Dynamometer Operation Overview

For Version RHAS 1.7.05

Rev 807 - 2007 - JC
 Table of Contents

Subject Page

Unpacking and Assembly…...………………………………………………………….…3

Sensors………………………………………………………………………………….…7
Vehicle Installation………………………………………………………………………..9
System Power up………………………………………………………………………..…9
Basic Software Operation………………………………………………………………..13
Home Screen Basics……………………………………………………………………..14
F10 – System Setup Screen………………………………………………………………17
Typical Startup Process…………………………………………………………………..20
F11 - Vehicle Setup Screen………………………………………………………………21
Setup Ratio Screen…………………………………………………………………….…23
Autoplot Setup…………………………………………………………………………...26
Modes of Operation……………………………………………………………………...28
F3 – Speed Mode………………………………………………………………...28
F1 – Autoplot Mode……………………………………………………………...30
F2 – Load Mode……………………………………………………………….…31
Function Keys……………………………………………………………………………32
Home Screen Top Menus………………………………………………………………..34
F8 – File Management Screen………………………………………………………...…36
Graph Screens……………………………………………………………………………38
Company Name……………………………………………………………………….…38
Zooming Functions…………………………………………………………………...….39
Comparison Screen……………………………………………………………………....40
Raw Data Screen…………………………………………………………………...…….42
Removing the car from the dyno………………………………………………………...42
Contact Information…………………………………………………………………...…43
Service and Support……………………………………………………………………..43
Unpacking List…………………………………………………………………………...44
Water hose connection and routing…………………………………………………45 – 46
Automatic Transmission Addendum………………………………………………..47 - 48

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Introduction:

In the following pages, we will follow a logical order, starting with unpacking and
assembly of the dyno, all the way through running the vehicle. See page 43 for a list of
items packaged with the dyno.

Unpacking and assembly

The crates are held together by either #2 Phillips (or sometimes Pozidrive) head screws,
or Square-drive (Robertson) screws. Use either a freshly charged cordless drill, or get a
corded drill - you have a lot of screws to deal with.

For the crates containing the dyno pods (the two HEAVY ones) it is easiest to remove the
screws around the bottom perimeter of the crate and lift the entire wood cover off in one
piece - this is far easier than taking the whole crate apart – plus you’ll have two nice little
lunch tables left over ☺. You may need to remove the hub adapters from the base of the
crate to access all of the screws. Once you have the cover off, you can take the nylon
straps off of the pods and unscrew the blocks that are around the base of the pods. At this
point, you can either lift the pods off of the pallet or slide them off. The method you use
will depend on the tools you have available to you.

Lifting – The easier method if you have some lifting straps (large HD ratcheting straps
will work). You can put the pallets under a vehicle lift and use a leg of the lift to lift the
pod up while you pull the pallet out from underneath it. You can also use an engine
hoist.

Slide it off - If you have a forklift available, you can set the fork height even with the top
of the pallets and roll the pods up on to the forks (use caution here to make sure the forks
stay low under the pod and don't hurt or snag anything underneath). Then you can just
drop the forks down to the ground and slide them off on to the floor. You can also make
a small ramp out of some scrap wood (or the wood from the crates) and roll the pods off
on to the ramp and on to the floor.

Once you have the pods on the ground, you need to remove the shipping straps inside the
pods. On the outside edge (side opposite the polished pump head) there is a slot for a
pump handle. Under the slot down on the frame, there will be a bolt (17MM I think) that
will need to be removed. This bolt threads into a metal strap (visible if you look through
the slot in the cover above it) that locks the pump into a rigid position for shipping. This
strap needs to be tilted back (bottom swings away from you) in order to free it from its
hole, and can be removed by reaching your hand in between the pod cover and the frame.
Once removed, keep the strap in case it needs to be used later (if you are going to
transport the dyno over a long distance). Thread the bolt (and possibly a spacer, or a nut
that is used as a spacer, that may have been there) into the strap for safe keeping. Find
the Pump Handles (stainless bars with a knurled pattern and a threaded hole in one end)
and thread them on to the stud that is inside the slot on the back side of the pod.

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Keep all of the packing materials together in case they need to be re-used.
For the electronics crate (the lighter crate – possibly with no wooden top) remove the top
lid if there is one. Remove the individual boxes from the crate and set them aside on a
table. Open the door to the red cabinet and remove any contents that may have been
packed inside. Lift the cabinet out of the crate and set it on its wheels on the floor. At
this point, the crate should be empty. Move this crate aside - keep it in case it needs to be
re-used.

Important note:
If you are unpacking more than one dyno at the same time, make sure to keep all of the
electronics of each system matched together – most of the important parts will have
matching serial numbers. If you mix and match components from different systems, you
can end up with a combination that is not properly calibrated.

You should have several individual boxes for the electronics:

Monitor box - normal monitor box - open it and put the monitor base on to the monitor
like a normal PC.

Computer Box - Normal box - Take the computer out and keep the packing materials
inside the box

Controller box - the Controller box looks like another PC, but is more plain looking, and
has different looking connections on the back. Remove it from the box and keep the
packing in the box.

AWD Controller and Computer (backside)

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Open the cabinet door and place the computer and controller in the bottom of the cabinet.
I usually put the computer on the right, controller on the left.

Remove the back cover from the cabinet - this will allow you to access the connections
on the back of the computer and controller once you have them in the cabinet.

Open the printer box and put the printer on the top shelf of the cabinet. Make sure you
remove the packing materials from the printer. You may need to put the cartridges into
the printer, but you can do that later if you want to.

You should also have a box that contains a number of cables, mouse, etc. (Some of these
items may be in the computer box)

Working from the backside of the cabinet, you can make all of the sensor connections.

Find the printer cable, and connect it to the printer and the printer port on the computer –
this is usually a USB port on the computer. Also place the printer power supply on the
shelf behind the printer. Connect the power supply to the printer, and run the power plug
down to the bottom of the cabinet.

By this time you have noticed that you have some unusual looking power plugs. There is
a barrier strip or power box that all of these plugs will go into - that has a standard US
power plug coming out of it. This barrier strip will fit in the bottom of the cabinet behind
the computer and controller - so the power cable can exit out the bottom of the back of
the cabinet.

On a 2wd machine, there will be a single cable coming out of the controller with a plug
on it. This plug will go into the COM 1 port on the computer (this is usually up near the
printer port - it should be labeled).

On a 4wd machine, there will be a thin

cable with a large silver plug on one end,
and two smaller serial plugs on the other
end. The large plug will go into the
matching plug on the controller, and the
small plugs will go into the computer into
the Comm 1 and Comm 2 ports – they
should also be labeled. Connect the cable,
making sure to tighten the screws that
hold it in - this is a critical connection,
you don't want it coming loose. Snug is
tight enough – do not over-tighten these
screws.
AWD Comm Cable

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You may have two keyboards included with the dyno. One standard keyboard and
separate mouse, and one keyboard that has a touch-pad built-in. Most people prefer the
keyboard with the touch-pad as it is easier to use in the car. Use whichever keyboard you
prefer and keep the other as a spare.

Place the Keyboard on the top of the cabinet on

the front edge (door side). There will be an
extension cable (or two) for you to use that will
allow you to move the keyboard inside the car.
I recommend taping (or heatshrink) the
keyboard cable and the extension cable
together to keep them from coming unplugged.
If you have two cables, you may want to run
them inside some type of sheath or conduit for
a neater installation – or you can tie them
together with zip-ties. Plug the cables into the
keyboard and mouse ports on the computer. I
usually get some adhesive hooks to mount on
the back of the cabinet, and you can coil up the
extension cord there - then run the cable
through the upper slot in the back. It is good to
get several hooks, as you will need a place to
hang other cables. You can use the plastic
adhesive type, or if you want to use really nice
ones, you can use metal hooks - they have nice
stainless towel hooks that work well at Home
Depot (or others) that you can screw on to the
cabinet - they are usually in the section with
the drawer knobs and bathroom hardware.

Place the monitor on top of the cabinet. I usually put it all the way towards the back.
You can route the cables through the slot in the back of the cabinet and down to the
computer. Plug the power plug into the barrier strip, and the monitor cord into the
monitor port on the back of the computer.

If you are using the separate mouse, put the mouse pad and mouse on the rear-right
corner of the top lid, and feed the mouse cable down to the computer and plug it in.

There is a stainless steel boom that installs into the top of the cabinet (this is on the
cabinets that are newer than the one shown above). This is usually used to route the
temperature sensor cable (orange cable) and the Vacuum/Boost sensor cable. If you like
the look and functionality of the boom, you can install it. If you like it better without,
leave it out – it’s up to you.

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 There will be an orange cable with a
ceramic tip on it. Plug this cable in to the
back of the controller (only place that has a
matching plug) - it should be labeled
"temp" or "RTD" - coil the excess cable on
the outside of the cabinet and hang it on an
adhesive hook. If you prefer, you can also
route this cable out through boom coming
out of the top of the cabinet and coil it up
on the spring-loaded hangers on top of the
boom.

The ceramic tip on the cord is the temperature sensor - used to measure ambient air temp.
Do not drop this cable on the floor. The tip is a ceramic element that can be damaged if it
impacts the floor or other solid objects.

Troubleshooting tip:
If the tip on the temp sensor is damaged, the temp reading on the dyno will go to
maximum (200F or 100C) – the same as if the sensor is not connected at all.

You will also have a device that looks

like a microphone. This is the Humidity
sensor. Plug it into the matching 4-pin
plug on the back of the controller. There
is usually enough cable to place the
humidity sensor on the top of the cabinet
under the back of the monitor and still
reach down to the receptacle on the
controller. Alternatively, you can just
place it on the shelf inside the cabinet
(behind the printer) if you want to.

The large black cable will go into the

matching plug on the controller - labeled
"Bosch LSU" or similar - this is the cable
for the wide-band O2 sensor. Plug it into
the controller, but don't plug the sensor
into the cable until you are ready to use
it. The sensor is heated, and if you leave
it plugged in, it will get hot when the
dyno controller is turned on - melting the
plastic cap that is on it - and possibly
ruining the sensor. Hang the excess cable
on the back of the cabinet when not in
use (with the sensor disconnected).

