pop open the case and see what it's got inside.
DIY builds can have some funkyness to them, and chasing your tail thinking it's a normal build is really frustrating when you find that wonk jumper resistor someone installed.

 

That looks very similar to my Trubokitty Ms3x.

https://trubokitty.com/#/installation

Not sure if it's one of brains builds, but if not, I bet it's very similar.

 

I was wondering where you went. Glad to see the EpicEFI stuff is gaining some traction, I always appreciate those DIY/budget options.

 

Yeah, this is definitely an ecu.




before i can even start tuning, i have to figure out a few things, flex, boost, and o2 sensor connections. The speedy was pretty intuitive in the sense that the pin for flex was labeled flex, and the boost pin was labeled boost. I know on ms3pro pnps its defaulted to the narrowband o2 sensor path, but unsure on this board. I could really just forget the flex and crank up my ve table to account for it but id like to get this all done well so it can last.

i did end up updating the firmware to the latest version which went fine.

i have these nice diagrams on trubokitty, but im not entirely sure what board is what, daughterboard, expansion, so on. Im going to poke around it all tonight after work, hopefully i can get tuning tomorrow with not much wiring to do.


Didnt know id get cool stickers, made it even more worth it.

 

So it's got a 3.57 board that is SMD. likely not a DIY on that one, though there is a jumper on it... (yellow wire)

But you didn't pic the mainboard. You can KINDA see it on your first harness pic.

 

yeah i didnt take any boards apart from each other yet, i figured if this ran an nb before it shouldnt need much modification if any, getting my outputs swapped from speedy and then if issues arise ill try and find them. That jumper was d1 to the other end i couldnt tell.

Only other pic i took

 

I got all of the outputs changed to what i needed, it ended up being less complicated than i anticipated, moved the ms3's o2 wire to the narrowband spot on the harness where my wideband was already connected, added a flex wire where there was none, and then swapped the boost output on the ms3 to output to the purge valve where my boost controller has been. Fired right up this morning and not trigger issues im dealing with yet. I am dealing with some odd vvt and injector characteristics. I have kraken 700cc's and no data, I got by on the speedy with a deadtime of 0.9 @ 14v, setting this ve table up, I had a ve value of 48 to idle and 51 at 4psi of boost wot, so I played with the deadtimes and changed it to 1,2ms, this was what i ended up with using the epicefi deadtime tuner before i figured out the trigger issues at 4k rpm happened. This paired with a smaller req fuel gave me a more traditional ve table spread, but still flat. I have incorporate afr turned on, I read a few posts on its function but my takeaway was just turn it on, it helps. idk.

I got some crazy bucking trying to iron out the ve table, I didnt have super crazy afrs, more like a misfire buck, I finally saw in the log that my vvt duty was going bananas. I dont really have much info on the vvt, i have a table ive been using on the speedy that worked well. If anyone feels like taking a look at my vvt settings, or even the tune and a log, that would be great. I think im doing well enough so far. My idle is decently stable and doesnt go crazy after i give it throttle or come to a stop. I have a good amount of tuning ahead for the ve table and corrections and such, but i need to fill up before i do that.

 

megasquirt has been good, got it all pretty dialed id say. Only consistent issue im having is with vvt not working and random hot start issues. It will start fine all day and then randomly hot start and die out, every attempt until i give it some throttle to keep it alive for a bit. Just odd, I havent looked into it much.

Last night I got the urge to wrench, the last time i blew out a turbo gasket, i noticed some small cracks forming going from the flange bolt holes to the inside of the manifold. Decided to tackle that and some other things. I used a carbide burr to dig into the cracks a bit and put the manifold in the oven at 500 degrees, took it out, welded it, burr'ed it, welded it again, put it back in the oven, turned the oven off and let it cool overnight.

