What process have you guys found the most painless for updating? New blank project, load new firmware, then enter in all the settings one by one? Or has anyone found a better way to do it?

I just updated firmware. It's the same project and tune.

same here^

Interesting. Okay, I'll give it a go and report back! There seem to be a bunch of horror stories floating around.

Grit your teeth and do it. I read all the horror stories before I updated - they had me scared shitless. So I just "closed my eyes" and did it...it updated without a glitch.

of course, YMMV.

Dooo iiiiiit!

Thanks for the encouragement folks. I'll never forgive any of you if it ends in disaster.

I'm out of town this weekend, but I'll take a crack at this on Tuesday.

I'm not sure where you get 1.4.3. I don't think there is anything in 1.4.x past 1.4.1. That's what is on Scott's site.

There's no 1.4.3 firmware. 1.4.1 is the latest available version in the 1.4 series, and IIRC there's nothing new or fixed that concerns a Miata in this firmware version. Hence my recommendation to stick with 1.4.0 for now.

I'm getting it dialed in pretty well now. Just a couple adjustments to the PID settings and I've got boost holding at 15psi pretty stable.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d05951ab5a.png

One thing I don't have dialed in yet - when I do a pull in 4th or 5th starting at low RPM, boost spikes before dropping back down. Some pulls I get boost dropping a bit in the middle of the pull with higher boost at low and high RPM. Any ideas how to correct those things?
Also, I think my clutch is slipping a bit at like 16psi. My best guess is that the pedal isn't being let all the way up, so I'll try to adjust that.
Other than those things, the car feels amazing!

More tuning today. I am trying to increase boost at higher RPM, starting at 15psi at 5000 and going up to 18psi at 7000, but it's not happening for me. I hit max boost at about 4000RPM, and then it slowly tapers off. I don't think I'm maxing out the turbo yet, because the boost duty isn't holding at 100%. See below - target is 15.8psi at 6k.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d7bf23f016.png

You are close enough to 100% I think you are blowing the wastegate open or maxing the turbo. But I don't think the turbo is maxed.

Maybe a couple more winds of preload?

Maybe, or a stiffer spring in your wastegate can.

Or a stash can? :p

With the proper modifications, sure :D

Much like sonofthehill today, I also made my car not start. It was really dialed in and felt better than it has for years, so I figured that just wasn't right and updated the firmware from 1.2.3 to 1.4.1.

Ignition settings changed, which was expected. I set up the coils using Andrew's settings. The bigger change is the idle control settings, and I just don't even know where to start. I figured I could just copy over settings from my 1.2.3 tune, but it's completely different. Could you guys spoonfeed screenshots of your idle control settings for me to copy?

I got it working! Huge thanks to yossi126 for sending me his base map. Also, for the record, when Reverant says to use 1.4.0, use 1.4.0.

I'm definitely losing some oil, and it appears as if it's being burned. I was also getting enough oil coming out of my valve cover breather on the exhaust side that I needed to stick it into my intake instead of VTA.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f71232c64c.jpg

I did a compression test, and got the following results:
Dry: 150, 155, 155, 163
Wet: 176, 180, 196, 198

The big jump from dry to wet suggests rings right? Also, should it be higher overall? Like maybe I've got valve leakage too?

It's hard to say, because different testers read differently, but overall the numbers are pretty consistent. If losing oil could be blow-by, esp if you're seeing it eat oil between changes.

The spatter from the pipe is relatively normal on a cold start

Okay cool, thanks. I ordered a leak down tester to investigate further.

Blow by means worn rings right?

What you see from the tailpipe is condensed water carrying soot onto the driveway. Nothing to fear.

Elaborate, please. Did you find something broken in 1.4.1, that works in 1.4.0?

Yeah-ish. I installed 1.4.1 and it didn't start. It would fire a couple times and die. Then I dug into the startup/idle settings and they are basically all different. I got yossi126 to bail me out with his tune so I could copy the settings. Still didn't start. Per Yossi and Rev's recommendation, I downdated to 1.4.0 and the car instantly started and idled perfectly (with Yossi's settings).

