|
|
Post by SeanW on Apr 3, 2017 2:23:13 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by SeanW on Apr 3, 2017 2:31:40 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by SeanW on Apr 13, 2017 20:36:01 GMT
I've been putting off the MegasquirtPNP install for a while, mostly because I've been procrastinating on the wide-band install because of course I have. It's so ridiculously easy I'm embarrassed I put it off so long.
I went Innovate Motorsports' LC-2. It gets good reviews, there's good information on using with MS, and I liked that it can work independently of an AF gauge. I found mine new in box on Ebay for a steal of a price. (Race team in Texas couldn't use it, they were trying to kick it out the door to recoup some cost.)
My install is pretty straight forward, and didn't require any additional splicing of the factory harness. I did hack the connector off the stock four-wire O2 sensor to make things a little easier for myself. Plugging the analog output from the LC-2 into into the stock sensor socket make things simple. I like simple. And 100% reversible. I like that too.
Instead of splicing into a switched 12v source, I installed an add-a-fuse onto the 15A Engine circuit. This makes the LC-2 live when the car is in run/start but not accessory and it's protected with it's own 5A fuse. These are good things. Also, 100% reversible with no extra cuts to the stock harness.
The LC-2's 12v source and analog outs now sport single-pin weatherproof connectors. To help keep myself from doing something dumb, I soldered the the female side of the pin connector to the 12v source and the male side of the pin connectors to analogs. This way it's very unlikely I'll hot-wire an analog by mistake. I crimped a ring terminal on the ground which is now terminated into ground bus with the ECU. (The LC-2 and ECU should be grounded at the same point so that their voltage differential is minimal.)
For now, I've wired the narrow-band analog out in the stock O2 sensor connector. The stock ECU goes about it's usual business for now while making it a super easy to swap to the wide-band output later when I install the MegaSquirt. (I can either reprogram the analog outputs or, more likely, just unplug the narrow output and plug in the wide output.)
Calibration per the LC-2's instructions was super easy. Not much more to say here.
The car fires up and idles well enough, haven't really driven it yet with LC-2 installed because rain.
|
|
|
|
Post by jwagner on Apr 14, 2017 16:31:01 GMT
I'm running the MS3 PNP & LC-2, header, MAF delete, etc.. Ante'd up for a professional tune and it made a massive difference. It's possible to tune it yourself with some tuning smarts and persistent tweaking, but our car gained about 30hp in an afternoon. The base tune we used apparently wasn't quite optimized for the setup we have. Getting the MS3 installed and tuned really transformed the car.
|
|
|
|
Post by SeanW on Apr 14, 2017 16:41:34 GMT
I'm running the MS3 PNP & LC-2, header, MAF delete, etc.. Ante'd up for a professional tune and it made a massive difference. It's possible to tune it yourself with some tuning smarts and persistent tweaking, but our car gained about 30hp in an afternoon. The base tune we used apparently wasn't quite optimized for the setup we have. Getting the MS3 installed and tuned really transformed the car. You're on a '96 donor? Interesting. I've got the MS2 PNP since I was under the impression the MS3 PNP wouldn't be so PNP with a 96/97 car. At any rate, yeah, I do plan on getting some professional tuning done on the car but probably not until after I install my turbo. Until then, I'm going to be playing with TunerStudio's tuner features to get as good of a street tune as I possibly can. Not surprisingly, the car seems to run a little better with the LC-2 feeding the stock ECU a the simulated narrow band signal. |
|
|
|
Post by SeanW on Apr 15, 2017 5:26:56 GMT
Installed the MSPNP tonight, way easier than I thought and I thought it would be pretty easy. Biggest challenge I had was setting up the EGO top properly use the LC-2 and that was drop dead simple.  The base map is pretty rich. The live analyzer in tuner studio is pretty cool and should get me to a decent street map quickly.  I'm excited! I've been looking forward to this stage for a while! |
|
|
|
Post by jwagner on Apr 15, 2017 14:35:12 GMT
You're on a '96 donor? Interesting. I've got the MS2 PNP since I was under the impression the MS3 PNP wouldn't be so PNP with a 96/97 car. Yes, it's a '96 base car. I re-pinned the harness to match a '94 and used a '94 MS3. Took an afternoon and some planning/research. I did this so I could move the MS to my '94 Miata along with the motor. Both are sitting on the garage floor now waiting for their new home. |
|
|
|
Post by SeanW on Apr 16, 2017 6:38:10 GMT
You're on a '96 donor? Interesting. I've got the MS2 PNP since I was under the impression the MS3 PNP wouldn't be so PNP with a 96/97 car. Yes, it's a '96 base car. I re-pinned the harness to match a '94 and used a '94 MS3. Took an afternoon and some planning/research. I did this so I could move the MS to my '94 Miata along with the motor. Both are sitting on the garage floor now waiting for their new home. That's really kind of badass! Very cool! |
|
|
|
Post by phocup on Apr 21, 2017 4:24:19 GMT
Glad you're going through this before me. I'm kind of dreading the MS stage as the 'tuning' part seems a bit complicated.
|
|
|
|
Post by SeanW on Apr 21, 2017 21:25:35 GMT
Glad you're going through this before me. I'm kind of dreading the MS stage as the 'tuning' part seems a bit complicated. It's a lot easier than I thought it would be but I've missed a few steps along the way that have tripped me up. I'm happy to lend a hand when you get to it though! I've bumped into a few issues that I'm going to document here so that there's at least some record of it for others who are also new to MS/ECU tuning. Actually, I now regret not going full on MegaSquirt from the start of my build because I'm having a lot of fun tweaking with the car.  |
|
|
|
Post by phocup on Apr 22, 2017 3:43:39 GMT
That's what I keep hearing. Go MS first before turbo or even 99 swap. At the very least, eliminating that MAF / AFM so I can run the intake to cleaner unheated air would a small dream come true. I'll put in an order for the MS3 with my next paycheck. |
|
|
|
Post by SeanW on Apr 22, 2017 5:37:23 GMT
Running into a weird issue with my car post-megasquirt. The fans are coming on way too early. The temp gauge in the instrument cluster is showing medium temperatures, the ECU is showing 199-205...but it's just not that hot. I've adjusted the thermistor calibration per recommendation from DIYAutoTune. The tune is set to set kick the fans on at 195F.
In some research I've done on forums there's some mention of needing to add 40 degrees to whatever you really want the fans to kick on at but that doesn't entirely make sense to me. (ie, setting 235F for the fans to kick on at 195F.)
Any thoughts?
|
|
|
|
Post by calibuild on Apr 26, 2017 21:42:16 GMT
Hey SeanW, not much experience with the Mega Squirt, but had a question on BAR. After your last appointment where the BAR Referee approved it, do you have to take the Exocet to the DMV?
My temp permit is going to be up, and I only have 1 "day pass" left that I was going to use for driving to BAR. Hoping to just take the daily driver for follow up appointments at the DMV.... thanks.
|
|
|
|
Post by SeanW on Apr 26, 2017 22:03:49 GMT
Hey SeanW, not much experience with the Mega Squirt, but had a question on BAR. After your last appointment where the BAR Referee approved it, do you have to take the Exocet to the DMV? My temp permit is going to be up, and I only have 1 "day pass" left that I was going to use for driving to BAR. Hoping to just take the daily driver for follow up appointments at the DMV.... thanks. Nope, once you're done at the referee and he's entered your information into the system all you need to take to the DMV is some paperwork. The DMV doesn't actually need to see car. That said, you should be able to get an extension to your temp registration from the DMV. They were kind of annoyed with me for asking but when I explained why it had taken longer that my temp-reg period to get everything done they issued me another one. |
|
|
|
Post by calibuild on Apr 27, 2017 14:10:25 GMT
Hey SeanW, not much experience with the Mega Squirt, but had a question on BAR. After your last appointment where the BAR Referee approved it, do you have to take the Exocet to the DMV? My temp permit is going to be up, and I only have 1 "day pass" left that I was going to use for driving to BAR. Hoping to just take the daily driver for follow up appointments at the DMV.... thanks. Nope, once you're done at the referee and he's entered your information into the system all you need to take to the DMV is some paperwork. The DMV doesn't actually need to see car. That said, you should be able to get an extension to your temp registration from the DMV. They were kind of annoyed with me for asking but when I explained why it had taken longer that my temp-reg period to get everything done they issued me another one. Great, thanks! Have a follow up with BAR next week, so hopefully in ~2 weeks time I'll join your ranks of street legal Exocet's |
|
