Stand Alone?

[PiercedE30]

Anyone running a stand alone engine management on their swaps? I'm sort of leaning this way.
Just curious as to who is and what system they are running.

[aeryk7]

If you can afford it do it , bottom line. Will be good down the road if you do F/I

[Ferret]

I'm running MegaSquirt. I'm not planning FI, but I'm planning to change cams.

[PiercedE30]

Ferret: Your running MS on stock setup? Have you though about running Alpha-N and ditching the maf? I need details, since I think I may be doing this to better deal with tuning.
What did you do about the engine-body wiring plug issue?

[Ferret]

I used the stock M50 loom as a base for my wiring - I basically cut off the ECU connector and soldered the wires to the MS connector. I don't have a MAF (that was one of the reasons for going stand alone in the first place), I use MS's built-in MAP senesor.
Alpha-N allways seemed just primitive to me. It uses only the throttle position, while the stock (MS) setup uses both MAP and throttle position, if I have more data (engine MAP) to base my fueling on, why ignore it?
The only reason I can see for using Alpha-N, is runnning wild camshfats that mess with the MAP reading. Even for these cases there are hybreed algorithms that use throttle position some of the time and MAP at other times.
Engine-body wiring plug issue isn't any different than stock M50 ECU conversion.

Avner.

[Addissimo]

did you just ditch the vanos, or use a combo of an rpm window & voltage switch?

[Ferret]

I'm using the VANOS.
I'm using a combination of rpm and MAP to trigger it, although it doesn't feel any different than the rpm only based trigger I used in the begginning.
Avner.

[PiercedE30]

Ferret: do you have a thread or site or something that describes everything you had to go through to get the MS system running? I am very interested and I don't want to ask you questions that you have already answered somewhere else.

[Ferret]

No, I don't.
But feel free to ask, so that interested people in the future will have where to look.
Avner.

[Adrian_Visser]

so how many man hours did it take to get your ms system running well ferret?

is your car a dailey driver or track only?

and as for power did u gain any with the swap?

i plan (emphasis on PLAN as i havent even purchased a single part) on doin a s52 swap in the hopefully not so distant future and this seems to be an alternative to an OBD I conversion.

ps thats dope you pulled it off it seems most people dont want to try it. props!

[Ferret]

That is a really complicated question. I would say that it could take about 3 days to install MS and get the car running fairly well.
For me it took much longer for several reasons, the 2 leading reasons were:
1. I used Ford EDIS based ignition instead of the stock decoder wheel (a featue that became available only after I finished my installation).
2. I was really (overly?) pedantic/anal about every aspect of the install.

My car is a daily driver.
I never ran the without MS so I can't ansewr about power gain question, the biggest reason for going MS is that I had it lying around and couldn't get reasonably priced ECU and MAF.

Is the S52 single or double VANOS? Controlling single with MS is easy. Controlling double may not be possible at all.

Overall I would say that MS is a good (better in my opinion than a Haltech I once did) cheap piece of kit, but it is fairly labor intensive.

Thanks,
Avner.

[PiercedE30]

Ok, here we go.
How did you set up MS to use the existing COP's?
Do you have any base maps that you would be willing to share?
What mods to you have to the engine right now?
My thing really is getting the existing COP's to work without too much of a hassle.
You just took the stock wiring harness (from the engine), cut the plug for the ecu off, and just spliced in the ecu plug for MS?

Jon

[Ferret]

For ignition I'm using Ford EDIS module and coilpack (with HT wires) not the COP setup. At the time of the install that was the only option available. If I had to do it today, I would probably use 6 VB921 drivers to run the stock coils in wasted spark mode. There is probably a way to fire each coil individualy, but I can't see the benifits to justify the efffort.
I'll be happy to share my maps.
Right now the engine is stock, but I have a pair of M3 cams and 23 lb. injectors waiting to go in. I'm also waiting for a pair of headers to arrive, for which I plan to create a custom exhaust system. I havn't spent too much time to optimize my tuning because I knew I'll need to retune after all that stuff is installed.
Yes, I took the stock wiring harness (from the engine), cut the plug for the ecu off, and spliced in the ecu plug for MS. I even used the stock wiring harness' relays.
I did add an auxilery circuit to control the VANOS and aux fan, but in retrospect it can be done simply by using different transistors (rated for higher current) when building the MS board's output circuits.

Avner.

[jrez]

These guys http://www.autronic.com/page_files/sm4_kit.htm claim to have ability to run vanos also. They claim also to be "affordable" but I have'nt asked for a quote.
One feature which looks cool is the "autotune" option. Apparently you drive around/run on dyno, and it optimizes the maps itself. My take on it anyway.
Be interested to know what they go for.

[PiercedE30]

Ferret: I will definitely be sending you a PM about taking a look at your maps. I just need something as a base to start at.
Also, the 6 VB921 drivers that you used, where did you get them/what did they come on?