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 The Vacuum/boost sensor (unit with black
foam around it) will plug into a matching
cable, and plug into a connector on the
back of the controller - usually labeled
"pressure" or V/B sensor. It should be the
only place on the controller where it will
plug in.
Hang the cable on the side of the cabinet,
or route the cable up through the boom –
whichever you prefer. There should be a
piece of rubber hose and a brass tee to
connect to the pressure input of the sensor
as well.

There will be two large cables (four on

a 4wd machine), with large military
connectors on the end, coming out of
the dyno pods. These connectors go
into the obvious spots on the controller
– they are usually labeled and color
coded. It is a very fine threaded
connector - wiggle it as you tighten it -
it will take a large number of turns to
get it all the way tight.

The pods will only plug in one way, but you have to make sure that the left and rights are
correct, and that you have the correct pods plugged into the master (rear) and slave (front)
outputs. The color code should help eliminate any confusion here.

At this point, the only thing left should be the power plug for the computer and controller
- these will be power cords that will plug into the barrier strip. Plug these in, and then
plug the barrier strip into the wall outlet, or preferably, into a battery backup power
supply. We highly recommend that you purchase a quality battery backup power supply.
We have had the best results with a model made by OptiUps – Model 1000R-RM. The
battery backup power supply will help protect you against power surges and outages. If
you were to lose power in the middle of a dyno run, the dyno will release its load. With
the battery backup, the dyno will run long enough for you to complete the run and get the
computer properly shut down so you don’t lose the data. You may want to connect the
monitor to a non-backed-up output so you will be visually alerted if something happens –
you usually can’t hear the power supply beeping at you when you are running a car at full
throttle, but if the monitor shuts off, it will get your attention and alert you that there is a
problem.

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Power up the monitor, (it may say no signal at first), and then turn on the computer.
Don't turn on the controller yet.

Wait for the computer to power up.

At this point the dyno software should open up automatically, and it will show you a
software user agreement. Read the agreement, then click "I agree" to proceed. The
agreement basically says that you agree not to copy the software.

After that, you should have the dyno main screen in front of you. Once you are at that
point, you can turn the controller on. When you turn the controller on, you should see the
temperature, baro, and humidity boxes on the dyno display come alive and show the
current measured numbers. This will verify that the controller is on and the sensors are
working.

Note: If you turn on the controller before the software is fully open, you may get an error
message saying that the Com port is already in use. If this happens, turn the controller
off, close the dyno software, wait a couple of minutes, restart the software, then turn the
controller back on. You usually don’t have to restart the computer, but it might be
necessary.

Before we go over the operation of the software, now is a good time to cover the
installation of the vehicle on the dyno. We’ll come back to the software when we are
ready to run the car.

Vehicle installation

In this section, we will walk through a step-by-step process of installing the car on the
dyno.

First off, we need to lift the car and remove the drive wheels from the vehicle. Some
people use a lift to raise the vehicle for this, but we prefer to use a good quality floor
jack, as it makes it easier to precisely adjust the height of the car later on. On a 2wd car,
obviously, we only need to do the two drive wheels, on a 4wd car it is usually easier to
lift one end (or sometimes corner) of the car at a time. For this discussion, we will
assume you are installing a 2wd vehicle and the process is simply repeated a second time
for a 4wd car. Placement of the jack will vary depending on the car, so use discretion
here to make sure that what you are doing is safe for the car and your personal safety.

9
 Select the appropriate hub adapter for your vehicle
– either 4-lug or 5-lug, and the correct number of
hub washers to match. The hub washers are
usually contained in a white cardboard tube. Place
the hub adapter against the hub face so that there is
a wheel stud at the top. While holding the hub
adapter with one hand, install the hub washer over
the stud and make sure that the washer keys
squarely into the slot in the hub adapter – if it is
crooked it will try to bind up. Install a lug nut on
that stud until it is finger tight against the washer,
then back it off by one “flat” on the nut to the
washer can slide in the adapter. Note: Two issues
pop up here. Some vehicles may have corrosion
on the studs that may require that you use a wrench
to tighten the nuts – follow the same procedure, go
to snug, then back off a flat. Also, some vehicles
may have unique lug nuts that may not work well
with the hub washers.

The washers are designed for standard tapered seat nuts, but it is usually a good idea to
keep an assortment of different sized nuts on hand in case the customer has something
unusual on their car.

Install the other washers and nuts the same way – snug, then back off a flat. This allows
the hub adapter to float and align itself before you start to tighten it. Once they are all at
the same point, slowly wiggle the hub adapter with one hand as you work your way
around the lug pattern and tighten them up by hand. When they’re all snug, you can use a
hand wrench and tighten them. Hand tight is enough here. You do not need to get them
as tight as on a wheel, and we do not recommend power tools or a breaker bar / torque
wrench for this – a common hand wrench is all you need. If you did all this correctly,
you should notice that it takes about the same amount of wrench movement to tighten all
of the lugs. If one goes tight immediately and another requires 2 full turns of the nut, you
didn’t have them evenly seated – back them all off a little, wiggle the adapter to help it
center, and do it again until it feels right. It may be easier to tighten the nuts if you set
the parking brake or have someone press the brake pedal while you tighten the nuts.
Install the other adapter on the other side, and then when finished, keep the wrench near
by.

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Once you have the hub adapters installed, you need to adjust the height of the vehicle to
match the height of the dyno. Roll the dyno pods up close to the vehicle so the hub
adapter is close to the pump head (the shiny part where the hub adapter plugs in).

Important:
Take a close look at the axle and the pump head. This is a critical point. Alignment is
everything. If the pieces are aligned, the pods will go right on. If not, they will fight you.
They might go on anyway, but it will make the process much more difficult. There are
four areas that we need to look at:

Fore / aft position – the position of the axle front to rear (think wheelbase of the car). To
judge this, look over the top of the pod and look at the two bolts for the latch. If the latch
is hanging down, these two bolts are your goal posts – the axle should be centered.

Vehicle height – this is adjusted by the floor jack. Ideally, you should be able to roll the
pod up to the car and look at it from behind (or front if the car is front-drive). You
should be able to see the hole and see the axle trying to go into it. With the pod in it’s
natural resting position, you want the axle to be centered.

Toe - Many people make the mistake of looking at the body of the car. Ignore it – look
at the axle. The reason that this is important, as that the body may be curved, or the axle
may have toe in/out –either can throw you off. If you are only looking at the axle, you
are looking at the only thing that matters. Make sure the pod is square to the axle.

11
Camber – if the car has an independent suspension, there may be some camber on the
axle – either positive or negative since the suspension is likely at full droop. Use the
pump handle to adjust the camber angle of the pump head to match the angle of the hub.

Roll the pod up to the car as far as it can go. Hopefully, you can get it all the way to the
point where the bearing hits the pump head (if everything was aligned right) – lift the
bearing latch out of the way so the bearing can go all the way to the pump head. If you
can’t get that far, there is a reason why, pull it back a little and look at the four areas we
just went over – one or more of them is wrong. Make the appropriate adjustment and try
again. It’s tricky to do the first few times, but once you get a feel for it, it gets much
easier. When you get the bearing up against the pump head and it is trying to go in, you
want to give a SMALL but forceful wiggle on the handle as you push the pod towards the
car. If you wiggle the handle too far, you’ll be trying to bind it up as it slides.

When pushing the pod, it often works well to hold the bearing latch with one hand and
the pump handle with the other – then lean your body weight into the pod with your leg
in line with the axle. If you are pushing on the pod with your hands, it is easy to try and
cock the pod at an angle and make it more difficult to install. Continue to push and
wiggle and you should see the bearing disappearing into the pump head. If it doesn’t
want to go, try turning the hub with the hand wrench (remember the one I told you to
keep close by? ☺ ). The hub adapter is splined and so is the shaft that it mates to – if the
splines aren’t aligned, they won’t want to mesh – a slow turn of the hub with the wrench
on a lug nut while pushing helps it find its way. It may be easier to have a helper turn the
wrench if you have someone close by. Once you hear the latch drop into its position over
the bearing, you’re in and you can go repeat the process on the other side.

When both sides are done, check the bottom perimeter of the pods and make sure that
there aren’t any cables running under the frame of the pods. If everything is clear, you
are now ready to lower the jack and let the weight of the car rest on the dyno.

Go wash your hands and grab a cold drink and we’ll move on to the software setup.

12
Operation of the dyno

If you don’t have the computer on and running, turn it on now. Wait for the computer to
completely power up and open the dyno software before you turn on the controller.

You should be looking at a screen that looks like this:

This is known as the Home screen. Take a look at the Temp, Baro, and Humidity
numbers – if the controller is on and the sensors are connected, these numbers should be
“live”. If they are static, check to make sure that the controller is turned on and all of the
wiring connections are correct on the back of the computer and controller. This is the
main screen that you will look at while you are running the dyno.

13
Home Screen Functions

Layout of the Home screen

In the diagram above, we have divided the screen into color-coded sections to make it
easier to define. We will give a brief description of each section for familiarization
before we cover these items in more detail later on.

Function Keys
Numbered F1 through F12, these are the hot keys for various software functions. These
can be triggered by pressing the appropriate F key on the keyboard, or by clicking on the
button shown on the screen with the mouse or touch pad. You will find that many
functions in the software have both a keyboard command and a clickable item on the
screen. In some cases, there may be two or three different ways that you can accomplish
the same command.

Strip Graphs
Displays user defined graphs in real time – which can sometimes be easier than watching
the numbers in the sensor section (blue box). These graphs are defined by the controls in
the next section.

Graph Controls – Green Section

These controls define the content and scale range of each graph. If the Visible box is
unchecked, then the graph will be hidden and the other remaining graphs will expand to
fill the void. The graph number on the left side is used to select which graph that you are
defining. The available graphs are numbered 1-4 in order from top to bottom.

