[quote=""boost_boy""]

Got 69 miles away from my home and the car just lost all power. I let it coast and it just cut off. I immediately went to crank it back up and it just popped and then nothing but rotation. It sounded ignition related, so I immediately targeted my coils, MSD DIS2, SDS hall sensor, and the ecu itself. ECU checked out okay, DIS2 checked out okay, fuse to coils were good, hall sensor appeared to be undamaged, all magnets were behind the pulley or at least that's the way it felt. One of the magnets had come out of the pulley, but how? I epoxy'd those things in with precision, so now I was stumped. I'm now praying the magnet hadn't fallen out on the highway because I would've had to wait for my fiance' to bring me the extra pulley with magnets installed already and that would've take about an hour or so. Luckily for me, those magnets are so powerful that it stuck itself to the lower timing cover and I ultimately decided to repair it if I can get a ride to an auto parts store[/quote]zerothread?id=111343

Here is assembly.

http://sdsefi.com/techhall3.htm

ROMulator ftw!!! http://secure.transtronics.com...d/328cheap, effective, keep all your stock sensors and coil packs unlike megasquirt, etc

ccasey645 wrote:ROMulator ftw!!! http://secure.transtronics.com...d/328cheap, effective, keep all your stock sensors and coil packs unlike megasquirt, etc

LOL you can keep your stock sensors, coil packs with megasquirt for not reading.

And for $179.99 Megasquirt is still cheaper, more effective, and has a insane amount of features.

UMS_CA18DET wrote:LOL you can keep your stock sensors, coil packs with megasquirt for not reading.

And for $179.99 Megasquirt is still cheaper, more effective, and has a insane amount of features.

not from the write ups ive seen but if you can more power to ya

MegasquirtCA write up was just for Megasquirt II with FORD EDIS-4 ignition setup.

He went with that setup because its easy to install, reliable, proven. He kept the Stock Coolant temp as he didnt want to modify the manifold for a GM sensor, but he went with a GM Open Element Intake Air Temp, as all he had to do was weld a bung onto his intercooler piping. In order to use the stock sensors all you have to do is just get the resistance values at different temps, the FSM already has it for you. Just put the values in the tuning software and thats it.

Depending on the model Megasquirt costs anywhere from $134-$255.

ah thats the write up ive seen but ive seen megasqurt run on some dsm's and they've used stock everything just took some programming knoledge and customization. Sorry to be dumb

dont sweat it, with megasquirt it usually works with about 95% of factory ignition systems, just requires a little extra effort.

eventually he wants to create a adaptor where you just plug it into the stock harness and utilize the stock ignition system.

you guys using hall sensors, what kind are you using (and where did you get them)

CJ

y not just use a greddy e-manage

the e-manage as good as it is-- is still just a piggy back. Most here are talking about stand alone systems at a reasonable price. Thats not to say you cant use an emanage, hell as soon as i find a shell i will be using one on my CA. Dont just ask why not use one tell them the advantages and disadvantages of using the emanage as that is what this thread is here for. I personally want to see how much this little 1.8 can make soley tuned on a emanage. I'm gone.

-richard

Hi.

I can share my experiences with using an Autronic SMC.

The Autronic needs a new trigger wheel fitted inside the Crank Angle Sensor. That is microsurgery to perform on a CA18. It is real easy on the SR20. The CA is also difficult because the trigger wheel is supplied without the mounting holes, so it's really hard (no instructions) to figure out where the trigger wheel should be. To test it, you need to put it back together and test it, before taking it apart again and readjusting it. This was a major pain in the butt.

The Autronic also needs a 'dwell board' to control a 2 channel bosch ignitor to run the factory coils in 'wasted spark' configuration. I worked on that problem for a while, but no dealer in Sydney could debug the problems I had with my dwell board. They tested it, and returned it to me saying it worked fine. After getting threats of 'you'll have to pay someone to reinstall/rewire the ECU, if you want us to accept it's faulty'. I got the P.O.S dwell board ripped out, and spent a further AU$1400 on Autronic CDI to replace the dwell board and factory ignitors. While I was at it, I bought 4 external HEI Bosch coils and wired them in too.

The Autronic is adjustable for all conditions and provides a great tune when it's done properly.

The add-on issues like dwell boards and CAS mods make this a 'difficult' option for a CA18. The lazy after sales support also makes it hard to recommend. There is lots of butt-covering and 'secret squirrel club behaviour' going on, and it's really not a self install product because of this.

If you want to go full-house with an Autronic, I recommend it. But only if you know someone like me that's been there first. :-)

So it wasn't cheap. I sometimes wonder if going a different system might have been a easier choice for a CA18.

All up cost at about AU$4000 for ECU, CDI and coils. No install labor included in that price.

