WOT Box installation & review - Dodge Caliber SRT-4 Forums

mouser · 11-04-2009, 06:21 PM

WOT Box installation & review

WARNING
This is not meant as a full installation how-to. For complete information on installing for the SRT4 Caliber, please use this official guide from the manufacturer.

This is merely an account of my installation and some tweaks I have made for this project.

WOT Box for noobs

The WOT Box is an ignition inhibitor whose purpose is twofold, depending on the car you have.

First, it's a 2-Step Launch control for helping launches from dig (full-stop). This can greatly improve 0-100kph and 1/4 Mile times. Alas, this feature is not possible on CSRT4 because on the torque limitation in first gears.

Secondly (and IMHO, this is where it's interesting), it's a Wide Open Throttle rev-limiter that, under specific condition, limits the RPM of the engine by cutting the power from the ignition coils.

Under normal engine operation, nothing happens. It's as if the WOT Box wasn't installed. But when it detects a Wide Open Throttle condition AND sees that the clutch is engaged, it then limits the RPM to a determined RPM. It comes pre-set at 4500RPM.

This allows interesting things to happen:

You no longer have to release the gas pedal when shifting
It keeps the engine in it's power peak curve
More importantly, it keeps your turbo spooled and pressurized.

This last thing is where this is interesting. Without adding more HP to your car, it's suddenly making better use of the power it can already generates and allows for quicker times.

Why would you need that?

Stop asking silly questions and read on.

Weather-proofing

Because the firewall is not easy to penetrate for even a single pair of wires, running the WOT Box full assortment of 6 wires was rather impossible without drilling. Because I didn't want to drill through my car, I decided to install the WOT Box inside the engine bay. But not before weather-proofing the box.

Now, I did say weather-proof, not water-proof.

So, I disassembled the WOT box and used 3M foam tape to close the gaps around the connectors. This resulted in a sealed box.

For the top button, I punched a washer in a small piece of tape which I then placed around the button and then covered with another piece, creating a sealed soft top button.

Exploratory

After printing and reading the manufacturer installation notes for the CSRT4 (see above link), I decided to make some exploratory surgery in the car to make sure I could locate all the wires I'd have to tap into.

In locating the C1 and C2 connector, you can see that the C1 connector is that big plug (disconnected in the photo) towards the front of the car, on top of the ECU/PCM module. The C2 connector is the one facing the rear of the car (still plugged in the photo).

You'll need to tap into two wires in the C1 connector, and one in the C2 connector.

Under the both connectors, such as the C1 underside, wire pinouts are numbered on the row edges.

You can then easily find the right wire in the incredible mess on the top side.

Digging in

Once you've located what you need, isolate the wires and mark the wires with some masking tape. Then proceed with the other wire in the C2 connector.

As suggested in the installation instruction, and because i'm paranoid about cutting wired, I has reconnected the battery and used a voltmeter to make sure I was using the right wires. I had only partly exposed the wires so that I could test with the voltmeter, having marked my wires with masking tape.

After confirmation, and a brief meditation period, I re-disconnected the battery, cut the wires and began surgery.

We used shrink tube to seal the splices we had made, here using something (old sock!) to protect the other wires.

We then measured up the ignition coil wires and exposed where we would tap the coils to.

Unlike in the C1 and C2 connectors, we opted not to use shrink tube in the ignition coils. This was because there wasn't much wire length to deal with and having used shrink tube would have removed any flexibility in the finished wire harness, making it near impossible to reconnect. instead, I used copious amount of tape, as in the factory setup. You wouldn't tell there were two extra wires in there, making this installation rather stealthy.

Another powered test

The WOT Box has simple diagnostic procedures that allows you to monitor wether it's sensing the pedals all right. For a quick test, we reconnected everything, turned on the car without starting it and monitored the WOT box blue (bleh) LED as we activated the gas and clutch pedal.

Stealth

In the above photo, you can see I have given me some leverage as to where I would put the WOT Box. I've got enough wire length to route under the inlet tube and hide the box under the engine cover. This would produce a completely hidden (stealth) installation. The nay thing that would give away the presence of the WOT Box, other than it's blue LED, is the "interesting" pair of blue and green wires coming out of the C1 cable assembly, and the not-so-discrete yellow one, coming out of the C2 assembly.

