WOT BOX INSTALLATION HOW-TO: Turbo Dart

What is a wot box? What does it do? Why?

WOT Box – N2MB Racing
Launch Control
Launch Control – what is it?
Anti-lag System

Answer: Why not?

Enough with the reading, here we go:

First of all, I used to run a Unichip Q4, which used a harness that connects to the PCM, basically inserting itself between the PCM and the car. This made my install quite easy, as I could tap into all of the needed wires from within my harness, without any cutting, splicing, or modifying of the factory wires, except for one. Below is the cryptic instructions I received from their customer service, upon asking if it would work. There were mixed reviews on what would work, what wouldn’t work, and how to do it, as I reached out to several people who had done it before on other social media sites, and I now know the full details of this box.

The colors in the chart refer to the colors on the wot box. The one thing that may be different is the coil output wire, which may be black or orange, depending on the revision harness you receive. This is the basic pinouts from their website:

Below are the pinouts for both PCM connectors – one is slightly larger than the other, so they are easy to tell apart.  You will need to access both:
Dart PCM pinouts C1 connector

Dart PCD pinouts C2 connector

All of the wires tap into the lines in question, except for the ignition coils, which I’ll get to in a minute.  You simply need to tap into the the above wires, with the exception of the coils, in which the wot box is inserted into the path.  Skip the next paragraph if you are comfortable tapping off of electrical wiring, or using

I used a technique where I scrape the top layer off of one side of a wire, using a razor blade. You run the blade carefully down the side of the wire, basically stripping one side of the wire. You can make several passes to give you 1/4″ or so of bare wire, such as this (the actual wire won’t break so easily, as the crappy wire in the pic did – doesn’t matter, though, as the solder will solidify it) I did this quickly for these pics, but it’s easy to get perfect with no broken wires, with a little practice. (Yes, you can just use wire taps, but I make every connection under my hood waterproof, and wire taps look like sh!t) Next, add a small amount of solder flux to the exposed wire. Then, add your solder to the bare wire. This is very easy using the flux ,as it forces the solder to melt away any hanging rubber and seal perfectly to the wire:

The connection is then covered with liquid electrical tape:

Be sure to tin the new wire as well, so when you make the connection they bond. If wires are soldered properly, the bond will be far stronger than the wire.

We need to tap into the wires below:
(PCM Wire Harnesses)
Green clutch large connector pin 84 (light green/orange)
Black ground pin 2 large connector (black)
Blue accelerator pedal pin 83 large connector (white/brown)
Yellow injectors pin 3 small connector (blue/black)

The ignition coil power splice (RED / ORANGE) is to all the coils. The  WOT Box needs to be able to cut power to all the coils.  You can find this on the back on the fuse block – Fuse #16 (15 AMP) – brown/yellow wire.  This is also a dark blue/red wire at Coil #1, pin #2.  I do not recommend running bare wire directly over the engine block to connect at this end, it is better to do it at the fuse block.  If you use my method, you can remove the Wot Box at any time in 60 seconds!

The last part of the N2MB pinout instructions above, in red, is very cryptic. This is what it means – you need to interrupt power to all 4 ignition coils at once, by inserting the wot box in this line – out to the box, from the box back to the line.  Some users spliced into the four wires at the engine block, but this seems like trouble, to me. Instead, there is a brown/yellow wire coming directly out of Fuse #16 in the engine bay. If you pull the fuse block up a bit, you can get to this wire and cut it. I went the extra step, and soldered a waterproof connector here: wot box coil connectors

In other words: “Cut the brown/yellow wire in half, the piece going into the fuse gets wired to the RED wire on the wot box so it supplies 12V to the WOT box, and the other part of the cut wire goes towards the coils, so the orange wire goes there, allowing the WOT box to turn ON/OFF power to the coils.”

