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Easy Wideband Installation DIY

54K views 84 replies 36 participants last post by  BGillum21 
#1 · (Edited)
I cross-posted this from the Tuning section, after thinking about it I figure it might be more helpful in this subforum. Thanks to the Forum and many prior threads (Snuzuluz, Larry, Karch, etc), here's my experience in what turned out to be a straightforward install:

1. I am going to mount the AFR box in the cigarette lighter cubby (picture coming). However, the hard part is running the pigtail through the firewall to the engine bay, where the sensor and power connections go. You could run ground back to the battery via interior panels but I chose to avoid this. I also feel this method is easily reversible (as easy as snipping zip ties), because nothing needs to be removed, spliced, siliconed or disassembled.


2. There is an unused rubber grommet in the passenger door hinge area that provides easy access to the glove box and passenger compartment, as well as the engine bay: pry out the grommet with a screw driver, cut it and fish the control box connector through it (that will be inside the car in the glove box, etc). You will need to pull back the carpet and padding in this area, prying off one plastic harness connector to gain access. Again, plenty of room to run the standard AFR harness anywhere you want to go.

Look closely, the grommet is already back in place with my harness poking through it


Inside of the passenger compartment - carpet pulls back easily

3. Tape the 02 sensor connector and the power/ground terminals to a coat hanger. If you look between the door and chassis, there is a rubber weatherstripping that easily moves to the side - fish your coat hanger through there just below the upper door hinge, orientated north. You will pop out just beneath the hood hinge, inside the front fender near where a Noral icebox would sit. There is plenty of room and no need to cut or disassemble any connectors! You will also have plenty of room with a NorCal box installed, as the hanger will "pop out" above the inner fender bracing. There is no interference from the door, either.


coat hanger pointing towards the engine bay - there's quite a bit of room behind that plastic weatherstripping!

I duct-taped everything to the coat hanger, leaving the large connector to dangle for easy maneuvering.

Coat hanger popping out into the engine bay, ready to be pulled through

O2 sensor harness dropping down past the ECM, next to the transmission and passenger exhaust. The power/ground portion of the harness is tucked under the fender and not visible. use plenty of zip ties to keep the 02 sensor harness from eventually dropping down onto the exhaust!

4. From here, it is easy to run your power and ground to the fuse box in the engine bay (which can stay tucked under the front fender), and the large grounding cable that runs directly to the battery. I used plenty of dielectric grease and an add-a-circuit to do this for the +12V. I did not have to cut, splice or lengthen any part of the wideband harness other than the +12v lead to the add-a-ciruit. For the negative ground, I chose the easy way and again used plenty of dielectric grease: I backed out the chassis grounding bolt (to the big fucking black cable next to the fuse box) just enough to wedge the grounding connector in between the washer, then tightened it back down. Super easy.

The switched power source, add-a-circuit and ground:


Again, the 02 sensor cable falls down right on top of the passenger side exhaust - I used zip ties to secure it to the existing transmission wiring harness keeping it out of harms way. There is probably another 5-6 feet of harness left over, that will be coiled up and tucked away inside the footwell of the passenger compartment.

Remember - DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE TERMINAL AT THE BATTERY in the rear of the car before touching ANY wiring!

Display fits perfectly in the cigarette cubby. Plenty of room to run wires and tuck them out of the way in the passenger area behind the glove box. I cut a small square in the back of the console display to run the harness plug through. Use a Dremel - it's obvious once you pull the console out, but remove just enough for the plug to fit as your control unit will rest on the rear wall of the cubby. Harness is easily routed by hand from passenger area to center stack and you can leave enough slack in the harness to facilitate removal from the front if desired. FWIW I left the display / control unit loose in the cigarette cubby, and have never noticed it bouncing around or making noise since the inside of the cubby has a suede-like finish.

For driving:


Cover closed:


Wideband harness out - can also be quickly tucked behind the console near the passenger footwell or underneath the carpet for a clean look when not datalogging.


That's it!
 
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#2 ·
Now I suppose you want me to move my info too!
 
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#4 ·
Hmm...last time I got my car back from G-Force, the passenger side floorboard was soaking wet - I mean totally drenched with water. It was very clean, no scent. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how it go so wet. Maybe this is a clue - I've got a wideband too, but G-Force did the install and I'm not sure how they wired it up. But maybe someone cleaned up the car after it's last visit and there's a hole somewhere that let water in???
 