In the end, I decided to install the WOT Box on the back side of the air box. The wired were tucked in neatly on the side of the ECU/PCM for now.

I used, again, 3M trim foam tape (3 strips) to hold it on there, after having cleaned it's surface with alcohol.

Feathering cardiac arrest

We finished the process after a healthy 5 hours installation time, my buddy and I, having taken all due necessary precautions and time to do a good job and make sure we wouldn't have to do it again or repair some screwup.

So, at 3AM, I wasn't about to go out the highway and try this out. I just make sure the car was drivable and let it at that for the night.

On my way to work this morning, occasions were few to actually try this baby in, but a couple of "spirited" highway passing caused me to skip a heartbeat or two. The car had a weird reaction when the ignition cut off unexpectedly. It happened 3 times in all, after which I had realized what was going on.

The SRT4 reaches Wide Open Throttle condition at 87% throttle. During my highway passing, i was reaching WOT. Where it surprised me was that the car had cut off ignition just mere moments BEFORE I actually clutched!

What was happening is that without realizing it, I was feathering the clutch pedal with my left foot, causing the WOT Box to reach it's two conditions for engaging: WOT and Clutch.

So, not only does the WOT Box improves performance, it actually made me realize a`nod correct a bad habit of mine. Kudos for that!

WOT WOOT

Now, on my way back from work, I had all the perfect conditions to try this out. I ended up on the front row of the stop light at the entrance of the highway. What more could I ask for?!

While WOT-shifting is something to acquire (still have the reflex to lift my foot off the gas), the actual operation of this actually makes power shifting WAY more easy smoother and produces phenomenal results.

This gadget is AB-SO-LU-TE-LY is amazing.

I wholeheartedly recommend this mod.

WOOT, I say:

Dan08srt4 · 11-04-2009, 07:31 PM

Damn deff sticky

You look like a "Mouser"

J/K i like the silver/black.

mouser · 11-04-2009, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan08srt4

Damn deff sticky

You look like a "Mouser"

J/K i like the silver/black.

Yeah… I match my car !

Dan08srt4 · 11-04-2009, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mouser

Yeah… I'm assorted to my car !

assorted?

I could see how what i said would be funny. lol, no i wasnt making fun of you or your car.

I like your car and do you got pic of your csrt badge?

mouser · 11-04-2009, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan08srt4

assorted?

I could see how what i said would be funny. lol, no i wasnt making fun of you or your car.

I like your car and do you got pic of your csrt badge?

Here it is:

I planned on using a better photo in my sig but never got around to it.

Dan08srt4 · 11-04-2009, 09:03 PM

Thats pretty cool.

Are you going to get the stage 1/clamp your car?

mouser · 11-04-2009, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan08srt4

Thats pretty cool.

Are you going to get the stage 1/clamp your car?

Can of worms.

Truth is, I don't know yet. I'm being a real pussy about MS1. It's the next logical step I suppose but the price is a bit high around here (600) so I would have to order from the states.

My dealer's tech has done it to his car and the dealer doesn't raise any stupid issues like warranties and the like.

But the road legality of the part in question is making me backtrack a bit. I'm still not clear on the implications around it.

So for now, while I pussyfoot around the issue, I'm looking at other small things to do. Not like I got a whole lot of budget for it too.

But them ceramic ported headers from RealTune have gotten some attention recently.

steves08srt · 11-04-2009, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mouser

Here it is:

I planned on using a better photo in my sig but never got around to it.

lol good shit man i like it

steves08srt · 11-04-2009, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mouser

WOT Box installation & review

WARNING
This is not meant as a full installation how-to. For complete information on installing for the SRT4 Caliber, please use this official guide from the manufacturer.

This is merely an account of my installation and some tweaks I have made for this project.

WOT Box for noobs

The WOT Box is an ignition inhibitor whose purpose is twofold, depending on the car you have.

First, it's a 2-Step Launch control for helping launches from dig (full-stop). This can greatly improve 0-100kph and 1/4 Mile times. Alas, this feature is not possible on CSRT4 because on the torque limitation in first gears.

