I found this thread and thought some of you would enjoy reading what other people are doing to solve sensor problems.
O2 Sensor modification using spark plug non-foulers
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
O2 sensor extenders and aux pump for desiels
I've been looking for spark plug extenders to fix the O2 sensor problems some people seem to be having. I had no luck on the internet but I did find O2 sensor extenders on E Bay for about $7 delivered. I've ordered 3 of them should have them next week sometime. 
Here is the photo. You can find them listed as O2 sensor extenders on EBay. When they get here some of the installers and I will photograph a step by step guide that I will post on this site and make available to all of you.
I also found a 12v DC pump at Biorb and Biube 12V Air Pump - Air Pumps & Accessories - PetSmart I think this might work for those diesels without vacuum lines. I think there is a Petsmart on island, some of you diesel guys might wanna check it out. It sells for about $13 bucks.
Here is the photo. You can find them listed as O2 sensor extenders on EBay. When they get here some of the installers and I will photograph a step by step guide that I will post on this site and make available to all of you.I also found a 12v DC pump at Biorb and Biube 12V Air Pump - Air Pumps & Accessories - PetSmart I think this might work for those diesels without vacuum lines. I think there is a Petsmart on island, some of you diesel guys might wanna check it out. It sells for about $13 bucks.
Finding your way through the firewall
Between the engine and the interior of the vehicle there is a steel panel that protects the passengers from the noise and fumes of the engine. This panel is called the firewall and as the name implies it also protects the passengers from danger in the event of an engine fire. At some point you will need to find a way to get a few wires through the firewall to be attached to the black control box which will be installed on the dashboard. This step can really be tough and there are only a few tips I can give you to make this process easier.
Tip number one put a wire hanger in your tool box and never do an install without it! I almost never get a single wire through a firewall without a bent up wire hanger, not saying it can't be done but it's crazy not to have one. Firewalls are not all created equal either. Some are several layers thick with space and "stuff" between them. Some of that stuff can cost an installer a lot of money if it gets drilled, remember that. Make sure you know where you are going with a drill bit. A wire hanger on the other hand is much safer if you remember this simple rule. If it doesn't slide though nice and easy don't force it! Forcing stuff often cost a lot of money.
Next tip, follow the cars wiring harness to determine where it goes from the engine compartment to the interior. Many cars have a rubber boot where the wiring harness passes through. In those cases your job just got easier. In the graphic above the blue green lines represent a typical wiring harness in many vehicles. The photo below is a typical wiring harness that you will see in many cars 
The Photo is helpful in that it shows that "all roads lead to Rome" so to speak. once you locate the main trunk it will eventually lead to some kind of boot or bracket that passes through the firewall.
The above photo shows the main trunk going through the white firewall with a hard plastic bracket. Most likely in this case the installer would need to drill a hole to get through. In some vehicles the wiring harness goes into the interior in several locations. In those cases I try get as close to where the car owner wants the control box. That is usually my goal when I have to drill the firewall, also get close to the box. In cases with the rubber boot you can poke the wire hanger through the rubber and pull the wires where you need them.
Tip number one put a wire hanger in your tool box and never do an install without it! I almost never get a single wire through a firewall without a bent up wire hanger, not saying it can't be done but it's crazy not to have one. Firewalls are not all created equal either. Some are several layers thick with space and "stuff" between them. Some of that stuff can cost an installer a lot of money if it gets drilled, remember that. Make sure you know where you are going with a drill bit. A wire hanger on the other hand is much safer if you remember this simple rule. If it doesn't slide though nice and easy don't force it! Forcing stuff often cost a lot of money.
Next tip, follow the cars wiring harness to determine where it goes from the engine compartment to the interior. Many cars have a rubber boot where the wiring harness passes through. In those cases your job just got easier. In the graphic above the blue green lines represent a typical wiring harness in many vehicles. The photo below is a typical wiring harness that you will see in many cars 
The Photo is helpful in that it shows that "all roads lead to Rome" so to speak. once you locate the main trunk it will eventually lead to some kind of boot or bracket that passes through the firewall.