#6 ·
Just add silicone to the grommet! Thanks for the warning... I haven't car-washed yet.
 
#7 ·
My method doesn't leak! ;)
 
#11 ·
Display fits perfectly in the cigarette cubby. Plenty of room to run wires and tuck them out of the way in the passenger area behind the glove box. I cut a small square in the back of the console display to run the harness plug through. Use a Dremel - it's obvious once you pull the consol out. Harness is easily routed by hand from passenger area to center stack.

For driving (display can be unplugged and removed)


Cover closed:


Wideband harness out - can also be quickly tucked under the dash or carpet.


That's it!
 
#16 ·
the old display was big, im going to say like at least 3-4" deep. I dont remember a button on the front either.
I have one in the glove box of my RX7 and another new in the box I was going to put into the V but then I was thinking the aeroforce instead
the numbers changing all the time is enough to drive you crazy lol
 
#17 ·
Great write up. I completed my install last night per your instructions. However I put my innovate wideband in the glove box. I just have to open the glove box door when I want to see it. Thanks again for a great how to thread.
 
#18 ·
This will definitely help with my install once I get back home!!
 
#20 ·
In my opinion, it would be significantly more of a pain in the ass to run wires from the fuse box and battery terminal on the passenger side engine bay over the transmission, both headers and through the brake pedal, only to have to go back across the cabin (behind the radio/nav) while zip-tying everything out of the way of pedals, etc.

It was also quite simple to go from the fuse box/terminal through the door jam via an easily accessible grommet, straight into the passenger side footwell and tuck everything under the glove box where there's ample room to work and leave extra cable; which is why I made the suggestions I did.

Thankfully, members can take our mutual experiences into consideration and find what works best for them. The only difference is I have pictures! :D
 
#23 ·
My Bosch wideband sensor recommends you mount it at around 10 degrees tilt above horizontal. Location relative to the cats (if you have them) and manifold or header exit matters too. The chances that there's a bung in just the right spot and just the right angle is slim. Never hurts to have an extra bung available. Spend the few bucks to get a dedicated and well positioned WB bung installed...JMHO.
 
#30 ·
Here's what my left cat with bung welded in looks like. Milwaukee #4 step drill made a perfect interference fit for the 7/8" step in the bung. Stainless bung and plug must be ordered separately, at least when ordering an AFR500 which comes with mild steel otherwise.
Rich's Auto, my local dyno and LSx-modder-maniac garage in Boise, did a beautiful weld.
 

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#31 ·
Most are recommending that the bung be on the passenger side due to that side running lean when it actually happens. Earlier detection I guess.
 
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#35 ·
Many things can cause it to go lean such as bad O2 sensors, low FP, or because of a tune that needs tweaking. I honestly don't know why the passenger side has a higher incidence of going lean over the left bank. I've read of engine teardowns that cite #7 or #8 as the pot that let go bc of lean conditions. Is it the furthest point on the rail?
 
#38 ·
I was going to ask how to disassemble the console or center stack without butchering it, so as to nicely cut up the cig pack holder to fit the head unit. Turns out the current afr500 is 1/4" too wide to just slip in like the thread author's unit did, so more surgery is indicated than dremel-in-place.
I should also remove my suggestion of using the grommet near the ECM as a pass through for wires: it does not have enough space in it to allow the wires to fit through. The author's original through door jamb grommet method was just fine in the end.
Until I can fit my afr500's head unit into the cig pack area cleanly, it is relegated to a velcro strip on the kick panel under the glove box. Which is okay, since my goal is its analog output for data logging more than seeing a maddening flux of 7-segments feeding unactionabe real-time info.
 
#42 ·
im going to use this method for mounting and wiring up my Ballenger AFR500, but I will have to cut up the cubby hole quite a bit more then Random did. I will post pictures once I have it in. the Ballenger is quite a bit bigger then Random's AFR box.
 
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#44 ·
ill probably start messing with it this weekend. actually been trying to find the part number for the cubby so I can have a replacement when I fuck up mine...bound to happen. LOL
 
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