Secondly (and IMHO, this is where it's interesting), it's a Wide Open Throttle rev-limiter that, under specific condition, limits the RPM of the engine by cutting the power from the ignition coils.

Under normal engine operation, nothing happens. It's as if the WOT Box wasn't installed. But when it detects a Wide Open Throttle condition AND sees that the clutch is engaged, it then limits the RPM to a determined RPM. It comes pre-set at 4500RPM.

This allows interesting things to happen:

You no longer have to release the gas pedal when shifting
It keeps the engine in it's power peak curve
More importantly, it keeps your turbo spooled and pressurized.

This last thing is where this is interesting. Without adding more HP to your car, it's suddenly making better use of the power it can already generates and allows for quicker times.

Why would you need that?

Stop asking silly questions and read on.

Weather-proofing

Because the firewall is not easy to penetrate for even a single pair of wires, running the WOT Box full assortment of 6 wires was rather impossible without drilling. Because I didn't want to drill through my car, I decided to install the WOT Box inside the engine bay. But not before weather-proofing the box.

Now, I did say weather-proof, not water-proof.

So, I disassembled the WOT box and used 3M foam tape to close the gaps around the connectors. This resulted in a sealed box.

For the top button, I punched a washer in a small piece of tape which I then placed around the button and then covered with another piece, creating a sealed soft top button.

Exploratory

After printing and reading the manufacturer installation notes for the CSRT4 (see above link), I decided to make some exploratory surgery in the car to make sure I could locate all the wires I'd have to tap into.

In locating the C1 and C2 connector, you can see that the C1 connector is that big plug (disconnected in the photo) towards the front of the car, on top of the ECU/PCM module. The C2 connector is the one facing the rear of the car (still plugged in the photo).

You'll need to tap into two wires in the C1 connector, and one in the C2 connector.

Under the both connectors, such as the C1 underside, wire pinouts are numbered on the row edges.

You can then easily find the right wire in the incredible mess on the top side.

Digging in

Once you've located what you need, isolate the wires and mark the wires with some masking tape. Then proceed with the other wire in the C2 connector.

As suggested in the installation instruction, and because i'm paranoid about cutting wired, I has reconnected the battery and used a voltmeter to make sure I was using the right wires. I had only partly exposed the wires so that I could test with the voltmeter, having marked my wires with masking tape.

After confirmation, and a brief meditation period, I re-disconnected the battery, cut the wires and began surgery.

We used shrink tube to seal the splices we had made, here using something (old sock!) to protect the other wires.

We then measured up the ignition coil wires and exposed where we would tap the coils to.

Unlike in the C1 and C2 connectors, we opted not to use shrink tube in the ignition coils. This was because there wasn't much wire length to deal with and having used shrink tube would have removed any flexibility in the finished wire harness, making it near impossible to reconnect. instead, I used copious amount of tape, as in the factory setup. You wouldn't tell there were two extra wires in there, making this installation rather stealthy.

Another powered test

The WOT Box has simple diagnostic procedures that allows you to monitor wether it's sensing the pedals all right. For a quick test, we reconnected everything, turned on the car without starting it and monitored the WOT box blue (bleh) LED as we activated the gas and clutch pedal.

Stealth

In the above photo, you can see I have given me some leverage as to where I would put the WOT Box. I've got enough wire length to route under the inlet tube and hide the box under the engine cover. This would produce a completely hidden (stealth) installation. The nay thing that would give away the presence of the WOT Box, other than it's blue LED, is the "interesting" pair of blue and green wires coming out of the C1 cable assembly, and the not-so-discrete yellow one, coming out of the C2 assembly.

In the end, I decided to install the WOT Box on the back side of the air box. The wired were tucked in neatly on the side of the ECU/PCM for now.

I used, again, 3M trim foam tape (3 strips) to hold it on there, after having cleaned it's surface with alcohol.

Feathering cardiac arrest

We finished the process after a healthy 5 hours installation time, my buddy and I, having taken all due necessary precautions and time to do a good job and make sure we wouldn't have to do it again or repair some screwup.

So, at 3AM, I wasn't about to go out the highway and try this out. I just make sure the car was drivable and let it at that for the night.

On my way to work this morning, occasions were few to actually try this baby in, but a couple of "spirited" highway passing caused me to skip a heartbeat or two. The car had a weird reaction when the ignition cut off unexpectedly. It happened 3 times in all, after which I had realized what was going on.

