Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts

Tuning DFCO for better engine braking and fuel economy

Steel City 06

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Okay, so it has taken me probably two years to figure out how to tune DFCO in the 05-06 TJs without getting the stalling issue. Figured I would document my solution here so someone in the future can figure it out faster.

First off, what is Deceleration Fuel Cut-Off (DFCO)? Quite simply, it is an open-loop fueling condition in which the PCM completely shuts off the fuel injectors while the vehicle is decelerating. This saves fuel by reducing the amount of fuel the vehicle burns while decelerating in gear to nearly zero, and also makes the engine braking more aggressive. Without DFCO, you can expect fairly mild engine braking because the engine is still burning fuel/air, which provides some resistance to slowing down. When DFCO is engaged, 100% of the energy required to turn the engine is coming from the kinetic energy of the vehicle.

For the 05-06 TJs, it took me a very long time to figure out how to tune it.

So there are actually two different triggers for DFCO. One we can tune with HP Tuners, one we have no control over.

1st, DFCO is occasionally engaged in the TJ for emissions reasons. 3-way catalysts like the TJ has are designed to reduce carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and NOx emissions. CO is less relevant for this conversation, so I'll skip over it. As a broad oversimplification, your car tends to create more NOx emissions when running lean, and more hydrocarbon emissions when running rich. Hence why it normally tries to run stoichiometric. However, if it runs rich, such as when you enter PE or catalyst overtemp protection kicks in, it depletes the stored oxygen in the catalyst, and HC emissions begin to rise. The ECM corrects for this by trying to run DFCO the next time you let off the gas to recharge the catalytic converter with oxygen. (Complete fuel shut-off is used in lieu of simply leaning the mixture because it generates less NOx and also has less risk of detonation.) This implementation of DFCO we have no control over without outright disabling emissions altogether. However; it works well, so we just leave it be.

2nd, the PCMs are programmed to some degree to allow different fuel-saving strategies to be implemented, namely Multiple Displacement System (MDS) and DFCO. MDS I have not messed with; I suspect it needs certain hardware for it to work without destroying the catalytic converters. However, DFCO we do have limited control over. In the stock tune, it is disabled by setting the "Enable DFCO MAP" to an impossibly low manifold absolute pressure (MAP).

The root of the problem (I think) is that we don't have access to every parameter we need to be able to tune it from the factory. Either that, or it was so buggy even the Chrysler engineers gave up on it. What happens is that with settings similar to what you'd find on NGC4 or NGC4A-equipped vehicles, it works as expected 90% of the time. However, it seems in certain cases, the logic gets flipped, and it actually enables DFCO when it should be kicking out instead, and the vehicle stalls. Even more fun is that it doesn't restart normally. (More on this later.)

Factory settings:
1762904122918.png

Note that the Enable MAP is set to 2.6 kPa across the board. This effectively disables DFCO (except for emissions reasons) as MAP never goes below ~10 kPa in practice.

For comparison, here is a factory DFCO tune from a 2016 Jeep Wrangler using a GPEC2 ECM:
1762904316016.png

Note there are a lot more parameters here than in the NGC3. I suspect these actually are in the NGC3 programming; we just don't have access to them with HP Tuners.

After probably trying 50 different variations of all the variables in any way that made sense, I gave up on trying to use the DFCO settings as they were intended to be used. DFCO always worked great with every tune, but the stalling issue was just a constant thorn in my side. The biggest issue is that with the engine below the enable temperature, it would actually flip the logic. It wouldn't enable DFCO, but at the instant it would otherwise disable it, it would kick in and stall the engine.

Finally, on the 51st (plus or minus a dozen) attempt, I tried a final kamikaze tune and set the "Enable MAP" way above the "Disable MAP" and set it across the board to 60 kPa. Figured it would stall everything out immediately. Instead, it did the opposite. I couldn't get a single stall driving. But suddenly, the engine would die at idle if I let out the clutch too fast. And lowering that 60 kPa to 40 kPa made that far worse. So I doubled down on the Kamikaze tune:
1762904922657.png

And it works! Beautifully. And yes that enable ECT and that Maximum MAP settings are exactly where they need to be. Does it make sense looking at it? Heck no. But it works.

My best guess as to the error in the ECM logic is that the DFCO state is stored as a yes/no state, or effectively 1/0. If one parameter wants DFCO disabled, it flips and disables itself. But if two parameters (such as idle state, Disable MAP Hysteresis, Disable MAP or Enable ECT) then both say to disable the DFCO simultaneously, it flips it to enable DFCO, generally when you least want it.

So effectively we tune it so DFCO is always enabled, and only one parameter can kick it off at a time. If you set the Enable ECT too high, the logic will flip when the engine is cold, and you will stall. Set the maximum MAP too low, and the Disable MAP Hysteresis will line up with the idle request, and you will stall. But if DFCO is always enabled, it only ever gets kicked off, not re-enabled. So you don't ever stall.
 
So how it works in practice:

Driving along normally:
1762905752599.png

The throttle is cracked open. Vehicle is running normally in closed loop.

You hit a steep downhill and let off the gas:
1762905830097.png

The ECM goes to open loop, and drops the injector duty cycle to zero. So it's just pumping air through the engine. You get nice engine braking.

