Audi S3 8L DSG (MaxxECU Race)

[killfame_s3dsg]

Hello,

I’ve ColorMFA fitted onto my cluster in my S3 8L 2001 Facelift Model since 2016 and works like a charm since then, no issues at all!

Recently the car was converted from Manual to DSG DQ250 and everything was still working as it should on Stock ME7.5
The FIS display can recognise/read the gearbox TCU as in original car without any update or what so ever and check for DTC’s if needed ect.

But not long after I decided to go Standalone (MaxxECU Race PnP) for better performance overall with my Automatic swap as the Subject states.
We just start to develope the new Tune, but i’ve noticed that now ColorMFA does not have full functionality with the MaxxECU.

Non functional:
Can’t read the ECU (check/clear) for DTC’s if needed. Water tempeture is frozen at (-48c)
And few other things are not present now with the Standalone swap.. TCU can be seen via the display still but not all features are present for unknown reason.

I really like to keep the functionality and the utility of my ColorMFA because it’s helping me a lot to keep an eye on my Highly Tuned car.

The question is:
Can you guys from Autopilot guide me how to proceed from now on?

I will speak to MaxxECU about these missing features aswell and see what they can say about that, if there is possibility to maintain the OEM communication with the Cluster’s Display.

And last but not least, my Tuner thinks that there’s something missing from the communication inbetween both devices as obvious and when we finalize the Tuning process of the car, we’ll have to look into MaxxECU’s FAQ’s for a guide how to fully maintain my CAN communication to keep the OEM functionality of everything.

Thanks in advance!

[autopilot]

ColorMFA is designed to work with standard vehicle systems. When replacing the control unit, in order for all functions to work, it is necessary to provide the same amount of data on the CAN bus as the factory control unit.
I have no information on the work of MaxxECU. I don't know what data is transmitted to the bus and what is missing.
Regarding diagnostics: check which protocol is used to connect the VCDS. In the hidden settings of ColorMFA, allow using the same protocol for diagnostics (by default, only the K-line is enabled for 8L). ColorMFA supports only diagnostics according to VAG protocols. If a non-standard (not VAG) protocol is used, it will not work.

[killfame_s3dsg]

Can you guide me how exactly to find hidden settings?
I’m aware that MaxxECU supports full CAN.
Is it possible to make the display to communicate via CAN?

Thanks for answering!

[autopilot]

Can you guide me how exactly to find hidden settings?

https://wiki.colormfa.ru/interface/menu/system/debug

I’m aware that MaxxECU supports full CAN.

If some data is not displayed on the screen, then not all data is on the CAN-bus. Right ? You didn't have any problems with the original control unit, did you? If MaxxECU supported everything like the original control unit, then you would not have any questions.
You can find documentation on the ME7 engine ECU on the Internet (Funktionsrahmen ME7.1 pdf). This document has long been no secret and is freely available on the Internet. There is a section on CAN-bus data. This document contains a description of almost 90-100% of the data on the motor CAN bus (for your car generation). You can compare what MaxxECU transmits and what it does not transmit.

Is it possible to make the display to communicate via CAN?

The display already communicates via CAN. ColorMFA receives almost all data from CAN-bus. From all ECUs on CAN-bus (engine, cluster, esp, automatic transmission, climat control, audio/navi, phone, e.t.c.).

[killfame_s3dsg]

Can you guide me how exactly to find hidden settings?

https://wiki.colormfa.ru/interface/menu/system/debug

I’m aware that MaxxECU supports full CAN.

If some data is not displayed on the screen, then not all data is on the CAN-bus. Right ? You didn't have any problems with the original control unit, did you? If MaxxECU supported everything like the original control unit, then you would not have any questions.
You can find documentation on the ME7 engine ECU on the Internet (Funktionsrahmen ME7.1 pdf). This document has long been no secret and is freely available on the Internet. There is a section on CAN-bus data. This document contains a description of almost 90-100% of the data on the motor CAN bus (for your car generation). You can compare what MaxxECU transmits and what it does not transmit.

Is it possible to make the display to communicate via CAN?

The display already communicates via CAN. ColorMFA receives almost all data from CAN-bus. From all ECUs on CAN-bus (engine, cluster, esp, automatic transmission, climat control, audio/navi, phone, e.t.c.).

Hello, this is the answer I get from MaxxECU.
I attach screenshot.

[autopilot]

Everything is as I said above. MaxxECU sends a minimum set of data.
I think that they will not be able (and will not because it is quite a time-consuming task) to make a full correspondence with the data of the original control unit.
There is also no point in giving some kind of CAN list that ColorMFA uses. Because ColorMFA uses all possible data from the original control unit to the maximum. If ColorMFA used only a minimum set, there would be no point in it (the minimum data is present on the original screen). The whole point of ColorMFA is to display as much information as possible.

[killfame_s3dsg]

Everything is as I said above. MaxxECU sends a minimum set of data.
I think that they will not be able (and will not because it is quite a time-consuming task) to make a full correspondence with the data of the original control unit.
There is also no point in giving some kind of CAN list that ColorMFA uses. Because ColorMFA uses all possible data from the original control unit to the maximum. If ColorMFA used only a minimum set, there would be no point in it (the minimum data is present on the original screen). The whole point of ColorMFA is to display as much information as possible.

Okay, I explained to them that I want my Water temp, ambient temp and IAT values to work at least and their answer is -> I attached screenshot.

[autopilot]

What is CLT ?
ID 0x480 does not contain any temperature data. Only a high water temperature warning (not on all vehicles) and fan control value (not on all vehicles).

In order not to invent where the data is, download the document I mentioned above. It has everything you need.

Water temp: ID 420 from cluster and ID 288 from motor ECU (Your car has a sensor that is connected to both the dashboard and the engine control unit).
Ambient temp: ID 420 from cluster.
Intake Air temp: ID 380 from motor ECU.

Take a photo (in good quality to see the data on the screen) of the CAN monitor screen when only Motor-CAN is active.
It may be necessary to take more than one photo, there may be more data than can be displayed on one screen (scroll with up and down buttons).
And take one photo of Motor Info screen.

[killfame_s3dsg]

What is CLT ?
ID 0x480 does not contain any temperature data. Only a high water temperature warning (not on all vehicles) and fan control value (not on all vehicles).

In order not to invent where the data is, download the document I mentioned above. It has everything you need.

Water temp: ID 420 from cluster and ID 288 from motor ECU (Your car has a sensor that is connected to both the dashboard and the engine control unit).
Ambient temp: ID 420 from cluster.
Intake Air temp: ID 380 from motor ECU.

Take a photo (in good quality to see the data on the screen) of the CAN monitor screen when only Motor-CAN is active.
It may be necessary to take more than one photo, there may be more data than can be displayed on one screen (scroll with up and down buttons).
And take one photo of Motor Info screen.

CLT -> Coolant temperature - I assume

I will forward your answer to them now and will take videos/photos later today.

[killfame_s3dsg]

What is CLT ?
ID 0x480 does not contain any temperature data. Only a high water temperature warning (not on all vehicles) and fan control value (not on all vehicles).

In order not to invent where the data is, download the document I mentioned above. It has everything you need.

Water temp: ID 420 from cluster and ID 288 from motor ECU (Your car has a sensor that is connected to both the dashboard and the engine control unit).
Ambient temp: ID 420 from cluster.
Intake Air temp: ID 380 from motor ECU.

Take a photo (in good quality to see the data on the screen) of the CAN monitor screen when only Motor-CAN is active.
It may be necessary to take more than one photo, there may be more data than can be displayed on one screen (scroll with up and down buttons).
And take one photo of Motor Info screen.

CLT -> Coolant temperature - I assume

I will forward your answer to them now and will take videos/photos later today.

I share link -> 1 photo , 2 videos
https://we.tl/t-JzSLwRcxLe

The website does not accept larger files.

[autopilot]

Coolant temp:
Data from the engine ECU is actually missing. But the fault flag is not set (should be set if data is missing). Since the flag is not set, the value is considered correct and ColorMFA calculates it.
Data from the cluster is present.
Update the firmware (link below). I have made some fixes for this problem. Coolant temperature should be displayed (from the cluster). But it has some limitations. The sensor connected to the cluster does not work with the entire temperature range. You may not see the actual value until the coolant temperature is too low. This is not a ColorMFA problem, it is a sensor problem.
https://colormfa.ru/download/_a3_xxx_v2.9.4b44.rar

Ambient temp:
I don't see any problems. The data should be displayed.

Intake Air temp:
I don't see any problems. The data should be displayed. This can be seen on the "Summary" screen.

[killfame_s3dsg]

Coolant temp:
Data from the engine ECU is actually missing. But the fault flag is not set (should be set if data is missing). Since the flag is not set, the value is considered correct and ColorMFA calculates it.
Data from the cluster is present.
Update the firmware (link below). I have made some fixes for this problem. Coolant temperature should be displayed (from the cluster). But it has some limitations. The sensor connected to the cluster does not work with the entire temperature range. You may not see the actual value until the coolant temperature is too low. This is not a ColorMFA problem, it is a sensor problem.
https://colormfa.ru/download/_a3_xxx_v2.9.4b44.rar

Ambient temp:
I don't see any problems. The data should be displayed.

Intake Air temp:
I don't see any problems. The data should be displayed. This can be seen on the "Summary" screen.

I have downloaded the new update but haven’t got time to do so. I will do it upcoming time.

Coolant temp issue appeared as soon as I plugged in the MaxxECU on first Ignition ON.
Temperature sensor is brand new aswell.

Looks like after the Base Map tune my Tuner did the day before, he manage to fix the Ambient Temp issue.

Inlet Air Temp, I haven’t driven the car yet to confirm, but I believe it’ll be fine too.

[autopilot]

Temperature sensor is brand new aswell.

I didn't say you had a bad sensor.
The sensor consists of two parts. One part is connected to the engine control unit. The second part is connected to the cluster. The part connected to the cluster does not work in the entire temperature range. You may not see the real temperature if the coolant temperature is very low. This is how the sensor works.
The part connected to the engine is currently unavailable. No data on CAN-bus from the engine ECU. Perhaps this can be fixed in MaxxECU.

[killfame_s3dsg]

Temperature sensor is brand new aswell.

I didn't say you had a bad sensor.
The sensor consists of two parts. One part is connected to the engine control unit. The second part is connected to the cluster. The part connected to the cluster does not work in the entire temperature range. You may not see the real temperature if the coolant temperature is very low. This is how the sensor works.
The part connected to the engine is currently unavailable. No data on CAN-bus from the engine ECU. Perhaps this can be fixed in MaxxECU.

I’ll give feedback when I have results.
Thank you for the response and suggestions!

[killfame_s3dsg]

Hello.

Issues - Solved

I attach link with Video & Photo which Protocol we used in order to make communication inbetween MaxxECU & ColorMFA for Coolant Temperature and rest of the Virtual Gauges!

https://we.tl/t-X9Q3RYdktH

We manage to use Audi S4 B6 Me7.1.1 Protocol from MaxxECU !

Thank you for your support once again!!!