What Wideband is reliable

[DiMora]

I have an Innovate Motorsports LC1 with G3 gauge wideband setup.

It is garbage!

I've had it for two years or so...it was actually replaced by them since my first one was such crap.

The first one lost calibration constantly.

This one (the replacement) has been in the 'Stang for not even a year and it just went totally "pigs in space" on me...the needle on the gauge moves every once in a while, but stays stuck and is definitely not reading A/F ratio anymore.

It sucks because I just added a Snow Performance Stage 3 water/meth setup and I really need A/F ratio, so I am looking to add something reliable.

I have an AeroForce Interceptor and I could add it to that, but I really want a dedicated gauge for wideband A/F.

Are the AutoMeters any good? This one (#7378) would match my current gauges:

http://www.autometer.com/cat_gauged...id=-1&cid=-1&tid=-1&sectionHash=color_tab-tab

 

[Bobby]

Aem and it is one of the cheapest. Ebay has them for like $165

 

[hamish]

I have an AEM and it hasn't given me any problems.
Not saying it's the greatest or anything.

But one thing to consider is that there is no true way to calibrate and o2 controller without standardized zero and span gas.

The sensors are pretty rock solid until they age.
But conrollers can/do drift.

 

[blownGTvert]

Aem and it is one of the cheapest. Ebay has them for like $165

I picked up an AEM wideband and it works well. Lightning Motorsports has some good pricing on AEM gauges.

 

[crownaviation]

I honestly prefer the AEM as far as reliability and price.. they come with silver and black bezel and white and black changeable face plate. They are $160 shipped all day long and look pretty good, easy to wire as there are no additional backlight wires to deal with (comes with photo-sensor which auto-dims at night). They do not "feel" as beefy as the autometer and others tho. The housing is kinda cheap plastic but really.. it is not like it is a shifter or something you will handle often.

On my setup I have the Autometer Phantom WB 5778 only because it matched my other Phantom II gauges. That fucker was over $300 because the peak recall and alert functions etc. I thought the functions were cool for all of 5 minutes but never used that crap again lol. Gauge is nice as it waits for 20 seconds or so till the exhaust has hopefully blown any condensation out of the sensor before it starts to heat the sensor. I have had good luck with autometer also. Autometer tends to be a little more effort to wire but not bad. Their customer service is great as long as you do not buy from some vendor on ebay then you are possibly on your own. Autometer has good quality gauges imo

If you want the Autometer then I would not waste the money on the peak recall features if they sell one in the same style without it.

As far as the Innovate LC1 (hate those things too). Part of the problem is you have to calibrate those LC1's in "free air". That means if it loses calibration you have to get under the car and pull the wb sensor to do a calibration. Sucks and imo quality was sub-par as well. I gave mine away recently to help a guy get started. It will work for what he needs for the time being and you can't beat free

 

[hamish]

Free air calibration is nice but not acceptable in terms of calibrating shit.
Still, better than nothing.

 

[crownaviation]

Free air calibration is nice but not acceptable in terms of calibrating shit.
Still, better than nothing.

Yes.. the LC1 requires it or it is really fucked lol

 

[808muscle]

I have the autometor, four years later it's going strong. But some of the lights have never lit up. No biggie but its not perfect.

 

[BruceH]

Can you still datalog ok? If so then it's only the gauge and digital replacements are very inexpensive. You could be up and running for $20-$30 or so. They come in red, green, and blue.

 

[weather man]

AEM, love mine.

 

[05stroker]

I like my Autometer, it seems to do a good job. I dont like the lights flashing all the time though. I wish there was a way to turn the outer leds off since I only care about the nubmber.

 

[MindIfISmoke?]

PLX m300 is the best for in car hands down.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Pentalab]

The aeroforce uses a Bosch LSU 4.9 wideband. The 4.9 is the latest version..and better than the older LSU 4.2 The hype sez the 4.9 is more accurate, last longer, and is good enough to even work with diesel engs. I have not installed mine..yet.... since I welded the bung in the wrong place, and can't quite fit the wideband o2 sesnor in there.

Justin @ VMP was telling me that I could also disable both rear O2 sensors... and use one of em for the wideband. That would put the wideband just aft of the JBA catted H section. He sez it will work good there....just ignore the 1st few hundred rpm on any dyno test. Seems to me the typ o2 sensor in the tail pipe is typ .3 to .5 leaner, but dunno what happens if the wideband is just aft of cats ?

 

[Bobby]

I had the autometer first and now have the aem and i love the aem
Here is one $157 shipped
http://m.ebay.com/itm/281386649189?nav=SEARCH

 

[DiMora]

Can you still datalog ok? If so then it's only the gauge and digital replacements are very inexpensive. You could be up and running for $20-$30 or so. They come in red, green, and blue.

This Innovate Wideband has been a nightmare. I'm done with it on the Mustang. I just ordered an AEM 30-4100.

I'm going to rip out that whole Innovate setup, get an RMA, throw the whole POS in a box and send it back to Innovate, see what they offer on a repair / replacement and then either throw it back on my motorcycle where it is easy to work on when it breaks again, sell it, or tell them to smash it with a sledge-hammer if they want money to fix it.

Thanks to all who chimed in and for the AEM recommendation.

 

[05stroker]

Justin @ VMP was telling me that I could also disable both rear O2 sensors... and use one of em for the wideband.

I use two Autometer WBs to read both banks in the rear o2 sensor locations.

 

[skwerl]

Shane, you sound rather definite in your opinion of the Innovate. I can fully relate to having so many problems with a piece of equipment that you reach the point of being done with it no matter what the cost. I think you'll be happy with the AEM. I had a used one in my Bullitt and never had a hint of problem with it.

 

[GIG4FUN]

AEM, love mine.

^^ this

 

[DVEST8R]

NGK AFX, very accurate with the ntk sensor

 

[Pentalab]

Justin @ VMP was telling me that I could also disable both rear O2 sensors... and use one of em for the wideband.

I use two Autometer WBs to read both banks in the rear o2 sensor locations.

Is this fairly accurate ? The story I got was the o2 was all out after the 1st few hundred rpm. ( using rear bungs for widebands).

The issue I see with using the rear o2 sensor's for wide bands..is if you have to pass emissions testing. ( I don't have that problem, but if the car was sold to somebody in the big city, it would be an issue). Another issue is with rear o2's disabled in software, you can't read cat temps off the OBD port. IF a cat starts clogging up, it's temp will also rise.

Right now, with the lt's installed and catted H, I get the dreaded 420 and 430 codes once in a while. The only fix I can come up with is to either (a) disable the rear o2's ( and use the bungs for widebands).... or (b) install jdm bung extenders.... so the oem rear o2 sensors are further away from the exhaust. Some have had to stack bung extenders..since it still threw codes every 500 miles.

At least with one wideband per bank, you have a redundant wideband. You could also swap widebands for test purposes.