Determining correct AXXX.ds file for a definition?

[cruiserbrett]

I am working on a $3E project, but havent been able to find an .xdf or .adx.

For the xdf, I am instead going to try tunercat and the available $3E definition file, but that still leaves me without any type of "scantool" feature.

How do I identify the appropriate AXXX.ds file to start from to build an .adx? Its not in the spreadsheet that I could find, so I am at a loss as to which one to start with?

Any help is appreciated!
Bin is ADDT, 1987 JB body per the BCC spreadsheet.

Thanks!
-Brett

[In-Tech]

Have you contacted John at TunerCat to see if his DataCat scanner program will work? It's pretty cool if so. I'm not sure what a JB body is. Do we know if this is 8192 baud or still the slow 160 baud?

[cruiserbrett]

Its supposedly a JB per the spreadsheet. I think its a Cavalier? 2.0 single bbl TBI, and a 1227730 ecm, so I think 8192 baud.

I havent reached out yet. Just paid for and downloaded tunercat.

[1project2many]

So... there are still a few J-body guys around. Cool. I've never stopped loving those cars. I still have the '94 Hawaiian Orchid RS purchased in '09 and the '89 Sunbird GT purchased in... '02?

I have a file titled $3E.xdf but I'm not sure where it came from. I don't have a scanner definition but you may be able to make one from the DATA STREAM A24 file found here:
http://gearhead-efi.com/gearhead-efi.../ALDLstuff.zip

[cruiserbrett]

thank you for the help! I was able to figure out building an ADX from a .DS file. I cheated, and started with an $8D.adx and modified.

Not quite done and tested, but starting with an existing ADX, and using the appropriate .DS file made it pretty simple, just quite time consuming. Havent tweaked the gauges and such, but modified, added and validated a bunch to the $8D.ADX to create the $3E.ADX.

[1project2many]

You're welcome. I'm glad you were able to make it work.

Thinking about this, I wonder why I've never seen a tool to create a vanilla .adx from a .ds file.

[steveo]

i almost finished a parser for the .ds files, back when i started writing basic aldl software, but during testing i found .ds wasn't really a consistent enough format for me to play with. i figured it would require an insane amount of manual intervention for each one anyway so in the end i gave up.

the fact that all of the commonly used .ds files already have a reasonable .adx file available was also a factor in my giving up.

[1project2many]

That makes sense. It's been years since I've looked at these files in depth. Sometimes the excitement of realizing you can code a cool tool is quickly overwhelmed by the reality of the actual amount of work involved. ;)

[cruiserbrett]

Now I wish I had checked out some wiring diagrams first... No knock sensor present on this $3E or $89 masks the two 1227277/7730 tbi masks I could find.

I was going to try to use it on a Single barrel Tbi on a 1966 Toyota Land Cruiser that is a single barrel carb stock(sorry I’m not a J body owner 1project2many).

I scored a few NOS 1991 Somerset Complete TBIs so I will figure out a some mask to put these to use. Beginning to wonder if I just cobble $8d to work as a tbi mask.

Not certain how accurate the knock sensor would be anyhow, but do want a bit of a safety net... the weird Siamesed port intake tends to cause some pre ignition knock on these engines under load in warm weather in cylinders 5/6.

Thanks again for everyone’s help! I am finishing the ADX, and will post for others use. It will still need some personal tweaks for display and gauges but functionally pulls the data from the data stream.

[1project2many]

Well, despite crushing my hopes I'd found a kindred spirit, I think you have a cool project. ;-) If you're looking to use a KS I would siggest switching to $42 / 7747 and using it with a single injector. If you consider that one injector on a typical V6 or V8 TBI from the late '80s functionally works with a four cylinder engine of 2.15 to 2.75 liters creating between 80 and 115 hp I think you might find the calibration to be fairly close. The ecm has no idea whether or not the injectors are connected and the firing modes just might work out fairly well. Some of the earliest GM TBI units such as the 2.5 FWD drivers shared the same ECM and some of the same hardware as the 5.0 used with the 82-84 Camaro Crossfire units. If your engine is producing enough horsepower that it needs more airflow than a single barrel TBI delivers you could switch to a TBI from a 2.8 l V6 and use both injector drivers.