Is there a place you can pull the RPM's from, electronically? Gen 3?

[Laser Dude]

Is there a way to tap into anything that would allow me to read the RPM's? I have a project I'm tinkering with, and it will record some data, but I want to marry that data with the RPM's, electronically so I can take readings of various things (my project) and at the same time, take a snapshot of the RPM's at the time the other things are gathered. I suspect the answer is "No", but I thought it was worth a shot, so I'm asking. I can work around it but it's not going to be nearly as slick if I have to manually gather the data and manually tie the data back to the other data.

 

[ionbeam]

Your suspicions are are totally confirmed

The ECU sends RPM information to the meter assembly via serial communications, there is no simple way to pull out the information. The decoded RPM value is used to drive a stepper motor so there is no simple way to tap the signal there either. Mahaps you can tap the crank position sensor or the ignition timing sensor but 1) you'd be messing with critical sensor signals and 2) you would still need some way to get from pulses per minute to RPM or crank rotation to RPM.

 

[RossKean]

The decoded RPM value is used to drive a stepper motor so there is no simple way to tap the signal there either.

Is there still a stepper on the Gen III? I'm surprised they didn't do away with EVERYTHING mechanical in the latest incarnation of the instrumentation. Couldn't he just take a tap off of one of the wires going to the COP? That would provide a signal proportional to RPM.

 

[N4HHE]

The 2016 has OBD2 for which there are many aftermarket data loggers available. OTOH, I haven't tried mine.

 

[ionbeam]

The 2016 has OBD2 for which there are many aftermarket data loggers available. OTOH, I haven't tried mine.

The '13 to '15 can data log including RPM. The Diagnostic Tool P/N 90890-03216 retails for only $591 and with some shopping can be found for a scant $490. You get the manual, a Yamaha cable to connect the diagnostic port at the ECU to a laptop and a CD with the software. With the Tool you can select what information you want to map and you will also get the operating conditions at the time, such as engine temp, air intake pressure and throttle plate angle.

 

[PapaUtah]

When installing the McCruise on our FJ-09 I think we pulled the tac signal from the number one coil lead. I am not sure if the FJR uses the same setup, might have to consult my manual and see if the signal might be available there.

 

[mcatrophy]

You could tap a wire going to one of the spark plug coils, colours are :
Coil #1 Orange
Coil #2 Grey/Red
Coil #3 Orange/Green
Coil #4 Grey
(All have Red/Black common to ignition +12V).

What protection you would need from nasty inductive voltage spikes I don't know for certain, but I would think something like a 10K resistor in series should protect you (à la Audiovox CCS100 set-up).