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Scan Gauge 2 now Showing Trans Temps

37K views 169 replies 38 participants last post by  Brunnie 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey all,

I wasn't sure where this went as it's not a review but just giving you all some updates to Scan Guage 2

My only issue I've ever had with the SG2 was the lack of ability to monitor trans temps. I've had this guage in my 03 X, my 05 TJU and now my '10 X. My issue has been fixed.

I've been working with an engineer from Linear Logic on getting the SG2 to read the Trans temps on 2nd gen Xterra's.

I was able to test out some new firmware updates and the end result is a gauge that now reads both temp's being fed to the ecu.

Basically, there are 2 sensors providing info to the ECU. If I recall correctly, 1 sensor is in the valve body and the other is in a thermo couple but I have not dug into the 4.0L that much as it's fairly new to me.

AT1 reads a bit lower so it's my assumption this is post trans cooler and since the AT2 reads higher, this is "Pre Cooler"


The Engineer who developed the firmware will be trying to keep an eye on this post to answer questions whenever he can if anyone had any.


***This only works on 2008+ Xterra's, Frontier's, Armada's and Titan's***


Here are 2 pictures of the SG2 mounted in my Xterra. The piece of mind now while towing as well as long trips has been nice and even better to not have to add additional wires or fittings.

Hope this helps someone out!!!







Info from James. I'm putting this on the first post so people don't have to go searching for basic info.

Hi Everyone,

I'm the engineer that Matt's been working with. This new firmware should allow the ScanGauge to read the two transmission temperatures Matt mentioned earlier on any 2008+ XTerra, Frontier, Armada, or Titan.

This new firmware is still experimental, but as of right now it's looking pretty good. If anyone would like to test out and provide feedback for this experimental firmware I'd be happy to update your units for free. To receive this update, simply send your ScanGauge to:

Linear Logic LLC
ATTN: James DeLong (Nissan)
2222 S. Dobson Rd
STE 800
Mesa, AZ 85202

Just include a note saying you're a member of TheNewX.org forums and that you'd like the firmware needed to monitor transmission temperature and your desired return mailing address. I'll update your unit and send it back ASAP. The return shipping will be covered by Linear Logic (Within the United States).

Also, if there is any other transmission related data that anyone thinks would be useful just let me know and I'll look into whether it's possible.

Finally, for 2007 and older XTerra owners I believe getting transmission temperature through the ScanGauge is possible, but there is a caveat. While accessing the transmission data to read trans temp the ScanGauge will not be able to access the other power-train data it normally does. This is due to the OBDII protocol 2007 and older XTerra's use. 2008+ XTerras avoids this because they switched to a different protocol in 2008 that doesn't have this issue. Basically all the standard gauges (RPM, MPH, MPG, etc) will stop updating while transmission temperature is being read. Although that's not ideal - would having the option to monitor transmission temperature, even though it temporarily pauses everything else from updating, be worth it?

James DeLong
Linear Logic LLC
 
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#4 ·
I just emailed the posts link to the engineer so he can chime in but I'm pretty sure you just send it in and they'll update it.

Per Scan Gauge's website, the cost is $25 HOWEVER I do not know if this firmware is part of the whole update or a specific thing that needs to be asked for.

Here is Scan Gauge's how to Upgrade page: https://www.scangauge.com/support/upgrade/

I will update as soon as I speak to James from LL.

Thanks for the welcome btw!!
 
#6 ·
#10 ·
Hi Everyone,

I'm the engineer that Matt's been working with. This new firmware should allow the ScanGauge to read the two transmission temperatures Matt mentioned earlier on any 2008+ XTerra, Frontier, Armada, or Titan.

This new firmware is still experimental, but as of right now it's looking pretty good. If anyone would like to test out and provide feedback for this experimental firmware I'd be happy to update your units for free. To receive this update, simply send your ScanGauge to:

Linear Logic LLC
ATTN: James DeLong (Nissan)
2222 S. Dobson Rd
STE 800
Mesa, AZ 85202

Just include a note saying you're a member of TheNewX.org forums and that you'd like the firmware needed to monitor transmission temperature and your desired return mailing address. I'll update your unit and send it back ASAP. The return shipping will be covered by Linear Logic (Within the United States).

Also, if there is any other transmission related data that anyone thinks would be useful just let me know and I'll look into whether it's possible.

Finally, for 2007 and older XTerra owners I believe getting transmission temperature through the ScanGauge is possible, but there is a caveat. While accessing the transmission data to read trans temp the ScanGauge will not be able to access the other power-train data it normally does. This is due to the OBDII protocol 2007 and older XTerra's use. 2008+ XTerras avoids this because they switched to a different protocol in 2008 that doesn't have this issue. Basically all the standard gauges (RPM, MPH, MPG, etc) will stop updating while transmission temperature is being read. Although that's not ideal - would having the option to monitor transmission temperature, even though it temporarily pauses everything else from updating, be worth it?

James DeLong
Linear Logic LLC
 
#14 ·
Finally, for 2007 and older XTerra owners I believe getting transmission temperature through the ScanGauge is possible, but there is a caveat. While accessing the transmission data to read trans temp the ScanGauge will not be able to access the other power-train data it normally does. This is due to the OBDII protocol 2007 and older XTerra's use. 2008+ XTerras avoids this because they switched to a different protocol in 2008 that doesn't have this issue. Basically all the standard gauges (RPM, MPH, MPG, etc) will stop updating while transmission temperature is being read. Although that's not ideal - would having the option to monitor transmission temperature, even though it temporarily pauses everything else from updating, be worth it?