This way, the whole thing can be quickly removed. When not in use, the male/female connectors complete the circuit as usual. When they are plugged into the lines to the wot box, it gives the wot box power, and completes the circuit. This was a bit of extra work, but makes for a clean installation, and can be removed to repair, go to the dealership, etc. The red line goes to the fuse, which gives the box 12V+ power, the orange (or 2nd black) goes out to the four coils. You can confirm this with a multi-meter.

These are the waterproof connectors, and I also added liquid electrical tape to every connection, for added safety.

Both the wot box and the Unichip fit nicely in the fuse box – at the bottom you can kind of see the waterproof connectors inserted to the coils:

Finished installation:

The voltages had to be adjusted to work with the Dart. Our throttle peaks @ 1.95V, so you have to drop the APP voltage from 3.0 down to 1.6, and the other settings should look like this:

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Shifter Linkage Cable Replaced

This was a fun installation!! Burned the crap out of my hand on the downpipe – the front part of my shifter linkage cable broke off. Part # is 68166675AA.

I was trying to race another tuned and bolted Dart – jammed it into third a bit too hard on the third honk, popped the linkage right off! Put it back, but it kept falling off, so I ordered another one. Can’t wait for this scar.

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Under the Hood LEDs and Spinning Subwoofer Grill Switch

Getting things wrapped up for the big Midwest Dart meet – Just a few last thread updates, before I close up this build thread. Some minor updates – I wired in a 3-way switch in the trunk. This powers the spinning subwoofer grill, LEDs in the trunk, and the orange El Wire outlining the subwoofer. I can help if anyone wants to do this – the switch is on-off-on. The first on is constant (for car shows, etc) the off is, well, off; the (lower) on is switched ignition power.

Finally, since I got the hood, there is a vent, so I can show light through it. I put the white engine lights on a separate switch with constant power, so I can turn these on from inside the engine bay.

off:

on:

New hood with demon eyes, hash stripes removed:

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Rear Diffuser How-to

Final segment of the custom ground effects kit – the rear diffuser fins. This works with the existing OEM part, and mine has the dual exhaust, but it really doesn’t matter. First thing I did was figure out a plan, and create a template out of cardboard. It took several tries to match the curve of the car. Any spaces and there is less for the adhesive to stick, plus it wouldn’t look right – it took me about 4 revisions before I was happy with it.

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Once I had it right, I found a very cheap source for inexpensive ABS plastic – I traced these out and was able to fit 4+ on a sheet, and I only needed / wanted 4

I sanded them down, used adhesive promoter, then plastic primer, then finally the black paint:

I painted these black, as well. They were used on the bottom to secure them in. On the top, holes were pre-drilled and then screwed into the plastic diffuser.[/url]

Finished product:

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Carbon Fiber Hood

Uh oh! I did it! MPX Carbon Fiber hood – build is now complete! Now to decide, what do you think? I completed the hash stripes over the hood lip, to tie it in. I feel like it blends it in a bit better, but what do you guys think about the middle stripes? Should I continue the center stripes over the hood, like I did the hash stripes, or do I leave it as is? If I did it, it would only be plasti dip, so the matte black would slightly contrast the hood, and be completely removable. I just can’t decide, and I want to finish it by next week at the Midwest Dart Meet in Chi-town!

Here’s a better look at the black over CF:

I (quickly) mocked it up in Photoshop, to give a better idea of what I mean:

All of these ideas were later abandoned, and the hood was left raw.20160916_123713

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DIY – Side Splitters – Alternative to Mopar Side Skirts – Side Diffuser How-to Install

I bought a universal side lip a few months back – it doesn’t really fit the Dart, but I made it work. It had the side wing on it already, so it trumped my idea to match the front splitter wings, as shown in my DIY aggressive front splitter wiki article. I had a hard time getting a hold of it, as it was backordered, and I ended up waiting months for it. It came with some mounting hardware, but didn’t quite work, out of the box and a plug-and-play. First step was to mock it up to the car, and figure out a plan.

 

My first hurdle was fitting to the front Mopar mud flaps. The angle of the flaps made it difficult to match this up. I tried a few things, but ended up trading the mudflaps for the Rally Armor ones, made for the dart. It fit the aggressive style a bit better. I ended up somewhat selling the Mopar mudflaps.