14
Speed / Load Control – Orange Section
When the F3 mode (Speed Mode) is turned on, then this box will display the engine RPM
where the dyno will apply load and hold. See the operating section on the F3 Mode for
rules of use.
If the F2 mode (Load Mode) is turned on, this box will show the current user-defined
load level. See the operating section on the F2 Mode for a description for rules of use.

Sensor Information – Blue Section (above)

This area contains live numeric information from the various dyno sensors. We have cut
this area out and displayed it below in order to more easily explain it.
Status – Red Box
Displays current status of the dyno or may
describe the display parameters of the
yellow boxes below.

Speed & Tachometer - Purple Box

Speed Box – Displays the calculated
equivalent ground speed by taking the
measured hub RPM and multiplying it by
the user-entered wheel diameter on the F11
Vehicle Setup screen.

Tachometer Box – Displays calculated

engine RPM by taking measured hub RPM
and multiplying it by the user-entered gear
ratio for the vehicle – also on the F11
screen. See the section that covers the F11
screen for more details.

Blue Box
Power - Displays live (real time) measured power from the axle.
Torque - Displays live (real time) measured torque from the axle, or displays raw
torque/gear ratio to display a torque number similar to most other dynos –
selectable on F10 screen.
Pressure – Displays live pressure reading from the vacuum/boost sensor.

Wheel Boxes – Yellow Box

Depending on the display mode (selected by pressing F6) these boxes can display hub
rpm, load, a combination of rpm and load, or L/R torque split percentage.

15
Voltage Input Boxes – Grey Box
Displays information collected from Voltage input 1 and 2 on the control box. Typically,
Volt 1 is factory assigned as the input used by the built-in Lambda Meter (AFR Meter).
When you have Volt 1 selected as Lambda (selected on the F10-Vehicle setup screen),
then the box will show either Lambda or AFR numbers. Display will be:

LAP1 - Lambda/Petrol (gasoline) (input 1) AF P 1 - Air Fuel Ratio/Petrol

LA A 1 - Lambda / Alcohol AF A 1 - AFR / Alcohol
LA g 1 - Lambda / LPG (propane) AF g 1 - AFR / LPG
LA d 1 - Lambda / Diesel AF d 1 - AFR / Diesel

If the display is set to Volts, then the box will display the raw voltage coming into
that input. Since V1 is usually pre assigned to the Lambda Meter, then V1 will
usually stay set to Lambda, regardless of whether you choose to display Lambda
or AFR numbers in this box.

The Voltage 2 box follows all of the same rules, except it usually comes
configured as a BNC connector on the back of the control box that will allow you
to feed a 0-5v signal to monitor on the Volt 2 box on the screen. If you had your
machine equipped with dual Lambda meters, then the second meter will be
connected to V2 and it will also be set to Lambda.

Weather Boxes – Orange Box

Displays information from the temp sensor (orange cable), baro sensor (built inside the
controller), and humidity sensor (silver tube that looks like a microphone). This
information is used for atmospheric power correction if you have that feature turned on.

Before we go into a basic operation of the software, we need to go to the F10 System
Setup screen. This is where we will setup the basic parameters of the machine and set the
units of measurement that you are comfortable with. Choose the units you wish to use.

16
F10 – System Setup Screen

Units of measurement

Torque – Can be defined as Pound feet, Newton Meters, or Kilogram Meters

Power – Can be defined as HP, PS, or KW

Pressure – Has 6 possible settings: In Hg – PSI (Gauge pressure)

MM Hg – Kg/cm (Gauge pressure)
KPA (Gauge pressure)
PSI Absolute
Kg/cm Absolute
KPA Absolute

Speed Control – The dyno can be controlled by the Engine RPM or Hub RPM.

Power correction – Determines the atmospheric power correction method that

will be used. SAE is the most commonly used method in the USA. If
None is selected, then there will be no atmospheric power correction
applied.

Power Correction Mode – Set as Manual or Automatic. Normally set to

Automatic. In the Auto mode, the dyno will continuously sample the
sensors to obtain new weather information for each line of data. In
manual mode, you can manually key in the weather data in the boxes in

17
 the home screen, and those numbers will be applied to all lines of dyno
data.

Strip Graph Speed – Adjusts the scrolling speed of the strip graphs on the right
side of the Home screen.

Inputs
Voltage 1 – Selects display for voltage input 1 – typically, this is set to
Lambda if you machine is equipped with a built-in lambda meter
(air/fuel ratio meter).
Voltage 2 – Selects display for voltage input 2. Follows the same rules as
Voltage input 1. If your machine has a second built in Lambda
meter, then this would be set to Lambda, If your machine is
equipped with a BNC connector on the back of the controller (most
are) then this input would be set to Volts.

Note: If either voltage input is set to None, then the respective

display will disappear from the home screen.

Pressure input – defines the type of pressure sensor used – the standard
supplied sensor is a Dynamic pressure sensor.

Zero MAP – If the pressure displayed by the Vacuum/Boost sensor

(Dynamic pressure sensor) is set to a gauge pressure value, then
you can click this button to zero the reading to the current
barometric conditions.

Temperature – Assigns a label to the temperature graph – does not

change the function of the temperature sensor itself.

Lambda Type – Chooses the type of Lambda meter being used. If your
system came with a built-in Lambda meter, set to Motec PLM or
Dynapack. This choice will define the Lambda type for both
Voltage input 1 and 2.

Fuel Type – Choices include Petrol (gasoline), Alcohol, LPG (propane) or

Diesel. Selects type of fuel being measured by the Lambda meter.

Display – Changes the display between Lambda or AFR numbers

Torque Display – Set the default torque display to either true measured
axle torque or a display that will show axle torque divided by the gear
ratio when displayed live on the Home Screen.

The difference?

18
If we have an example car that makes 200lb/ft of torque on the crank, and
has a 4:1 gear ratio in the drive train, then we would expect the torque on
the axle to be about 800lb/ft (we’ll ignore drivetrain loss for now). The
gear ratio in the drivetrain multiplies the torque and divides the RPM. In
this case, if you select the Axle Torque display, torque would be displayed
as 800. The problem is, most people will think that number is inaccurate
because they aren’t used to seeing real measured torque numbers. Most
other dynos do not measure torque directly as we do, and they measure
RPM from the engine instead of the axle, so they show you the torque as
being 200 – even though that is incorrect, and not “wheel torque” as
people think it is. We allow you to see actual measured torque, or the
torque/gear like everyone else uses so it is more familiar and less
confusing to your customers. If you select Torque instead of Axle Torque,
the torque numbers will be the measured torque divided by the entered
gear ratio.

Correct Torque with Power Correction – If you have the power

correction turned on, then HP will automatically be corrected for
weather conditions using the correction formula chosen (SAE
correction, etc.). If this box is checked, the torque will be
corrected also. If not, torque will be left as a raw number. In most
cases, you will want this checked.

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Operating the dyno – Typical start to finish process

We’ll walk through the process that you would typically use once you have the car
installed on the dyno. This will be in the order you would usually use for an average test.
We’ll explain the steps along the way and offer explanations for alternative options
shown on the screen at the time.

Since you should be looking at the Home screen right now, the first place you’ll want to
go is the F8 Folders screen. Press the F8 key and you should see this:

This is the file management screen for the dyno software. We’ll go into detail on this
screen later on, but for now we’ll concentrate on getting the dyno running. Many of the
functions in the dyno software make more sense after you have a little bit of experience
with the operation of the dyno. The reason why we want to go here first, is because you
have either run this car before, or you haven’t. If you have run this car before, we can open
our previous saved data which contains all of our vehicle data – saving us the time of
entering it over again. If you haven’t run this car before, we need to create a folder to save
our data into later on. Since this may be the first time you’re doing this, we’ll assume for
now that this is a car you haven’t tested before. In this case, Click on F7 New Folder.
This will pop up a window that will ask for a folder name – enter a name for the folder you
are creating. When you press the enter key, it will automatically take you to the next place
we need to go – the F11 Vehicle Setup screen.

20
F11 Vehicle Setup screen

The F11 screen is where we need to enter information about the vehicle being tested.
You can either click on the boxes to enter the information, or you can use the tab key and
keyboard to make changes.

Vehicle Type – This box changes the control characteristics of the dyno making for a
more or less aggressive control. Your choices are: Light, Custom, and Heavy. Typically,
most vehicles will operate fine in the Custom (medium) mode, but if you find that the
dyno is not controlling the car as smoothly as it normally does, you may want to switch to
one of the other control types. If you do this, Try all three control types and use the mode
that works best – i.e. Light control is not always best suited for a light vehicle.

Wheel Dia – This is where we enter the total tire diameter of the vehicle. This is needed
for the dyno to be able to correctly calculate ground speed. If you don’t care if the
indicated ground speed is correct, you can ignore this box, as it doesn’t affect the control
characteristics or loading of the dyno.

21
TC Factor (Total Correction Factor) – In some sections of the software, there will be
places that show “Axle” torque and HP and in other places it will just say Power and
Torque/Gear. If you want to make a ESTIMATE for what the flywheel numbers would
be and estimate a loss factor, you can enter it here. If you enter a TCF or 1.0, there is no
correction made. If you use a TCF of 1.15, then the dyno software would add 15% (x
1.15) only to the numbers that are labeled “Power” (not Axle Power) and Torque (not
Axle Torque). Keep in mind that this will always be an estimate to be used at your
discretion. Most of the assumptions that people make about drivetrain losses are based
more on hearsay than actual science, so be careful here. If you’d rather not deal with all
of that and just leave the power numbers alone, then leave it at 1.0

System – On the home screen, the yellow wheel data boxes along the side of the car can
show the master pods set to either the front of the car or the rear of the car. This simply
changes the display on the screen and displays the master pods on the appropriate end of
the car.

Drive Ratio – This is probably the most important box on this whole screen, as a number
of the dyno’s software functions use the number that is entered here as a basis for
calculating other displayed information. The number that you enter here will be the
TOTAL drive ratio from the crankshaft to the axle. On many cars, you will want to use a
gear in the transmission that is a 1:1 gear – then you only need to be concerned with the
final drive ratio. A 1:1 transmission gear is often ideal to test in because it reduces the
amount of torque going into the dyno (compared to 2nd or 3rd gear for example). An
overdrive gear in the transmission may not be very strong, and may translate to
excessively high hub rpm (ground speed) that could cause other issues. Either way, the
number entered will be the total gear ratio for the gear you will use for the test.