The above photo shows the main trunk going through the white firewall with a hard plastic bracket. Most likely in this case the installer would need to drill a hole to get through. In some vehicles the wiring harness goes into the interior in several locations. In those cases I try get as close to where the car owner wants the control box. That is usually my goal when I have to drill the firewall, also get close to the box. In cases with the rubber boot you can poke the wire hanger through the rubber and pull the wires where you need them.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The Vacuum (Boy That Really Sucks!)
Pay attention now this part is important! Don't panic but if you screw this up the whole thing is not gonna suck. Ok I've had my fun. The vacuum line is really pivotal to our system. We need to consider carefully where we tap into the vacuum.
Generally speaking the air flows into the engine through some sort of breather assembly and then into the intake assembly through the valves into the piston and out the exhaust valves. Next it travels through some sort of exhaust manifold past an O2 sensor into the catalytic converter then on to the muffler and out. On the breather assembly and the intake assembly there are often several sensors that interface with the vehicles computer. These sensors function to adjust the amount of fuel the computer is sending to the pistons to be consumed in the firing sequence. Our goal is to convince the computer to use as little fuel as is possible, or in other words cause the engine to "run lean." Lean means more air and less gas in the mix. If however, the sensors detect the added oxygen being sent into the engine by our HOD system they will cause the computer to increase the amount of gas in the mix. This is called "running rich" and it means poor mileage for your car. A big part of our system relies on the Brown's gas being introduced into the air flow after it has passed all the sensors. It can be very difficult to determine if you are getting in past the sensors but every effort should be made to find a place that will accomplish this goal.
I have found the vacuum hose coming off the brake boost (the big round drum behind the master brake cylinder see photos)
to be a very good place to 
start looking for a way in. Often, the line coming from the brake boost is positioned very near the intake valves on the actual intake manifold where the vacuum is nice and strong. Since it is necessary to the brake boost that the vacuum be very strong, the line is usually unobstructed to the flow. If you are able to locate where this line connects to the intake manifold you might also find another vacuum line that comes in right next to it. 
Sometimes if your lucky you may even find an open port that you can pull a little plug off and connect right up. Most of the time that won't happen so you might have to go hunting elsewhere. If you determine that you can only go through the brake boost line itself you need to know that you can do this but the connectors need to be very tight. You may have to use hose clamps to insure there is no loss in pressure to the actual brake boost see photo.
Sometimes the brake boost line is surrounded with those pesky sensors and you will need to find another way in. Just remember the further along the path of the air flow the better "usually".
You can go too far, then you might tap into a spot that is too close to one or two cylinders and you won't allow the Brown's gas into all of the pistons evenly. The above photo shows an example of that. You can see where I labeled all the components starting at the brake boost and ending at the HOD canister. I do suspect that the Brown's gas would be more effective if the connection was on the other side of the intake manifold. Sometimes you may need to try different vacuum lines over a period of a couple weeks until you find what I like to call "The Sweet Spot."
The next thing to consider after you have found a good spot to connect into is air pressure. The target PSI for the HOD system is around 20Ibs. In layman's terms you need to feel good pressure against your finger when you are testing a vacuum line Look at the picture where I'm holding a vacuum hose with my right fore finger against the hole.
With the engine running you should test the line in this manor. A good line should have enough suction that you can easily feel your finger being drawn to the opening. With your finger over the opening you should feel the pad of your finger being drawn into the hose. I'm not suggesting this should be a painful experience that much suction would be very unlikely. If it seems the suction is either too strong or too weak it is possible to make adjustments to the valve on the lid of the canister that will compensate for either condition. It is preferable if we can find a vacuum line that is close to the target of 20Ibs PSI then the factory setting on the canister should work fine. I intend to go into more detail regarding the valve settings in a later discussion.