Here are the (flatter) Rally Armor front mud flaps:

After I pulled off the EZ Lip, I found there were multiple plugged holes under the body. I found plastic inserts to catch a screw and attach to the holes. Found them on ebay, they clicked in, then pre-drilled the holes to line them up. This was easy b/c they were much wider, so it had some play.


I could click them in and rotate 90 degrees to lock them in:

I had to drill the holes, and then cut out a small square from the splitter, in order for it to sit flush with the side of the ride:
Then I applied adhesive promotor (after thoroughly cleaning the surface with acetone) and applied the double-sided adhesive:[

(I later figured out, it was quicker and easier to use self tapping screws, through the holes on the metal mounting bracket. This eliminates the need for extra holes in the product.)

Once I had the positioning perfect, I marked my cuts to angle the front of the lip. IMO, it was the only solid way to link the two together cosmetically. Any other way I tried, looked sloppy. This follows the lines of the car better, and solves the issue of matching the seams on a curved edge.

I did this project on a 90 degree day, and I realized these may sag a little bit. They wouldn’t come loose, but I wanted to make sure they were completely rigid. I took 2 long metal brackets, used for shelf supports, and fitted it underneath the lip. I used self-tapping screws to secure the metal support, as well as the fastened side splitters. I can say, the car has been well over 100 MPH several times since the installation, as well as several hundred highway miles without an issue.

Finally, I used this carbon fiber-looking trim for underneath the front diffuser. I tried it on the sides originally, but it looked so good on the front.

Here, you can see the front and side splitters, as well as how the Rally Armor mudflaps look. I’m lowered, and I may raise the rear mudflaps, just a bit.

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Wiring Fix Unichip Harness

Not really a mod, more of a repair. Had to rewire my entire Unichip harness. Apparently it sat too close to the engine block and caused a short. What a total PITA to find and diagnose. Re-soldered and weather-proofed every connection, even soldered on a new mini ATX connector. I’m 100% back in action, all 5 tunes are loaded back onto the Unichip, and even flashed the firmware to the latest revision.

24 pin mini ATX connector for the Q+ and Q4:
[IMG]

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SickSpeed Spiked Lug Nuts with Conversion Bolts

Sickspeed Spiked Lugs – in orange, of course! I got these in the mail a few days ago, and wanted to add them before the Midwest Dart meet next month. FYI, you will need the adaptor bolts to convert our wheels to lug nuts. The converters use a metric hex bit to install, and you will need a hex socket and an impact driver. The entire install only took a few minutes, and cost less than $100.00. My wife even snapped a pic when she saw them, and she never says sh!t.! My kids’ friend asked if I could run someone off the road, James Bond, style. Then he asked how sharp they were, and if he could touch them – we took him to the hospital after that. (jk)

You’ll need this:

Item # Description Qty
20 PC ORANGE SPIKED 60MM LUG NUTS WITH 12X1.25 TO 12X1.5 CONVERSION KIT 1

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Installed:
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How to install 3rd Party Heated Cloth Seats 

Here is a quick tutorial on how to install 3rd party heated seats to your Dart, if it didn’t come that way form the factory. I live in Chicago, and I called around to get estimates on heated seats installed – they ranged from $250.00 – $400.00 per seat. This was a bit more than I was ready to spend, as I thought I could do it easily myself – wrong! Actually, it’s not that difficult, but it certainly isn’t as simple as many of the other mods. If you are patient, and take your time, you can do it, as well.

This is the seat kit I bought from Amazon, but it is also available on ebay, as well:
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Here is the link on Amazon that I purchased, and here is the equivalent ebay link. I spent $25.00 on the kit, which included two carbon fiber heating elements, a three way switch, (high, low, off) wire, inline fuse, and relay. You will also need an add-a-fuse if you pull power from the inner fuse block. I recommend giving it a fuse location that supports at least 20 amps, but 15 will work.

