How to make your own diagnostic cord for setting up 4th generation HBO

Very often, car owners with installed gas equipment are faced with the need to review/adjust some parameters of the gas “brains”. For this purpose, you need to have a special tester (which is very expensive and not economically feasible for private use) or you need a diagnostic tool in the form of a laptop with installed software and a cord to connect the gas “brains” and the laptop. Branded cords that are commercially available are not cheap, so you can try to make a cable for HBO yourself. How to do this and where to get the components of the future cord for HBO will be discussed in our article.

Cable assembly

Let's look at making a DIY HBO diagnostic cable to connect a laptop to gas “brains” using the example of an HBO cord for one of the popular models of brains from the Polish company Stag.

Components

Actually, the diagnostic cable for HBO itself consists of:

The connector for connecting to the gas brain block (in our case it is a standard one) is a 4-pin waterproof automotive connector that can be bought in a car/radio store or ordered from Aliexpress, as we did. The price of one connector was about 60 cents.

Next, we will need another USB type A connector for subsequent connection of the finished cable for HBO to the laptop. This connector can also be bought at a radio store or ordered from Aliexpress. This connector cost us $1.10.

You will also need a 3- or 4-core copper cable 3-3.5 meters long. It is advisable to use multi-core wire (so that each cable core is wound from several) - this will greatly extend the service life of the finished cable in the future, due to the fact that the cores will break much less.

It is also better to buy heat shrink (for cable insulation) at a radio store.

The “heart” of our cable for matching the laptop and “brains” signals will be the PL2303 chip. It is best to buy not a “bare” microcircuit, but a ready-made USB to TTL module (it will contain the necessary microcircuit with the necessary additional elements sealed) in the same radio store or order from Aliexpress. Our module came with a USB connector, it is best to choose this option, it is easier to assemble, and in the future such a cable for HBO will look much more aesthetically pleasing.

Assembling the cable

Having prepared all the components, it remains to assemble them into a single whole. This should be done according to the diagram given below.

In our case, everything turns out much simpler. The Chinese manufacturer indicated in the documentation for the module a description of the connector and the corresponding wire color:

• black cable - GND;
• green - TXD;
• white - RXD;
• red - VCC.

Therefore, we all came down to crimping and soldering the wires to the 4-pin connector. We used 3 wires:

• black cable - GND
• green - TXD
• white – RXD

We crimped and soldered them in accordance with the connector diagram for our “brains”. We did not use the red wire.

If you plan to make a cord for setting up gas equipment for several types of gas “brains,” then it is advisable to make several adapters that can be inserted into a 4-pin connector.

Next, we connect the appropriate connectors to the “brains” and the laptop, launch the program and turn on the ignition. We will tell you how to work with the program and which one is best to use in the following articles.

The HBO diagnostic cord cost us about 2-3 US dollars, plus we gained invaluable experience during assembly. It is worth noting that you can buy an HBO cord at a price that starts from 7 US dollars.

Last updated April 2, 2021 at 12:33 pm

After installing gas equipment on a car, you will need a special cord to configure its controller. In addition, in the further operation of the machine, adjustment of the fuel system will definitely be necessary.

Therefore, for those who like to independently diagnose their car, in this article we will tell you how to make a universal cable for 4th generation LPG with your own hands.

Design and purpose of the device

It's no secret that almost all components of the design of modern cars are electronically controlled. Gas equipment of machines is no exception, therefore, to control its operation, a special control unit is used, which is the electronic “brain” of the unit. A cable for HBO is required to control this unit in a way convenient for humans, that is, through a special program on a computer.

Gas equipment is connected to an electronic computer through a special diagnostic connector, which, as a rule, is located near the control unit. Such a connection allows you to achieve the following goals:

• Firstly, set up the gas equipment, which is necessary for the stable and correct operation of the unit;
• Secondly, install a new program on gas equipment, which is needed when changing its configuration or wanting to configure the operation of the unit in a radically new way;
• And thirdly, carry out other diagnostic work, which is quite important for organizing stable and safe operation of the gas equipment.

Let us repeat, diagnostics and configuration of equipment occurs through a computer, so to organize them you need:

1. Get a cable for HBO diagnostics from the exact manufacturer that is installed on your vehicle;
2. Prepare a laptop;
3. Download and install the appropriate software on it to carry out the necessary manipulations.

