Guide · Link ECU · CANA-4

CANA-4 on a Link ECU

A Link G4X or G5 reads the CANA-4 through a Receive User Stream in PCLink: the module's four readings land on CAN Analog 1 to 4, and from there feed any function that takes an analog channel. This guide covers the bus, the wiring, the PCLink setup, and what the module's Bus tab shows when something is wrong.

Written from Link's CAN Setup article and PCLink 7.4.3's own help and stream files, September 2026. Not yet run on an ECU: the first acknowledged frame on a G4X is still to be tested. Menu names are from PCLink for G4X and G5 ECUs.

00What you need

• A Link G4X or G5 ECU, and PCLink connected to it. CAN Setup in PCLink only opens with an ECU connected.
• A CAN bus with room on it: a spare CAN channel, or the bus the dash is on. ECU Controls → CAN Setup lists the channels your ECU has; the count varies across the range.
• A multimeter.

01Pick a bus

A channel of its own is best. Nothing existing is touched, the bit rate is yours, and there are no identifiers to collide with. The module is then one end of that bus, so its termination goes on at setup, and the ECU's own 120 Ω is the other end.

A shared bus works too, at whatever rate it already runs. The Link CAN Lambda holds CAN 1 at 1 Mbit/s, for instance. The module joins at that rate, its termination stays off, and it refuses to transmit if another device is already sending on its identifiers.

Bit rate is per channel, not per car. Check each channel's rate in CAN Setup before wiring.

02Wire it

• Wire by pin number, never by colour. Link's plug-in ECUs carry more than one CAN socket layout. On a pre-V1.8 NS15X, for example, the two 5-pin sockets differ, and pin 5 is +14 V on one and RS232 on the other. Take the pinout from your ECU's own installation manual.
• Carry the CAN pair on twisted from the cable to the socket, one turn every couple of centimetres. Two parallel wires are not a CAN bus.
• Use a fused feed that stays on while cranking. The module draws under a quarter of an amp; a 3 A fuse protects the wire.
• Decide where the module sits on the bus before setup: a bus end, or spliced into the middle. First-run setup asks, and a wrong answer shows up as errors once the car is hot.

Sensor side

The four sensor cables, marked 1 to 4, one per input: each carries red 5 V, black ground and white signal to its sensor. Wiring for each sensor type, and the presets, are in the datasheet.

03Set it up in PCLink

1. ECU Controls → CAN Setup. Pick the channel the module is on, set its Mode to User Defined and its Bit Rate to the module's, 500 kbit/s by default.
2. Add a stream on that channel: Receive, User Stream. Give it the module's data frame identifier, 1760 in decimal, which is 0x6E0. PCLink takes the identifier here, not from the stream's layout.
3. Build the layout from the table below: one 8-byte frame, four 16-bit signed values, MS First for the module's default byte order, each mapped to CAN Analog 1, 2, 3 and 4. The module's CAN tab shows the same layout, and gives it as a text file and a DBC file.
4. Scale each value to its unit with the stream's multiplier and divider. The module sends temperature in 0.1 °C and pressure in 0.1 kPa, so a divider of 10 gives degrees and kilopascals; voltage is in millivolts, so a divider of 1000 gives volts.
5. Use the channels. CAN Analog 1 to 4 are sources for GP Temperature, GP Pressure and the other functions that take an analog channel. Set their error limits so a real reading never counts as a fault, and decide what the ECU should do when the module's fault value arrives: 0x7FFF reads as a very large number, 0x8000 as a very negative one.
6. Store with F4, Ctrl+S or ECU Controls → Store to ECU. Changes take effect straight away, but are lost at power-off until stored.

The status frame, identifier 1761 (0x6E1), carries each input's state in bytes 0 to 3 and a counter in byte 5 that steps every frame. Map the counter to a spare CAN Analog channel if you want the ECU to tell a live module from a stale value.

04See it and log it

• Runtime Values (F12 or R) shows CAN Analog 1 to 4 and the CAN channel's status.
• The module's Bus tab shows the same bus from its side: acknowledged frames, error counters, and other traffic it sees.
• Add the channels to PC or ECU logging under Logging → Setup Logging.

05Troubleshooting

The Bus tab says nothing acknowledges the module

The ECU's channel is off, at a different bit rate, or CAN H and L are swapped. The module backs off and tries again on a growing interval, and stops after eight tries until power is cycled or you press Try again.

The Bus tab says the bit rate is wrong

The module heard errors while listening and will not transmit. Set the module to the bus's rate, or the ECU's channel to the module's.

The Bus tab says an identifier is in use

Another device already sends on 0x6E0 or 0x6E1. Move the module's identifiers; the status frame follows the data frame.

Readings are right on the page and wrong in PCLink

Byte order. The module sends MS first by default; the stream must say the same, or the module's CAN tab can be set to match a stream instead.

Everything works cold and throws errors hot

Termination. Count the terminators with a meter, everything off: about 60 Ω across the pair is right.