Ecu tuning question?

[fitch9014]

Just curious, having a look around at some of the tuning threads, wanted to see if anyone knew of any companies or shops that did specific setting ecu maps. Like I could call them, tell them the settings and hardware, i.e. turbo, intercooler, exhaust, intake, injector, boost (psi), injector size, maf, so on and so forth, send them my stock ecu and have it reprogramed. Or would it be cheaper to find a previously reprogramed ecu from eBay and buy that, then tune the car to it's so-called "settings" (dubious, I know). Or does anyone know of an aftermarket stand alone system that doesn't require massive amounts of programing, dyno or road tuning, and mad dollars as I'm a very thrifty individual (although the cost of this project is already more than car will ever be worth). But I digress, I'm searching for the simplest, cheapest, way to make 10-12 psi with a high safety factor. Like I'd rather run 10-12 psi on a system that could do 15-20 psi. See what I'm saying. I apologize for the length of this inquiry, but I thought it better to give more info than less. Thanks for any help.

[biosehnsucht]

while major changes such as MAF and injectors can be blindly tuned for, the same is not for fine tuning for say, one exhaust over another, or a turbo upgrade (which sounds major but air is air - different turbos just mean possibly more room for fine tuning performance if its in its efficiency range (i.e. running "leaner"), total air flow is not specific to the turbo as far as the ECU is concerned, airflow is just airflow.)

[Pumaking]

well from some helpful advice from various tuners its stupid to get a ecu chipped for a different setting, to get the best tuning from your motor you need someone to do the tuning right there and then. Also those already chipped ecu you see on ebay you have no clue what its programmed for. As for standalones they will require a bit of tuning usually street and dyno and there usually not cheap, the most expensive standalone I think goes for almost $2500 and the cheapest is around $1100. A rom tune on your ecu is your best bet since your cheap if you truly want I have a ecu for sale that will be chipped and ready for tuning and possibly have it tuned for your mods.

[Coldspawn]

the most expensive standalone I think goes for almost $2500

Hahahah, add another zero to that end of that. $2500 is the price for a entry level Motec and EFI tech.

[float_6969]

How about $800 for an SDS EM-4? eGhey rulz...

[nightstepper]

i called JIM Wolf Tech last week and they said if you send in all the info about the upgrades on your CA they could reflash the ECU for you.

[cortina-mk1]

autronic is cheaper than that and comes with a loom and sensorround $1800 aud for the SMC

[Pumaking]

Hahahah, add another zero to that end of that. $2500 is the price for a entry level Motec and EFI tech.

Good god why who the **** spends that much.

[cortina-mk1]

for motec ppl are paying around $5000 AUD you can pay way more..too

[Dattebayo]

Why would you pay Jim Wolf $500 to flash your ecu when you can buy a chip for less than a dollar and have one of us NICO folk flash it for you. Or maybe sombody could pop it in there for you. But CA chips are really easy to get out and to put in...

[1990q45er]

My roommate is in the tuning-phase after replacing the stock bosch lh 2.2 with a megasquirt fuel computer in a 780 Volvo.. apparently those are pretty cheap

I think he got his preassembled for less than $300

It seems to be the utlimate in DIY however....

Before resorting to this he had upgraded:intercoolerturbo housingsexhaust manifoldcamshaft and changed to adjustable gearintakeexhaust (3")ignition coiladded water/alchohol injection

faster than my Q45

check out

http://www.msefi.comhttp://forums.turbobricks.com (aftermarket EFI section)http://www.megasquirt.info
Modified by 1990q45er at 12:28 AM 9/27/2005

[boost_boy]

i called JIM Wolf Tech last week and they said if you send in all the info about the upgrades on your CA they could reflash the ECU for you.

Good luck with that.................

Dee

[float_6969]

JWT is infamous for tuning overly rich...

[Coldspawn]

How about $800 for an SDS EM-4? eGhey rulz...

Hehe, Putting SDS and Motec in the same sentence is crazy. SDS is a great system, but there is many reasons why I will never tune a SDS car. Pick the system for you that best suits you.

for motec ppl are paying around $5000 AUD you can pay way more..too

What do M&W Pro-14 go for over there?

[knightrider]

JWT is infamous for tuning overly rich...

i wonder why? maybe im just defending them because i hear this all the time, and i work there, but you have to understand, when you send your ecu 1000 miles to get tuned, we havnt seen the car, so we offer safe tunes. its insurance so ppl dont get a tuned ecu from us, and then complain to us, or sue us because we tuned thier car too lean and they blew the motor.

on topic, jwt can do tunes on CA ecus, if you want a tuned map, dif injectors, dif maf, that sorta stuff, we can do it.

