Project GothCovini: Catalyst Thermocouple ECU / TCU

Once again Goth emerges from the GothCave with a solution!

You could make it more beautiful.....with mudflap girls on either side!

 

Goth - very cool. So, what's the benefit (without giving away your secrets)?

My ony comment would be to make the housing the exact size as OEM. Of course, they don't pop out in the engine bay..

 

Thanks - dumb question: the mounting holes spacing is the same as stock I assume? From the photo, it looks wider (photos fool the eyes )

 

Nice work, Something I've had on the drawing board for several years but never got around to. No need to bother with it now.

 

Too cool
I am setting off my 348 SDL's intermittently. Ability to change for fuel and weekend hot rod setup would be sweet. Lighting off unburned fuel sets those suckers off fast

 

This is cool. I recently sourced Thermocouples at a cheap price and made a few units ready for plug and play. Its good to know there is an alternate solution possibly in the pipleine for the ECU's.

 

Heres a pic of my creation. Is there much demand for these? If so i can knock a few up
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Nice work Goth! An alternative to the Viscovini boxes is gteat. I have been running off the shelf transmitters in my car for awhile with the idea of creating a better mousetrap but never took it to another level. Good job!

 

Too cool, Goth! I love the idea of adjustability for those of us with non-stock setups.

Are you planning to eventually put these into production?

 

Good work!

It is great to see some retro-engineered solutions being developed for the 348, particularly when they include more functionality. Outstanding!

 

It is a 3mm probe same as original (larger would not fit) and connector suits the 348 (i can see your ecu is different to mine). What size does the 355 use? I have noticed the 348 ECU's have a tail on them rather than the plug direct on the box.

I have been running this on mine for a few months now without any dramas
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Goth, like me, was assuming you had a 355

You might want to complete your profile and list you have a 348

 

Hoping these go into production, I have a non working one I can send you for further testing.

 

Me too! Great Job Goth!


What about thermo couples? I have used aircraft spruce and specialty TC's I forget which ones. They work with modification. I can't even remember the mod. I also have had mixed results as to TC longevity. Anyone have plans to make long lasting plug and play TC's?

 

Drbob101 is already offering them for various models, including the 348 and 355. I have them in my car and IMO they are of higher quality than the originals they replaced.

Hope I'm not stepping on any toes by mentioning this. That is most decidedly not my intent. Just FYI, nothing else.

 

cool. DrBob has done some good work with this whole SDL issue.

 

I did see some for sale on ebay however felt I could match the unit at a portion of the cost to myself. I am making a few for myself have a couple 348 mates locally that want some. I will have a few left at the end if there is any interest, if not I will hold onto them. I wont go into business making these but happy to provide advice for anybody interested. Also the quality of these probes is definitely better than original.

 

Thanks Mike for the mention.

The TC specs for every model are unique. The variables are the probe diameter, probe length, distance from tip of probe to seating ferrule, length of conductor, connector type, angle of bend in the probe to match OEM look and thread and pitch size of the compression nut.

I have spec'd and made these up to fit and look like OEM for TR/512, 550/575, 348, 355 and 360. They are all custom made and hand assembled. The probe designs are unique for each model and not generic.

You might be able to adapt generic TC that will work successfully as well. I have tried to reproduce the specs and overall appearance characteristics of the OEM units using a more robust strain relief and design than the OEM parts at an approx. 50% price point.

I have mucked around adapting some off the shelf voltage transmitters (SDECU) as well and currently have them installed in my car. They aren't to OEM spec in terms of the initial voltage output and have limitations. What Goth is doing is the correct alternative and if they prove out as being more reliable and less expensive than OEM that will be great.

Kudos to him for getting to this point. I started down that path and the unique design and technical factors are formidable and dampened my enthusiasm for moving forward with it.
His units last look great!

 

Excuse my ignorance but will this allow me to run no cats on my 98 without throwing codes or is it just to prevent the SDL?

 

Running test pipes is a post CAT O2 sensor issue - nothing to do with this...