The SRT4 reaches Wide Open Throttle condition at 87% throttle. During my highway passing, i was reaching WOT. Where it surprised me was that the car had cut off ignition just mere moments BEFORE I actually clutched!

What was happening is that without realizing it, I was feathering the clutch pedal with my left foot, causing the WOT Box to reach it's two conditions for engaging: WOT and Clutch.

So, not only does the WOT Box improves performance, it actually made me realize a`nod correct a bad habit of mine. Kudos for that!

WOT WOOT

Now, on my way back from work, I had all the perfect conditions to try this out. I ended up on the front row of the stop light at the entrance of the highway. What more could I ask for?!

While WOT-shifting is something to acquire (still have the reflex to lift my foot off the gas), the actual operation of this actually makes power shifting WAY more easy smoother and produces phenomenal results.

This gadget is AB-SO-LU-TE-LY is amazing.

I wholeheartedly recommend this mod.

WOOT, I say:

and from reading all this i deff am going to invest

mouser · 11-05-2009, 04:45 AM

You people should avoid quoting the entire article.

I have a tendency to go back in and correct my typos and grammar. Quoting the whole text takes away my awesomeness.

11-04-2009, 06:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
mouser I modewate you! Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Montreal, QC Posts: 915	WOT Box installation & review WOT Box installation & review WARNING This is not meant as a full installation how-to. For complete information on installing for the SRT4 Caliber, please use this official guide from the manufacturer. This is merely an account of my installation and some tweaks I have made for this project. WOT Box for noobs The WOT Box is an ignition inhibitor whose purpose is twofold, depending on the car you have. First, it's a 2-Step Launch control for helping launches from dig (full-stop). This can greatly improve 0-100kph and 1/4 Mile times. Alas, this feature is not possible on CSRT4 because on the torque limitation in first gears. Secondly (and IMHO, this is where it's interesting), it's a Wide Open Throttle rev-limiter that, under specific condition, limits the RPM of the engine by cutting the power from the ignition coils. Under normal engine operation, nothing happens. It's as if the WOT Box wasn't installed. But when it detects a Wide Open Throttle condition AND sees that the clutch is engaged, it then limits the RPM to a determined RPM. It comes pre-set at 4500RPM. This allows interesting things to happen: You no longer have to release the gas pedal when shifting It keeps the engine in it's power peak curve More importantly, it keeps your turbo spooled and pressurized. This last thing is where this is interesting. Without adding more HP to your car, it's suddenly making better use of the power it can already generates and allows for quicker times. Why would you need that? Stop asking silly questions and read on. Weather-proofing Because the firewall is not easy to penetrate for even a single pair of wires, running the WOT Box full assortment of 6 wires was rather impossible without drilling. Because I didn't want to drill through my car, I decided to install the WOT Box inside the engine bay. But not before weather-proofing the box. Now, I did say weather-proof, not water-proof. So, I disassembled the WOT box and used 3M foam tape to close the gaps around the connectors. This resulted in a sealed box. For the top button, I punched a washer in a small piece of tape which I then placed around the button and then covered with another piece, creating a sealed soft top button. Exploratory After printing and reading the manufacturer installation notes for the CSRT4 (see above link), I decided to make some exploratory surgery in the car to make sure I could locate all the wires I'd have to tap into. In locating the C1 and C2 connector, you can see that the C1 connector is that big plug (disconnected in the photo) towards the front of the car, on top of the ECU/PCM module. The C2 connector is the one facing the rear of the car (still plugged in the photo). You'll need to tap into two wires in the C1 connector, and one in the C2 connector. Under the both connectors, such as the C1 underside, wire pinouts are numbered on the row edges. You can then easily find the right wire in the incredible mess on the top side. Digging in Once you've located what you need, isolate the wires and mark the wires with some masking tape. Then proceed with the other wire in the C2 connector. As suggested in the installation instruction, and because i'm paranoid about cutting wired, I has reconnected the battery and used a voltmeter to make sure I was using the right wires. I had only partly exposed the wires so that I could test with the voltmeter, having