[Coldspawn]

i wonder why? maybe im just defending them because i hear this all the time, and i work there, but you have to understand, when you send your ecu 1000 miles to get tuned, we havnt seen the car, so we offer safe tunes. its insurance so ppl dont get a tuned ecu from us, and then complain to us, or sue us because we tuned thier car too lean and they blew the motor.

on topic, jwt can do tunes on CA ecus, if you want a tuned map, dif injectors, dif maf, that sorta stuff, we can do it.

First off, do not take this as an attack.

With that said, why offer the service to begin with? If you know your product is not the best for the customer, why try to make a profit off of it?

You are charging a good amount for a ECU that you know will run in conditions that you do not know.

I am sorry, a "chipped" Ecu for a turbo car is just dumb. I would never put my name on a product that I know will not work the way I want AND the best for the customer.

[cortina-mk1]

What do M&W Pro-14 go for over there?

sorry not familar with that only the M&W ignition systems

here

[boost_boy]

i wonder why? maybe im just defending them because i hear this all the time, and i work there, but you have to understand, when you send your ecu 1000 miles to get tuned, we havnt seen the car, so we offer safe tunes. its insurance so ppl dont get a tuned ecu from us, and then complain to us, or sue us because we tuned thier car too lean and they blew the motor.

on topic, jwt can do tunes on CA ecus, if you want a tuned map, dif injectors, dif maf, that sorta stuff, we can do it.

I agree with the fact that it's much more wiser to tune a car's ecu that's ump-teen million miles away on the conservative side, but then again, most people send their ecus out to get near peak performance and not mediocrity. I know JWT has done some nice things with the SR series as well as the VG big ballers, but most of these cars are in and around California which is kinda unfair to those who are abroad because Californians and adjacent locals get to bring their cars to JWT's facility and with a little extra $$$s, they can get some good tuning.

I didn't have that option when I sent my ecus to JWT. Cost me nearly $2k with injectors and a few heartaches as well as some busted motors (3 to be the exact). This was waay back in 1999 and my 1988 nissan pulsar ecus were the 1st that they attempted to do, so I was already pre-warned that mine would be somewhat experimental. Since I felt I had a grasp of this whole performance thing, I opted to abort my JWT programmed ecus, scrap the factory harness and it's ailing sensors, and I bought my 1st standalone in late 2000. And living here in Florida, where there's more know-it-alls that don't know shiz-nit about jack, I figured I'll take my chances doing my own thing. To this date, I've installed over 15 SDS systems, 2 haltech systems, and even a megasquirt system for some kid who had a mazda protege speed with like 9000miles on it who eventually had me remove it and I can honestly say, that I would never go back to a ROM tuned ecu "Ever".

JWT is an established business and supporter of Nissan products as well as their staff being extremely nice to me even Mr. Wolf himself, so this is not a bash JWT post, but one that points individuals who are extremely far away and are eager to learn, that they can be ambitious and do their own thing and be successful.

Dee

[float_6969]

JWT is infamous for tuning overly rich...

I ment no insult by this statement, but as you have agreed to, this is a true statement and I thought the original poster should be aware of it. I also understand the reasoning for doing it that way.

[fitch9014]

So, essentially standalone engine management is the way to go for big power. I know that I'm going to get links and told to use a search, but the ca18det has how much factory boost, on a what sized factory turbo and a factory computer that can support how much extra boost( safely!), i.e. the fueling needed to keep up with the extra amount of air the turbo is stuffing into the engine(safely!) What I've always wanted is a turbocharged, lightweight rwd car with around 200-250 hp. What do I need to do to get that using stock nissan components? I understand that sometimes you must use bigger injectors with a bigger turbo to get huge power, I also understand that MAFs sometimes get confused but I'd prefer not to get into the more expensive standalone systems simply because if I had the money and no desire to find solutions to power conundrums (or I just wanted to pay someone to do it for me) I would have bought an SR. But I got this engine because so far I've gotten everything I need from napa or the scrapyard. And that's what I wanted a project car that's a true project. In this case a 1.8 liter turbo beater. Thanks for all the info and help.

[datsunboy]

you can easily get 250HP out of a std CA18DET ECU ( chipped for bigger injectors and MAF ).

I currently have 221HP at the wheels ( at 11psi ), from a internally std CA18DET, T28 turbo, RB20DET MAF, 450cc injectors and 3" exhaust.the fuel maps have had NO tuning whatso ever yet ( ie still factory maps ), but it is running too rich.I will soon get to tuning it, and think that I should be easily able to get 250HP with those mods and a tune.

[fitch9014]

cool, thanks to everybody who responded to this post. laters.

