Haltech NEXUS Rebel LS - G8Only.com

If you’re planning on putting a General Motors LS into a hot rod, a boat, a muscle car a resto-mod, or a lawn mower, then Haltech’s all-new Nexus Rebel LS Engine Management System and terminated wiring harness is perfect for you!

LET’S LOOK AT WHAT THE REBEL LS IS, AND WHAT IT ISN’T.

If you’re looking for a Plug’n’Play ECU for a late-model LS-powered vehicle, this isn’t the ECU for you. It does not connect to any factory wiring harnesses, and it won’t communicate with a factory communication network (known as the CAN network) so the dash, ABS, and body control module would not work as expected. It is though, an Engine Management System and Terminated Engine Harness package that provides a very cost-effective and simple solution to get your Gen III or Gen IV General Motors LS engine up and running in your special project.

The Rebel LS is sold in two different part numbers:
• HT-220201 to suit Gen III
• HT-220204 to suit Gen IV

It’s only if you plan on interchanging Gen III and Gen IV parts on your engine would you need to grab any extra breakout harnesses – everything required is included in each kit.

However, if you do need any part of the wiring harness, each part of the harness is part-numbered and can be purchased as a replacement part separately.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

HT-220201 – NEXUS Rebel LS – Suits Gen III

Kit Includes

• HT-220001 – Rebel ECU
• HT-186500 – Main Harness
• HT-186504 – Cable Throttle + IAC sub-harness
• HT-186501 – LS EV1 Injector Sub-Harness
• HT-187003 – T56 Transmission Harness
• HT-186123 – 2 Pin Bosch Alternator Harness
• HT-186124 – 4 Pin Delco Alternator Harness
• HT-186125 – 2 Pin Yazaki Alternator Harness
• HT-186508 – Gen III Knock Sensor Adaptor

Sensor Pack

• Bosch LSU 4.9 O2 Sensor
• Weld on fitting for O2 Sensor
• Air Temperature Sensor M14 x 1.5
• Weld on fitting for Air Temp Sensor

HT-220204 – NEXUS Rebel LS – Suits Gen IV

Kit Includes

• HT-220001 – Rebel ECU
• HT-186500 – Main Harness
• HT-186505 – 6 Pin DBW Adaptor
• HT-186507 – Corvette pedal adaptor
• HT-186502 – LS EV6 Injector Sub-Harness
• HT-187003 – T56 Transmission Harness
• HT-186123 – 2 Pin Bosch Alternator Harness
• HT-186124 – 4 Pin Delco Alternator Harness
• HT-186125 – 2 Pin Yazaki Alternator Harness
• HT-186510 – Gen IV Oil pressure sensor adaptor harness
• HT-186511 – Gen IV MAP sensor adaptor harness

Sensor Pack

• Bosch LSU 4.9 O2 Sensor
• Weld on fitting for O2 Sensor
• Air Temperature Sensor M14 x 1.5
• Weld on fitting for Air Temp Sensor

FLEXIBILITY IS BUILT-IN WITH THE BREAKOUT HARNESS SYSTEM

The beauty of our breakout harness system is that if you want to add drive by wire to your Gen III (normally a cable-throttled engine) you can simply grab the Gen IV DBW throttle breakout and Corvette Pedal breakout, plug them in, and away you go.

The same goes for converting from EV1 to EV6 injectors or swapping alternators – there‘s no need to be cutting into wiring harnesses or booking in at the auto electrician.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE NEXUS REBEL LS AND THE NEXUS R3?

One of the biggest differences between the R3 and the Rebel LS is the ability to configure different pins and wires to do virtually anything, and while that’s great for flexibility, it’s a little more time-consuming and does leave room for error.

With this in mind, we’ve set up the Rebel LS with dedicated inputs and outputs that don’t require configuration and work as intended right out of the box. Every wire in the harness is labeled and configured in the software so there’s no chance of a setup or configuration problem.

There’s simply no need to spend hours working on a pin-out, or assigning pins and functionality in the software. Just read the labels on the harness and plug them into the associated device. Having dedicated inputs and outputs has allowed us to keep hardware and wiring harness costs down, allowing us to pass that cost saving onto you.

But, we know that if you’re putting an LS into your project car there will always be a level of customization, so we’ve included some configurable channels.

• 1x 25amp output
• 5 x digital outputs
• 4 x digital inputs
• 2 x analogue inputs

These are user-configurable and extra to the inputs and outputs required to run the engine.

Now, let’s take a look at the ECU itself. It looks a lot like the R3, and again, we’ve done that to keep the costs down, but inside it’s been designed specifically for the LS engines. The only visual difference is the use of the screw terminals over the Surlok connectors found on the R3. Surloks can be hard to come by, so we’ve done this for ease of use.

On the transmission side of things the harness includes the electrical connector for the T56 speed sensor, but you could run any manual gearbox or mechanically shifted automatic transmission like a Powerglide or TH400.

We will be adding support for popular electronically controlled transmissions in the future and they will integrate with the current harness system.

The Rebel LS has a “CAN” communication network that allows communication with all the popular Haltech CAN devices like the iC-7 Dash, 8 and 15 Button Keypads, and the Power Distribution Modules or PD-16s. In fact, you could connect up to 4 PD-16 units and have the entire car including headlights and tail lights controlled through the ECU avoiding the need for external fuses and relays.

SETUP WIZARD

As for the software, there’s a setup wizard that runs when you first go online with the ECU.

It asks for a little information about your particular setup then it builds the Fuel and Ignition maps, as well as makes setup changes depending on the configuration.

It’ll ask things like which variant of engine you’re using, what’s the compression ratio, what camshaft you are using, what injectors, and which coils. Asking you to let us know which components are in play, so we can build the closest tune file for your combination.

The Rebel LS ECU is equipped with advanced long-term learning which allows it to monitor the Air to Fuel ratio, the ignition table, and knock detection feedback as well as idle quality and continually make adjustments in the background. The longer the engine runs the better the tune-up gets!

You can go online with the Nexus NSP software and make tuning changes just like you’re used to with the rest of the Haltech range, but there is certainly no need to – The setup wizard takes care of it all!

The Rebel LS is also compatible with the “Haltech Connect App”, which will be available later in the year.

This app allows you to monitor data in real-time on your smartphone or tablet, as well as make tuning and setting changes (like adjusting your rev limit or launch control RPM) as well as check and clear trouble codes or do a little data logging.