marked my wires with masking tape. After confirmation, and a brief meditation period, I re-disconnected the battery, cut the wires and began surgery. We used shrink tube to seal the splices we had made, here using something (old sock!) to protect the other wires. We then measured up the ignition coil wires and exposed where we would tap the coils to. Unlike in the C1 and C2 connectors, we opted not to use shrink tube in the ignition coils. This was because there wasn't much wire length to deal with and having used shrink tube would have removed any flexibility in the finished wire harness, making it near impossible to reconnect. instead, I used copious amount of tape, as in the factory setup. You wouldn't tell there were two extra wires in there, making this installation rather stealthy. Another powered test The WOT Box has simple diagnostic procedures that allows you to monitor wether it's sensing the pedals all right. For a quick test, we reconnected everything, turned on the car without starting it and monitored the WOT box blue (bleh) LED as we activated the gas and clutch pedal. Stealth In the above photo, you can see I have given me some leverage as to where I would put the WOT Box. I've got enough wire length to route under the inlet tube and hide the box under the engine cover. This would produce a completely hidden (stealth) installation. The nay thing that would give away the presence of the WOT Box, other than it's blue LED, is the "interesting" pair of blue and green wires coming out of the C1 cable assembly, and the not-so-discrete yellow one, coming out of the C2 assembly. In the end, I decided to install the WOT Box on the back side of the air box. The wired were tucked in neatly on the side of the ECU/PCM for now. I used, again, 3M trim foam tape (3 strips) to hold it on there, after having cleaned it's surface with alcohol. Feathering cardiac arrest We finished the process after a healthy 5 hours installation time, my buddy and I, having taken all due necessary precautions and time to do a good job and make sure we wouldn't have to do it again or repair some screwup. So, at 3AM, I wasn't about to go out the highway and try this out. I just make sure the car was drivable and let it at that for the night. On my way to work this morning, occasions were few to actually try this baby in, but a couple of "spirited" highway passing caused me to skip a heartbeat or two. The car had a weird reaction when the ignition cut off unexpectedly. It happened 3 times in all, after which I had realized what was going on. The SRT4 reaches Wide Open Throttle condition at 87% throttle. During my highway passing, i was reaching WOT. Where it surprised me was that the car had cut off ignition just mere moments BEFORE I actually clutched! What was happening is that without realizing it, I was feathering the clutch pedal with my left foot, causing the WOT Box to reach it's two conditions for engaging: WOT and Clutch. So, not only does the WOT Box improves performance, it actually made me realize a`nod correct a bad habit of mine. Kudos for that! WOT WOOT Now, on my way back from work, I had all the perfect conditions to try this out. I ended up on the front row of the stop light at the entrance of the highway. What more could I ask for?! While WOT-shifting is something to acquire (still have the reflex to lift my foot off the gas), the actual operation of this actually makes power shifting WAY more easy smoother and produces phenomenal results. This gadget is AB-SO-LU-TE-LY is amazing. I wholeheartedly recommend this mod. WOOT, I say: __________________ Silver '09, Eagle F1, PTP Inlet, MPx STB, WOT Box, BWoody check valve, BWoody Front Mount, 5.9s; MS1 on order! See details Shorty antenna, front SRT emblem, Projector headlights, Smoked LED tail lights, rebadged as "C SRT4". Last edited by mouser : 11-04-2009 at 09:16 PM. Reason: typos

11-05-2009, 04:45 AM	#10 (permalink)
mouser I modewate you! Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Montreal, QC Posts: 915	You people should avoid quoting the entire article. I have a tendency to go back in and correct my typos and grammar. Quoting the whole text takes away my awesomeness. __________________ Silver '09, Eagle F1, PTP Inlet, MPx STB, WOT Box, BWoody check valve, BWoody Front Mount, 5.9s; MS1 on order! See details Shorty antenna, front SRT emblem, Projector headlights, Smoked LED tail lights, rebadged as "C SRT4".

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11-04-2009, 07:31 PM	#2 (permalink)
Dan08srt4 Banned Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 859	Damn deff sticky You look like a "Mouser" J/K i like the silver/black.

11-04-2009, 09:03 PM	#6 (permalink)
Dan08srt4 Banned Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 859	Thats pretty cool. Are you going to get the stage 1/clamp your car?