There is no official MSLabs 1.4.1 ini file, so if you download say a DIYautotune firmware, it has their I/O (Rev's wiring is different). You can manually assign the I/O's but it's a pita.

I didn't use the .ini file you sent, I just loaded the 1.4.0 firmware and changed the startup/idle, boost control, and ignition coil settings and fired it up.

Interesting. I loaded 1.4.0 on my desktop, and pulled in one of my 1.4.1 msq's. I could not see any differences in how start / idle is handled; at least with regards to the screens.

Might the issue have been sync faults?

After this, I'll leave you alone to work on your car.

Glad you got onto modern code and got the car running.

So, interestingly, I went to 1.4.1 and the car didn't start, and I changed all the settings there. Then I went back to 1.4.0 and made no settings changes and it just worked. I have no idea what is different between the two, but it is somehow significant.

I think I want a bigger turbo. Sonofthehill, what's the spool like on the one you have? I want to have torque as low as I can get away with, without running out of steam before the redline, and I can't justify the cost of going EFR right now.

What turbo are you currently running?

Is the "Trurbo" typo in your signature intentional?

I forget now what it was a reference to, but it kind of stuck https://www.miataturbo.net/build-thr...6/#post1296459
Maybe given that I've lost the reference, I should probably just spell it correctly.

I'm running a China eBay special: "T3 .48AR 2.5" V-Band Flange .42AR Compressor Internal Wastegate Turbo Charger"
If I could go a little bigger with the same housing so I don't have to change anything else, that would be most excellent, especially since it was only $200. I believe there are a couple that fit that MK Turbo customers have used.

Another thought is maybe I can get the power out of this turbo that I want with better tuning. I'm running a little rich in boost, and I'm running conservative timing. Should I expect to be able to squeeze out 2-3 more PSI up top with a better tune?

I might have found the issue - there was 0 preload on the wastegate. I originally installed it with 2 full turns or something, but it must have bent or stretched or something. I wound it on with 3 full turns. I won't be able to test it until Thursday but I've got a good feeling about it!

Mine gives up 1000 rpm in spool but will boost past 7000 easy. Maybe I should try playing around with the small turbo again, see what happens with the 250kpa spring :dunno:

Hm. 1k is a lot of spool to give up. I'm going to keep fiddling and see if I can get it to breath a little more.

Yeah, the small turbo is super nice, insta-spool.

I'm having a bit of a hard time with that too. I'd like a bigger turbo in the future as well but if the spool lost is more than like 500 with the 2871 ish sized one then mehhhh.

Most things I've seen show that things even out around 3500 or so when the bigger turbo takes off. Need to compare the charts in addition to how long it takes things to spool up as well.

What size were you thinking of moving up to? You currently have the turbo that mkturbo ships with right?

If you are at wide open throttle below 4000 RPM then you should have downshifted. Get the big Turbo, get the big Power.

Yup

At least what MK Turbo shipped with in 2015. I think it's still the same one now.
Um... better? I like spooling at 4k, so that's cool. Lower spool would be great, so would more power up top. I'm going to stick with this one and see what I can do to eek more out of the top end with tuning and plumbing. I think giving up spool would make it less street friendly.

Sonofthehill what turbo are you running?

Nigel, this is the turbo, I think, maybe Lars can chime in.

https://www.cxracing.com/turbocharger/turbocharger-t3-turbo/TRB-T3-48-V-8PSI

This is a log from the other day, my EBC is disabled though. I know it shows boost duty but the switch under my dash was off for this log, I have a 250kpa can.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fefb258768.png
The boost really starts to increase around 4 grand but I have 5psi by 3 grand and 21psi by 4500. I don't have a good current spool log with EBC on, I only logged this because i had a good opportunity.

That spools not too bad. My turbo does 4 psi at 3k, 7.5 psi at 3.5k, and 15 psi at 4k.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...781b711e0c.png

I have given up keeping track of the larger turbos. At the end of the day, don't actually buy from CXRacing, all the ebay re-sellers are cheaper then their official store.