James DeLong
Linear Logic LLC
James, thanks for posting. I can't speak for others, but I would definitely be interested in being able to read the trans temp even with this limitation.
 
#11 ·
That's interesting. The things I'm most interested in are the water temp and the transmission fluid temp. I can send mine in later this week or early next week.

Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#24 ·
Likewise, James, if you can get the scan gauge to read trans temps for 2005-2007 models I would certainly be interested. Even if that does mean pausing the other readings to read just the transmission. It's better than nothing and a whole heck of a lot easier than what we have to do now with an aux transmission gauge.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Looks like mine was delivered to Mesa yesterday, can't wait to see what they come up :grin:

@ Matt Chambers: Do you think I need to reach out to James or can I assume I'll hear from him when it's done? I don't think he's monitoring this site. Thanks again for putting this thread together.
 
#27 ·
There are a couple more of us that have been testing this new scanguage functionality on our xterras for some time. We have determined that the values are AT1: pan fluid temperature, and AT2: fluid heated in the torque converter and heading out before any cooling happens. AT1 temps gradually move, and AT2 temps rapidly change and can be seen as you accelerate, etc . It is a wonderful addition to this useful tool.
 
#32 ·
I was hoping to have some feedback this weekend, but on my way home from work Friday, my starter acted up and almost stranded me at the gas station. Eventually got it started by tapping on the starter with a hammer. So now it's sitting until I get that fixed, can't trust it.

In the 20 minutes I got to use the Scangauge before getting distracted by the starter, I got it to display AT1 and AT2 options, but no values. Still need to figure out how to get it to actually display the values it's reading.
 
#34 ·
I had my friend send in his Scangage for the flash to make sure it would work before purchasing. I was unable to get either temp to show up, just the titles, played with it for some time and no luck. This was on my 06 Xterra. I'll try my son's 05 tomorrow. If there is a special step to put it in a mode to read it, it was not on the included instruction sheet, please let me know if I missed something. Really looking forward to this working.
 
#37 ·
Outback97- I had a similar problem with my first version. What I did was change my gauges so that all 4 were reading something then changed 2 of them back to AT1 and AT2 and that would read.

Initially I was having problems with it not reading the trans temps unless I unplugged then plugged the unit back in while the vehicle was running. After the 2nd updated reflash, it works perfectly every time now.
 
#38 ·
Initially I was having problems with it not reading the trans temps unless I unplugged then plugged the unit back in while the vehicle was running. After the 2nd updated reflash, it works perfectly every time now.
That's the way mine works as I still have the original version of code. About every third start up, I have to reboot it. I need to take the time to have it reflashed. It seems to work well otherwise.
 
#46 ·
I've been using the updated version of the ScanGauge II for about a month in my 09 and it's works. I've been checking both AT1 and AT2 against both thermocouples in the pan and on the output line from the trans to the coolers and the Autometer gauge with the sensor in the pan. ScanGauge tracks the thermocouples closely. The Autometer reads about 10F degrees higher than either the thermocouple in the pan or AT1 under higher ATF temperatures, over about 160F. AT2 responds more rapidly than the thermocouple mounted on the cooler line, exactly what is expected.

In spite of the nomenclature in the Nissan service manual, the AT1 sensor is located on the trans body and is in ATF in the pan. As near as I can tell from searching through some of the earlier year manuals, the second ATF sensor is located in the PNP switch. It isn't too important because the AT2 value reported by ScanGauge tracks the ATF temperature flowing to the coolers.

The only bit of odd behavior is that AT2 takes 2 to 3 minutes to start reading independently from AT1. Without the thermocouple monitoring the temperature the delay wouldn't be noticed. It's hard for me to think of a situation under even hard driving where the delay would be detrimental.

I was in Ouray this week and had the opportunity to observe AT1 and AT2 under high load driving. On one steep climb on CR14 heading east from 550 towards Red Mountain Pass I managed to overheat the transmission like I had done in this post, http://www.thenewx.org/forum/474945-post35.html . I started in 2WD and D with OD off. The road was well graded and the trans wasn't hunting between gears. After a short time I switched to 4LO and D with OD off. I was driving gently so my wife and I could enjoy the scenery, but because I was in too high a gear the torque converter was slipping and generating heat.

All the while I wasn't paying attention to the gauges. Then the oops moment became obvious, the engine wouldn't rev past 2K rpm, this was only after 5 to 10 minutes of the steep climb. Now was the time to look at the gauges, AT1, pan thermocouple, and Autometer were only about 170F while AT2 was at 230F and thermocouple trans out was at 238. The SES light was off. I stopped, put the trans in Park and let the engine idle for about 5 minutes and the temperature dropped to about 220. I decided to try driving slowly in 1st easily and watch the temperatures. The engine would accelerate past 2K so slowly kept moving uphill. The temperatures kept dropping so I kept driving. From then on and for the rest of trip I paid attention to being in the proper gear to keep from slipping the converter excessively and didn't have any additional issues.

I did some data logging and the plots were very similar to the plots in the referenced post above. The best I could do was to check the readings of the ScanGauge against the values on the data logger. For the plots in the post, AT1 correlates with the ATF_pan data and AT2 correlates with Trans_out data.

James at Linear Logic has done a great job in accessing the two trans temperatures from the internal temperature sensors. Hopefully it won't be long before he has a solution for 07 and earlier models. Both readings have value in any type of high load driving so that ATF temperatures can be managed to stay within reasonable limits. I personally would recommend the new version to anyone that drives off road or tows a trailer.

Cheers,
Jeff
 
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