What do you KA guys use for Engine managment.

Information on the naturally-aspirated KA24E and KA24DE engines.
89turbocivic
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I have been planning to do an SR swap for some time now. But then I though why not put a set of rods + pistons in my KA and boost it? Anyways. I know Apex makes a Power FC for the SR and NissanData is coming out but what about KA engine managment?I was thinking of going standalone if I would go the KA route. I know I don't want to use an FMU or AFC or any halfass setups. Just wondering what everyone is using.


ADAMHU
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using 1/2 *** set up for right now

stock ecu with 310cc injectors

and SDS EIC with 2x480cc injectors..coming on line at 6psi boost...

running at 11-13psi of boost on most days

it is unrefined..but works

have on order JWT 72lb set up....so far its been on order for 16wks

george
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Jim wolf technology ecu is the biggest rip off on the market. i sent out my ecu to JWT for the 2bar program...they sent it back to me and the engine was leaning out when the boost hit. Yes yes it was getting fuel, 72lbs injectors 300zx tt fuel pump, and i broke a piston ring.....Jim Wolfs answer? a big " your problem sir" no tech support no bring it up here and i will take a look nothing. so now a go with SDS or Haltech screw jim wolf

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C-Kwik
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Before you bad mouth anyone, you need to find out why the problem occurred. Don't be so quick to just jump on JWT without knowing what is causing the probelm, or if you do know, you should share it with us and how you came to your conclusion. Many are running JWT set-ups without a hitch. And unless you can give a good explanation of how you came to your conclusion, I'd say either there was an install error or user error.

george
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well thats not what a court of law determined and numerous techs...so before you accuse me of bad mouthing you should ask questions too. it was hardware defect which caused the destruction of a 15,000 race engine. and if you are running a JWT ecu i pity you

Goodbar6
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I havent decided on which engine to use when i go for power on my project 240, but either way, im going Haltech E6K!Tyler

george
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best thing you could do Tyler, then you are not at the mercy of turners if you decide to upgrade, change you timing maps, run nitrous, upgrade your ignition. plus you could program the ecu to include maximum parameters so save your engine just in case something goes wrong. The haltech can calculate the primary program over 200,000 times per second and make "real time" adjustment. you cant do that with the Jim wolf ecu

george
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on my 240sx i am running a motec system and it allows me to run alcohol, aqua mist, 91 octane, 103 octane, nitrous, turbo, supercharger, control the boost, timing, ignition, and that just the begining. there are also accessories that allow you to monitor traction, high speed cornering, braking and a host of other functions. to get the jwt program with the ability to run nitrous it cost me $1300, without the cost of the stock ecu. a haltech or sds cost that much and you get so much more for your money real time tuning, a real ability to tune your engine and make it run and extract the most from it

george
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i even had a haltech installed on my 300zx tt, no increase in boost, no race gas, just the haltech. with optimized fuel and igniton maps. the 300zx dynoed in at 277bhp stock and after the tuning it was over 311bhp stock...please keep in mind though no increase in boost. Same boost level.

ADAMHU
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did it break while dyno tuning?...if you did not dyno tune it to check the A/F ratio...then its your own fault IMO
george wrote:Jim wolf technology ecu is the biggest rip off on the market. i sent out my ecu to JWT for the 2bar program...they sent it back to me and the engine was leaning out when the boost hit. Yes yes it was getting fuel, 72lbs injectors 300zx tt fuel pump, and i broke a piston ring.....Jim Wolfs answer? a big " your problem sir" no tech support no bring it up here and i will take a look nothing. so now a go with SDS or Haltech screw jim wolf

george
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it broke on the f-max dyno. and f-max and JWT research and develop auto parts in partnership. so i had a pro do it, even a Jim wolf employee mentioned that it was the fault of the ecu and that the nissan ecu resists tuning and reprogramming. i spent thousands trying to get it to run right, it was no a economy duct tape and staple kinda job.

george
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Adam, nice 240 who made your exhaust manifold?

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C-Kwik
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I think you missed my point entirely George. What I basically was saying is to back up your posts like this with substantive facts. Not arbitrary opinions. I would still like to know what exactly failed. Did some guages show something? How much boost were you running on what kind of gas? Any datalogging to show a lean mixture? What kind of fuel pressure? How is your motor set-up? Stock? Built? What kind of CR? If you had techs testify to the problems, I'm sure you have this info. And I assume you probably broke the piston ring through detonation? I would say most cases, damage from detonation is preventable. It's quite audible and the easiest way to prevent it is to back off the throttle. If you knew of the problem of it running lean as well, the problem should be fixed before you keep driving hard. Though, I am only making assumptions and stating more general possibilities since you have not disclosed any facts. If you want to really help us to form an opinion about a product, you don't just say it's good or bad, but you need to state why it's good or bad.

