Standalone ECU from Scratch

[Pushit2.0]

Going big? I doubt that. 2.4s are good for street cars and breaking drivetrain. If you want to go fast 2.0 is where its at. Last I checked Shep or Brent do not have a 2.4. Yes the MS2 is a standalone but the resolutions and tuning ability on startup/idle/cold start/warm start suck vs the AEM or Link. I hate Mafts with a passion but they can work for making power if setup right. And you can vent your BOV just like in F&F. The only down side to staying 2g mas is the restriction befor the turbo.

~John

[JET]

If you want to go fast 2.0 is where its at. Last I checked Shep or Brent do not have a 2.4.

~John

Those 2 guys don't have a 2.4, so that means you can't make them fast. :rock2: I don't think he meant going 8's when he was talking big. There are plenty of fast 2.4's out there.

[Pushit2.0]

I am sorry that my idea of going big is not at the newb level anymore.

~John

[Andrew7dg]

Going big? I doubt that. 2.4s are good for street cars and breaking drivetrain. If you want to go fast 2.0 is where its at. Last I checked Shep or Brent do not have a 2.4. Y I hate Mafts with a passion but they can work for making power if setup right. And you can vent your BOV just like in F&F. The only down side to staying 2g mas is the restriction befor the turbo.

~John

wow... where did this come from... I got a quote from F&F and blow off sound
But since you work for LSE how many DSMs have you tuned with not a MSI but with a MSII? I am just curious on how they liked them? This doesn't count the 420a running them. So far everyone on msextra have loved their system and wouldn't use anything else, even DSMlink. Am I in the wrong direction? Computer to computer the resolutions of MSII are faster then the stock ECU. This is why it is able to run bigger injectors. Still the injector size that I want to run is way too big for just a simple AFC. By using a AFC and a huge injector, it throws the whole timing off. Best to go to something a little more standalone.

The Cold, Idle and warm up "suck" because it is only till recently that someone was able to make the stock IAC work with MSII. MSI couldn't do that. Even then people can adapt another IAC from another car to work with it. No one has taken the effort to do that and just let it run cold. This is probably what you seen.

it was said that going big, I meant 2.4L level not HP...well that will come with it...


Please explain more if you are going to say
"MS2 is a standalone but the resolutions and tuning ability on startup/idle/cold start/warm start suck"
and 2.0L is where it is at because of Shep and Brent...
and please don't use POWER as a term. I HATE that term because different people have different perceptions of POWER. For example 300hp seems low to me and 600hp seems high but someone else might find that 300hp is REAL POWER.

I am looking for technical feed back.

[Shane@DBPerformance]

A lot of people don't like the Megasquirt software. But it's isn't as bad as it could be. Most MS users are going to rave about it, since they probably haven't dealt with many other real standalone systems. A lot of shops won't deal with installing and setting up a MS system because they end up spending much more time/money on the install and setup than if they just went with a tried and true solution. That might not be a problem for a guy doing it all himself who can a lot of his free time installing, researching, etc.

The speed of the MS has nothing to do with being able to run bigger injectors. The stock DSM ECU can handle big injectors without problems and can handle huge injectors like 1600s better than a lot of standalone because of it's good injector drivers. Engines run at an extremely slow speed compared to computers, it doesn't take much processing power to run an engine. Most of the time an ECU is just sitting around waiting for the motor. Big injectors are very slow to open, that is their main problem. You can make them work better by using a real peak & hold injector driver, which gives a big initial voltage spike to pull the heavier/big injector open quicker and then uses a smaller voltage to hold it open.

The MS is a good option for you though. People like DSMLink because of it's ease of tuning and the DSM factory knock system is just about the best out there.

[iceminion]

Ok, I need to sit down with you and pick your brains, I am the "project manager" of a DSM with a 2.4/gt35R, the works....

We ran out of money for an AEM, so we went megasquirt (MSII v3)

Its not over my head, but I just want to make sure I am doing everything right.

As for the ECU placement, its going in one of two places.

Center console or under the stereo.

with all the wires from the stock harness gone, bolting it directly to the bottom of the stereo unit will probably be the best option, giving access to the data port for easy tuning.

I also want your base maps.

I will buy you beer if you want, to let me tag along for the wiring, if you need a heated garage/well lit to install it, i have one.

[Pushit2.0]

I was saying an up side to the Maft was the BOV venting, not directed to you. I will not lay out the whole reason behind what I said, what would I gain, nothing. It will work and if you want to spend the time on your car with it, good luck it should be a fun project. I have not delt with a MSx in a DSM I have delt with it in a turbo ford probe.

~John

[Swifty1638]

that turboed ford probe is also...uh..yea. Not anyone's favorite vehicle in that shop to work on that I remember! lol

-A. Swift

[niterydr]

Yeah once all the miss-install was figured out, life was good...

Good luck the the Megasquirt. They are alot cheaper (to the tune of around $1200 pending sensors/used vs. new, etc) and if your labor/time is free, then it is a likely good investment. Be VERY careful assembling the board as they are really prone to bad grounds/bad connections, and mis-guidance by "experts".

I personally think the resolution is very poor, especially considered to other standalone ecu's, but for the poor-mans ecu upgrade, it is a good option.

It is personally my last choice solution for a DSM, but everyone one is different.

[Andrew7dg]

Well I I finaly have it finished and I bench tested it to make sure it is in working condition. It is running fine! I even hooked up a spare 4-2 CAS on a drill to make sure that everything was working OK.

The box is the ECU itself

The circuit board is the tester that I can control simulations like RPM, Coolent temp, TPS, O2, MAT



http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc272/Andrew7dg/DSCN1828.jpg


When the weather warms up a bit, it will be installed into the car.

I am still thinking of how I want to install it however.

There are two ways,

I can use this as a fuel controler, or I can use this for both fuel and spark.

If I hook it up just using fuel I would have to splice into the harness for all the signals. I would however have the ability to just run fuel and not have to worry about tuning the spark for right now.

The other route is just take control of fuel and spark. That way all I would have to do is remove the stock ECU and just hook up to the existing harness. No splicing. This also means that I won't have to deal with a MAS or what I am running right now a MAFT


Here it is in action:
http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc272/Andrew7dg/?action=view&current=DSCN1830.flv
The lights are alternating with the flashing in real life. I think the cameras resolution didn't quite capture it well enough. On the board the lights on top are the injector banks firing and on the front cover and on the other lights on the test board are the spark outputs

This is sweet as hell. All it started out was with little resistors, diodes, chips and other stuff. All soldered together and it is alive! Kind of like rebuilding your first engine, you never would think that it would run and suprised when it does...
http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc272/Andrew7dg/?action=view&current=DSCN1830.flv