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I'm going to pass on FI. ITB's are one of the future mods I'm considering, so cams would be the next logical step. Thanks for the info. -
Overall it comes down to how interested you are in learning to tune. If you are planning on paying someone to do your tuning then it can get expensive and it may be hard to find someone else to take over if the tuner gets out of the business or moves, ect.
Personally learning to tune was the most interesting part for me, so it was a no brainer to go standalone. I learmed a ton and now I am an OEM calibrator so it actually led to a career (bonus!)
If you are planning on staying atmospheric and you dont want to piddle around with tuning, a chip can do an OK job and you are up an running instantly. The downside is the OBD1 ECU algorithms are really ghetto so there is only so much you can do within the limits of the existing code.
If you are going turbo, supercharger or a more in depth performance build your car is just going to run so much better on a newer technology system. The factory AFM sucks and is pretty lethargic, I ran with just the TB open to air. Throttle response was amazing and so was the sound. Of course I need to fab up an air inlet pipe to keep sand/rocks out of the intake but its still going to be very raw sounding and drive smooth!
To get any kind of performance from the M42 you need cams, and with that you need custom tuning. The OEM ECU seems to be able to cope but it will have to be a real custom tune and not some off the shelf BS.
I bought VEMS because back in 09 when I bought it the market was really limited and it was by far the best hobby ECU available. Today there are a lot of options. VEMS is still a decent platform but a legit MS3 is comparable and there is a lot more support available in the US
Don't skimp on your ECU if you go standalone, its what keeps the engine alive!Leave a comment:
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Would you consider the VEMS a worthwhile investment? I like the idea of a stand alone but think a chip from a known tuner would be my best option.Leave a comment:
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The steeper diff ratio makes the car much more fun. Limited slip is obviously awesome too. My car has a zf320 and I run a S3.73 medium case which is roughly the same final drive. Definitely adds some pep!Leave a comment:
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Another micro update:
My fuel gauge now works. I got a used sender from a forum member and it works great! I tested it outside of the tank to see if it reads all levels, as well as the low fuel light. It's nice to know I won't be running out of gas again.
Also the turbo, manifold, and wideband are all sold off. The money left over should get me a Sssquid chip and maybe some tires.
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Picked up some used IE street/track camber plates from a forum member for a good price. I'll probably throw them on sometime in the next week or so. A new fuel sender should show up tomorrow and hopefully it will fix the fuel gauge.
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Today was test/tune day for autocross, so it was loosely organized to get as much seat time as possible. The first half of the day had two split short courses and you could chose to run whichever one as many times possible in the allotted 45 minutes. I didn't shut the ignition off until our full session was over. Well over 20 runs betwix the two were had and the 4.44 LSD has transformed the car. I'm now fighting some oversteer, but until I put the new tires on, camber plates, and a good alignment I'm not touching anything. I was hitting the rev limiter in one straight, but right at the tail end of it. Time wise I did well compared to my competition with far more tire and power.
The second half was the split courses connected and some of it flipped backwards. I was 2 seconds off my nearest competitor, but I scrubbed too much speed in a couple areas I need to work on. We only ran 6 total but all in all I felt more confident in the car. Unfortunately as I was finished up the 5th my check engine light came on. After throttle was open past idle it ran fine, but sputtered at idle and if the throttle was stabbed it would surge. 6th run it stayed on and the symptoms remained. When moving the TPS harness at the plug the idle would change as if it was a bad connection.
I got the car home easily as any throttle above idle appeared to be normal, and only at lights would I have to apply some throttle to ease idle surge. Google told me to do the stomp test and no matter how I did the test it wouldn't trip the light flash. It seemed obvious at this point the TPS was suspect, so I removed the one on the car. Looks brand new, so I swapped it with a used one on the field motor just to see if it would make a difference. Same. No light flash after 5 pedal stomps. At this point I decided to check the harness. Stripping back the rubber boot shows a broken wire on the #2 pin. BINGO! I stripped the wire casing back a little and jammed it tight against the pin. Stomp test code shows up now and it's a 1216.
