megasquirt?, link?

[iOnic]

I would put it this way:
If average turbo I would go with Link, since I will shift responsibility of tuning to someone else. It is much easier to blow up a turbo engine with bad tune.
If el-cheapo N/A 20v I would go with megasquirt.
If high end 2ZZGE or 2GRFE, I would go with Motec.


Don't forget with megasquirt you will have to get wideband Oxygen sensor and supporting electronics for DIY tune.

All those ECU's would do the same job in each application.
You don't have to get a wideband oxygen sensor setup for a Megasquirt much the same as you don't have to get one for any other ECU unless you plan to tune it yourself so that's not really a point of difference. Any tuner with a brain can tune a Megasquirt.

As QikStarlie said:

if your tuner can't figure out how to tune a megasquirt. find a new tuner.

[tsoob]

i was really hoping not to spend more then 1000-1500 on purchase and tuning
but im geussing im gona have to spend a bit more than that

i dont know any tuners in wellington or where the best place is to buy ecus

the only ones ive seen are the ones on trade me and im sceptical of thoes

looks like the megasquirt on trade me is shit.
where can i go for a good reliable affordable tuner in wellington?
what i buy is possibly gona come down to what the tuner has more experiance with

would it be fair to say that if i buy a megasquirt it would be cheaper but the tuning would be more expencive because it would be harder?
meaning that all up it would be relatively the same price to buy a link and have it tuned except minus all the hassels????

Id suggest you phone at least 4 or 5 tuners in wellington and talk to them about your project, before you commit to any ecu.

[tsoob]

Im on my second ecu as i didnt do this in the first place

[mega4a]

megasquirts are easy to tune using a innovate lc-1 kit =]
and megasquirt has full o.s info about everything on the internet if something goes wrong with the ecu.
link is hard to obtain info if something goes wrong or breaks.

i love my megasquirt v2.2 cost me nothing at all to import too

[Lurkin]

quite interested in this thread - thinking of doing this for an n/a 20v.

However the original question appears to have gone unanswered: where can you buy these in wellington without losing an arm and a leg?

how hard is it to tune yourself? (megasquirt) and what tools are required? (generally)

(I have never had an aftermarket ecu/ been to a tuner before)

[Flannelman]

To tune - general knowlege of an engine. Most operate in light load aplications. No point tuning for full throttle kWs when it is a pig to drive and eats more fuel than a carby fed bigblock V8. Also knowege in what info the computer is getting, MAP, TPS, intake temp, water temp, knock ect

Tools to tune - Wide ban O2 senser and laptop with supporting software for ECU used

The trick is to get the engine running at its most efficient over the RPM range using the correct air/fuel ratio and ignition timing for said load and given engine temp.

simple

[soopachargen]

If I was in wellington I would go to Andre at Speedtech, no questions asked. There is a reason he tunes the cars of all the big names in the drag racing world and can charge what he charges.

[MAGN1T]

There's better options, like fit a late model evo ECU, mod some hardware to make it work, then you can reflash it and run evoscan to log it.
Factory parts FTW.
Doesn't even need to be off an evo, just a 4 cylinder post 98 ish. You just loose the boost control.
Pick a part for your performance parts.

Steve

[iOnic]

Where can you buy these from Wellington: Nowhere as far as I'm aware. There are a few people in NZ that sell prebuilt kits but in general they're all old hardware that is overpriced for what it is. Buying online overseas is the cheapest way to get a new MS kit and they come either prebuilt or as a self build kit.

Build it yourself vs buy premade: Depends on your abilities. The self build kits come as a box of components that you have to solder together yourself and you need to have basic knowledge of electronics and a good idea of what signals the engine needs to function. Timewise, it can take anywhere from an hour to days depending on your knowledge/ability. There are lots of detailed instructions on the net so you really can't get it wrong if you follow them. If you're not confident with the assembly, either find someone that is or buy the prebuilt package.

How hard is it to tune: No different to any other standalone EMS. If you can't tune a Link, you can't tune a Megasquirt either.

What tools do you need: To build it, you need a soldering iron, solder sucker, wiring/crimping tools, multimeter, screwdrivers etc. To tune it you need a good way of monitoring afr (Lc1, lm2, zeitronix etc) - don't even bother attempting to tune it without one. You also need a good knock detection setup preferably with headphones that you can listen to the engine through. Basic handtools are handy too, you'll be doing things like changing plugs, adjusting idle speeds, fitting sensors etc.