Examples: A Mustang in 4th gear (1:1) gear and a 3.55 rear end would be a total of 3.55
The same car in 3rd gear (1.3:1) would be 1.3 x 3.55 = 4.615

Some cars (especially transaxle cars) don’t have a 1:1 gear, so you will always want to
think about the total gear ratio – not just the ring & pinion ratio.

If you are using an automatic transmission, see page 46 for setup and testing tips. In
general, we recommend learning the operation of the dyno with a manual transmission
first, as they are easier to learn with. If that isn’t an option for you, then you will want to
follow the addendum on page 46 while you are working through this section.

What if I don’t know the car’s gear ratio? Well, glad you asked. That brings us to……

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Setup Ratio – this function is used if you don’t know the actual ratio of the vehicle you
are testing. Whenever possible, you want to enter the ratio manually as described above,
but if you don’t have access to that information, this function will allow you to measure
the effective ratio of the gear you are testing in. When you click the Setup Ratio button,
it takes you to another screen. The Setup Ratio screen looks like this:

To perform this test, we need to have an accurate way of measuring the engine RPM.
The dyno takes all of its RPM readings from the axle, so the Engine RPM that is
displayed, is simply the measured hub RPM multiplied by the number in the Drive Ratio
box. There are a number of ways we can measure Engine RPM. Probably the least
accurate method is to use the tach in the dash – these are known to have varying degrees
of accuracy. If that’s all you have available, it will work, but be advised that the gear
ratio you measure will only be as accurate as the RPM measurement device you use.
Better tools to use for RPM measurement would include a Digital timing light with a
Tach display, an OBD scan tool, Laptop based ECU tuning software, etc.

Will it affect my power numbers if the gear ratio is off? In a word, no. The reason is
because the measured power and torque are based off of the measured axle torque and
RPM. What will be off, is the RPM labeling on the graphs. For example: your power
peak may actually be at 5350RPM instead of the indicated 5435 shown on the graph.

23
We also need to choose a Control Speed, or “target speed” for the test. This is the RPM
that we are intending to hold at – it will probably not be the actual RPM where the dyno
applies load – at least not to start with. The RPM you choose depends on the
characteristics of the vehicle you are testing, but the default on the screen is 2000RPM. I
usually bump it up to 3000RPM – especially if it is a car that will be revving to
6000RPM or more, but it is up to you.

To perform the test, we need to start the car and put it in the gear we are going to use for
the test. There is no need to start in first gear and drive the car up to speed first – this is
because the dyno will not apply load from a stop like a roller dyno will. If you are using
4th gear, just go straight into 4th and let out the clutch as if you are leaving a stop sign on
the street (as you would in first gear on the street).

Bring the Engine RPM up until you feel the dyno apply a load and hold you at a
certain RPM. This will probably not be at the RPM shown on the screen unless the gear
ratio on the dyno is already correct. Once the dyno is holding load, apply a little extra
throttle to hold the car up against the load point – don’t try to adjust the Engine
RPM with the throttle, let the dyno control the engine RPM by applying enough
throttle to keep the car up against the dyno hold point. If you can go to high RPM
and the dyno does not apply a load, then back off of the throttle (maybe hold it around
2500 with your foot) and use the Up Arrow key to adjust the gear ratio closer to your
actual gear ratio and try again. Repeat until you can get the dyno to load and hold at a
reasonable RPM.

Now that we have the car holding, we need to look at our vehicle’s actual engine RPM –
using whatever tool you have at your disposal. For the purposes of this tutorial, I’ll
assume that you’re using a dash tach – even though we’ve already mentioned that it is not
the best tool, the principle is the same.

If we have set the Control Speed to 3000RPM and the car is actually holding at an
indicated 3500RPM on the dash tach, then the gear ratio on the dyno screen is too low
(numerically). To remedy this, we will use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys on the
keyboard to change the gear ratio on the screen. As we do this, the vehicle RPM will
change. We want to adjust the gear ratio so the Engine RPM and Control Speed shown
on the dyno will match the RPM shown on the dash tach. The easy way to remember
how to do this is to remember that the arrows on the keyboard will work opposite of the
dash tach. For example, If the engine is holding at 3500RPM under load and our Control
speed is 3000RPM, then the dash tach needle needs to come down, so we use the up
arrow key to adjust the ratio. When we adjust the ratio using the arrow only, the engine
RPM change is very slow. You’ll notice the green box says “Shift for Course Adjust”. If
you hold down the Shift key while you are holding down the Up Arrow key, it will move
ten times faster. Typically you’ll hold down the Shift and Arrow key to quickly get the
actual engine RPM close to your target (Control RPM) – then once you’re close, let off of
the Shift key and use the arrow key only to fine tune it. Using a digital display on a scan
tool or laptop makes this process much more precise than trying to eye a needle on a tach.

24
Try it out. It’s a lot easier to do than it is to explain. Once you have the gear ratio
adjusted so the dash tach matches the indicated RPM and Control Speed shown on the
dyno screen, then the gear ratio number shown on the dyno screen should be correct. If it
isn’t correct (and you are sure of it), then the device you are using to measure engine
RPM is wrong. Once you have the ratio correct, let off of the throttle and put the car in
neutral to stop the hubs. Once the hubs are stopped, click OK and you will exit the Setup
Gear screen, and the measured gear ratio will be placed in the Drive Ratio box on the F11
screen for you. Now that we’re done with that, we can go back to looking at the
functions of the F11 screen. Go ahead and shut the car off, we have some more learning
to do before we are ready to run the car again.

Gearbox – This is a function that will allow the user to select an automatic transmission
program that is currently under development – as of now, this box is locked to manual
mode. That isn’t to say that you can’t test a car with an automatic trans – you can, but
there is not a special mode for it right now. For tips on testing with Automatic
transmissions, see the addendum on page 46.

Gear – This is just a place to note the gear you are using for the test – it doesn’t change
anything in the software or dyno control.

Weight – You can enter the vehicle’s weight here so the dyno can calculate approximate
acceleration rates on the road and G-force and display them on a graph. This does not
affect the loading characteristics or acceleration rate of the dyno – that is defined by the
user elsewhere. If you don’t care about the calculated acceleration rate on the road, then
you can ignore this box and it won’t have any impact on the way that the dyno loads or
controls the vehicle being tested.

Setup Wheel – This button will take you to a screen that will allow you to measure a tire
diameter based on a speedometer reading. It works exactly the same way as the Setup
Gear screen, except you are adjusting the tire diameter to match the speedometer – as
opposed to adjusting the Gear to match the Tach. You can either use this screen, or just
grab a tape measure and measure the tire yourself.

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Autoplot Setup

At the bottom of the F11 Screen, we have the Autoplot Setup section. This is the area
where we define the parameters of the Autoplot test, also known as the F1 mode. This
could also be called a sweep test, or acceleration test. Here we can define a start and
finish point for our test, and how the vehicle will be controlled in between these points.
There are three types of Autoplot tests that we can perform. The tests are selected by the
box that says Control Type.

Ramp Test – the ramp test section looks like this:

In a Ramp test, we have a steady linear acceleration between the Start and Finish points.
The rate of acceleration is defined by the Ramp Time. This is defined in seconds. In the
screen above, we would be accelerating from 1500 to 3000RPM in 6 seconds. If we
wanted to accelerate faster, we would decrease the ramp time, if we want to accelerate
slower, we would increase the ramp time.

Tip: Many people ask where to set the Ramp Time. It really depends on the type of test
that you are trying to do. For example, if you want to simulate what the car does in a
lower gear (even though you are testing in 4th) – you would use a faster ramp time. To
simulate a high gear top-end run, you’d use a slower ramp time. It depends on what you
are trying to do. A good place to start if you don’t have anything specific in mind is to
set the Ramp Time to about 2 to 2.5 seconds per thousand RPM you are covering
(500rpm per second). In the above example, we are covering a range of roughly 4
thousand RPM, so 4 x 2 = 8 seconds, 4 x 2.5 = 10 seconds – so 8 to 10 seconds is a range
that would give an acceleration rate that seems normal to most people when you are
running the car.

There is also a function called Initial Settle Time. At the beginning of the run, we need
to stabilize the car before we release it and start the test. This is so we can release the car
consistently each time for consistent and comparable data – especially at the beginning of
the run. The Initial Settle Time is a period in seconds that we will hold the vehicle steady
at the beginning of the run. The default time is 4 seconds and that is where we
recommend you leave it – at least initially. Once you are more comfortable with the

26
operation of the dyno, you can shorten it up if you want to. If the Lead-In RPM is set to
zero, then we will hold at the Start RPM. If we set the Lead-In RPM to 100, then the
Initial Settle point will be 100RPM below the Start RPM. If we have the Lead-In set to
100 on the screen above, the dyno would hold at 1400RPM for 4 seconds, then release
and start the sweep. When the vehicle hits 1500RPM, the dyno would start logging the
data and continue until it hits 3000RPM at the end of the run.

Launch from F3 mode – This function was designed for cars using SMG type
transmissions. To use this mode, you set your Autoplot functions like normal, but you
begin the test in the F3 mode. Either under load, or not under load, you can have
unlimited time to upshift the car into your test gear and get it to hold under load. Once
you have the car in the correct gear and stabilized, press F1 to start the Autoplot. From
that point on, it acts like a normal Autoplot.

We’ll run through a brief description of what would happen on an autoplot using the
Autoplot information on the Vehicle Setup screen shown above.