[iliketocrash]

this is just my theory but i believe the idea of chipping your ecu is just to get a better base map so you can fine tune it with some sort of piggy back like a safc or somethign to that affect. you can't expect a perfect tune from a new ecu chip alone.

[Coldspawn]

this is just my theory but i believe the idea of chipping your ecu is just to get a better base map so you can fine tune it with some sort of piggy back like a safc or somethign to that affect. you can't expect a perfect tune from a new ecu chip alone.

The way SAFC handles add fuel makes it worse. When you add the JWT ECU ($500) SAFC ($300), you can buy megasquirt or a used stand-alone.

[boost_boy]

So, essentially standalone engine management is the way to go for big power. I know that I'm going to get links and told to use a search, but the ca18det has how much factory boost, on a what sized factory turbo and a factory computer that can support how much extra boost( safely!), i.e. the fueling needed to keep up with the extra amount of air the turbo is stuffing into the engine(safely!) What I've always wanted is a turbocharged, lightweight rwd car with around 200-250 hp. What do I need to do to get that using stock nissan components? I understand that sometimes you must use bigger injectors with a bigger turbo to get huge power, I also understand that MAFs sometimes get confused but I'd prefer not to get into the more expensive standalone systems simply because if I had the money and no desire to find solutions to power conundrums (or I just wanted to pay someone to do it for me) I would have bought an SR. But I got this engine because so far I've gotten everything I need from napa or the scrapyard. And that's what I wanted a project car that's a true project. In this case a 1.8 liter turbo beater. Thanks for all the info and help.

So many of the guys here have spikked their guts with information that should help you make a sound decision. The CA18DET can take a good 30psi of boost on stock motor if it's mechanically up to the task and you have the right ingredients to support such a feat. Run your searched of this forum's archives and run them deep. All the answers to which you seek are somewhere in the archives.

Dee

[iliketocrash]

The way SAFC handles add fuel makes it worse. When you add the JWT ECU ($500) SAFC ($300), you can buy megasquirt or a used stand-alone.

first off, i used the SAFC as an example. also, the safc does not make things "worse", it does exactly what it's supposed to do for the money you pay, which is less than $300. secondly, i was commenting on the effectiveness of chipping an ECU. i was not comparing the method to using a standalone or anything of the sort. so i really don't know where you're coming from.

[Coldspawn]

also, the safc does not make things "worse",

Explain how is changes the fuel via MAP/MAF signal?

Quote from their site: "The second-generation S-AFC II is a fuel computer that adjusts fuel/air ratio by modifying the air-flow meter/MAP sensor signal."

[iliketocrash]

the old afc i know used simple pots and the new safc2 is digital but still works based on the same concept of adjusting the voltages it receives from the mafs/map, that correspond to the user set rpm points and then sends on the modified signal to the ecu. granted it isn't the best system in the world because i know that the safc I made the fuel curve quite jagged because it would just draw a straight line from point to point. i haven't read up much on the new safc2 because i haven't had a whole lot of time for cars at the moment so i'm not sure if they have fixed that problem. i do know that HKS has had a unit out for a while now that has a microprocessor that will actually calculate a smooth curve from point to point so you get a much smoother overall fuel map/curve/whatever but i've heard that the hks unit has some compadibility issues with some cars. however i haven't had much personal experience with it.

[Coldspawn]

the old afc i know used simple pots and the new safc2 is digital but still works based on the same concept of adjusting the voltages it receives from the mafs/map, that correspond to the user set rpm points and then sends on the modified signal to the ecu. granted it isn't the best system in the world because i know that the safc I made the fuel curve quite jagged because it would just draw a straight line from point to point. i haven't read up much on the new safc2 because i haven't had a whole lot of time for cars at the moment so i'm not sure if they have fixed that problem. i do know that HKS has had a unit out for a while now that has a microprocessor that will actually calculate a smooth curve from point to point so you get a much smoother overall fuel map/curve/whatever but i've heard that the hks unit has some compadibility issues with some cars. however i haven't had much personal experience with it.

Great info!

The reason why I say that AFC makes things worse is that when you take fuel out, the AFC makes the ECU believe the engine is at less load then it is. So the timing is more advanced then if the AFC was not changing the signal.

You see where I am getting at?

You are right about "drawing a line". Most ECU use four cells then draw a straight line between all of them. If AFC does not do that, it will have a "spike" in it.

[Not_a_sr]

coldspawn, you seemed to have alot of knowledge with the whole tuning aspect of this, how much ECU tuning have you been doing with the CA's?

we are getting ready to get serious about tuning my car, but the friend is really getting woried because we have no way to datalog the ECU, have you found anything??? also what about a definition file to use it in tunerpro??