Cheers,Chris

Autronic sure sounds like an expensive exercise and a fussy install!Helpful detail writeup tho. At least we know what to expect. Thanks

i have heard but searching around here didn't really tell me much, that you could use an SR20DET ecu with a daughterboard to run a CA18.

the reason why i ask is that the bikirom is like 300 bucks, pick up an sr ECU for say 100 bucks, and you have a pretty good stand alone for 400, plus the ability to use a consult.

unfortunatly i am having a hard time finding any concrete info on actually doing it (like chaning out the ECU plugs, etc...)

realistically, all youd need to swap stock ECU plugs is the wiring diagram for both, take your time and label every wire what it is and then cut the plug off and match up the new ones and solder your heart away

(i redid my whole harness to clean it up, and cut it at the ECU instead of at the sensors, then plugging everything in, and running the wires... electric tape and zip ties to hold everything in place, measured out how much needed to get to the ecu, then cut the rest and resoldered the wires onto the connector

CJ

I have a ca18 main harness using an sr20 ecu, or at least what I believe is an sr20 ecu since it isn't labelled. I've got a jumper harness inbetween the two if anyone wants pictures. I also have always had an extra plug and for the past year have been trying to figure out what it's for. I saw ceniacks post and just realized it's a consult port. Don't know why I didn't think of it earlier.

ok from my experience (which isn't That extensive yet) the megasquirt is a nice little system due to the fact that it's map sensor based and fairly cheap. easy to install on some cars. but it doesn't come with every feature(knock sensor for example) and the maps are alittle smaller. not preprogrammed for ca.

Currently I just use my romulator. In my opinion the stock ecu is the cheapest and easiest to install(its already in ). has bigger maps then the megasquirt but is maf based.I may switch over to the bikirom gold usb and a sr20 ECU giving me realtime access/logging and consult for error codes and testing. also 16bit versus 8 bit ca18 ecu.( correct me if im wrong )Downside is the software is still alittle buggy, still Maf based, may end up costing more then a megasquirt2.** Please post pics of jumper harness

The PFC is a nice system, uses the stock harness and MAP sensor. Can get the boost controlloer kit, comes pre-mapped, realtime with laptop, fairly stable software, and lots of features.More expensive then the others above.

Greddy E-Manage Blue (prefer over Ultimate) good, not as expensive as a PFC but still not a standalone.

hopefully Ill be doin a write up on using the sr20 ecu with the ca harness. And ill soon be helping with a haltech e6k(i think) install on 300zx at work, so ill be able to give feedback on that. Also I wanna do a s2000 imitation dash(digital speedo and bars for rpms. I think microtechs also have that.

Nunook wrote:ok from my experience (which isn't That extensive yet) the megasquirt is a nice little system due to the fact that it's map sensor based and fairly cheap. easy to install on some cars. but it doesn't come with every feature(knock sensor for example) and the maps are alittle smaller. not preprogrammed for ca.

Actually Megasquirt comes with more features and options than any other system on the Market. As for knock sensing you are aware its a useless option after the motor is over 3000rpms. The reason for that is because after those high rpms the motor produces soo much noise that the knock sensor will pick those noises and determine it as knock. And yes Megasquirt has knock support.http://www.megasquirt.info/ms2/knock.htm

Your refering to Megatunes 12x12 maps? You are aware you can expand them as well as utilize a dual table feature which makes it 24x24 map as well as do close up bin modification, what that means is I can take a certain part of the map blow it up and tune that specific area if its a trouble spot. Also Megasquirt does have more than 1 tuning software they have about 5 tuning software just that Megatune is the most popular. They have software for Mac's, Palm Pilot, 2 for Windows, and 1 for Linux users, as well as several Datalogging software again one of the reasons why Open Source works. Also Megasquirt isnt just a MAP based system you can utilize MAF as well in either fashion or use both like the LS1.

As for preprogrammed for the CA not many systems come preprogrammed, anyway each tuning software comes with motor information section where you input your motor information, injector size, number of cylinders, even or odd fire, etc etc and it will give you a map that should atleast allow you to start and give you something to start tuning from.

Nunook wrote:Currently I just use my romulator. In my opinion the stock ecu is the cheapest and easiest to install(its already in ). has bigger maps then the megasquirt but is maf based.I may switch over to the bikirom gold usb and a sr20 ECU giving me realtime access/logging and consult for error codes and testing. also 16bit versus 8 bit ca18 ecu.( correct me if im wrong )Downside is the software is still alittle buggy, still Maf based, may end up costing more then a megasquirt2.** Please post pics of jumper harness

You make it seem like MAF is such a horrible thing, MAP and MAF both have their pros and cons. Look at the LS1 they utilize a MAF in front of the TB and MAP at the end of the intake manifold, ls1 gets the best of everything.The stock ecu maybe the easiest and cheapest, but also the most unreliable. Look at all these threads about all these electrical problem. But after spending time and money to get the stock electrical system to function properly you most likely would of surpassed some standalones. Again Megasquirt has bigger maps not to mention almost every ECU on the market does Interpolation. If you dont know what interpolation means, it means that no matter how big your maps are you can never get every single aspect of the motor, so the ECU calculates and makes its own calculation to take up that spot. As for 8 bit and 16 bit, yea that extra power is nice but means diddly if the code isnt assembled right. You can have the most powerful ecu and if the code is garbage and the ecu does a bad calculation than the motor goes Kaboom all the processing power aint gonna save it. As for price Bikirom is still more no matter what Bikirom is what $335? Megasquirt II is $250. Also when going Standalone some of their diagnostic and datalogging makes the consult look prehistoric.