It is worth noting that most types of gas installations known throughout the world, for example, from , “Digitronic” and “AGIS”, operate on control units similar in design and principles of software organization, so it is not possible to find a universal cable for gas equipment in stores or make it yourself so difficult. Some experts in the “gas balloon” business, of course, do not recommend the use of such a device, but practice shows that it is completely safe to use them, because they do not cause software failures in the operation of various types of electronic “brains”. By the way, universal cables have already been tested more than once when setting up the same gas systems from Stag, Digitronic and AGIS.

Required materials and tools

To approach the matter correctly, you need to stock up on the necessary details in advance:

• USB adapter/chip;
• cable;
• connector (connection block);
• soldering iron and soldering materials;
• heat shrink tube of different diameters;
• insulating tape;
• multimeter or test light;
• side cutters (nippers).

If you have an unnecessary cord, for example from an old mobile phone that has a board marked PL2303, you can make this cord from it.

But we will make it simpler; online stores already have an almost ready-made solution at an affordable price. In particular, on Aliexpress (Aliexpress), you can buy an adapter for 4th generation HBO (TTL module PL2303) and all the necessary elements for assembling the cord.

It is worth noting here that such a wire (made in China) is not intended for too frequent use. In addition, due to its length (1 meter), it will not be convenient to use on all cars. But for private use it will work well.

It is best to purchase a copper wire with three cores, a soft, shielded wire at any electrical store. The length is 2-2.5 m. It is quite enough for convenient setting up of HBO directly from the car interior.

The chip will fit from a VAZ-2110 fuel pump.

Manufacturing instructions

Almost all control units of popular gas equipment have a similar diagnostic cable connection diagram. They differ only in the location of the wires.

Typically, the ECU connector pinout looks like this:

black – minus “-” GND; green – receiving RXD signal; white – TXD signal transmission; red – plus “+5 V”;

To make sure, you need to use a multimeter or test lamp to find the negative/positive terminals and remember their location.

The positive terminal on the adapter (chip) can be cut off with side cutters. It will not be used, because Power to the board will come from the computer/laptop.

Then we solder three wire strands to our board. It is more convenient if the cable colors match the gas controller connector. Rewind the soldering area with electrical tape. We put on the heat shrink and warm it up with a hair dryer or lighter.

Instead of electrical tape, it is better to use special dielectric adhesive for microcircuits.

To the opposite end of the cord we clamp and solder the three terminals (“male”) that came with the block. We put on heat shrink in advance. Next, you need to assemble the connector according to the pinout diagram, provided that you are sure of the location of the signal wires on the ECU chip. Insulate the solder joint in the same way.

If the TX and RX signals are unknown, the connector may not be assembled yet.

How to connect

You can check the connection of the module (board) to the computer before making the cord. To do this, you need to download and install the driver for your operating system from the official website of the ECU manufacturer or from resources that distribute gas equipment. There you can also download a program for configuring the HBO.

Having connected the adapter board to the USB port of the laptop/tablet, you need to go to “Device Manager” - “Ports” and check the connection.

If an exclamation mark icon appears and error “Code 10” there may be several reasons:

• Windows system reboot required;
• The board chip is fake.

In the latter option, you need to find a driver on the Internet (using the selection method) without checking the authenticity of the chip and install it.

After installing and launching the program for adjusting the control unit, you should connect the cable with the laptop to the gas equipment ECU. If the program shows “the controller is not connected,” then it is necessary to swap the TXD and RXD connectors.

Pros of a bluetooth adapter

We talked in detail about how to make a universal diagnostic cable yourself here.

Diagnostics of gas equipment via Bluetooth has a number of obvious advantages over using a conventional cable:

• ease of use (no unnecessary wires, operability up to 10 meters);
• the ability to constantly monitor and independently adjust system parameters (fuel and gearbox temperature, injector injection time, gas pressure) directly from a laptop, tablet or smartphone on the go;
• versatility of application. Suitable for most modern systems: Stag, OMVL, Lovato, Gigitronic, LPG tech, AEB and many others including the brains of the old version;
• the cost of homemade equipment is an order of magnitude lower than factory analogues. For example, the same ds 73 bluetooth from ELM 327 will cost about 1500-2500 rubles, and branded products can be bought at prices ranging from 3000-7000 rubles.

In addition, the BT transmitter does not consume much power, so it can be left continuously connected to the diagnostic connector even when parked. In addition, the advantage of this device is that it is repairable, the price of the parts is not significant, and repairing the adapter will not be difficult.

