Can’t figure it out, still trying to tune the LBB

[Dooley]

Hey guys, I've got a 1st gen 12v Cummins swapped into a international crew cab, 5spd, VE injection pump (fuel pin,spring,timing bump, spacer), 6x11 inj (switched from 5X12s) 3"int cooler piping w/ power stroke inter cooler and off course the HE351(rebuilt) w/ new HE300 actuator.
In the past 6 years before the LBB, I have been running the boost referenced banshee controller to control the turbo so I have a baseline of how the motor runs with this turbo.
Installed the LBB about this time last year and have been trying to find a good setting ever since. I have the BT set up and the app running on my android phone and am able to monitor and tune the eeprom values. After a lot of drive testing and manipulating the eeprom values, I've found curve 4 setting works best and set to the best I could the turbo set points.

Here are some of the symptoms I'm seeing:
-slow/poor spool up, it usually takes about 3-5 seconds for the turbo to build enough boost pressure to actually pull away from a stop and between shifts is terrible also not to mention the excessive black smoke until spool up.
-When I switch into exhaust brake mode it seems that it is not really engaging fully, the position shows 920 but has no holding force and sounds like the veins aren't closing enough. Also while driving and when I switch out of EB mode it will freeze the BT app, I will have to restart the app a few times then when it connects again, it will be stuck in idle mode until I bring the motor rpm down to idle then it will go back into normal mode and normal++ appropriately.
-when driving at a consistent speed and my foot holding the throttle steady, the turbo will surge and show it going from normal to normal++ mode intermittently. This gets very annoying so to remedy this I end up putting it in cruise mode which holds the vane position at 500.

-I found this out on accident while trying to fix some of the above issues, while stationary and the motor idling, if I go and click the "sweep" option on the BT app, then cancel while it was at about 6-700 position, then most of the above spool up issues go away and the vane position stays at about 5-600 in normal mode. Also I see it go into idle walk down mode where as I don't see that position normally.

So in normal mode while driving I noticed that the vane position always comes down to 250 and when I accelerate it will go int normal++ mode and use the respective eeprom values. After using the sweep function as explained above, the normal mode position is 5-600 and seems to reach spool up quicker. I feel like the normal mode needs to be adjusted to a higher position and I would like the accel input to open the vanes faster somehow.
I have the software on my laptop and can plug into the LBB but I'm too afraid to do anything else, I am very illiterate when it comes to manipulating codes.

Anything you can do to steer me in the right direction is greatly appreciated.

[hakcenter]

What firmware are you running on the device ? There's been a plethora of updates.

Can you post screen shots from the app of your settings ? And the results of idling etc ? This would seem that idle tuning needs to be sorted out.

[Dooley]

I drove the truck yesterday and it was all over the place, I really think it's not calibrated correctly. At one point on the trip the position reading wouldn't get over 4-500 and even drop to 0 while idling and when it drops from normal++ to normal, and when it goes to normal++ it wasn't using my eeprom settings. BUT it felt like the turbo seemed to be boosting when showing those low numbers.....I don't know.
Another thing I thought about was the main power to the LBB, i have it connected to ignition 12v but when I turn the key to start it shuts of that power source until I let go then the LBB will restart. So I wondering maybe that screws up the initial settings and I should connect the LBB to the start circuit so it doesn't come on then shut off then come on again?
I'll do some test runs tonight after work and see if I can post some screen shots.

[Dooley]

ok finally drove the truck this morning, took some screen shots. I don't know what happened but the lbb acts significantly different than when I first installed it. Even after the install it needed some tuning; wasn't responding quick enough, kept dropping into eeprom positions while driving at sustained speeds.
the driving was done with about 600 lbs in the bed and towing a 2000lbs empty trailer.
4:10 gears, 37" tires.