These post are not intended to substitute for using a certified HOD installer, nor am I acting on behalf of the company in any official capacity. Use this information at your own risk. I'm trying hard to provide you a valuable resource whether you are a installer wanting a reminder of the procedure, or if you live in an area where you do not have access to a installer. However, I make no guarantee that this information is accurate. If you live somewhere you are not able to hire a certified installer then I hope this guide helps you install your HOD system in your own car. But you are not authorized to install the HOD system in any other car for profit or otherwise. And the manufacture will consider all warranties real or implied of any kind fraudulent, null and void. Being an IBO is not the same as being a certified installer. Certified installers go through a rigorous training procedure and must pass both classroom and hands on testing.
Next Installer's Corner "Finding your way through the firewall"
Generally speaking the air flows into the engine through some sort of breather assembly and then into the intake assembly through the valves into the piston and out the exhaust valves. Next it travels through some sort of exhaust manifold past an O2 sensor into the catalytic converter then on to the muffler and out. On the breather assembly and the intake assembly there are often several sensors that interface with the vehicles computer. These sensors function to adjust the amount of fuel the computer is sending to the pistons to be consumed in the firing sequence. Our goal is to convince the computer to use as little fuel as is possible, or in other words cause the engine to "run lean." Lean means more air and less gas in the mix. If however, the sensors detect the added oxygen being sent into the engine by our HOD system they will cause the computer to increase the amount of gas in the mix. This is called "running rich" and it means poor mileage for your car. A big part of our system relies on the Brown's gas being introduced into the air flow after it has passed all the sensors. It can be very difficult to determine if you are getting in past the sensors but every effort should be made to find a place that will accomplish this goal.I have found the vacuum hose coming off the brake boost (the big round drum behind the master brake cylinder see photos)
to be a very good place to 
start looking for a way in. Often, the line coming from the brake boost is positioned very near the intake valves on the actual intake manifold where the vacuum is nice and strong. Since it is necessary to the brake boost that the vacuum be very strong, the line is usually unobstructed to the flow. If you are able to locate where this line connects to the intake manifold you might also find another vacuum line that comes in right next to it. 
Sometimes if your lucky you may even find an open port that you can pull a little plug off and connect right up. Most of the time that won't happen so you might have to go hunting elsewhere. If you determine that you can only go through the brake boost line itself you need to know that you can do this but the connectors need to be very tight. You may have to use hose clamps to insure there is no loss in pressure to the actual brake boost see photo.Sometimes the brake boost line is surrounded with those pesky sensors and you will need to find another way in. Just remember the further along the path of the air flow the better "usually".
You can go too far, then you might tap into a spot that is too close to one or two cylinders and you won't allow the Brown's gas into all of the pistons evenly. The above photo shows an example of that. You can see where I labeled all the components starting at the brake boost and ending at the HOD canister. I do suspect that the Brown's gas would be more effective if the connection was on the other side of the intake manifold. Sometimes you may need to try different vacuum lines over a period of a couple weeks until you find what I like to call "The Sweet Spot."The next thing to consider after you have found a good spot to connect into is air pressure. The target PSI for the HOD system is around 20Ibs. In layman's terms you need to feel good pressure against your finger when you are testing a vacuum line Look at the picture where I'm holding a vacuum hose with my right fore finger against the hole.
