AEM EMS with 1994 bp harness and engine... what's missing?
 

I have an AEM EMS that I will soon be going into my mx-3. As mentioned in previous posts I am using a 1994 miata wire harness, cam angle sensor, and coil packs. So far I have a MAF, temp sensor, CAS, coil packs, and a tps... what other sensors are must haves to get the car up and running with the stand alone i've chosen. I need to know so I can make sure to buy everything I need in one fell swoop and dont get halfway into something then loose the entire rest of the weekend because i didn't have one part.

The engine itself by the way is the 1.8L BP engine

I could really use some help with this I am hoping to do a small work day soon and really want to have all the parts i need rounded up to make it an efficient day.

It is an install just like any other aftermarket ECU out there. Make sure you have an oscilloscope to help with the wiring, sensor signals, adjusting the software (i.e. cam signals vs injectors and ignition), etc.

yeah but what sensors do i still need to locate for the engine. i pulled a v6 out of the car and stripped it down and have a fresh built bp with only the sensors i listed

These sensors are enough.
Btw AEM EMS is flexible enough that you can use non BP sensors if you want - i.e. I am running Mustang TPS, GM air temperature sensor, AEM MAP sensor instead of the Miata MAF, a crank wheel (stock NA is cam driven only) with non OEM crank/cam signals pattern (i.e. I have only one cam sync pulse per engine cycle)

do you not use the CAS and coil packs since you are using a crank wheel?

Also does the ECU need the speed sensor from the trans run through it?

I use AEM Twinfire ignition with COPS just because I like it - it is a personal choice. I can run that one, or the OEM coil packs or pretty much any other ignition regardless whether I am using cam sensor or trigger wheel.

AEM EMS is just like any other similar ECU - i.e. Motecs, Autronics, etc. It is quite flexible and pretty much everything is adjustable.

The computer uses the crank and/or cam sensors to calculate the position of your engine in the engine cycle at any moment. It has nothing to do with the ignition control. I have a NA but use a crank sensor from a NB just because I like the crank generated signal better - it bypasses the timing belt flex. I still use the cam sync channel off the NA cam sensor for syncing the engine cycle in the ECU (crankshaft does 2 revs per cycle so one still needs a cam reference to figure out the position in the cycle) - I have modified the cam wheel pattern though but that is personal choice too because I want to use a particular algorithm of the ones AEM EMS offers for recognizing the signal patters. The EMS can work off stock NA or NB setups, or combinations of NA and NB ones or the majority of other timing patterns out there (and that's how AEM use pretty much the same ECU for every car platform they offer ot for - it is mostly adjustments in the software on the user side).

If you want to use any speed related trims, you need a speed sensor. It is not necessary to be the Miata one. AEM EMS just monitors a square wave on an input and you adjust it from the software which edges to monitor (falling, raising, both) and the rate so it calculates a speed number off the square wave.

It is not mandatory just like a TPS, air temp, coolant, etc. sensors are not mandatory. They are recommended by not mandatory - you can always adjust the software what trims to use and what not. Example, once at a race few years ago my OEM TPS sensor went bad which made the car undrivable. I opened the software, disabled everything TPS related I had in the calculations and the car was drivable again - so drove home without a TPS sensor just fine (instead of being on a flat bed if I was still with the stock ECU, since you can't tweak the maps in that one)

P.S. You sound like you have no experience with ECUs in general. Btw the latest version AEM EMS software is available at their forum. You can download it, install it and start learning it. You can mount the AEM EMS on your desk, hook up power & some sensors to it, hook up an oscilloscope and start playing with it. I suggest you learn the AEM software, how ECUs work, erc. for few months prior even thinking about touching an ECU in a car.

That or just find a good AEM EMS tuner to do the R&D, install and softare setup work for you. In Chicago these guys should be good judging by the awards they win here and there:
Amsperformance.com your Evo 7, Evo 8, Evo 9, Evo x, 4G63, 4B11, BMW 335i, GTR, STI specialist for staged performance upgrades. Exhaust, FMIC, Intercooler, Turbo, Intake, Suspension, Engine Building & Tuning for Drag & Time Attack Racing

I haven't been at AMS but I've read their name mentioned often

So would it be recomended I find a way to tied the speed sensor from the GTR AWD trans into the AEM EMS? My mx-3 had a cable speedo so it basically went straight from the trans to the odometer in the dash and i'm pretty sure the GTR is the same way.

How do i power up the AEM whithough it being plugged into the car? i'd love to start messing around with it in my spare time. I will likely have a good shop do the initial tuning but I want to be able to work on it myself as i go along. i have a carputer that will be installed also making it easier to tune and keep track of data.

Yes do i know very little about aftermarket ECU's for cars, all i know is that with all of the work to the engine and with adding turbo later I wanted a very good tunable ECU and this seemed to be the right one.

NA Miatas are the same way - mechanical cable to the dash cluster and the electronics which generates the square wave is in the cluster. I guess the GT-R and the MX3 are the same way. AFAIK in NB Miatas the wave is generated from the gearbox sensor directly and there is not mechanical cable.
Anyway it doesn't matter where it is generated, if you intercept that square wave (and there is such cause your stock ECU most likely uses it too) you can use it.
Or you can mount an aftermarket hall sensor on the driveshaft and fab some trigger wheel to rotate by it and use that wave.
Or you can mount the aftermarket sensor and trigger wheel at the end of the mechanical cable coming from the gearbox.
AEM EMS (and any other similar ECU) just monitors a wave passed on an input and calculates number off it (with coefficients you set in the software). You have the freedom to provide that way any way you want - and that's the coolness of such aftermarket ECUs :)

12V power supply or a battery

That's great, but I think if you don't have any experience you're way over your head if you expect to learn it by the next weekend. Start learning about how ECUs and engine electronics work, then play with the AEM software, and in the end installing an ECU in a car will be a simple job for you

i will admit this is totally mindboggling to me, which is why i've been trying hard to find someone to help me wire this car up, so far i have about $500 saved up to help uhm grease the wheels a bit but only had some minor interest lol... oh i live in detroit now i forgot to change my location in this forum, i am looking on aem for a way to power the EMS with a power supply.. or do i have to wire one up myself?