I need some help
 

As some of you might know i just bought FastColts car and no offense to him this car is only good when it wants to fucking run....which is never. the megasquirt ecu is trash. I cant get the car to run for...well not at all. it will start then die then i start it again and it dies. ive adjusted every thing slightly. the fuel, the spark ignition, the idle setting. Every thing ive done hasnt helped for shit. Today i went through and was adjusting timings trying to smooth out the idle and i got it pretty smooth so i left the base auto shop got 50 yards and the engine died. started it again and drove back. i switched every thing back slightly and tried again and again got 50 yards and it died. so i drive back and set the car back to the tune i had it on yesterday. it was shaky but it at least drove. guess what now that tune wont even keep the car running it just starts and dies. I pop the clutch the engine dies. what the hell is going on with this car. On top of all that i cant even go get a professional tune because the only local shop wont touch megasquirt and the one place i found that will do a megasquirt tune has never used the program before.:mad::mad::mad::mad:

Fine. I see this was a really go place for me to come and ask for help. I know you all can understand that im upset because i spend alot of money on this car and it wont run properly, But the fact the 22 people looked at this and said nothing, not even a "hey man sorry your car isnt running right" Ive been on this board for about a week and now im done with it. no help from anyone.

Geez dude, relax! This is the most informative board on the net when it comes to turbo miatas.

Just take a deep breath, eat a chill pill and do some searching around.

Just because you bought a member's car doesn't mean we are required to spoon feed you all the information you want.

There is a reason that no one has said anything yet, we NEED more information. About the car, the situation that's going on with the car and whether or not megasquirt is actually the problem.

EDIT: Okay, just read your intro. To be honest, you took a HUGE plunge into the forced induction world. a 2300lb car with nearly 400whp? Yeah, scary as shit!

So back to your MS dilemma. Since this is your first FI car, can I safely assume that you have never tuned a stand alone engine management system? I'm gonna go with yes! My best advice right now(due to lack of actual diagnosis) is to read all the MegaSquirt stickies and the general miata turbo stickies. They are there for a reason. But, do not get frustrated and make any stupid decisions. MegaSquirt is a very capable and user friendly stand alone.

So please do that and report back with some more info on the car. Also, come back with a better attitude. The mods here will ban you for being disrespectful.

How bout you post a damn MSQ and a Datalog of it dieing... oh no, why would you do that, it's not like you want us to help you.

Im no likey the "I adjust the timing to smooth out the idle"

fixed.

Oops, how could I have mixed that one up, lol.:laugh:

Where is the OP???? We are here to help you now!!!!!!!

I know wtf I'm trying to help and he just leaves!! As you can tell I am very angry right now :vash::vash::vash::vash:

So you're an only-child, parents are divorced, and you never had a father to show you how to be man...we can't help you there. Instead, why don't you work on the basics or even provide the .msq and a log so we can fix it for you. By "we" I mean the brain trust here like Joe Perez, Ben, Brain, Matt Cramer, Stephen Hawking, and myself.

OK im sorry i over reacted like i did, but i think anyone would be a little mad if they bought a car with this much work done to it and it didn't run properly. I just trying to get used to the ecu and how it works. its a pretty steep learning curve no matter how user friendly the program is. Ill try again a little more relaxed. The idle on the car is unsteady and the engine cuts out every time i push in the clutch for the first 20 min or so that i drive the car. I want to down size the injectors to balance out the idle, but i dont know what size to get? the car is running at about 15psi but is tuned for 22psi id like to keep the boost around 15 so what should i do with the tune depending on the injectors i put in. Im sorry i acted the way i did, ive got a lot of things going on in my life right now and they all need money i dont have to fix so im trying to sell some things but they arent selling. one thing i know i could sell on here i cant sell yet because i 1 dont have enough posts and 2 im not sure if ill need them for a 15 psi tune. Im not going to turn this into a pity story im just looking for some help so i can get one thing going right in my life.

If I had a better understanding of MS myself I would give you a hand, seeing that you're a fellow CT member, but unfortunately I'm still learning it as well and cant offer much help.

What I can say though, is take the time to write a more thought out post/reply, without any lashing out, and you'll get a much larger audience that is willing to help you, rather than watch you walk away and never care about it.

Good luck with the car, I hope you get it figured out. :bigtu:

The car is not "tuned" if it's not running.

Well I really dont want to sound like an asshole, which I will by saying this, but you shouldve done some research and at least have a little more knowledge of what you were getting into before you bought a car with so many mods done to it.

With that said please upload your msq, and if you can let the car idle and turn the datalog function. Then post that datalog along with the msq so that way we at least have a clue what you got.