What can a cable do?

With this adapter you can:

1. Read error codes for HBO faults (erase them).
2. Adjust (program) ECU parameters.
3. Gas level sensor calibration.
4. Setting the parameters of the ignition timing variator (IAC) and much more, it all depends on the controller model.

A homemade cable for diagnostics is universal; for many units you will only have to change the location of the terminals in the cord block.

Diagnostic cable pinout and compatibility table:

How I made a cord for HBO

I decided to install gas equipment on my car and contacted a specialized office. They supplied me with Lovato equipment, but they couldn’t set it up correctly. My city is not large and the other companies that I could find did not install and service Lovato.

Hopelessness is the engine of progress; I had to figure out the issue myself. An external inspection showed that the equipment was installed correctly. This meant only one thing - the problem was an incorrect setting of the HBO unit.

Our goal is to configure the LPG unit; for this, the manufacturer offers special software Lovato Easy Fast; it cannot be downloaded from the official website, but can be found on the Internet. After some googling, I realized that the HBO cable is nothing more than a USB→UART converter. This means it’s easy to find ready-made options or even assemble it yourself.

Android HBO setup program

Maybe not quite fresh and new. There is already someone who has used the program. It's cool who has a radio on Andrew! It's time to think about replacing your head! The Stag company has released a program for mobile devices based on Android.

From the playmarket: Meeting the wishes of installers and users of our autogas installations, the developers of our company have created an application for mobile devices. STAG MOBILE is the convenience and ease of access to the complete AC STAG software on your phone or tablet. The application supports Q-generation controllers, as well as STAG-4 QBOX, STAG-4 q-box NEXT, STAG-300 QMAX. The latest application is not only software for STAG calibration, but also additional accessories for the driver in the form of current monitoring of gas installation parameters and an OBD reading function that allows viewing the parameters of the on-board diagnostic interface. Just an OBD2/EOBD scanner in your phone! To get started, you just need a dedicated STAG Bluetooth Next interface and STAG MOBILE installed.

PS I read that it only works with Stag’s bluetooth, and this is a huge minus!

Manufacturing of HBO cable

What is required to set up HBO?

• HBO cable (this is what we will do)
• HBO cable driver
• laptop with a battery life of about 2 hours
• Lovato Easy Fast program
• obd adapter
• mobile phone with bluetooth program Torque or ODB Doctor
• read the article about the essence of setting up HBO Lovato

So, our car already has 4th generation HBO installed, we need to configure it. Let's start with the connector; it can be found near the HBO unit. It is hidden under a black cap and looks like the one shown below. It is to him that we will connect.

Lovato connector pinout

Lovato connector pinout

• GND (Ground)
• Rx (data reception)
• Tx (data transmission)
• +12 (food, we won’t need it)

Correct connection of the HBO cable to the connector:

There are 2 types of pinouts for this cable on the Internet and they contradict each other. If I had had a voltmeter at hand then, I would have gone all-in :) As it turned out, if you mix up and connect the mass of the HBO cable to the +12 connector, nothing bad happens, but it’s better not to make that mistake. Rx and Tx can be confused. Rx and Tx of the adapter must be connected to Tx and Rx of the HBO, respectively, i.e. cross. It is absolutely clear that the cable will work only after all pins are correctly connected.

Where can I get a USB→UART converter?

You may be surprised, but a data cable that costs about $100 can be made yourself for $3. In fact, this cable is nothing more than a USB to UART adapter with special TTL levels. The PL2303HX chip copes with this task perfectly:

You can order a converter based on the PL2303HX chip on AliExpress, the estimated price tag is $0.85.

Chinese USB to UART converter.

Date cable from an old cell phone.

To connect to the Lovato HBO connector, it is very convenient to use DIP pins; you can buy them at any radio parts store or order them from AliExpress; they can be broken and used one at a time.

Pin strip for DIP mounting.

Solder wires to these pins and your adapter. I recommend making the wires long enough so that you can configure the LPG from inside the car; this is required for online setup, more on that later.

As a result, we should get something like this cable:

Homemade cable for HBO.

Does our cable work? Latest tests.

