MoTeC Global Forum

I am trying to connect a Motec M880 to an AIM MXL. The ECU is able to communicate with the engine while it is off and cranking. However, the CAN connection is interrupted once the engine is firing. Any suggestions as to what the issue might be?

Fast_Moto wrote:I am trying to connect a Motec M880 to an AIM MXL. The ECU is able to communicate with the engine while it is off and cranking. However, the CAN connection is interrupted once the engine is firing. Any suggestions as to what the issue might be?

Do you have the resistor across the CAN line?
Would suspect so otherwise it would not work with the engine off (what resistance do you measure?)

Seems like interference though... Are the can wires tightly twisted around each other?

As it turns out, the MXL can loose communications during cranking and won't properly reset communications. Restarting the MXL once the engine is running takes care of the issue.

I'm running a AIM Strada with an M800.It's been working fine for 2yrs, without ever having to reset after startup.

Not all units/installs have that issue, but is not an unknown problem.

Fast_Moto wrote:As it turns out, the MXL can loose communications during cranking and won't properly reset communications. Restarting the MXL once the engine is running takes care of the issue.

Change the power lead to the dash to one that is on 100% of the time during cranking, depending on where it's connected now some cars drop all loads that aren't related to firing the engine while the starter is engaged.

IJ. wrote:

Fast_Moto wrote:As it turns out, the MXL can loose communications during cranking and won't properly reset communications. Restarting the MXL once the engine is running takes care of the issue.

Change the power lead to the dash to one that is on 100% of the time during cranking, depending on where it's connected now some cars drop all loads that aren't related to firing the engine while the starter is engaged.

A diode and a capacitor can also help here...

Holmz wrote:

IJ. wrote:

Fast_Moto wrote:As it turns out, the MXL can loose communications during cranking and won't properly reset communications. Restarting the MXL once the engine is running takes care of the issue.

Change the power lead to the dash to one that is on 100% of the time during cranking, depending on where it's connected now some cars drop all loads that aren't related to firing the engine while the starter is engaged.

A diode and a capacitor can also help here...

Have you tried this setup to keep a device alive during cranking? What size cap did you end up using? Must be fairly large!