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I have been looking for a recent new topic that Mike added relating to wiring to certain throttle bodies and the use of certain cables to I believe the ecu. Can't find it. Anyone remember this topic and can you explain his concern with the situation?

Thanks Pat

Pat,

I think this is what you are refering to viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2373 .

DaveP

The issue raised is that Enterprises created a proprietary cable with wiring specific to the Gen3 ECU (PE3) connection to your download computer. The connection between the ECU and firewall terminates in a USB-B female connector. The computer connection uses proprietary cable consisting of USB-B-Type male connector that's wired to an Ethernet RJ45 plug

The inadvertent connection of a standard USB cable (B-Type to A-Type) into the ECU port that's also attached to your computer can fry the ECU, rendering it inoperable and not fixable (explanation is in the note mentioned earlier in this thread.)

You may think this is not plausible, but I have a perfect example in my car. Anyone using an AIM Dash with the dash mounted USB extension also uses USB B-Type female connector. Since that's a standard cable (USB-B male to USB-A male typically used to connect to printers) that terminates in a standard USB-A male connector connector, if I accentually plugged that into the PE3 while it's plugged into my laptop I may fry to the laptop.

I'm not sure why there was a need to go the proprietary cable route since the connection is standard Ethernet RJ45 to the PE3. Ideally, if the Ethernet wiring is standard (I suspect it is since the software uses a network protocol), A PE3 to Ethernet female connector would alleviate that issue, allowing a standard RJ45 cable to be used between this connector and your laptop.

Since I'm not familiar with the actual wiring or signals, perhaps Enterprises can explain why their proprietary approach, requiring two proprietary cables (PE3 to USB-B and USBB to RJ45) was necessary.

I hope that there will be some consideration for resolving this design issue since it has the potential for catastrophic results for the PE3.

Something along these lines: http://www.wolfautomation.com/products/ ... fgod4HIAQQ

Thanks Dave and Bob!

Pat

breton wrote:The issue raised is that Enterprises created a proprietary cable with wiring specific to the Gen3 ECU (PE3) connection to your download computer. The connection between the ECU and firewall terminates in a USB-B female connector. The computer connection uses proprietary cable consisting of USB-B-Type male connector that's wired to an Ethernet RJ45 plug

The inadvertent connection of a standard USB cable (B-Type to A-Type) into the ECU port that's also attached to your computer can fry the ECU, rendering it inoperable and not fixable (explanation is in the note mentioned earlier in this thread.)

You may think this is not plausible, but I have a perfect example in my car. Anyone using an AIM Dash with the dash mounted USB extension also uses USB B-Type female connector. Since that's a standard cable (USB-B male to USB-A male typically used to connect to printers) that terminates in a standard USB-A male connector connector, if I accentually plugged that into the PE3 while it's plugged into my laptop I may fry to the laptop.

I'm not sure why there was a need to go the proprietary cable route since the connection is standard Ethernet RJ45 to the PE3. Ideally, if the Ethernet wiring is standard (I suspect it is since the software uses a network protocol), A PE3 to Ethernet female connector would alleviate that issue, allowing a standard RJ45 cable to be used between this connector and your laptop.

Since I'm not familiar with the actual wiring or signals, perhaps Enterprises can explain why their proprietary approach, requiring two proprietary cables (PE3 to USB-B and USBB to RJ45) was necessary.

I hope that there will be some consideration for resolving this design issue since it has the potential for catastrophic results for the PE3.

Something along these lines: http://www.wolfautomation.com/products/ ... fgod4HIAQQ

I am very happy with the conversion kit, but this is one area that is a terrible approach. I am an Electrical Engineer and I have spent the last 23 years doing electrical product design. We try very hard to avoid putting a connector that by form factor or labeling makes it easy to connect it incorrectly. I have seen more than one industrial electrical product damaged because of a design approach similar to the connector on the SRF3. When Engineering creates a design that makes it easy for the user to make a mistake, the mistake is the Engineer's.

goolsbey wrote:I have been looking for a recent new topic that Mike added relating to wiring to certain throttle bodies and the use of certain cables to I believe the ecu. Can't find it. Anyone remember this topic and can you explain his concern with the situation?

Thanks Pat

Pat - all of the responses to your original request have been about the proprietary cable to connect a laptop to the ECU. Since you mentioned 'throttle bodies' in your post, I thought you might also be looking for the Technical Bulletin on the connection of the two wires to the IAC. If so, you can find that here: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2373

When I first read the tech bulletin about the IAC wiring, I assumed it didn't apply to me as my conversion was one of the early ones, I believe in the 70's. Is that assumption correct? Just want to make sure!

Pat

Pat - I think it has more to do with the harness than the conversion (or the IAC). My understanding is that starting with serial #281 the wiring harnesses have connectors that are loose and shrink-wrapped (I'm not sure what they were before - bundled in a connector maybe???). Being loose, the wires can be plugged in either way and it's important to get the Red wire plugged into the top connector of the IAC. The question I now have is what 'serial number' designates the change? I assumed it was the conversion kit or engine number as I couldn't find any label with a serial number on the EFI harness. However, my engine is number 265 and my wiring harness came with the loose wires.

Regardless of the serial number mystery, if your harness has the loose red and orange wires, you just need to make sure you insert the red wire on the top of the IAC and the orange wire on the bottom. The question on whether the serial number relates to the engine or the wiring harness is probably a question for Mike.