AIM Install Questions

[craigs]

Laying out the wires for my AIM XG-log and have a few questions.

To calculate gear you need speed - does it get speed from the accelerometers or from a wheel sensor? If from the wheel sensor, do you recommend front or rear wheel?
Oil pressure gauge has two terminals - one for the gauge and one for the ground - does it matter which wire goes on which terminal?
The RPM input is the white 150-450V wire and goes to the coil - to the coil positive side I assume?
The AIM gauge is powered - did you power off the ignition switch or the kill switch?

What else do I need to look out for before I rip out my whole dash?

Thanks,

Craig

[Matt King]

You do need the wheelspeed sensor to capture speed and distance, the accelerometers only capture change of direction and rate of acceleration (lateral and longitudinal) and deceleration. Most people will use a front speed wheel sensor with the AIM systems, regardless of car type because it will be less likely to be affected by wheelspin. I can't remember if the XG Log supports two wheel speed sensors, if so you could have a front and rear. See the thread I started in the tech section on installation for some tips from other guys using them.

You might want to put the logger on its own switch so you can power it on without the ignition on or car running. this is handy for the times when you just want to power it up for downloads or to install a different calibration. Didn't the logger come with wiring instructions? I'd follow them for your other questions. The tach input can be tricky with an analog ignition. The coil signal is very "dirty" and can lead to a jumpy rpm reading. On another car I owned I needed to use the tach filter adapter AIM sells to get an accurate rpm signal with an inductive ignition system.

[smsazzy]

I would wire it to the kill switch, with a switch in line to turn it off and back on. Mine (along with everyone else I know) will occassionally freeze up. Turning it off and back on fixes that.

I run my speed off the front wheel. Easier to route the wire.

I recommend Wheel Speed, Oil Temp, Cylinder Head Temp, Oil Pressure, Throttle Position and Steering position to be logged. Along with the Lat/Long G's you will have a full picture of what you are doing behind the wheel. That is the way I set up mine.

Also, if you get sick of beacons, CDS makes a GPS unit specifically for the AIM system.

Feel free to reach out to me directly if you have more questions. saslow(at)comcast(dot)net

Hope this helps!

Stephen Saslow

[SR Racing]

>>To calculate gear you need speed - does it get speed from the accelerometers or from a wheel sensor?<<

Wheel Sensor

>> If from the wheel sensor, do you recommend front or rear wheel?<<

Front is best.

>>Oil pressure gauge has two terminals - one for the gauge and one for the ground - does it matter which wire goes on which terminal?<<

?? It sounds like you are using a regular gauge sensor for the AIM dash? You can't to that. The AIM system uses a two wire sensor that has neither line "grounded". There are two wires from the dash that go to the OP sender. Either wire can go to either connector, but neither are grounded.

>>The RPM input is the white 150-450V wire and goes to the coil - to the coil positive side I assume?<<

No. It goes to the Negative side of the coil. This is the side your points go to.

>>The AIM gauge is powered - did you power off the ignition switch or the kill switch?<<

As Stephen said, it is best to wire it direct with a seperate switch of its own. (Not through the ignition switch) When cranking the battery voltage can drop below ~9V. This may cause the AIM to hang. With a separate switch you can turn the aim on after you crank.
Also when downloading or looking at laps on the AIM, you can turn it on seperately wthout having the ignition on.

>>What else do I need to look out for before I rip out my whole dash?<<

Make sure all you sensors are correct for the AIM unit and that you have them all programmed correctly.

[Matt King]

?? It sounds like you are using a regular gauge sensor for the AIM dash? You can't to that.

That depends on the gauge sensor he's trying to use. The AIM system can be calibrated to any 0-5V sensor using the Custom Sensor function. You have to either get the slope of the voltage curve from the manufacturer or experiment and reverse engineer it. I've done this with the pressure transducer senders that came with a set of Autometer ful-sweep electric guages and it worked great. It was handy to have an analog gauge with a needle on the dash and also be able to log the signal through the AIM system and use its built-in warning lights.

[SR Racing]

Yes, you can program for any 0-5 volt signal slope. However it appears he is not real familiar with the system and he will need to build a voltage divider and then calibrate the slope for the AIM. We have done it with other WB02's, etc. But I think he is looking for plug and play.

[craigs]

Jim - I'm using the oil P sensor you put in the box, but maybe I did word my question wrong. The AIM wires are labeled "signal" and "GND". The sensor itself is not labeled. So either wire can go to either terminal?

Thanks everyone for the help.

[SR Racing]

Yep..

Jim

[craigs]

another question... hooked up the dash to the computer for configuration and am not sure which sensor type i have for the oil temperature sensor.

i selected fahrenheit on the 'new configuration' screen and i am pretty sure i tried all temperature sensor types within race studio 2 version 2.30.16, but i didn't see any logical temps displayed on the dash. the engine was cold and i was getting values less than 40 and over 140 depending on which sensor type picked, values which are way off for my climate.

any ideas? thanks for your help.

[SR Racing]

I think you probably have the PT-100 sender. (1/8 NPT Thermoresistor) So set it up for that one on the menu. When you have it set up right it should read pretty close to ambient temp. Give us a call at the shop, if you dont get it working.

Jim