I suppose that worked as I didnt see any cracks this morning. I also took the liberty of porting the hell out of the turbo at the manifold flange. I matched it to a gasket. I did this because the cheapo manifold had a t3 sized hole, just with t25 bolt holes, so it was basically hitting a huge lip. The manifold already doesnt flow super well, so I figured id give it some help where it could be had. I also made the most hideous wastegate bracket imaginable for the old t25 turbo's wastegate i had. I have issues holding high boost to redline with my 3 port mac valve. Even with duty at 100%, It can only muster 16psi by 7k rpm. I had thought that the 4lb 2560 wastegate was too light of a spring to hold the gate shut against the exhaust pressure. The old 7lb one let me hold about 16.7 psi to redline, but still not what i was looking for.

My spool has also been bothering me a ton, I dont exactly have any redeeming parts besides the ball bearing 2560, but with hitting 18psi at 5000rpm, I feel like I should have just opted for a t3 setup if was going to spool like **** anyway. My downpipe is my main suspect at the moment. Its this pocketed 2" hole deep flange, where the wastegate gasses just slam into a wall and have to get sucked down. A 2" hole, wall for wastegate gasses, and 2.5" downpipe. Cant exactly be the best for flow.



[img alt="not a spool curve youd expect out of a bb 2560r
"]https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.miataturbo.net-vbulletin/1120x531/image_2e64662b7c0c461fcdb71d964e34f4279336fe7a.png[/img]
not a spool curve youd expect out of a bb 2560r

I got the chance today to test fit an fm manifold with the pulsar2860r gen2. Those parts are pretty top of the line for longevity and good power. I wonder who recommended those to a friend turboing his car
I live vicariously through the two people ive told to buy fm manifolds and psr turbos. That will change though. Ive already started squirreling away money for the pulsar turbo, depending on how fast my speedy sells I hope i can get it soon. I also listed my 2560 locally for 200$ and got tons of messages straight away, so i relisted it for 300$ I didnt think they were all that much being resold, but ill see what I can get.
The plan for parts goes as follows in order of first to last
PSR turbo, 3" downpipe, either kraken outlet with the vband (only 150$ so not bad) or a hastily made 3" downpipe Ill concoct. This will also be with a 3" full exhaust. Then return style fuel system with a referenced fpr. I dont think I can even hit 300whp with my setup atm, and if it does, itll be at 95% dc im sure.

vd runs, red is before the manifold and turbo stuff, others are after.

If anyone has any recs or ideas on the spool or **** power im all ears.

 

Another thing i noticed! When pressurizing the pipes to find boost leaks, i had air leaking out of my mac valve vent. Im doubting thats supposed to happen.

 

That's normal if it's not energized. Activate it and it should shut/open your wastegate.

 

Was doing some pulls today during work for some cl boost control logs. Did a third gear run and shifted into 5th to notice it was making an annoying little rattle noise from the shifter. Naturally i went to third again after slowing down to do another pull. After that it was definitely making more of a rattle and vibrating…

I had to stop at a light and upon taking off i noticed a rod knock noise after putting it in gear and moving… same noise in 2nd, 3rd, none in fourth, then noise in 5th. Interesting! Took it home and swapped cars, finished my shift and got home to obviously rip the trans out.

no noticeable issues i could find before pulling it. Fluid looked good, everything was sturdy. Guess trans was coming out.

Im out of practice, took about 2 hours including the newfound issue of having to take the manifold-turbo-downpipe out to get the trans out. This might seem a bit much, but the way the bolts on the downpipe and turbo are, along with room to get those things out, it saves a ton of time just taking it all out to remove the downpipe.



Trans out.


anyway now for the teardown. I spun the shaft and it definitely made the noise when spinning. I have my old 5 speed that had a crunchy 5th and noisy gears sitting in my parts room. So this one is never returning to working order. This made disassembly more fun.


Found these upon tail shaft removal.



That there is custom.


for something that reads so low on virtual dyno, i really do have some medium power issues. Im selling my 2560 for money towards a pulsar, but also buying a china 2871 from a member here, along with a spare better flowing downpipe and manifold. Once the 2560 and speedy sell ill buy the pulsar, but the 2871 is something i can run to get a feel for. In the meantime… guess the old nb 5 speed is going back in.