First, you would go back to the home screen and turn on the Autoplot mode by pressing
the F1 key on the keyboard, or by clicking the button on the screen. We’ll assume that
the car is already running and warmed up. Put the car in the test gear (4th in this case)
and bring the engine RPM up until the dyno applies a load and holds at 1500RPM. When
you feel the dyno apply the load, you roll the throttle to the position you want – typically
full throttle – and the dyno will continue to hold the car at 1500 for 4 seconds from the
time where you first reached 1500RPM. At the end of the 4 second Settle Time, the dyno
will reduce load and allow the car to accelerate to reach the Finish RPM of 3000 in 6
seconds from the time the sweep started. When we reach 3000RPM the dyno will apply
load and hold you at 3000 – preventing you from going any higher. Also at this time, the
Home screen will change to a Torque and Horsepower graph to visually alert you that the
run is finished and you can take your foot off of the floor and decelerate the vehicle.
Once the hub rpm comes back to zero, then the dyno resets itself and is ready to start the
next run. There is usually no need to touch the brake unless the car has an automatic
transmission.

Step Tests – A step test is conducted in a similar way to a Ramp test. The difference is
instead of a linear acceleration between the start and finish RPM points, the dyno has
steps that it will hold at between the two points. They way the dyno does this is defined
as Step Size and Step Time. The Step size determines the amount of RPM between each
step point – i.e., a Step size of 100 would mean that the dyno would step through the
RPM range in 100RPM increments. The Step Time is the amount of time that the dyno
holds on each step before proceeding to the next one. There are two step tests, Big Step
and Small Step – the difference is the Small Step program uses a fixed short step time,
and the step sizes are smaller.

I recommend that you just use the Ramp program to start with, as it is easier to use and
understand. After you gain some experience and feel comfortable with the way the dyno
operates, you can go back and experiment with the step tests if you want to.

27
Now that we have an understanding of what the controls do, Enter the information for
your vehicle in the applicable areas on the F11 screen, - including the Autoplot Setup
parameters. We don’t need to go for maximum power here; we are just trying to learn the
operation of the dyno, so go with a conservative setting on the Finish RPM to start with.
Once you have entered this information in, either click on the F11 OK button at the
bottom of the screen, or hit the F11 key to exit this screen and return to the Home screen.
If you don’t see the Home screen (and see a graph instead) hit the Home key on the
keyboard and it should return you there (See why we call it the Home screen?)

Modes of Operation

There are three control modes for the dyno. Any time you are running a vehicle under
load on the dyno, you will have one of these three control modes turned on. The control
modes are:

F1 – Autoplot Mode
F2 – Load Mode
F3 – Speed Mode

Each of these modes is turned on by either pressing the corresponding function key at the
top of the keyboard, or by clicking on the appropriate button on the screen. To exit a
control mode, you use the same method. You must turn off the control mode you are
currently in, before you can enter another. You also cannot enter or exit any control
mode if the hubs are turning – the vehicle’s hubs must be stopped. This is to prevent
accidentally or dangerously engaging or releasing a control mode.

In order to understand how the modes work, we need to understand the principle of how
the dyno applies load and how it responds to the car. The dyno pods themselves are
basically an oil pump, with a computer-controlled valve on the outlet. By varying the
valve, we can change the resistance on the pump, and the load on the vehicle. Because
we are providing resistance only, we cannot do anything that will “back drive” the
vehicle being tested. The dyno monitors the RPM of the axle and adjusts the load to
whatever it needs to be to accomplish the task at hand.

We’ll review the control modes out of order to make them easier to understand and learn.

F3 – Speed Mode. In this Mode, you will set a speed in the Speed box near the bottom
of the screen. Go ahead and turn on the F3 mode by pressing the F3 key. When the
vehicle is running (turning the hubs) the dyno will allow you to go up to the RPM shown
in the speed box, but not exceed it. Once you reach the set RPM, the dyno will apply the
amount of load necessary to keep you at that speed. If you apply more power, then dyno
will apply more load automatically to keep you there. This mode is very useful for
holding a steady RPM while mapping an engine – while you adjust the engine load level
with the throttle position. Note that power and torque are displayed on the screen in real-
time.

28
Exercise: With the F3 mode on (the F3 button should be green on the screen), set
the hold speed to 2500RPM. There are a couple of different ways you can change
the set RPM. You can use the up and down arrow keys on the keyboard to
increase or decrease the set speed. The arrows work in these increments:

Up / Down Arrow – Changes made in 100 RPM increments

Shift – Up / Down Arrow – Changes made in 10RPM increments
Ctrl – Up / Down Arrow – Changes made in 1 RPM increments

The other way you can set the speed is to click on the display box on the screen
and type the number into the box and press Enter. When you have the speed set
to 2500, start the car, put it in your test gear and let out the clutch smoothly.
Bring the engine RPM up to 2500RPM and feel the dyno apply load when it gets
there. When the dyno applies load, the Tach box on the screen will change to
blue to show that load has been applied. Note that there is no load applied by the
dyno below the set speed. If it is flickering between blue and while, then you are
barely applying enough throttle to get to 2500, apply a little more throttle and the
vehicle will stay smoothly up against the load point and the box should stay
steady blue. Roll out of the throttle and this time be a little more aggressive with
the throttle going back into the load point – you’ll find that the dyno does not
shock load the drivetrain immediately at the set speed, the more aggressively you
come into the load point, the more that the dyno will allow you to overshoot the
set point and will smoothly apply load and bring the car back down to the set
point. Do this a few times while applying the throttle with varying levels of
aggressiveness and get a feel for how the dyno applies load under these
conditions.

Bring the car up to the set speed and apply a little extra throttle to keep the car up
against the load point – maybe use about 2/3 throttle. While the car is at the
steady speed, press the Up Arrow key once. Notice that you raised the set speed
and the corresponding vehicle speed by 100RPM and the car is now holding at
2600RPM. Try it again and we are now holding at 2700RPM. Press the Down
Arrow key twice and we are back down to 2500RPM again. We can do all of this
without changing the throttle position, in real time. If you’re still holding at
2500RPM, click on the box on the screen and CAREFULLY type in 2700 and
enter. You are now holding at 2700RPM. Now key in 2500 and you are back
down again. You can apply whatever amount of throttle you want and the dyno
what apply the amount of load necessary to keep you from exceeding the set
speed. Experiment with this control until you feel comfortable with the control
and loading and the way the car responds to it.

29
F1 – Autoplot Mode. This the acceleration test that we discussed earlier when we
covered the Autoplot Setup on the F11 Vehicle Setup screens. The dyno will allow the
car to go to the start point and hold – just like we did previously in the F3 mode.
However, the dyno will only hold for the Initial Settle Time (usually 4 seconds) then it
will allow the car to sweep to the Finish RPM in the amount of time entered in the Ramp
Time box. The dyno will then hold at the Finish RPM until you back off of the throttle
and stop the hubs. Once the hubs are stopped, the dyno resets itself and is ready to do
another Autoplot. You can do up to 6 Autoplots before you need to save the runs, and
clear the screen so you can create another set of up to 6 runs.

Exercise: For the purposes of this exercise, we’ll assume that you have entered
the Autoplot parameters when we discussed the F11 screen – if you haven’t, go to
the F11 screen and enter in your Autoplot information and make sure that the
Drive Ratio is correct for the gear you will be using (usually 4th gear).

If you sense anything wrong with the car while conducting the Autoplot test – lift
off of the throttle. We don’t want you to do anything that will damage the
vehicle. If you create what we call an “Aborted Autoplot”, you can either keep it
or you can delete it by pressing the F9 key.

Start the car, engage your test gear and bring the vehicle up to speed on the dyno.
Just as you did on the F3 mode, bring the car up against the load point at the Start
RPM (note that the Tach box on the dyno screen turns blue when under load). If
you wish to do the Autoplot at full-throttle, roll the throttle down to full when you
first see the Tach Box turn blue. Keep the throttle there as the dyno stabilizes the
car and goes through the Initial Settle Time. When the Initial Settle Time is up
and the sweep begins, the Tach Box will turn green. Keep the throttle at full the
whole time as the vehicle sweeps up to the finish RPM. When the dyno reaches
the Finish RPM, the dyno screen will change from the Home screen to the Axle
Torque and HP graph. When you see this screen change, roll out of the throttle
and put the car in neutral – just as you would if you did it on the road – there is no
need to touch the brake pedal. The hubs will stop very quickly. Once the hubs
have stopped, the dyno is ready to do another Autoplot if you want to – just repeat
the same procedure over again.

If you’ve looked at the graph, you’ve probably noticed that the torque numbers
seem high. That is because this is the “Axle Torque” or the actual torque
measured on the axle. What you are probably used to seeing, are approximated
“flywheel” torque numbers – we can show you that too. If you want to see that,
hit the Page Down key a few times to scroll down to the Torque/Gear Ratio and
Power graph. We’ll explain the differences later on. If you want to get back to
the Home screen – hit the Home key on the keyboard, or press the Up or Down
Arrow keys until you get back there. Repeat the Autoplot process until you feel
comfortable with it and you are ready to move on.

30
 Remember: You can only do 6 Autoplots at a time until you need to save the file
and clear the screen. To do this, go back to the home screen if you aren’t already
there (Home key) then hit F5 to save, enter a file name and press Enter. Then go
to the top of the screen and click the Reset menu, and then click Reset Live
Autoplots to clear the screen. You can now do another 6 autoplots until you need
to clear the screen again. Saving the Autoplots is optional, but resetting the
screen is necessary to continue. When 6 Runs are completed, you’ll see the Status
bar on the top of the dyno screen flashing purple saying “Run 6 of 6 complete” –
this is your cue to save and reset the screen.

F2 – Load Mode. The F2 Mode provides a fixed level of load (resistance) to the axle
that you can vary the RPM against. In the F3 mode, we had a fixed RPM, with a variable
load – load was varied by the computer to keep you at that fixed speed. The F2 Mode is
the opposite – it provides a fixed load level that is user adjustable, that you can vary the
RPM against. The F2 mode behaves just like driving up an incline – more load = a
steeper incline. With more load, you will accelerate slower and decelerate faster – just
like an incline. This is not the same as inertial load – where you accelerate and decelerate
slower. When the F2 Mode is turned on, the load level always starts at zero. You cannot
apply load until the axle speed reaches at least 200RPM – this is to prevent the user from
applying a load from a dead stop. When you have reached at least 200 RPM on the axle,
you can start to add load to the vehicle. You control the load just like you controlled the
RPM in the F3 Mode – by either using the Up / Down Arrow keys, or by clicking on the
box and keying it in. The load numbers shown are referenced to the torque level in
Newton-Meters. If the hubs come to a stop, the load will automatically reset to zero. If
you have load applied, and you lift completely off of the throttle, you may stall the car
(everybody does it a few times until they get used to it). Remember to push in the clutch
as you lift off of the throttle – just as you would if you were driving the car on an incline.

