Disappointed with Autometer Cobalt Wideband

[Vapour Trails]

I've had this gauge installed for about a month now to complement my SC install and hopefully keep my engine safe.

When I was dyno tuned my AF was 11.5-11.1 (low to high rpm) across the range. This was using shop's WB and it is many times more expensive and undergoes frequent calibration. The WB bung was installed after the cat, so it should be reading leaner than normal if anything. The sensor for my cobalt gauge was installed in the same bung after the dyno time was finished.

So while at the track this past Saturday, I had my eyes glued to my WB to detect potential problems because I know my injectors are at 100% DC at 6000+ rpm. The readings didn't seem to make any sense. The gauge was reading 10.0-10.5 at WOT, anywhere from 0.5-1.0 point richer than the dyno data. Since I know my injectors were maxed during tuning, how could the mixture be richer than during the dyno tuning? It can't. The air was more dense during the track day compared to the dyno day to boot, which should have resulted in a leaner mixture because the fueling is fixed.

For $369.99 I think I have a glorified idiot light with +/- one full point accuracy.

 

[Bullett]

mine sucks ass too..... im looking to replace the bitch

 

[Dex]

Change the 02 sensor

 

[Starfire]

I wonder about mine too, but I have a innovate lc-1 but my gauge bounces all over the place.

 

[Vapour Trails]

Change the 02 sensor

It's brand new.

 

[Vapour Trails]

There's one thing left I can try that I forgot to mention. You can specify the range you are interested in reading to enhance the resolution of the gauge. Right now it reads from 10.0-16.0. I'll try focusing it from 10.0-14.7 (this is if I'm interpreting the instruction manual correctly).

 

[scramblr]

Mine does the same thing, although once in a while it will read in the 11.0 - 11.5 range. But most of the time at WOT it's 10.0 - 10-9. I've been attributing this to a very safe JDM tune, but it's always bugged me. Thinking about getting a wideband through Aeroforce and running it to their gauge to see what it reads. That or another wideband. I wish there was a dyno around here I could hook it up to and see what it reads on a different sensor.

Maybe getting a new sensor is worth a shot. How much do those run anyway?

 

[kevinatfms]

i loved my AEM wideband, i never had a problem and it was always spot on whyen on the dyno....maybe try recalibrating it?

 

[07 Boss]

Just copied this from another forum. Might be worth looking into.

Hook the black wire to a good ground. It is very important that the ground is good, otherwise your data will be off due to ground reference problems. A good ground is the screw on the fuse panel under the driver's dash. (see photo) If you have another application please find a quality ground. Please sand the paint off the area beneath the screw until its shiny with some sandpaper. Collecting good data from the wideband requires an excellent ground. Poor grounds will result with false data logs, but will not affect the reading of the gauge. Usually grounds closer to the dash or ECU are best. Grounds around the seat bolts usually do not work well. You can stash the controller box behind the drivers side kick panel, behind the radio, or where ever it fits. It gets warm, but not hot, and can be placed in tight spaces. Make sure to zip tie or secure all wires and the controller box.

Sensor Placement

If you are not comfortable welding and cutting your exhaust system please have the bung welded in by a local exhaust or speed shop. Make sure very little shavings fall into the exhaust pipes that could potentially clog the cats. Most exhaust shops carry the bung (18mm x 1.5mm) (EGT 1/8" NPT) and will weld it in for about $40-75 (call around). The wideband sensor should be placed someplace between the header collectors and the 1st set of catalytic converters. If there are no catalytic converters it is acceptable to install the sensor in the stock rear O2 (post cats) sensor bung but there will be a slight delay in the readings. Some place near the stock front O2 sensor is a good place. You might need to cut some of the heat shield out of the way depending on your application. Removal of the mid pipes(H, X) will simplify installation, but is not required unless multiple probes are used. The sensor must be placed above the centerline of the pipe. This is to ensure that no condensation can ever drip onto (and crack) the wideband sensor. This will also keep the sensor from ever impacting the ground on lowered vehicles.​

 

[RRRoamer]

A couple of things:

1) Why in the world did they tune it with a WB that is AFTER the cats??? Why try to precisely read something AFTER it has been screwed with by the cats???

2) The whole ground reference issue is an issue if you are reading analog data. If the data is going to your gauge from the WB controller in a digital format, the ground offsets do not affect the reading.

 

[racevert]

My Autometer wideband worked perdectly for almost three years. It read exactly the same as my tuner's wideband while tested together. It started reading rich after I changed exhaust recently. I replaced the O2 sensor and it is right on again.

 

[Vapour Trails]

A couple of things:

1) Why in the world did they tune it with a WB that is AFTER the cats??? Why try to precisely read something AFTER it has been screwed with by the cats???

I didn't have any input on the placement, the worker just welded it in. I didn't really think about it till afterwards. I brought the issue up with my tuner, he said at WOT exhaust gas flow rates are so high that the cat has little influence on the readings, but if anything it would read leaner than the actual value, which is the happy side of inaccurate.

Regardless, both sensors were installed in the same spot so comparisons are valid.

BTW, the tuner was calling for 11.5 in the tune and that is pretty much what we got using the shops WB positioned after the cat.

 

[08StangGT_CS]

My Autometer C2 wideband became just a pretty light show pretty much after my first time at the track.

 

[NastyStang113]

The Dynojet Wideband Commander is a good wideband gauge.

 

[Vapour Trails]

My Autometer C2 wideband became just a pretty light show pretty much after my first time at the track.

What does it read at WOT?

I'm so pissed that I spent a bunch of money on this worthless POS. Today while driving to work I gave the car about 60% throttle and the gauge went right to 10.0.

 

[ZeroSVT]

I have compared alot of customers WB02's to dynojet and AFM1000 WideBands.
I have found through testing and watching them as i dynoed the car.

Innovate seems to be the best setup right now,it was accurate to the AFM1000 +/- .02

Dynojet stand alone W/B was accurate to the point of +/- .04 Not to bad but not to great.

AFX was accurate to the point of +/- .05 very poor, not a good setup at all, and it even uses a NGK sensor.

Sorry to say but last was the Autometer W/B series, being off more than +/- .08-1.0

I also personally tried the autometer wideband for the looks. It was off more than half a point during personal testing.

I have attached a writeup done by a magazine that tested all the widebands

-Matt

 

[MexGT]

MAtt, have any experience/thoughts about the AEM 30-4100 ?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AVM-30-4100/

not even worth the 220 bucks?

 

[ZeroSVT]

Why buy that when u can buy this?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/INN-3795/

I have the same setup in my car and compared it to a AFM-1000 and it was within .01-.02 accurate.

Same price, but thousand time better setup. Have a look at the wideband shootout in the previous post.

-Matt

 

[bigwilly43729]

Why buy that when u can buy this?

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/INN-3795/

I have the same setup in my car and compared it to a AFM-1000 and it was within .01-.02 accurate.

Same price, but thousand time better setup. Have a look at the wideband shootout in the previous post.

-Matt

Oooooh, purty!!!!

 

[Gray Ghost GT]

I wonder about mine too, but I have a innovate lc-1 but my gauge bounces all over the place.

I also installed an Innovate LC-1 gauge in my C5 and found it to be worthless!