With the engine running you should test the line in this manor. A good line should have enough suction that you can easily feel your finger being drawn to the opening. With your finger over the opening you should feel the pad of your finger being drawn into the hose. I'm not suggesting this should be a painful experience that much suction would be very unlikely. If it seems the suction is either too strong or too weak it is possible to make adjustments to the valve on the lid of the canister that will compensate for either condition. It is preferable if we can find a vacuum line that is close to the target of 20Ibs PSI then the factory setting on the canister should work fine. I intend to go into more detail regarding the valve settings in a later discussion.These post are not intended to substitute for using a certified HOD installer, nor am I acting on behalf of the company in any official capacity. Use this information at your own risk. I'm trying hard to provide you a valuable resource whether you are a installer wanting a reminder of the procedure, or if you live in an area where you do not have access to a installer. However, I make no guarantee that this information is accurate. If you live somewhere you are not able to hire a certified installer then I hope this guide helps you install your HOD system in your own car. But you are not authorized to install the HOD system in any other car for profit or otherwise. And the manufacture will consider all warranties real or implied of any kind fraudulent, null and void. Being an IBO is not the same as being a certified installer. Certified installers go through a rigorous training procedure and must pass both classroom and hands on testing.
Next Installer's Corner "Finding your way through the firewall"
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Install It baby (The Kit, The Car The First Date!)
First lets look at the HOD kit.
The kit includes:
The Canister or as I like to call it the "Electrolyzer."
The Vacuum Hose
The Wiring Harness
The Control Box
Those are the major components of the kit we will go into more detail on each of them in later post.
Next lets consider the car.
You need to have a little understanding of the engine before you can make intelligent decisions as to how to install the HOD system. A simple understanding of the electrical system, and the engine sensors and the vacuum lines as they relate to the flow of air through the engine would help you tremendously during the first few steps of the installation. A major goal is finding a vacuum line behind all the sensors. You really don't want our wonderful Brown's gas flowing past the sensors. If it does the computer might screw everything up. That is the first thing I start looking for when I'm "dating" the car.
As soon as I locate the sweet spot on the vacuum lines I grab the wiring harness and and start hunting for a place to send the wires for the control box through the firewall. On more than one occasion this has proven to be very difficult. If you search and search until you determine that the only way to get the wires into interior is to drill a hole, take my advise. Make sure you have a buddy to help, you need to be sure where the drill is coming and going, an extra set of eyes can help you avoid some very costly mistakes. Take it slow and easy.
Next I begin searching for a place to secure the canister. About now you are going to start to understand why the HOD kit does not include a universal mounting bracket of some type. It can really be a challenge finding a spot to stick the canister. It needs to be relatively cool, easy for the driver to reach and remove for service and close to the vacuum. It also needs to be secure. Don't forget about the wiring harness, gotta reach that too. on many cars you are going to need to be creative when mounting the canister. Don't forget it needs to be pretty strait up and down too.
After that I ask the customer where they would like the control box. Where they want it and where you can put it are often two different things so be prepared to compromise. Just remember they have to live with it. I try hard not to drill any holes to install the box unless of course I am doing a custom install in the dash. I'll try to get some picts of a few of those up here soon. Normally this is the easy part but once in a while you are going to need to take it nice and slow.
Last of all I locate the fuse box so I know where I need to go for power.
Let's take a look at the placement of the different parts on a Honda Mini Van I recently did some work on.
Vacuum First!
I came off the Valve cover here, the vacuum was nice and strong and it goes into the intake manifold way past any sensors.
The wiring harness.
Here is where we sent the wiring harness through the firewall. A little hard to see but it's going through the black circle in the center of the pict. Rubber boots in the fire wall make this step easy.
The ground
This is where we installed the ground. Pretty simple.
The Amazing Wonder Thermos!
You can see the ground in the upper right of this pict. The card board serves as a nice buffer between the positive post on the battery an the negative outside of the canister. They don't actually touch but we wanted to be sure.
The Black Box!
Tucked nicely next to the steering column. Nice and tight won't bump the knee.
Hope this helps.