Exercise: Turn on the F2 Mode, put the car in gear and bring the car up to speed
– use the throttle to hold the car around 2000RPM. With the Up Arrow key, bring
the load level up to 100. Vary the throttle position and run the vehicle up and
down the rev range. You’ll notice that this is a light level of load for most cars,
and the car revs up easily.

Now while holding the engine RPM steady, bump the load level up to 200 and rev
the throttle up and down again. You’ll notice that the engine revs a little slower,
and decelerates a little faster, and it requires more throttle to hold a steady RPM.
Try the same thing at higher load levels and feel the difference until you are
comfortable with it.

You have now used all three control modes of the dyno. Most all of the testing you do
with the machine will be with one of these three modes. There are no preset guidelines
for when you will use a certain mode for a test – let your experience be your guide.
Think about the work you need to do, and contemplate how each control mode might be
useful for the task at hand. In other words, don’t assume that you do all of your tuning in

31
the F1 mode. If you have the ability to tune the vehicle in real-time, it is often better to
do most of your tuning in the F3 mode and use the F1 mode to generate a final graph.

Reviewing the Home screen

In this section, we will review and detail the functions of the Home screen. Since you
already have some experience with the Home screen and we have already covered some
of the home screen information, we will be brief in our description of items we have
already covered or used, and go into more detail in areas we have not already discussed.

Function Keys – in order

F1 Engages / Disengages the Autoplot Mode

F2 Engages / Disengages the Load Mode

F3 Engages / Disengages the Speed Mode

F4 Odometer / Speed – Switches the display between an odometer display or

a vehicle speed display on the corresponding box on the screen.

Shift + F4 Displays raw numerical data from Autoplot runs or Log Data (see pg. 41)

F5 Saves the current live data to a user designated file in the Active Folder on
the F8 screen. (See the section on the F8 screen for more detail on the
Active Folder)

F6 Display function – changes the display of the yellow “wheel boxes” at the
top of the screen. The display in these boxes represent Hub RPM, Hub
Load, RPM on one side and Load on the other, or Left/Right torque split
percentage. When a control mode is engaged, the F6 key cycles through
these various displays. A label above the boxes will tell you which
display mode you are in. On a 2wd vehicle, two yellow boxes are
displayed. If a second set of pods are connected on a 4wd machine, and
wheelspeed is detected on the second set of pods, then the second set of
boxes will appear and all four wheels will be displayed.

F7 Data Log – Creates a data file when running in the F2 or F3 modes. When
you are generating Autoplots, a data file is automatically generated, but
since work performed in F2 or F3 may cover a long period of time, a data
file or a Log File is only generated when the user presses the F7 key.
When the F7 key is pressed, the user can enter a time interval (data
sampling interval) and the dyno will log the data until you either press the
F7 key again to stop logging, or until the hubs stop. When the log stops,
you will need to enter a file name for the Log File. The Log File will be
saved in the Active Folder.

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F8 Enters the F8 File screen. This is the screen used for file management –
see the section on the F8 screen for more detail.

F9 Delete Plot – Used if you wish to delete a live plot (shown as solid lines
on the graphs). You can either delete the most recent plot, or all of the
plots. If you have done 4 plots, you cannot go back and delete plot 2 – if
you want to delete plot number 2 only, you need to delete it right after it is
created, or before you generate plot 3. Although you cannot go back and
delete plot 2, you can Hide it – see the section on the Autoplot menu at the
top of the screen. The Hide function doesn’t delete the data, but it does
remove it from view, which is often an acceptable alternative.

F10 System Setup screen – covered in detail earlier. This is the section where
you configure the system sensors and units of measurement.

F11 Vehicle Setup screen – also covered in detail earlier. Used to establish
vehicle parameters and Autoplot setup. Also allows access to the Run
Notes section where you can create notes for each Autoplot for future
reference. These notes are saved with the data when the file is saved.

F12 Statistics Screen – displays peak HP and Torque for each plot, Mean
(average) HP and Torque numbers for each plot, and differences between
mean numbers from plot to plot – displayed both as the numeric value and
the percentage of the whole. This screen shows the “area under the curve”
for the Autoplot, and is useful in determining when an overall gain has
been achieved – even though the peak numbers may have decreased. Note
that the data shown on the screen is selected by the control on the bottom
left corner of the screen. Data selected can be either Live, Source, or
Comparison data – see the section on the F8 screen for an explanation of
the differences between these data categories.

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Home Screen – Top Menus

The pull-down menus at the top of the screens offer several options – some of them are
duplicates of other buttons or keyboard shortcuts on the screen.

File Menu
Print – Prints the image shown on the screen. Configure the data the way you
want on the screen, then click print and the printout will look like the
image on the screen. Some screens have a print button on the screen
instead.

Quit – Exits the Dynapack program – followed by an “are you sure” box.

Display Menu – Selects various graphs and screens available. Many of these screens can
be accessed by using the Page Up / Page Down keys, or there are also keyboard
shortcuts noted next to some of the items.

Setup Menu
Vehicle – Accesses the Vehicle Setup screen – same as the F11 key
System – Accesses the System Setup screen – same as the F10 key
Company Name – Allows the user to enter a company name to be displayed on
the dyno screen and printouts, also allows the user to upload a bitmap
image into the dyno software that is displayed on the screen and on the
printouts. This bitmap image is usually used to display a company logo.
Upgrade Software – Some software upgrades are supplied on a cd. If this is the
case, you would insert the cd into the drive and click this button to
activate the upgrade process. The software should install automatically.
Other software upgrades may be installed via remote internet connection
and may not require this function.
Calibration – Allows access to calibration functions in the software – for factory
use only. Requires a password to enter.

Reset Menu
Reset Odometer – Resets the odometer in the Speed/Odometer box.
Reset Strip Graph – Resets (clears) the Strip Graphs on the right of the screen.
Reset Last Autoplot – Clears the most recent Live Autoplot generated.
Reset Live Autoplots – Clears all Live Autoplots.
Reset Source Data – Clears data loaded as a Source file (see F8 screen section)
Reset Comparison Data – Clears data loaded as a Comparison file.
Reset Log File – Clears the data in the Log file (Data log function).
Reset Everything – Resets all of the above.

Autoplot Menu – Hide functions allow you to hide (temporarily remove) lines of data
from the graphs. Autoplot data is labeled as Live, Source, or Comparison.
Live Data – Data generated from this session – not loaded from a file.
Source Data – Data from a file, labeled a Source file by the user when opened.

34
 Comparison Data – Data from a file, labeled a Comparison file by the user when
opened.(see the section on the F8 screen for info on Source & Comparison

You may want to hide lines of data to make other lines of data easier to see, or to remove
unnecessary data lines from a printout. If you hide a line of data on the screen, it will not
show on the printout – the printout will match what is on the screen. To make the lines
reappear, click on the same item in the menu again to un-check it.

Keep Aborted Autoplots – When this item is unchecked, an Autoplot run needs to reach
it’s Finish RPM in order to be graphed and kept in the file. Otherwise, no graph is
displayed and a Run Aborted message is displayed at the top of the screen. If the Keep
Aborted Autoplots function is turned on, then the run will be displayed and logged. You
will have to manually delete it (using either the F9 or the Reset Last Autoplot command
in the Reset menu) if you do not want to keep the data. Remember: if you want to delete
the aborted autoplot, you need to do it before generating another autoplot. Otherwise,
you will only be able to hide the data from view, or delete the whole file.

Help Menu – Opens the PDF help file in either English or Japanese, and the About
function displays the software version, and Dynapack contact information. The software
version number is also usually displayed in the blue bar at the top of the screen.

35
F8 File Management screen

The F8 screen is where we can manage our data files, or open them. Data files generated
are stored in Folders – which are displayed on the left side of the screen. Files that are
contained within those folders are displayed in the middle section of the screen. The Run
Notes (accessed by going to the F11 Screen, then pressing F2 – see the bottom of the
screen) for each file are displayed on the right side of the screen. Since you can only
have six autoplots in a file, there are six Run Boxes on the screen. Note that on the
screen shown above, the first three are lit up, the last three are dim – this is because there
are only three runs in the file that is selected (highlighted in blue in the center). Note that
a date and time are automatically generated into the file name when the file is saved.
Autoplot files are displayed as .abf files, Log data files are displayed as .lbf files.

The Active Folder button assigns which folder is the Active Folder – this is where the
autoplot data will be saved when you press F5 on the Home screen. To assign a
particular folder as the Active Folder, click on that folder, then click the Active Folder
button. When you do that, the Active Folder will be highlighted and have brackets
around it. I recommend verifying the Active Folder on this screen.

F2 – Delete – Deletes the selected file or folder. All files in a folder must be deleted and
the folder must be empty in order to delete a folder.

36
Rename – Allows you to rename a file or folder.

F7 – New Folder – Generates a new folder and asks for a folder name.

Import File – Imports a file from a floppy disc or USB flash drive.
Export File – Exports a file to a floppy disc or USB flash drive.

F8 – OK – Exits the F8 screen and returns to the previous screen.

Comments in the Run Boxes can be edited and re-saved using the appropriate buttons
below the Run Boxes.

To open a file, select the folder that contains the file, then double-click the file in that
folder to open it. When you open the file, you will see a pop up window that asks you to
“Load Data as Source (1) or Comparison (2)”. Files fall into four categories when
displayed on the screen:

Live Data – New runs generated – not opened from a file. Displayed as solid lines
Source Data – opened from a file. Displayed as dashed lines.
Comparison Data – opened from a file. Displayed as dash-dot-dash lines.
Log Data – Data generated from the F7 Datalog function.