Who to tune it: This is probably the biggest question. Truth is, any competent tuner can tune a Megasquirt. It works in the same way as any other ECU. At first it can take a few minutes to familiarize oneself with the software but once you're familiar with everything it's just a series of tables with numbers in them - the software is designed for people that aren't professional tuners so it's very simple and everything is explained in lay-man's terms. The software also has features to compare tunes and autotune functions etc. Having said that though, I'd personally pick someone that knows their way around MS over someone that doesn't. Reputation counts for a lot but I think you need to sit down with a bunch of tuners and discuss their knowledge and experience with modern MS systems before you pick one. I was surprised by how many top tuners I spoke to that haven't even heard of it.

Hope that answers the original question

[tim_blair]

yea mostly

thanks heaps

[Lurkin]

Hey Steve

can you be more specific about the hardware changes/ any other info you have on reusing a mitis ecu?

cheers

Roy

[iOnic]

Toyotas and Mitsi's are too far removed from each other for that conversion to be viable IMO but I'm interested in hearing how Steve got one to work.

Hondas are far closer to Toyotas in terms of engine management and Toyotas have been successfully run on Honda ECUs with Honda/Crome/BRE etc for tuning. Dunno about it being a "better" option though. Such setups don't do anything a standalone doesn't do and unless you do it all yourself, they cost far more.

[QikStarlie]

i would think he means retro fitting the evo sensors to your engine. cas, temp sensor etc.. ?

[MAGN1T]

The hardest part would be fitting the CAS, either the early one which is driven from the back of the cam, or the later style which uses separate trigger wheels on both the crank and cam. The earlier one would be easiest but might not nessecarily be compatible with the computer.

There's always negative people out there and there's also people who'll see it as a new challenge, give it a go and make it work.
No I haven't got one to work but I've made an early Mitsi CAS work on a Mitsi motor that had no provision for one, so it's not that far removed. Had to do some TIG welding, drilling and threading and got someone else to do some lathe work and cam slotting.
It's just a case of getting the computer and sensors from the same motor and making it work.

Steve

[tsoob]

sounds like a whole shit load more effort than fitting and tuning a link.

[solitaire]

The idea of building your own megasquirt out of a kit sounds like fun.

If you are wanting a conservative tune - it is feasible to have a crack yourself with a wideband and a street tune? i.e. is it a stupid idea to teach yourself to tune?

please feel free to drag me back down to earth if im talking bollocks

[levinguy]

The idea of building your own megasquirt out of a kit sounds like fun.

If you are wanting a conservative tune - it is feasible to have a crack yourself with a wideband and a street tune? i.e. is it a stupid idea to teach yourself to tune?

please feel free to drag me back down to earth if im talking bollocks

its not a stupid idea, provided you take the right approach to it, and have the right attitude/put the time in.

theres a guy in the mr2 club who did just that, went from knowing little, to building a megasquirt and tuning it himself, with alot of research obviously.

[Lith]

nar they all interpolate. unless some old code/firmware didn't do it. the ms1's even have movable bins/ rows columns, unlike the old g1 links.

I actually looked back over this and found I'd misquoted, they said that it wasn't good interpolation - not none. Link here:
http://www.skylinesdownunder.com/forums/showpost.php?p=529785&postcount=38

[iOnic]

The idea of building your own megasquirt out of a kit sounds like fun.

If you are wanting a conservative tune - it is feasible to have a crack yourself with a wideband and a street tune? i.e. is it a stupid idea to teach yourself to tune?

please feel free to drag me back down to earth if im talking bollocks

http://www.megamanual.com/ms2/tune.htm

There's a lot of reading/info to digest but there's no reason why you couldn't tune it yourself and learn through doing it. The more you do it the more confident you'll be and the better the results.

Dan: Never had that happen to me before tbh but I can see how it would be annoying Might have been remote to that specific build.

[MAGN1T]

sounds like a whole shit load more effort than fitting and tuning a link.

That's the difference between "hotrodders" and "chequeboook racers".

Hotrodders find the best factory parts and make them work themselves.
Chequebook racers pay other people to do the work for them.

So effort....yes
But you save megadollars and end up with a far better result and score another "first"

Steve