I've got a spare motor harness, so I'll just wire in a different plug after checking to make sure it's not tearing at the crimp like this one. Anyone know how to just replace the pin on the plug?1216 Throttle Position Switch Fault The later model Motronic systems used a potentiometer to measure throttle position and adjust fuel levels appropriately. If the 'pot' is not giving off the proper values, it will produce this code.
Also, the speedo is still not working. After seeing all of the plastic disintegrate on the plug I'm going to guess the pins are more corroded or loose than it appears.
Last edited by captain awesome; 01-11-2018, 06:40 AM.Leave a comment:
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Just checked the speed sensor in the diff and it's in the same shape as it was previously. The connector has good contact and I see no signs of damaged wires. The chances of the cluster suddenly having issues after the diff swap seems less plausible than user error. I looked at all of the fuses and see nothing out of the ordinary. I'm going to replace all the 7.5 fuses as soon as I get my 25 pack in but I highly doubt it's the source of the problem.Leave a comment:
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Thanks Gerry. I'll do my best!
Do it! Just expect to replace EVERYTHING rubber. Everything. Or get one that's already pretty much sorted and enjoy it. Honestly I could have bought one in better shape with most of the work done for me for less. For example here's one for $3800 local to me and it has quite a few good upgrades and best of all good paint.
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Great read, love that you saved it. Got me thinking about searching one out to restore.Leave a comment:
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Great work, glad you got it, should be a great improvement for you on Sunday.....try to leave a little tread on those tires. LOL!Leave a comment:
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Wednesday night I pulled my stock diff in preparation for a 318ti 4.44 lsd to show up Thursday. Luckily it showed up around 11, so on my lunch break I ran to Napa for a quart of gear oil and started prepping to swap over the diff cover and do a good inspection.
Immediately it was obvious the flanges were different between the two. The e30 flanges overall width was ~11 1/8" while the 318ti was ~10 1/8". I kinda panicked as it was mentioned in a few posts as a "direct swap". Do the CV axles stretch 1/2" per side? Swap flanges? WTF?
So then I search the old internet to see what it requires for swapping flanges. I stumbled onto this awesome video that shows a quick and easy way pop them out. Immediately my blood pressure is restored and I know everything is going to be okay.
With the flanges swapped, diff cover bolted down, and topped off with fluid it was bolted back in to the car. It's probably mentioned plenty of places in any diff swap post, but attach the driveshaft loosely before starting to bolt up the subframe bolts.
So after everything was tightened up, it was time for a test drive. I did a quick chirp of the tires leaving the garage in celebration. NIGHT and DAY difference in grip. Obviously that's supposed to happen, but the whole open diff thing is for the birds. I took it through a couple tight bends and grinned from ear to ear. Unfortunately this morning my speedometer decided not to work anymore. I assume it's a loose connection at the speed sensor, but haven't dug into it yet. All I know is I'm super stoked for Sunday's autocross.
You can barely see it in this pic, but proof of dual skid chirp.
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I'm not sure how the hell you drop an airbag column without a torch and a sawzall, but I'm sure there's a way.Yep, mine is an airbag version as well... I believe it is easier to drop the steering column on non-airbag cars.
I'll have another go at removing that steering column upper panel, the zip-tied ignition switch nags at me.
Autocross looks like a blast btw! Can't wait to get involved myself.
Keep it up :up:
It's fun for sure. I just wish they had more runs per event. Next one is a test and tune which should be more runs than usual. Pretty stoked on that, and hoping to get the 4.44 diff installed beforehand. I will say if you are just waiting to have your car ready for it, don't. Take your daily if you have to, it's a blast no matter what car you take.Leave a comment:
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Yep, mine is an airbag version as well... I believe it is easier to drop the steering column on non-airbag cars. I'll have another go at removing that steering column upper panel, the zip-tied ignition switch nags at me.
Autocross looks like a blast btw! Can't wait to get involved myself.
Keep it up :up:Leave a comment:
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I had to remove the plastic column covers and cut one zip tie if I remember correctly. Getting the top plastic cover off was a bitch though. I did end up drilling the steering column bolts and replacing them with hex head when the dash was out, so if I "had" to drop everything it would be considerably easier now.
Edit: I'm not sure if it makes a difference or not, but my column is an airbag version.Last edited by captain awesome; 10-26-2017, 01:23 PM.Leave a comment:
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