Source files and Comparison files are the same – they are just names that you choose to
assign to the file being opened. Since you can open two files at once, you need a way to
be able to tell which is which. You do this by assigning them names of Source or
Comparison. Sometimes the Source and Comparison names are abbreviated. For
example, Source Autoplot #1 may be shown as SAP2, Live Autoplot #3 may be shown as
LAP3, etc.

There is no need to re-save a file after you have opened it, as you cannot modify the data.
To clear the loaded data from the screen, use the Reset menu at the top of the home
screen.

37
Graph Screens

When you have either live data or loaded data from a file, you will most likely want to
view the data on a graph. Several graphs are available to view. We will review them in
order starting from the Home screen. If you are not looking at the Home screen, go there
now. Starting from the Home screen, press the Page Down key once.

Axle Torque and Axle Power Graph – This is the default graph that comes up when an
Autoplot is finished. This graph shows the amount of AXLE Torque measured on the
left, and the Axle HP is shown on the right side of the screen. You’ll notice that the
torque numbers probably look high. This is because this is the actual measured axle
torque, and you probably aren’t used to seeing this because most dynos do not show it to
you – see the section on the other Torque and HP screen for a more thorough explanation.

On the left side of the Torque graph, there is a color code displayed. This color code
represents the order of the runs – from top to bottom. Red being the first run, green the
second, etc.

There are also yellow and green crosshairs shown on the graphs, and by default, the
yellow cross is placed at the peak of the first run, then green is placed at the peak of the
most recent run. The data and RPM for these points are displayed in the appropriate
colored boxes below the graphs. If you manually move these crosses (with the mouse),
the data shown in the boxes will represent the new location of the crosses. These
crosshairs appear on most of the graphs and function the same way on each graph.

By default, the graphs shown are auto-scaled – meaning that the highest and lowest
recorded numbers in each axis will automatically form the scale of the graph. This
allows maximum resolution in the graph and exaggerates small differences. This can be
both a Pro and Con. It allows you to see much more detail, but it can make the graphs
look unusually dramatic in some cases. If you want to manually adjust the scaling,
double click the graph with the mouse and a pop up box will open that will allow you to
manually define the minimum and maximum numbers for the scale of the graph. To do
this, uncheck the Autoscale box for the appropriate scale, and then enter the numbers you
wish on the left. You can manually scale one axis and autoscale another if you want to.
To return to autoscaling, re-check the box. This scaling function works on all of the
graphs. Each graph (in this case, each side of the screen) must be scaled individually by
the user if the Autoscale function is unchecked.

The Ratio box is the gear ratio used for the test.
The Gain box shows the difference between the yellow and green crosshairs.

Note that you company logo can be placed in the box in the bottom left section of the
screen. This is done in the Setup – Company name function at the top of the screen.
This logo can be imported as a bitmap of the size specified on the screen.

38
The Zooming Function allows you to zoom in or out on the selected graphs. Each graph
must be zoomed individually. The graphs are zoomed using the mouse position as a
center point. The Zoom functions are:

Ctrl + left mouse – Zoom in Ctrl + Shift + left mouse – Drags the graph
Ctrl + right mouse – Zoom out Space Bar – Resets the graph
When you are done playing with the Zoom Function, press Page Down again. You will
now be on the 4WD Torque Split graph. This graph shows the individual front and rear
torque curves on a 4wd machine. On a 2wd machine (or a 2wd test on a 4wd machine),
the second set of graphs aren’t visible because they are all overlayed on the zero line.
The two graphs are labeled as Master and Slave. Master is the primary input. It is
usually the rear on a 4wd machine, and the input used in a 2wd test as well. The Slave
input is a secondary input - usually the front pods on a 4wd car. There is usually no
Slave input on a 2wd machine. The Master torque line is the darker line, the Slave torque
is the lighter line. Zooming, Scaling, Crosshairs, etc. all work the same as the previous
graph. Press page down again and we get:

Temperature graph – Displays the temperature recorded by the RTD sensor (orange
temp cable) during the course of the Autoplot. Sometimes the temperature lines can look
very dramatic, but look at the scale on the left. The increments on the scale are usually
very small, so what looks like a temperature curve that is jumping all over the place, may
only be deviating by less than one degree. Of course, you can change that in the
Autoscaling, but a flat line doesn’t tell you much. Press Page Down again.

Manifold Pressure graph – this graph displays the pressure recorded by the
Vacuum/Boost sensor, and is split into two graphs – positive pressure on the top, negative
pressure (vacuum) on the bottom. This is done because sometimes different units of
measure are used for positive and negative pressure – for example, in the USA we often
use PSI as our unit for pressure, but use inHg (inches of mercury) for vacuum. In that
case, you would have a inHg scale on the bottom graph, and a PSI graph on top. If the
measured pressure transitions from negative to positive pressure (compared to
atmospheric) then the line would transition from one graph to the other. If an absolute
pressure scale is used, then the display will be on the top graph only. Press Page Down
again.

Torque (torque / gear ratio) and Power graph – this graph displays the power and
torque as approximate flywheel numbers. The reason approximate is emphasized, is
because this is not true measured flywheel data – it can’t be, we aren’t measuring it there.
No other chassis dyno gives accurate flywheel data either – that is the job of an engine
dyno. But we have a situation where most other chassis dynos give you wheel torque
numbers that are incorrect. Yes, you read that right. Think about it. In a car’s drivetrain
has gear reduction between the crankshaft and the drive axle. The purpose of this gear
ratio is to multiply the torque to make the car accelerate better. If you have a car that has
300lb/ft of torque on the flywheel, then you may have a 1:1 gear in the transmission, then
maybe a 4:1 gear in the final drive gear (differential in a RWD car), you would expect to
have 4x torque multiplication in the drivetrain, and an RPM at the tire that is divided by

39
4. So we would have approximately 1200lb/ft of torque on the axle. Most conventional
roller-style chassis dynos would display the drive wheel torque as 300 – even though we
have shown that this is incorrect. (There would be some loss in the drivetrain, but for the
purpose of explaining the concept we have left this out). Why do roller dynos display
torque this way? In the case of an inertia style roller dyno, you have another gear ratio
between the tire diameter between the tire and the roller. The roller dyno isn’t measuring
the car, it’s measuring the roller, measuring the spark (RPM), and then displaying a
calculated torque number. A long time ago, somebody decided to show you a number
that looks more like a flywheel number than the actual drive-wheel number and
everybody got used to those numbers – probably because they compare easily to flywheel
numbers. In our case, we ARE measuring torque directly at the axle, so we can show you
real measured numbers, but we also show it to you both ways so you have a choice. To
get back to the “flywheel” torque numbers that you are used to seeing, we simply divide
the measured axle torque by the vehicle’s gear ratio, which is what most other dynos have
already been doing without telling you about it. Because these numbers are often more
“consumer friendly”, you may want to use this screen for the printouts that you give to
customers.

On the Torque screen, the axle torque is divided by the gear ratio to generate the numbers
displayed. Horsepower is the same, as the gear ratio and torque reduction cancel each
other out. If you have entered a TCF (Total Correction Factor) of other than 1.0 on the
F11 screen, then the numbers shown on this screen will have that compensation added in.
TCF is displayed in a box on this screen so you will know if it is there or not. We don’t
want anybody to think that the TCF is being used to deceive, it’s right there in the open.
If you don’t want this screen to appear at all, you can check the “Hide Flywheel” option
on the bottom right of the F10 screen, and this screen will be hidden. (Page Down again)

Torque vs. AFR / Lambda graph – Displays torque on the left graph and the AFR or
Lambda graph on the right side. (Page Down again)

Acceleration graph – Displays calculated vehicle acceleration based on your inputted

tire diameter and vehicle weight. The axle torque for that gear is plotted in a number of
different ways. Tractive Effort, Acceleration in G-force, Distance vs. RPM, and RPM vs.
Time can all be plotted on this screen. (Page Down again)

Comparison screen – All of the graphs we have discussed up until this point have been
pre-defined screens, meaning that the basic parameters shown on the graph are defined
for you. This is fine, except – what if you want to see Boost overlayed on top of AFR?
The Comparison screen allows you to overlay any data category over another to create
your own graph. You can also compare two runs over each other using the Plot 1 and
Plot 2 boxes. The bottom axis is most often set as Engine RPM, but it can also be set as
Time, Hub RPM, Road Speed, or Distance. If you are viewing Log Data, it usually
makes more sense if you set the bottom axis as Time.

40
 If you have the Show Data box checked, then a data box will open on the right
side of the screen that shows the data for all categories at the RPM location of the
vertical Yellow Cursor, and if applicable, the Purple Cursor.

There are two vertical cursors – the primary cursor is yellow, the secondary is
purple. The cursor can be positioned by using the left/right arrow keys on the
keyboard. Holding the shift key makes it scroll faster. You can also position the
cursor with the mouse – look for the dot where the cursor crosses the data line,
grab it and drag the cursor. Often it is easiest to drag the line close to where you
want and then use the keys to get to the exact RPM point you are looking for.

If the Show Ave box is checked, the data displayed in the data box is the average
number between the two cursors – for all data categories.

If the Lock Cursor box is checked, the yellow and purple cursors are locked
together so both data columns (if you have two autoplots displayed) are always
locked to the same RPM point. If unchecked, then the data can be displayed at
two different RPM points if desired.

Definition of terms in the Data Box:

Time Elapsed time of Autoplot or Log Data

Hub RPM RPM of the drive axle
Torq Total axle torque (front + rear on 4wd)
Torq M Axle torque of Master input (main on 2wd or rear on 4wd)
Torq S Axle torque of Slave input (front on 4wd)
Torq Fly (Total torque divided by the gear ratio) x TCF (if any)
PC Ratio Power Correction Ratio – atmospheric correction multiplier
MAP Manifold Absolute Pressure (Vacuum/Boost sensor signal)
Temp Temperature read from the RTP temp sensor
Air Dens Air density
Baro Barometric pressure
RelHum Relative Humidity
Volt 2 Measured voltage from Voltage 2 input (if equipped)
Lambda Lambda signal from O2 sensor
AFR AFR signal from O2 sensor
Speed Calculated ground speed
T Effort Calculated tractive effort
Accel Calculated Acceleration in G
Distance Distance traveled from beginning of sample period

Press Page Down again and you will be back to the Home screen again. If you use the
Page Up and Down keys, you will scroll up and down this list of screens and back to the
Home screen again. Alternatively, you can click on the Display menu on the top of the
screen.