I'm having trouble naming these attachments, so hopefully this makes sense.
#1: cruising steady at 55mph in 5th gear. flat ground.
#2: 55mph at about 1700 rpm trying to accelerate in 5th gear, tons of black smoke, no guts.
#3: 55mph dropped into 4th gear at about 2200 rpm and accelerating, power was a little better, able to reach 15psi boost.
#4: @60mph 4th gear, holding throttle steady.
#5: current eeprom settings.

I show v3.0.3 on the BT app. not sure how to get the firmware version on the LBB.
Thank you!

[Dooley]

forgot to add a idle screenshot. Here's one right after startup. I've noticed though that after a drive or while sitting at a light, it doesn't always go back into idle mode and the turbo rpms stay high.

[hakcenter]

Well I can see a major problem.

The lower end isn't respecting your positions.
Notice your first screenshot, 30,000 RPM yet it is position 100.

Can you reload the LBB_Common code, latest on this device ? Then set the app not to use eeprom settings just yet, and see if it better follows the positions.
And by reload I mean, download the LBB_Common again, do nothing with it just upload it straight up on the device, just incase there is any custom code running.

[Dooley]

much better
i downloaded common code and it's way better.
response is back and a lot better in between shifts.

1st screen shot, same road as before 55mph 4th gear 1600 engine rpm.
2nd screen shot I shifted into 5th gear and was trying to get on it a bit, 68mph it was pulling good, spoolup seemed ok in between shifts.
3rd screenshot, downshifted to pull a grade 55-60mph, turbo was allowing good throttle response at high engine rpm.

I notice that at steady speeds the actuator is at about pos 380 which seems to be about 2-3 psi boost, once I give it throttle it takes a few seconds but when it gets to about 8-10 psi boom 💥 instantly goes to 30+ psi. I think that if I could get the pos bumped to like 480 on steady speed normal mode, that process would be quicker and hopefully get rid of all my black smoke.

[hakcenter]

Might need to schedule a remote session eventually.

I'm interested in why it's picking such low positions.

Hit my email and I'll give you deets

[Dooley]

I'm still concerned about the EB function, after the download it works better but not what it should. I'm not sure how it's set up but when I hit the switch, it'll be at pos 920 and have some holding force, but it won't close the veins anymore than that.
on another note, got an error message on my android about downloading the new version on LBB. is it talking about the BT app or the controller itself?

tried to update the BT app many times but I think I'm doing something wrong. once I select a device it won't let me choose a file?

[hakcenter]

You'll need to download the hex file on your android device if you wanna upload / update the code on the LBB that way. It's just an alternative for people without PCs.

With that said, since you have access to a PC what you want to do is adjust the MODES section

Code Select Expand


//----
// Exhaust Brake Mode

void exhaust_brake() {
         if (last_vane_position < 800) {
    vane_position = 800;
  } else if (last_vane_position < 900) {
    vane_position = 900;
  } else if (last_vane_position < 920) {
    vane_position = 920;
  } else {
    vane_position = max_position;
  }
}


Else you can make changes in the setup section

Code Select Expand


// ----
// Minimum and Maximum Vane Positions
const int min_position = 0;
const int max_position = 940;


Max position like 960, 980, 1000 should be total max. It's set safe, for.. obvious reasons

[Dooley]

Update
still having same issues, not sure but once I reinstalled the common code it seemed to improve function for the first few minutes but the position readings were still low. Truck was down for a few months while I replaced the head gasket.
Planning on driving this thing to the East coast at the end of the month with the family.  🤞 hoping to get the LBB sorted out by then 🙏....


-Hack: saw the code update, I'm gonna download that tonight......thanks

[hakcenter]

Looks like the drive was worth it.

We resolved this issue locally with some code edits.

[Dooley]

Yep the drive was definitely worth it, it was great meeting you Curtis. I'm back from my trip, 5300 miles total. The turbo worked flawlessly. Thanks again for all your help. 🙏

[hakcenter]

That's awesome to hear. Glad to have met you.