Datalogging on Ford Vehicles

Applicable Vehicles:

Fiesta ST 2014-16
Focus ST 2013-16
Focus RS 2016
Mustang Ecoboost 2015-16

When and Why?:

When trying to diagnose driveability problems or assessing how well a new tune is working with the vehicle datalogging can be an invaluable tool. By looking at what is going on with the vehicle under load or other conditions you're able to look at a picture in time and see if there were any issues or problems that would need to be addressed and sometimes where and why they occurred. However a datalog is only as good as the monitors you record, much like how a map is only as useful as the information it has on it.

How Should I Drive When I Datalog?:

Because most of the problems people have are those that show up under heavy load, we want to have some good boost characteristics over the datalog. Therefore we recommend you find an empty stretch of road so that it's not only safe for other people, but safe for you. When trying to diagnose a problem it's easy to have too much to look at, so when trying to diagnose something we recommend keeping it short and simple. In these instances a datalog of a single run from 2500rpm to redline in 3rd gear (if running a 5-speed) or 4th gear (if you have a 6-speed) ensures you don't have to spend time sifting through extraneous data to find what you need. If your problem has to do more with idle characteristics perform the 2500rpm run, but sometimes taking a look at what your car does at idle can be of some help. Lastly if you're a road racer you may want to datalog for long streches of time which, when paired with track telemetry, can help you figure out when and where things were going well, and when things were going bad, this can help diagnose more intricate problems like fuel slosh or oil starvation. However as datalogs get bigger sifting through the lenghty spreadsheets can get difficult and time consuming at that time you may want to invest in a datalog viewer program which converts your spreadsheets into simple graphs so you can go through a bunch of data all at once.

Useful Monitors In Every Situation:

While there are many monitors available for your vehicle, here is a list of some of the most useful monitors for your vehicle. For a complete list of available monitors check the list of links at the bottom.

Engine RPM
- Engine revolutions per minute. This gives us a reference for what speed the engine is traveling at any given time so we can see how everything relates to what the engine is doing.

ETC Angle Actual
- The actual angle of how far the throttle is opened. This let's us know how much the throttle body is actually being opened by the computer to let us know how much air is being allowed in to the system.

Accelerator Pedal Position
- The position of how far down the accelerator pedal is depressed. Allows us to see what the engine is essentially being told to do, whether the driver is asking to maintain power, a little bit of power, or demanding a drastic increase.

Actual AFR
- The Current Air/Fuel ratio of the vehicle measured by the o2 sensors, allows us to see how many parts of fuel are going into the engine in relation to the air allowed in through the throttle body.

Baro. Pressure
- Barometric pressure, used for almost all compensations in the ECU so the computer can calculate the density of the air going in to the engine. Useful to diagnose problems related to altitude.

Boost Pressure
- Manifold pressure (Map Sensor reading minus barometric pressure) the measure of pressure in the intake manifold over 0 (at sea level)

Charge Air Temp.
- Air temperature after the intercooler but before the throttle body. This measurement is used in conjunction with the barometric pressure sensor and MAP sensor in order to determine the density of the air going in to the engine.

Coolant Temp.
- Current engine coolant temperature measured after the radiator. Let's us see what temperature the engine is going to which should have an impact on fuel going into the engine. (colder temperatures typically get more fuel than hot temperatures)

FRP Actual
- Fuel rail pressure actual from the high pressure pump. This can impact how much fuel is going out every time the injectors fire i.e. if the pressure is too low you won't have as much fuel going out and vice versa. Can also help diagnost a failing pump or injectors.

Gear Current
- Current gear the vehicle is in. On certain maps there will be different boost or shift boints based on what gear the vehicle is in.

Ign Corr. Cyl 1
- Ignition timing corrections applied to cylinder one. Changes made to the timing for the car based on multiple factors

Ign Corr. Cyl 2
- Ignition timing corrections applied to cylinder two. Changes made to the timing for the car based on multiple factors

Ign Corr. Cyl 3
- Ignition timing corrections applied to cylinder three. Changes made to the timing for the car based on multiple factors

Ign Corr. Cyl 4
- Ignition timing corrections applied to cylinder four. Changes made to the timing for the car based on multiple factors

Ignition Timing Cyl 1
- Ignition timing for cylinder 1 after all compensations for that cylinder. The final timing for the cylinder in relation to top dead center.

Ignition Timing Cyl 2
- Ignition timing for cylinder 2 after all compensations for that cylinder The final timing for the cylinder in relation to top dead center.

Ignition Timing Cyl 3
- Ignition timing for cylinder 3 after all compensations for that cylinder The final timing for the cylinder in relation to top dead center.

Ignition Timing Cyl 4
- Ignition timing for cylinder 4 after all compensations for that cylinder The final timing for the cylinder in relation to top dead center.

Load Actual
- Engine load after all compensations. The amount of power being given based on what the computer sees going on with the engine.

Load Des. Tq Ctl
- The amount of load desired by the torque request calculation from torque control. The amount of power being requested via the position of the gas pedal.

LTFT
- Long Term Fuel Trim. Adjustments made to the fueling of the vehicle which are left in effect for the long term or until the behavior is learned away.

Octane Adj Ratio Lrn
- The learned Octane Adjust Ratio (-1.0 is high fuel quality, 1.0 is low fuel quality). An overall multiplier that adjusts ignition timing, fueling, and available boost based on the octane and quality of the fuel being used.

STFT
- Short Term Fuel Trim. Adjustments made to the fueling of the vehicle at this moment, the behavior does not stay in place and attempts are made to correct this out.

WGDC Actual
- Final wastegate duty cycle after compensations. The amount of time the wastegate solenoid is told to stay open or closed in order to generate or stop generating boost.