Changing levels on a EZ with truck running??

[DaveMorris]

Has anyone ever changed the settings on a 03-04 EZ box with the truck running??? If so will it throw a code or anything??? I want to wire up a knob to make the box adjustable from in the cab but don't know if switching levels on the fly will cause enough confusion to throw a code in the computer or anything. Thanks in advance. . (this is for a 04 305/555)



Dave

 

[RankRam]

We did this exact same thing to my 03 555 and it didn't work. We got it hooked up and the EZ acted as if it was only set on one level no matter where we turned the switch.



My nephew (which is a very good diesel mechanic) and I spent a total of six hours on this project.



The end result was to say the least very dissapointing.



My guess as to why it didn't work is that the resistance from all those wires running to the cab was just too much for the EZ.



FWIW it never did throw a code.

 

[DaveMorris]

Thanks RankRam,

I was worried about that, but also needed to come up with a way to learn the "post sequence". . I suspect the top or bottom post are a common side, and the other side is the resistance (or level settings) but I will have to mess around with it to figure this out...



Not doubting your efforts or tech skills, but are you sure you didn't have the wiring in reverse to where you where running the "common side" thinking it was the "level side" and where just switching to from common post to common post to level 1...



If you wouldn't mind, shoot me a PM and tell me how you went about doing it so I don't head down the same road, maybe in the end this can be done (just more involved)...



Thanks again,

Dave

 

[JohnCooper]

I have no specific knowledge of how the "Edge" firmware was written, but I would guess that the computer in that particular box only reads the configuration at power-up. If that is how it works, the computer would never see the change until the next time you power-down then back up again. Another problem you could have is if the inputs to the computer that the configuration jumpers are connected to are High Impedance inputs, the long wires that you run to the switch on the dash could be affected by electrical noise causing mis-reading of the configuration. Also another thing to consider is what type of switch to use. Some switches are "make before break" (connection to the next contact is made before the previous contact is disconnected) or "break before make" (a more common type of switch, this one disconnects the previous contact before connecting to the new contact). What you don't know is how does the computer react if two jumpers are connected at the same time or if NO jumpers are selected, this is what happens as you rotate the switch. It may only be a short time in your mind but it is a long period of time for the computer. Well written firmware should have error routines written into them for these kind of situations but if they assumed that the jumpers wouldn't change while the truck was running, these kind of situation could cause unkown results that I would not be willing to risk on my truck.



In summary, I wouldn't make this change to the box unless you can get specific instructions from Edge on how to do it safely.

 

[DaveMorris]

Thanks John I know this is a little risky, but I plan on erroring in the safe side of things as much as possible. My electrical engineer buddy (builds CNC machines for a living) has already committed to helping out. We just might have to pull the guts out of the box and start from there. From what i understand the EZ doesn't do much more than add resistance making the computer think the Boost and Fuel pressure is lower than it really is. I would think you could be able to adjust the box since the boost and f/p signals constantly change, but there will be a spike instead of a slow increase when you flip the levels. There are other boxes out there that are based on the EZ concept and they are adjustable so I am guessing that they just went a step further then Edge did when making a pressure box.



I have tried (endlessly) to contact Edge via e-mail and gotten no response. I know the phone still works, but the questions and details I wanted in writing so I could read over them again and again (since my short hand, well doesn't exist )



Thank again,

Dave

 

[smokejunkie]

I have an 04. 5 and ran an ez for a while. You can change on the fly and it will not throw any codes. Anyways it didn't in mine and I can't imagine it being any different for a 305