For the adapter to work, we install the driver (you can download it from the website of the developer of the Profilic PL2303HX chip). If you are using a pirated version of the chip, the drivers will be installed, but will not work; this problem can be solved by installing a driver of an earlier version (you can download it at the end of the article). You can check the functionality of a freshly assembled cable using the Com Port Toolkit program. The work program is divided into two parts: the left panel is transmission, the right panel is reception.

Connect the Rx and Tx pins together, so whatever you send through this cable will be immediately received by it. In the left pane of Com Port Toolkit

try sending a few bytes, if the same bytes are displayed in the right window, then the cable is working.

Important information

You should always understand that every manufacturer of gas equipment intended for cars, as a rule, strives to make a profit through the sale of additional equipment. So here you need to decide whether you will buy a cable for setting up the HBO or whether you want to make it yourself.

Of course, we will talk about a special cable designed for programming controllers. If you want to save yourself from such a problem as cable repair, then before making the connection, you need to check the diagnostic connector pins using a multimeter.

It is imperative to take into account the fact that gas equipment, as a rule, is usually connected to an electronic computer; for this purpose, a special connector is provided, it is located not far from the control unit. Moreover, if you don’t know, then keep in mind that it is such a connection that will allow you to achieve certain results and goals. Here they are:

• First of all, there is an excellent opportunity to configure the HBO, so the diagnostic cable for the HBO will really play an important role. As a rule, such a procedure is necessary in order to achieve correct, efficient operation of the unit as a whole, which is important;
• In addition, it is now possible to install a new program on the equipment. It is, as a rule, necessary at the time of changing its configuration, or when there is a desire to configure the operation of the node in a new way, which will definitely be possible to do;
• in addition, it will always be possible to perform other diagnostic work. Of course, here you need to understand that this is an important decision for organizing both stable and safe operation of gas equipment as a whole.

You should never forget that the diagnostic procedure and setting up the unit always takes place exclusively through a computer. This means that to install it you will need:

• obtain a cable intended for diagnosing the unit. Moreover, we will talk about the manufacturer whose equipment is installed on your car;
• Next you need to prepare your laptop and download the software onto it. As a rule, this is done so that the necessary manipulations can be carried out easily and simply.

The secret is that every manufacturer of automotive gas equipment seeks to make a profit by selling additional equipment - a special cable for programming controllers . If you are installing gas equipment , then you have probably noticed that the vast majority of installed equipment has two types of diagnostic connectors:

1) AGIS, ALTIS, STAG 150, OMVL – some other types of gas equipment .

2) Zenit, Stag-300, Stag-4, and others (in the photo the connector coming out of the control unit) (pinout is shown for the Zenit system, in Stag +12 and Gnd are swapped).

The photo shows 4 wires going into the connector. Two of these wires are (+) and (-), and two wires carry the Rx and Tx signal. The whole difference is in the location of these wires in the diagnostic block, i.e. Each manufacturer, in order to sell a cable of its own making, places the contacts in the diagnostic block differently (for example, when connecting a cable for Stag-300 to Zenith, the cable is damaged because the positive and negative wires in the block are mixed up).

To solve the problem, it is enough to make a universal connector. For example this:

In order to save yourself from the problem of repairing the cable if it is connected incorrectly, before connecting using a multimeter, you need to check the diagnostic connector pins on the equipment (some systems supply power to the diagnostic connector only when the ignition is on).

Having correctly connected (+) and (-), then we connect the signal wires.

Sometimes there are cases when the diagnostic block has simply rotted or there is no longer a plus or minus on it. In this case, the CABLE are connected to the battery, and only the signal wires are connected to the diagnostic block.

Warning

You should always carefully check the polarity of the power connection to the cable.

Where to get the Lovato-Stag cable terminal from

When making a cord for HBO diagnostics , the question arises - “Where can I get the connector?” For gas pump cable, you can use the connector from the fuel pump of domestic cars - GAZ, VAZ. The full name of this connector is AMP series Superseal 1.5 (4-pin).

Where to get the terminal for OMVL and others.

While puzzling over where to find the connector for HBO diagnostic cable , I came to the conclusion that it was impossible to find such a connector. BUT while doing a little revision of the wires I came across a wonderful thing. Connector for powering the motherboard from an old 300-watt power supply, an old system unit. and lo and behold! This connector fits with some modifications. Namely: first of all, you need to find a number of pins of the desired shape and then cut off the rest, unnecessary part of the connector. small photo report. I apologize for the quality of the photo.

PS It is important that the pin configuration is exactly the same as on the factory cord.