As soon as you touch the throttle again, the injectors immediately fire and the ECM quickly goes back to closed-loop fueling:
1762905961804.png


Or if you disengage the clutch or reach idle RPM via another reason, DFCO automatically kicks out as soon as it hits idle RPM:
1762906102143.png


There is a brief delay in going into DFCO once it hits closed loop, and a very brief delay in going back to closed loop once it exits DFCO. Usually a fraction of a section.

So there you have it. Burn zero fuel going downhill and save your brake pads for later.
 
Regarding the stall:

While you shouldn't get any stall with this tune, I will note this in case it happens anyways or if you decide to mess with the tune.

If the engine stalls, simply cranking it with the key does NOT start it. It will turn over and immediately die.
DO NOT PANIC. You will be able to start it again.

There are several ways to restart:
  1. Turn the key all the way off, wait three full seconds (very important, no wait = no start), turn it on, crank the engine. It will start.
  2. Alternatively, crank it and as soon as you turn the key back to "Run", slap the gas pedal. If the engine is still turning, it will stumble and then start.
  3. If you are still rolling, just let out the clutch in gear to spin the engine (choose a gear you think you'd idle at the speed you're going) and press the gas pedal. The engine will roar back to life.
Cranking does not disable the shutdown. However, if the engine is spinning and the throttle position sensor detects any movement at all, it will automatically begin firing the injectors again.

There may be other tuning scenarios that can cause this stalling error, such as exceeding the throttle airflow model when you add a supercharger. In most cases, any of these steps will work there as well. I suspect the ECM is simply shutting off if it detects a situation it doesn't know how to handle.
 
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Other notes:

This is on a @Wranglerfix PCM, but the factory PCM is exactly the same.

I also have a @Flyin' Ryan Performance canned tune on this PCM, but his tune does not change DFCO from factory settings. (Also note this is why I won't just post the tune file - FRP's spark and VE tables are proprietary. Buy his tune, don't pirate it. It's worth the $$.)

The other way to get better engine braking (without DFCO) is simply to retard the spark to a significant amount at MAP values that you'd only get with a closed throttle. This works, but it isn't nearly as much engine braking. (It also arguably wastes fuel and increases CO emissions.)

What actually seems to happen with the TJ is that it defaults to the idle spark advance during normal (non-DFCO) deceleration rather than the spark values in the part-throttle spark tables. So it generally drops to the default of 10 degrees advance (14 degrees for automatic transmission), which provides the mild engine braking effect. That's also why the throttle seems snappy when you're idling along in 1st gear and then tap it ever so slightly - it's not adding much fuel, it's simply snapping to a higher spark advance.

With DFCO enabled to do the engine braking duty, that actually removes one of the limitations on advancing the idle spark. I've experimented with raising it as high as 24 degrees, and have settled on 20 degrees as a happy medium. Advancing the idle spark significantly cuts idle fuel consumption, although it eats into the spark torque reserve, meaning the engine becomes a little bit more prone to stalling and may not be able to maintain the idle RPM as closely as it would at lower timing advance. Above 20 degrees and it seems to become a bit unstable and easy to stall from my testing.

Increasing the idle spark also counteracts the engine braking you'd get without DFCO enabled, and may make the transition into and out of DFCO feel a bit more harsh. (Personally I like it - it feels a lot like regenerative braking on an EV or hybrid.)
 
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I happened to be focused on these 2 settings at the same time this post came out and have settled on a combo that works for the earlier JTEC and JTEC+ 1997-2004 PCMs. This is an area were the simplicity of tuning on JTEC provides some advantages over the NGC3 PCMs.

#1 is to reduce the Deceleration Fuel Cutoff - Enable VSS setting from 32mph to 24mph. This places the speed in a range where it doesn't interfere with low speed driving in the neighborhood on trail, but increases times when DFCO is applicable. It will not apply DFCO until the engine is reasonably warm as this could cause a stall.
1763755065551.png


#2 is to adjust some spark advance values to ensure you don't get caught in a throttle hang at lower speeds.
1763755194043.png



--original post--
Nice. I've been working through this and the low speed idle behavior on my 04 JTEC+ with even fewer options. When I figure it out I'll add it here. While it's never stalled, it has been weird.

I'm about to work on my dad's 06 LJR 6-spd tune.
 
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Nice. I've been working through this and the low speed idle behavior on my 04 JTEC+ with even fewer options. When I figure it out I'll add it here. While it's never stalled, it has been weird.

I'm about to work on my dad's 06 LJR 6-spd tune.

There actually have been a few parameters added over the last few years. If you haven't done a clean read in a while, try using the latest beta and doing a full read on the ECM. Depending on how old your original file is you might get a few more parameters
 
Why this response? I was giving him a compliment and appreciated his sharing. Other forums are nearly as open.
I Agree! That HPT forum Dodge group has been a bunch of less than helpful people trying to squeeze a nickle out of everyone who comes to ask a question.

It's like what do you think the purpose of a forum is? Why are you making this so difficult? The facepalm is the feeling I get every time I try to find something on that forum.
 
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Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts