First Steps
Select your DashCAN product and your ECU below to see the matching step by step setup guide.
Not listed? Any ECU that broadcasts on CAN can be mapped by hand, see the note at the bottom of this page.
Wiring Setup
To set up the device, connect the following four wires from the DashCAN Apex harness:
- RED:Switched 12V (+)
- BLACK:GND (Ground, -)
- BLUE:CAN High (CANH)
- WHITE:CAN Low (CANL)
Connect the CAN High and CAN Low wires to the CAN bus of your ECU, the exact pins are in the ECU section below.
Important! To ensure signal integrity, the CANH and CANL wires must be routed as a twisted pair, and the total wire length should not exceed 1.5 meters.
For further help on wiring, please visit the Technical Help page.
CAN bus connection on the Emtron
Connect to CAN Bus 1 or CAN Bus 2 of the ECU, whichever you configure in EMtune. The pins are in the pinout of your model (KV8, KV12, KV16, SL series).
The Emtron broadcast runs at 1 Mbit/s.
The CAN bit rate is only adjustable on the DashCAN Apex, so this ECU needs an Apex interface.
Device Placement
The DashCAN Apex unit contains a built-in GPS module and an IMU (inertial measurement unit). Where you mount the device directly affects the quality of the GPS and motion data, so take a moment to find a good spot.
- For optimal GPS reception, place the device as high as possible inside the vehicle, ideally on or near the dashboard, close to the windshield.
- Ensure the device has a clear view of the sky. Avoid placing it under metal surfaces, inside the glove compartment, or in locations shielded by metallic components, as these will block or weaken the GPS and Bluetooth signal.
- Do not place the device under heated windshields with metallic coating, as this can significantly reduce GPS signal strength.
- Mount the device securely to prevent movement during driving. The built-in IMU (accelerometer and gyroscope) measures vehicle dynamics, so any vibration, wobble, or shifting of the device will compromise the accuracy of the motion data.
Preferred orientation: mount the device flat and level. Any fixed mounting angle is acceptable, as the app can compensate, but keeping it level gives the best out-of-the-box result.
ECU Configuration
Open EMtune and go to Config, Communications, CAN Bus 1 (or CAN Bus 2, whichever DashCAN is wired to).
Enable the channel and set the Data Set to Predefined Data Set 1, the standard Emtron transmit stream that dashes and loggers read.
Leave the CAN base address at 1250 (0x4E2), the predefined default. DashCAN decodes the frames from 0x4E2 to 0x4E9 plus 0x546, so a different base address means no data.
Set the transmit rate to 20 Hz for smooth gauges (10 Hz also works, it just updates half as often), and the baud rate to 1 Mbit/s.
Save the settings to the ECU.
These are the channels DashCAN can decode from this ECU. Channels your engine does not measure or your ECU does not transmit simply stay empty.
Download the App
Download the "DashCAN - Ignitron ECU" app to your iOS or Android phone/tablet. You can do this by simply scanning the QR code below, or click the following links.
The store listing still carries the original name, but the app works with every ECU on this page.
Permissions Setup
After installing the app, launch it and then approve all the permission requests and turn on Bluetooth, otherwise the app will not work properly!
App Setup
Open the app, go to Settings and then the CAN bus page.
- Protocol: CAN
- ECU: Emtron
- CAN Bus baud rate: 1000000 (1 Mbit/s)
The baud rate has to match the bit rate your ECU broadcasts at. On the DashCAN OBD and Wire-in interfaces it is fixed at 500 kbit/s and the selector stays greyed out, on the DashCAN Apex you can pick it.
120 Ohm termination: leave it off when you tap into a bus that already works (a factory bus, a Haltech CAN hub, a Syvecs plug and play kit). Turn it on only when DashCAN and the ECU are the only two devices on the bus and nothing else terminates it. The switch needs hardware version 1.07 or newer.
Connect & Go!
If everything is done correctly the app connects to the DashCAN interface automatically. Start the engine and watch the RPM gauge: as soon as it follows the engine, the CAN side is working and you are ready to log.
If every gauge stays at zero, work through this list:
- Bit rate. The CAN Bus baud rate in the app has to match the speed your ECU broadcasts at. This is the most common cause.
- ECU choice. The ECU selected in Settings decides how the frames are decoded. Two ECUs can use the same message IDs with completely different content.
- CAN High and CAN Low swapped. Swap the two wires and try again.
- Broadcast not enabled. Go back to the ECU Configuration step and confirm the setting was saved to the ECU, not just changed on screen.
- Termination. Try the 120 Ohm switch in the other position.
Still nothing? Contact us with your car, your ECU and its firmware version, and which DashCAN product you have.
Your ECU is not in the list?
DashCAN reads plain CAN broadcasts, so any ECU that can transmit one can be made to work. Pick the closest ECU in the list, then open the settings of each gauge in the app and set the CAN ID, start bit, length and byte order to match your ECU's broadcast, exactly as its documentation describes it.
Contact us and we will help you map it, and if the ECU is common enough we will add it to the app.