Another advice is dont look to change your injector. Given that you have financial issues, first try to look for a solution that doesnt involve any cash, in other word tune it, instead of spending more money and getting additional parts.

Any monkey can swap parts...a true mechanic does a proper diagnosis.

It sounds like your car was "built" for it's horsepower goal, but not "tuned" for it. That means the expensive part is done, since all the parts are in place. You get the really fun task of properly setting up an .msq and tuning it to safely manage that power.

Moving things "a little" isn't the way to go about this, especially with timing and fueling...it sounds like it's relative and small, but it's not. You need to set real goals for those parameters, and meet them.

Start with base timing. Make sure both your ignition and cam timing are spot on.

Then set AFR targets, and see if the car will run long enough to datalog, analyze and change the VE table.

One step at a time...

Are the kelford cams installed still? I remember helping Chris get this car idling with them but, from time to time it would die. I remember him saying he swapped them out and it ran better. Also IIRC he had just put in the 750cc injectors recently, so its likely that the VE table is wacked unless he did some tuning afterwards. Like the others said, get the car running and get a datalog posted along with the tune that is loaded....maybe even just post a screen shot of the spark table thats in there. Just from the little bit I've read, it sounds like you have a timing issue. I know you have adjustable cam gears on there, so you might check there....since I know fastcolt had to adjust them to get the kelfords to run.... I don't mind helping, as long as I get a ride in that thing when its dialed in good ;)

Where's Dave (240toMiata)...he spent some time working with fastcolt on the MS....

sorry this has taken so long for me to get up but ill put up the ve table, spark map and the data log i took today. I had a very odd issue of when i went into boost the engine or ecu restricted something and the engine started to sputter until i got off the gas. i have the ecu set to hard cut the boost if it gets to 21 psi but this happened at 11psi. Im running the tune that Fastcolt gave me so ill put up as much about it as i can. on the data log the green bar on the bottom is boost the rest of the layout is the standard layout for the megalog. i hope this helps and insight would be great because it doesnt look like im selling this car any time soon.

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You're using MAF instead of speed density for your load for some reason. If you have a big enough MAF to not pose restriction, so be it, I guess I can understand an argument to go that route (especially MAF for fuel and SD for ignition). MAFs are generally 0-5V output. Your ignition table seems to be scaled ok. However what are you doing with your fuel table? The fact that the motor even runs is a testament to both the BP and the MS.

Before touching *anything* please read, read, and read. Here's a good start:
http://www.msextra.com/doc/ms1extra/...ing_Manual.htm
http://www.diyautotune.com/faq/faq.htm
http://www.megamanual.com/v22manual/mtune.htm

And if you want to keep going, here's a link to Matt & Jerry's book:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1557885575?...ZNBMWSYKM0V4V&

Or these guys offer online classes:
http://www.efituningtech.com/

dont look at me. that fuel table was given to me by the previous owner. thats what he was running. the only thing ive done to that tune since ive gotten it is adjust the idle from 1k to 1.2k and turn off launch control. other than that every thing on that tune is the way i bought it.

well ive been reading this stuff, but i dont want to fuck with anything. this is what my boost control setting is set at. does any think this is why my car is hard cutting at 2psi

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Nope. Your car runs poorly because it needs to be tuned. There's not a quick, magic answer. Recommend you set it to speed density and get started on your fuel and ignition tables. The info you need is found in the links from my last post.

FWIW, OP, the issues you're having would be had with any standalone EMS. This is not a Megasquirt issue.

Don't forget to post the .msq and a log or two of the engine dying.

Are you trying to get it running so you can sell it?

http://www.moddedmustangs.com/forums...rbo-miata.html

it runs, but its running badly. the car is still for sale but interest on the places ive posted it have been small so i dont think i will. so i need to get it running better.

i just noticed that your link is to my MM listing. i feel like im being stalked now, creepy.

Nah dont flatter yourself, a friend send it to me because he frequents the mm boards, i recognized the car because I read this thread earlier.

i was going to say. its a little hard to hide in the bushes out side my window considering im on the 5th floor.

I don't understand why you can't just load a base miata .msq, adjust the injector/engine size, set your throttle position, set your base timing and get the car started, and use autotune for your VE table to get it running smoothly to be able to get it to a proper dyno who knows MS for tuning.

This takes like 15 minutes.

And don't forget: Switch over to speed-density and adjust your Manifold Absolute Pressure(MAP) scaling accordingly!! (Make sure you have a vacuum line going from the MS to the intake manifold) From what I see you don't even have an Air Flow Meter.