Here is everything that came in the kit, including (wait for it)… instructions! Voila!
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Here is a closeup of the relay and the switch:
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First thing, and most important, is grab yourself a 6 pack. It is very important you enjoy your time with your Dart. Vodka also works well.
Next step, is to disconnect the battery – failure to do so, will result in a trip to the dealer to reset your seat airbags, and if you love the dealerships like my friends know I do, you won’t be a happy camper.

Then, you have to disconnect the harness going to the seat, which is located underneath, and can easily be accessed from the floor in front of the seat. You simply pull a small plastic lever down, which releases the connection. Then you will need a T40 wrench with a bit of a handle on it, as the bolts may be a bit tight. There are three exposed T40 bolts, and one covered by a plastic trim piece in the rear, inside location (third pic below, on the right) which is removed by a single phillips screw.
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Anyone that comments about my dirty carpet can kiss my A$$. lol.

Now the seat can be removed. Recline the seat all the way back, and pull it out through the rear door. Get out your vacuum, as you will never have these exposed like this for cleanup. Once the seat is out, grab another beer, then pry outward on the lower plastic pieces at the rear of the seat where the back pivots.
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Underneath that piece you will find a single phillips screw – remove that, as well as the phillips along the side, on that same plastic piece left. I only removed the outside plastic, as the inside one was able to be lifted up enough to access the large 5/8″ bolts holding the top and bottom of the seat together.
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This is the part that can be bent outward to expose the bolts:

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This is what it looks like underneath that plastic cap:
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The two bolts have been removed in this picture: (5/8″)
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This is the inside piece, that comes completely off. This is what those magic bolts look like:
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Before you pull the halves apart, there is a single plastic connector holding them together for the airbags.
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Now you can get to the seat seams – They are held together by their own force with a plastic rail. Push the fabric in together to release tension, then they come apart pretty easily.
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Once you get the first plastic rail set apart, there is yet another plastic rail set inside, that also is removed the same way:
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If you want to change the seat covvers, or completely remove them, they are helkd together by two reverse zippers along each side. I did NOT remove this – there is plenty of room to stick your hands inside the fabric to access where the heaters go.
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The bottom front seat cover is held in the same way – a plastic rail set. Mine also had a small metal screw securing it, but it didn’t look factory, so I’m not sure. Pull the fabric forward to relieve the stress and slide them apart. Again, it doesn’t take much force to do so.
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The seat adjustment handle comes off by prying up the plastic cover and removing three phillips screws inside:
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Mine had hog rings down all of the seams, so those have to be pried apart. I didn’t have hog ring pliers, so I used some heavy needle nose. Once you free the first 3 or 4 rings, you can then slide the heat element under the fabric, and secure it with the adhesive provided. I did the same with the top half, too. The heating elements can be cut down in length, which is required. You can NOT, however, cut them width-wise. You can cut up to 2 holes for the hog rings, but I was able to slide the heater under the hog rings without any hassle. I didn’t even connect a couple of them back, but there is room to do so. Make sure the heaters are pushed down into the channels, so the hog rings and ties don’t stick up, and the seat still looks stock.

The center console has plenty of room for the cable, but I put the relay under the seat and secured it with ties – the two lines can go right underneath the center console trim with ease. You will need to drill a hole 13/16″ to accommodate the switch, but you can put it wherever you like. Here is mine:
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Finished install:
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It’s pretty easy to run the wire up the side of the center console, and over to the fuse box – there was plenty of wire to do so. I used the large metal bracket in the front, inside of the center console for a ground.

Go finish your beers and enjoy warmth! I have a Yukon with factory heated leather seats, and these heat up in half the time! I put mine on constant power, but I wouldn’t recommend that to others, as if it’s left in the high setting overnight, it will drop the battery voltage down to 10 volts -just below what it takes to start (I tested it) The reason I connected to constant is so if I am waiting in the car, and I don’t have the engine running, I can still have a fresh, toasty, Amish ass!!

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