Basically, I will make the assumption of user or installer error unless you can give facts that support otherwise. Especially given the fact that this is the only complaint about JWT ECU that I've ever heard of.

george
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the motor was completely built internally, after market JE pistoms, carillio rods, nismo bearings. cylinder head ported and polished custom cams. all the good stuff. what happened was the ecu was programed to run nitrous and boost. the stage two upgrade with the mustang cobra air flow meter is the problem. the re-programmed from jwt could not accurately calculate, retard, adjust the timing, compensate for increases in boost and altitude. so the car's a/f ratio was correct on boost until 4500rpm then it would lean out and detonate. ecu sent back a second time to jwt and was told probelm was fixed....problem was even worse. a/f was fine until 4000rpm and then it would lean out. the ecu was programmed to run nitrous too, a $500 option for the reprogramming. as soon as you hit the nitrous switch it would run rich bog then run lean and detonate. The jwt ecu was all to blame for all the engine problems RC engineering, whose injectors i was using mailed a comprehensive report after examining the car. a svt tech from ford also lookied at the car and determined the same thing. the JWT ecu is a poor quality, over priced item that cannot reliably be assigned to manage forced inducted duties. its inflexable and cannot adjust to the vigours of a turbo set up

george
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this is just my experience the jwt ecu and i would hate to see another 240sx owner have his car damaged by an inferior product

Ozone
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George was this recent?

george
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not its was about a year and a half ago, i mean this is my experience i dont want to say turbo ka's are not good...they are i love them i have one too. fast as hell with the right mods. what i have learnt spend the money to do it right the first time

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cnichols
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I'm still not quite sure why anyone orders a JWT ECU.

Why would anyone want to stick with the MAF sensor?...and have to send the ECU back to JWT everytime you needed something changed?

Am I the only one who doesn't understand this?

My philosophy...save your money and get a standalone.

Matthew
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Out of curosity, has anyone made anything work with using an S-AFC with the stock ecu?

89turbocivic
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Now those running Haltech. Did you have to mount a crank sensor or could the Haltech be setup to run off the stock Crank and cam sensors? I am in the middle of setting up a Motech on my friends Saab and we had to take off his direct ingition and go with a Distributer off the non-turbo model. I would assume that the Motech can be used with most of the stock sensors because you can change the type of sensor input. Of course the best part of going standalone is the fact you can eliminate the MAF and go speed density!

But after thinking long and hard. I think I am just going to go SR and run it with a Power FC. I got this car to replace my turbo Civic because I could keep the AC, powersteering, power windows, ext ext.

technoman
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Ok, I think George is on to something. What is JWT "really " doing to reprogram ECU's? He is Flashing the chips or at the most adding a "sister bored" to run NOS! Im not saying that all JWT ECU's are bad ,but I can say thay all run real rich. probibly a little to rich but thats just to covor JWT a$$. I mean He wanted 400 dollars of my money to have an engineer "flash" the chip or maybe install a new chip on a used 100 dollar 95 ECU. This man is a genius! I reprogram chips all day long at my job. I could only think about every GPS moble unit I reprogram or update the "firmware" and I was making 400 dollars for everyone I tuched. I agree. a Motec is a better buy.........

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cnichols
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Is there even anybody in this Forum with a Haltech....or any standalone for that matter...I haven't run across any threads about them except one and nobody on there had one.

Who has a standalone installed?...NOT just planning on using one...Anybody out there with actual hands-on experience installing one?

technoman
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The average person would not know how to run a system like that. Thats why JWT is so populer.

george
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the sds systems are totally user friendly and with the AEM plug and play you just plug your harness into the AEM unit and instant tuneablility. also greddy is coming out with a similar system. reprogramming and a stock computer cost $700 and for nitrous $400. thats a rip off, i bet with these new monkey proof systems JWT is sweating cuz regular people like me can get professional quality engine management for cheap.

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APEXi240
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Just so you know....I talked to a number of people who have had problems with JWT ECUs, 2 of which blew their engines because of the ECU....I don't have specifics like George, but it just seems getting a chipped ECU is dumb, especially when you are running high boost, built motor, ect.

Which monkey-proof system would you guys suggest....I won't be able to deal with a Haltec or Motec system.

george
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Apexi go with AEM plug and play or the SDS, fool proof systems.

Turbo_Nismo_EC
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testing

Turbo_Nismo_EC
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Ok..I've been having problems with posting on here lately so before I typed a long message I wanted to make sure it worked.

Anyway........

After reading what some of you are talking about I checked on getting one of those Haltechs instead of the JWT kit. I don't know if any of you are familiar with them, but I contacted Alamo Autosports in Arlington Texas becuase they are the closest Haltech dealer to me, and I know they frequently use JWT products. Now they said that for the money the Haltech is a very good tuning tool, HOWEVER, for a daily driven vehicle, like mine, the JWT system will be better. He said that if he were me he would go with the JWT kit and use an AFR or AFC to tune the fuel better to make up for any sort of problem with the JWT kit. Just like the HAltech it would take tuning, but it would be done right, with no problems. As a matter of fact he said he has done a number of daily driven cars that way over the years and has had no problems.

BinaryVertigo
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interesting thread

can the haltech system control boost? i know it has a turbo timer but what about controlling boost or even sequential boost?any1

thanks

george
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you need a boost controller cuz its an management system not a wastegate adjuster, but the haltech can be programmed to reconize maximum boost set by the user and control nitrous, aqua mist, fuel curve ignotion timing and a host of other variables.


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