41
Raw Data screen (Shift F4) - Displays the raw numerical data for each data category.
Data columns can be arranged in the order you choose. Raw data can be printed, or
saved to a disc in raw text (.txt) format. Data displayed can be all of the data collected, or
displayed in 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250RPM increments. When other than All Data is
selected, the data between the display points is hidden. Use care here, as there may be
valuable information hidden between the display points.

Removing the car from the dyno - Removing the car from the dyno is pretty much the
reverse of the installation, with a few exceptions:

Place the jack under the vehicle in the same manner you used during the installation.
Make sure that the placement of the jack will not interfere with the installation of the tire.
When you lift the vehicle, watch the inside of the pod frame, where it meets the floor.
You want to lift the vehicle until the pod frame raises approximately ¼ inch off of the
floor (either on one side or both – depending on the vehicle and the jacking method). We
want to remove any downward pressure from the pod frame (on the inside edge) but not
lift the car so high that we start trying to lift the pod. We are aiming for neutral pressure
on the bearing here. Once you have the vehicle jacked to the appropriate height, lift the
bearing latch so that the bearing can come out and do the “wiggle & pull” thing on the
pump handle. Sometimes I find it easiest to place my leg in-between the vehicle and the
pod and lean my body weight into the pod as I hold the bearing latch with one hand, and
wiggle the pump handle with the other. It’s easier to do than it sounds. When the hub
adapter comes out of the pod, it should not drop or jump upwards – either of those things
indicates that the jack height is not correct. If this happens, adjust the jack height before
removing the other side. Once both sides are removed, remove the hub adapters and
reinstall the wheels using normal accepted practice. Setting the parking brake may make
it easier to loosen the lug nuts and install the wheels. Remember to properly torque the
lugs and make sure that everything is clear underneath the car before you lower the jack.

42
Summary:
It is difficult to address every aspect of the operation of the dyno and it’s application to
every vehicle situation. Some of it comes down to practical experience and hands-on
learning. We’ve covered all of the basics and the general operation of the machine, but
you will learn more as you gain experience as a Dynapack operator. If you use this guide
to get you started, and as a reference tool later on in conjunction with the help files that
are built in to the dyno software, you should be able to become proficient in a short
amount of time. Of course, if you’re not sure of something or have additional questions,
please contact us. We’ll be glad to assist you in any way we can.

Contacts:
USA office – (559) 292-3800 9am to 5pm Pacific time
Scott Lampkin – USA sales and support
Slampkin@dynapack.com
John Card – USA sales, support, and service
Jcard@dynapack.com

New Zealand office (as dialed from the USA) – 011 644 587-0484
NZ time is one day ahead of US time, and:
Winter – subtract 3 hours from Pacific Time
Summer – Subtract 5 hours from Pacific Time
Tech support for electronics and software – Bruce McWhirter – ext 810
Tech Support for Computers – Fraser Simpson – ext 811

Service:
If you have technical difficulties operating you machine, please try calling your closest
Dynapack representative. We have most likely heard your questions before and should
have an easy answer for you. If you have an issue that requires service to a component of
the dyno, then we require you to fill out a Service Enquiry Form – which you can do at
www.teamdynapack.com and click on the link at the bottom of the page that says
“Service Enquiry”. We ask you to fill out this form because it creates a paper trail for the
issue and helps us keep better records and be more thorough in our follow-up. Please fill
out this form with as much information as possible as well as your contact information,
and someone should be in contact with you shortly.

43
Unpacking list:
2WD Machine
Pods
1 Left side pod
1 Right side pod
2 5-lug hub adapter
2 4-lug hub adapter
10 hub washers
4 Water hose fittings
2 pump handles
Control cabinet
1 Rear door
1 Cable boom
2 cable hangers
1 Power distribution box
Computer
1 HP computer
1 Monitor
1 monitor cable
1 Keyboard w/ touchpad
1 HP standard keyboard
1 HP mouse
1 HP printer
1 printer cable
4 power cord
1 serial cable
2 USB memory flash drive
1 recovery disc
2 Keyboard extension cables
Controller
1 Controller box
1 RTD (temp) sensor
1 Humidity sensor
1 Lambda cable
1 Lambda sensor
1 MAP sensor cable
1 MAP sensor
1 MAP sensor tee & hose
4WD Machine
Pods
2 Left side pod
2 Right side pod
4 5-lug hub adapter
4 4-lug hub adapter
20 hub washers
8 Water hose fittings
4 pump handles
Control cabinet
1 Rear door
1 Cable boom
2 cable hangers
1 Power distribution box
Computer
1 HP computer
1 Monitor
1 monitor cable
1 Keyboard w/ touchpad
1 HP standard keyboard
1 HP mouse
1 HP printer
1 printer cable
4 power cord
1 serial cable
2 USB memory flash drive
1 recovery disc
2 Keyboard extension cables
Controller
1 Controller box
1 RTD (temp) sensor
1 Humidity sensor
1 Lambda cable
1 Lambda sensor
1 MAP sensor cable
1 MAP sensor
1 MAP sensor tee & hose
1 Comms Cable
44
• Use ¾” hose and fittings for all connections
• Hose Lengths are variable depending upon application
• We recommend individual water exit lines so individual outlet flow can be monitored
• Keep hose lengths as equal and symmetrical as possible to help equalize flow
• Use cast-brass “high flow” Y fittings from a plumbing department – pot metal Y’s
with small valves (found in garden departments) are usually restrictive.

45
• Use ¾” hose and fittings for all connections
• Hose Lengths are variable depending upon application
• We recommend individual water exit lines so individual outlet flow can be monitored
• Keep hose lengths as equal and symmetrical as possible to help equalize flow
• Use cast-brass “high flow” Y fittings from a plumbing department – pot metal Y’s
with small valves (found in garden departments) are usually restrictive.

46
Automatic Transmission tips:
Automatic transmissions require a slightly different test procedure than what you would
use with a manual transmission. The exact procedure will vary depending on the vehicle
and what you are trying to do, but here are some general points and tips that should make
things much easier.

1) Automatic transmissions have a “mind of their own”. By this, we mean that an

automatic transmission (AT) will shift when it wants to – as opposed to staying in
one gear like a manual transmission will. While this sounds obvious, it means
that we need to learn the behavior of the transmission in order to know how we
can test the vehicle. Because of this, we usually need to do some preliminary
testing before trying to dive right into a full-throttle Autoplot.

2) See if there is a way to lock the car in one gear for testing. If the car is a “manu-
matic” type, this may be as simple as engaging the manual mode. If it is an older
(non computer controlled) car, you may be able to disconnect a kick-down
linkage to keep the trans in high-gear. On a computer controlled car, you may be
able to use a scan tool or other electronic interface to control the transmission to
keep it in one gear. If you do not have any of these options available to you, the
car can most likely still be tested, but these things will make your job easier –
Effectively you can make it act like a manual transmission.

3) When using the Gear Ratio Setup Screen to measure the gear ratio, you may need
to test at a higher RPM point in order to keep the converter locked or at least keep
slippage to a minimum. It is usually best to start at a medium RPM and load to
get the gear ratio close, then raise it to a higher RPM and higher load to check it a
second time and check for converter slippage. You may also want to do a quick
check to make sure that the RPM matches at the peak RPM you want to test to.
The torque converter gives you somewhat of a variable gear ratio, but it is
generally more important to have the RPM match at max RPM than at the
beginning of the Autoplot – from a safety standpoint. If you have a little slippage
at the beginning of the Autoplot it is not usually a problem.

4) Once you have a gear ratio measured, it is usually best to test in the F3 mode to
determine how to perform an Autoplot. The F3 test will allow us to find the “kick
down point” of the transmission and will tell us how low we can start an autoplot
and still have the transmission stay in one gear. To do this we will enter the F3
mode and set the RPM somewhere in the medium range. 3000 RPM is usually a
good start point, but this can vary depending on the car. Gradually bring the RPM
up on the car and let the transmission upshift into top gear (turn off overdrive if
possible) and bring the car up against the load point. Once you have the car up
against the load point, gradually roll the throttle down and see if the transmission
kicks down. You do this gradually because it is less likely to induce a kick-down
than if you stomp the pedal. If the transmission kicks down, lift off the throttle,

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 bump the control RPM up maybe 200 RPM and try again. If it didn’t kick down,
lower the RPM and try again. You will find that at some point the transmission
will kick down, and above that point it won’t. Now you know the point where
you can set the Start RPM of the Autoplot test and the transmission will stay in
one gear.

5) You may see some converter slippage at the beginning of the run, but the
converter should tighten up or lock at some point during the run. Large amounts
of slippage under heavy load should be avoided because this places a lot of stress
on the torque converter. Use your best judgment here. If you are in doubt, err on
the side of caution and raise the start point to reduce slippage and reduce the
stress on the converter.

6) Don’t be surprised if you see peak torque at the beginning of the Autoplot, or see
a “double peak” type of torque curve. If the converter is slipping, it is trading
RPM to multiply torque. Because of this, the more the converter slips, the more it
multiplies torque (to a point). The more slippage you see early in the run, the
more likely it is that you will see maximum axle torque at the beginning of the
Autoplot. Often times it will be at max in the beginning, then drop down to the
converter lock point, then raise back up to the torque peak, and then fall off again.

7) It takes a little practice to get a feel for it, so don’t get frustrated if you don’t get it
right away. Spend some time practicing on a few personal cars before trying to
do it on a customer car. This way, you can get your learning out of the way in
private and help prevent a potentially frustrating or embarrassing situation in front
of the public. Once you get a feel for it and understand it, Automatic
transmissions aren’t a big deal to do. Sure, they put up a little resistance
sometimes, but it usually isn’t anything that can’t be overcome.

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