Nunook wrote:The PFC is a nice system, uses the stock harness and MAP sensor. Can get the boost controlloer kit, comes pre-mapped, realtime with laptop, fairly stable software, and lots of features.More expensive then the others above.

The only bad thing from what I read from people who use PFC is that some of them have fuel issues where its constantly running rich and they couldnt bring the AFR up.

UMS_CA18DET wrote:...As for knock sensing you are aware its a useless option after the motor is over 3000rpms. The reason for that is because after those high rpms the motor produces soo much noise that the knock sensor will pick those noises and determine it as knock...

That is a very open ended statement. If you mean as a general rule, for all motors, then you are sorely mistaken. Most standalone systems should allow you to adjust both the sensitivity of the knock sensor signal and the point at which the ECU quits listening to it. The CA w/a good set of lifters, that aren't all noisey like mine are, can easiy turn 6K RPM and not have the knock sensor tripped by engine noise. It also depends on the knock sensor, some are more sensitive than others.

Knock sensors are a valid input device and are now a standard part of just about evey new car today.

I would like to hear more about the power fc and commander. I was curious as to how well they work.

when i used to run ae86 i did multiple megasquirt systems where else can you have everything you need for about 20-40 hours of your time and 400or so bux????? plain and simple.. most bang for your bucks. plus its kinda fun carring a lap top arround to tune your **** people are always like wtf?

Im also curious to what peoples input about the PowerFC is.

Logan76 wrote:Im also curious to what peoples input about the PowerFC is.

good luck finding one at a decent price.

also apexera have stopped making them in the last month..

Pete

I'd like to here more about the NIStune and E-manage. I was looking at AEM and messing with the software on my computer, but that is expensive, and would be expensive to tune, and an EMS is still awhile away for me. I read the Greddy E-Manage writeup and it sounds like that is a nice system, even though a piggy back.

how much power could you get out of something like the E-manage? No way im trying to cheap but tuning shops where i live are scarce. So i'm kind of looking for something i could learn and tune myself.

power FC is the shiz for its ease of install, simplicity, and preprogrammed MAF selection options.

there is one on yahoo japan right now for 400.00 !

sjbsuperman1425 wrote:how much power could you get out of something like the E-manage?

Power output, by-and-large, is going to be limited by your mods and tuning, not the software/hardware itself. They all function on the same basic principles. The differences are the accessory functions and the hardware the systems are compatible with.

As to the E-Manage, i'm not the biggest fan of piggyback systems but I've heard it works well, although I seem to remember reading about it being buggy at one point (this was a while ago and I can't remember where I read it so don't take my word for it.)

I tune my car with Nistune and can say that it's a fantastic system. It's capable of the all-important real time maptrace and is compatible with several different wideband sensors. It can datalog all stock engine sensors as well as wideband input and track A/F ratios by cell, on the fly as you tune. Ignition timing is fully tuneable and adjusting for MAF and injector changes a piece of cake.

It falls short of the full standalone systems in hardware options however. Like there's no MAP compatibility (which may change soon, a fellow on another forum got a MAP sensor working on a KAE ecu which, apparently, is very similar to the CA unit). But in terms of bang for your buck and simplicity I think it's certainly one of the most cost-efficient and effective tuning devices out there.

I Have the aem ems system in my S13.I have been using it for about two years and and I am happy with it.It still needs to be tuned by a better tuner but I am still making almost 300 to the rear wheels on a very conservative timing map.The tuner that I used didn't want to add timing due to he did not see any knock readings.I also have converted to a 3.5 bar map sensor.I am hoping to be able to take it to a better tuner this summer to see what it is really capable of doing.

ca18donny wrote:I Have the aem ems system in my S13 .I have been using it for about two years and and I am happy with it.it still needs to be tuned by a better tuner but I am still makingalmost 300 to the rear wheels on a very conservitive timing map.The tuner that I used didn't want to add timing due to he did not see any knock readings.I also have converted to a 3.5 bar map sensor.I am hoping to be able to take it to a better tuner this summer to see what it is really capable of doing.

Yeah, smart tuner. If he doesn't know the engine's characteristics, it is very wise to leave things conservative. I don't talk tuning numbers out loud, but don't characterize this engine with the SR or you'll be sadly mistaken.

Dee

He told me that he felt that there was a good bit more power in it but he was not comfortable adding in the extra timing.I guess my only complaint is that he has me running in the mid to low 10's for a/f ratio on boost and I have always been told that it should be somewhere around mid 11's but that may be wrong.

Yea, he was tuning it VERY conservatively. If you're on a stock CA running 91 octane, there isn't any reason you shouldn't be able to lean that out to at least the mid-11's.