Thanks Lars!

I think you gaped your WG port pretty big, I was able to get 15psi from the small turbo under 3000 IIRC. Probably just needs more WG spring.

Okay, so winding on some preload on the wastegate actuator definitely worked. First pull hit overboost 3700RPM. Logs showed 19.3 PSI... oops. Nothing seems broken though. After a few small tweaks and pulls, it became clear that I needed to go back to the drawing board with my EBC tuning since 1.4 firmware is way different than 1.2.

I've answered the question about whether this turbo will continue to meet my goals: yes.

Aside from the fact that I hit overboost at 19 PSI at 3500 RPM, this pull shows potential: I am getting 7 PSI at 3k, and it holds about 16 PSI to the redline.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dfe504ff4a.png

I'm consistently running out of fuel up top now, so I'm pretty sure I'm at the limit of my stock fuel pump. I'm doing a weekend at Laguna Seca this weekend, so I'm just going to dial down the boost and throw in a DW200 in January. Then I'll get a dyno tune and see how many ponies I can "safely" squeeze out of this engine.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f6ab5692f9.png

Have you tried to add more fuel up top? Just because your log shows 95% doesn't mean you are necessarily out of fuel. I think you should be able to fuel that turbo fine, unless your pump is wearing out.

Reading other threads, it seems like it's a tired pump situation. The fuel pressure/injector combo should be plenty, but I think the pump just isn't keeping up.

My new pump completely changed my VE table, if it's the original pump, then quite possible. I would still try to add fuel there.

The DW200 is just a more powerful stock replacement pump, and pumps at stock pressure. Plus it's only $100, so it seems like a prudent thing to do given the extra demands I'm putting on the stock fuel system. I think it should only affect the VE table where the stock pump couldn't keep up... maybe? Either way, it's running well up to about 15psi, and I'm quite happy with that for a track day.

Something orange arrived today...

I've got the Xida GS' installed in the car, and the spring rates are almost double the VMAXXs that came out. Should be fun. I also switched back to stock swaybars from FMs as recommended by 949. I seemed to have lost one of the stock sway bar mounts in storage, so I picked up a set of universal 22mm prothane bushings with mounts from Amazon warehouse for $5! :-O

I'll be at Laguna Seca this weekend and really feel like I've got the car set up well now. SO EXCITE!

Have fun!

I had some "reliability issues" today. I started a fresh thread about it because I really don't know what's going on. Hoping some people who are smarter than I am can help me diagnose it before tomorrow...
https://www.miataturbo.net/megasquir...9/#post1459237

I don't know if coolant temperatures had anything to do with my issues on the track today, but I've been planning to vent my hood for a while so I just went for it.

It's late so I'm not going to dig around to find the people who deserve the props for this idea right now. In the coming days I will though, I owe you a debt of gratitude!

I decided to just do one central hole in the low pressure area near the front of hood, just behind the radiator. To start with, I laid down masking tape everywhere I'd be cutting. Then I played around with drawing where I would cut.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c829a40a80.jpg

Then I bailed on the measure twice cut once platitude and adopted my preferred mode of f* it just cut it. Using a guard for my dremel and a 561 multipurpose cutting bit, and lots of tap magic, I just went for it.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a59da20238.jpg

I cleaned up the edges with a file, and it turned out alright!

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9e0519b037.jpg

I also cut out some mesh and painted it black. I'm planning to stick it on the inside with 3M double-sided tape. Or I could use some kind of epoxy like JB weld. Dunno. Any thoughts?

You missed the R-Theory group buy :(

Didn't you just change your coils?

Maybe go over the wiring, once more to see if something came loose. Sounds like a loose wire connection.

I would not try to hold mesh with even good double sided tape as low surface area. Just run it open for today

Had an awesome day out there today. I got a new cam position sensor in before the last session and got a full 19.5 minutes out there at full clip. On the last lap I blew my head gasket. Back to the garage for me!