on Saturday to help get a good street tune on the car and I'd like to be a little more confident in driving this thing around.
Here is the build:
LS3 416 Stroker
GMPP LS3 CNC Heads
238/242 .629/.620 114*/+4*
TSP Long Tubes
3" True-Duals w/ Magnaflow bullets
When I was gathering up parts for my build, I picked up an Innovate Motorsports LC-2 wideband. My buddy has one and it works well for him. After a bit over a year on my build, I finally got it fired up. At idle the wideband reads between 19.5-22.2. I have tried 2 new sensors, multitudes of re-calibrations, and even ran a designated power line and grounded the unit off of the battery. All of this with no change. Well, since I bought it so early in my build, the warranty was up. So, I bought another one. Absolutely the same reading. Went through the same testing procedures with no change.
I called the Innovate tech support, and he said that with my build, including the high flow exhaust and cam overlap that it can read that high at idle. He said I would have to put it under load and drive it down the road for it to read correctly.
I grew up building old school engines, so this is my first time using a wideband sensor. Does this sound correct? I do not want to put a load on the engine and possibly cause damage if the answer I got from them is not correct.
Any help would be appreciated. I have a friend coming over on Saturday to help get a good street tune on the car and I'd like to be a little more confident in driving this thing around.
Here is the build:
LS3 416 Stroker
GMPP LS3 CNC Heads
238/242 .629/.620 114*/+4*
TSP Long Tubes
3" True-Duals w/ Magnaflow bullets
That's the thing. According to what they are saying, we will basically have to drive the car as is, data log it, make our tweaks, and drive it again to see where we are at. Basically, we will not be able to do anything to it without putting a load on it.
I would think that, with all of the big cam LS3 builds out there, that this would have been discussed before if it was an issue.
I would think that, with all of the big cam LS3 builds out there, that this would have been discussed before if it was an issue.
Last edited by psychosid30; Jun 27, 2017 at 11:38 AM.
Depending on where you sensor is mounted in the exhaust and cam size it is possible the wideband wont read correctly at idle. If you hold it at 1500-2000rpm it should read normal or if your driving.
When I ran this exhaust, it was with a 383 with a 222/228 .579/.579 cam and the same wideband. Certainly my cam was not nearly what his is, but I didn't have problems like him. Now, I did kill some Innovate widebands on the new exhaust when I cam swapped, but honestly, it wasn't immediate and I don't think his big cam is the issue. I keep leaning toward wiring, but he insists he's done everything he can to get a good ground and supply with no success.
Meanwhile, I've had this wideband on my LS Hombre for over a year and a half with almost 10k miles and no issues. I know these things are sensitive with wiring, so to blame his big cam is unlikely to me, seeing as his cam isn't especially large compared with others in the community now.
Trending Topics
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo I mentioned this to him and got an "are you freaking crazy" look from him. He didn't want to chance taking out a perfectly working wideband when they are temperamental to begin with.
No we haven't tuned it yet. Between work and taking the family on vacation for a week, time has been limited. What we did do is drill another wideband tap on the passenger side and attached David's NTK wideband to it to test it out. It came out around 15.8 - 16.2 at idle. I'm going to swap out my sensor into that location and check it out this week. I'm also going to verify the driver's side readings with his NTK. That will give me a definitive answer to what is going on. If it reads correctly then my wideband is reading incorrectly. If it reads what my wideband is reading, I'm going to drill another tap into the same place on the driver's side as the passenger side and see what it reads.
As for tuning, it turns out that I also have a bad alternator. I'll be replacing that before we try and tune it.
What NTK wideband? If its the afx mine only read from 9-16 AFR. So anything near 16 could actually be way leaner. Also since you changed a whole lot of stuff on your engine it probably is lean. If you have any exhaust leaks before or right after the sensor it wilk be lean. You are not runing open headers are you?
Launching!
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 276
Likes: 5
From: █▬█ █▄█ █▬█ █▄██▬█ █▄█ █▬█ █▄█
LC2 has two outputs for O2WB readings. Yellow (analog 1) and Brown (analog 2).
Yellow From the factory is set up with 0v - 5v, 7afr to 22afr. This is what your gauge is set up to read.
Brown on the other hand is like .1v - 1v, 14afr - 15afr. Make sure youre not using this one without going into the LC2 software and changing the voltage output.
Also, a solid ground is really important, and its best practice to ground it at the same location as the other sensor grounds, as well as your gauge ground.
Also, Innovate is a piece of ****. I had an LC2, and I was going through sensors every couple hundred miles. LSU 4.9s are about 60 bucks a pop on amazon so you do the math.
Switched to AEM X Series, same LSU 4.9 sensor, haven't changed one out since.
Also, youre not going to do much damage to an NA engine running it lean. It'll just run like ****.
Yellow From the factory is set up with 0v - 5v, 7afr to 22afr. This is what your gauge is set up to read.
Brown on the other hand is like .1v - 1v, 14afr - 15afr. Make sure youre not using this one without going into the LC2 software and changing the voltage output.
Also, a solid ground is really important, and its best practice to ground it at the same location as the other sensor grounds, as well as your gauge ground.
Also, Innovate is a piece of ****. I had an LC2, and I was going through sensors every couple hundred miles. LSU 4.9s are about 60 bucks a pop on amazon so you do the math.
Switched to AEM X Series, same LSU 4.9 sensor, haven't changed one out since.
Also, youre not going to do much damage to an NA engine running it lean. It'll just run like ****.
TECH Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 6,080
Likes: 17
From: So.Cal.
You have to troubleshoot this somehow.