These post are not intended to substitute for using a certified HOD installer, nor am I acting on behalf of the company in any official capacity. Use this information at your own risk. I'm trying hard to provide you a valuable resource whether you are a installer wanting a reminder of the procedure, or if you live in an area where you do not have access to an installer. However, I make no guarantee that this information is accurate. If you live somewhere you are not able to hire a certified installer then I hope this guide helps you install your HOD system in your own car. But you are not authorized to install the HOD system in any other car for profit or otherwise. And the manufacture will consider all warranties real or implied of any kind fraudulent, null and void. Being an IBO is not the same as being a certified installer. Certified installers go through a rigorous training procedure and must pass both classroom and hands on testing.
Next Installer's Corner "The Vacuum (Boy That Really Sucks!)"
The kit includes:
The Canister or as I like to call it the "Electrolyzer."
The Vacuum Hose
The Wiring Harness
The Control Box
Those are the major components of the kit we will go into more detail on each of them in later post.
Next lets consider the car.
You need to have a little understanding of the engine before you can make intelligent decisions as to how to install the HOD system. A simple understanding of the electrical system, and the engine sensors and the vacuum lines as they relate to the flow of air through the engine would help you tremendously during the first few steps of the installation. A major goal is finding a vacuum line behind all the sensors. You really don't want our wonderful Brown's gas flowing past the sensors. If it does the computer might screw everything up. That is the first thing I start looking for when I'm "dating" the car.
As soon as I locate the sweet spot on the vacuum lines I grab the wiring harness and and start hunting for a place to send the wires for the control box through the firewall. On more than one occasion this has proven to be very difficult. If you search and search until you determine that the only way to get the wires into interior is to drill a hole, take my advise. Make sure you have a buddy to help, you need to be sure where the drill is coming and going, an extra set of eyes can help you avoid some very costly mistakes. Take it slow and easy.
Next I begin searching for a place to secure the canister. About now you are going to start to understand why the HOD kit does not include a universal mounting bracket of some type. It can really be a challenge finding a spot to stick the canister. It needs to be relatively cool, easy for the driver to reach and remove for service and close to the vacuum. It also needs to be secure. Don't forget about the wiring harness, gotta reach that too. on many cars you are going to need to be creative when mounting the canister. Don't forget it needs to be pretty strait up and down too.
After that I ask the customer where they would like the control box. Where they want it and where you can put it are often two different things so be prepared to compromise. Just remember they have to live with it. I try hard not to drill any holes to install the box unless of course I am doing a custom install in the dash. I'll try to get some picts of a few of those up here soon. Normally this is the easy part but once in a while you are going to need to take it nice and slow.
Last of all I locate the fuse box so I know where I need to go for power.
Let's take a look at the placement of the different parts on a Honda Mini Van I recently did some work on.
Vacuum First!
I came off the Valve cover here, the vacuum was nice and strong and it goes into the intake manifold way past any sensors.
The wiring harness.
Here is where we sent the wiring harness through the firewall. A little hard to see but it's going through the black circle in the center of the pict. Rubber boots in the fire wall make this step easy.
The ground
This is where we installed the ground. Pretty simple.
The Amazing Wonder Thermos!
You can see the ground in the upper right of this pict. The card board serves as a nice buffer between the positive post on the battery an the negative outside of the canister. They don't actually touch but we wanted to be sure.
The Black Box!
Tucked nicely next to the steering column. Nice and tight won't bump the knee.
Hope this helps.
These post are not intended to substitute for using a certified HOD installer, nor am I acting on behalf of the company in any official capacity. Use this information at your own risk. I'm trying hard to provide you a valuable resource whether you are a installer wanting a reminder of the procedure, or if you live in an area where you do not have access to an installer. However, I make no guarantee that this information is accurate. If you live somewhere you are not able to hire a certified installer then I hope this guide helps you install your HOD system in your own car. But you are not authorized to install the HOD system in any other car for profit or otherwise. And the manufacture will consider all warranties real or implied of any kind fraudulent, null and void. Being an IBO is not the same as being a certified installer. Certified installers go through a rigorous training procedure and must pass both classroom and hands on testing.
Next Installer's Corner "The Vacuum (Boy That Really Sucks!)"
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