Looks like you have a nicely sorted car mechanically. It's a shame you have to sell, because you're almost there.

well put

ok i found the base miata w/o AFM so im going to put that on the car today. my only issue is that im using tuner studio to tune instead of MS, because my MS still will not open the MSPNP. when i open MS i have a long list of settings to choose from which are.
MS1 Extra 029v4
MS1 Original BG Code
MS1E HiRes 10G
MS2 Extra 2.1.0
MS2 Extra 3.0.3u alpha 20100522
MS2-MicroSquirt BG 2.890
after that its all the MSPNP which wont open any windows. so which should i use since i cant seem to find an auto tune on TS

Ok here is what you need to do. Start Tunerstudio, select File-New Project. The first menu asks you options where you want to save your project and what firmware your megasquirt has. Make sure your megasquirt is turned on, and click the Detect button. I am going to assume you probably will have either the 029 or the 10G one.

The next menu has some options... Change your wideband to AEM and your MAP sensor to 400kPa (4bar).

Next menu tests your connection... you should have a 9600 baud rate.

Ok, now you're done. Next you want to load your .msq. Right click on this page:
http://www.megasquirtpnp.com/models/...20no%20AFM.msq
...and save page as .msq. Load that in Tunerstudio (File-Open Tune) as your base map.

Next adjust your Required Fuel (Basic Settings-Engine Constants) Engine size should be 1597cc + whatever a .060 overbore adds, and I'm not sure about your stroke. It's not super finicky so don't worry. You should have 750cc/min injectors.

To set your throttle position go to Tools-Calibrate TPS and do what it says.

Now try starting your car. You may have to adjust the Spark trigger angle slightly to get it started. Once you are able to get it running, follow these directions to set your timing: (Note: this guy is using MegaTune, but it has the same setting options on TunerStudio)

If you are unable to get the car idling smoothly, you may have to adjust your Cranking pulsewidths or the idle area of your Volumetric Efficiency(VE) table, most likely to lesser values because you have larger injectors.

Now, for the actual tuning part, you just want to be able to get your car driving smoothly. Since nothing is tuned, do NOT go all dukes of hazzard WOT pedal to the medal, as your car will blow up. You have to purchase the the full version of Tunerstudio to use autotune. Since you're selling the car, it isn't super necessary. Basically what it does is as you're driving, it automatically adjusts your VE table to reach whatever Air/Fuel ratio target you set at a certain load. I would just recommend you try to stay around stoichiometric until you can get to a dyno for actual tuning. You can also search here for timing and fuel maps from people with similar power, but they aren't guaranteed to work best as every engine setup is different, especially yours.

You're lucky I'm in a spoon feeding mood, I had to actually search when I was learning.

i really appreciate the help. i spent like 2 hours or so reading those manuals last night and it fried my brain. I have a better idea of what needs to be adjusted especially with cold starts and my warm up enrichments. I just want to get this car to a point where i can get in and turn the key and it works without me jumping through hoops to get it to run.

I picked up the full TS yesterday and set up a new tune on my car, i still need to adjust the cold start and the like but once it was warm it ran much better then the other two tunes i have. the one i was given ran to rich, the wideband was reading between 10 and 12 and it reeked of gas when i accelerated. the one i tweaked a litte ran a little lean around 15 most of the time. the one i have now stays between about 12.7 and 14 which is great not too rich but not lean, so im making progress.

Thats a lot lean if you were in boost. Cruising down the road you should be right around 14.6. Then it should start to transition down as you go into boost. By full boost you should be around 11.5 to have a conservative and safe tune. You could squeak some more torque out by bringin it up to upper 11's to low 12's, but most decide to play it safe. I say your running to lean right now at 12.7-14 but thats me. Glad to hear your getting the hang of things ;)

it ran 15 cruising down the road but it would drop to 10 or 11 when i boost on it. the 12.7 to 14 is what the auto tune spit out. one of the other things i adjusted was the boost target table which was all at 70 kpa which is like 10 psi. the question i have about that is, should i have it staggered like i do now ie
70kpa or 10 psi at 1 and 2k rpm
101kpa or 14psi at 3k rpm
120kpa or 17psi at 4k rpm
140kpa or 20psi at 5 and 7k rpm

or should i run it differently? i think its safer running it this way so i cant throw a lot of boost through the engine at low rpms but some insight to this couldnt hurt.

:facepalm:;)
Boost target table....A/F targets are what you want to set

Your never going to hit 10psi at 1000rpm. Boost is directly related to exhaust velocity which is why if you are just gently cruising, you can be at 6000rpm and have very little even possibly no boost.

100kpa is 0 psi .... 240kpa would be 20psi (I know...your thinking 240 should be 34psi, but its not. The room your in now is currently at ~14psi and you would be adding 20 on top of that)

Hopefully others chime in, I'm no expert, just another guy that went through the same shit.

well im a noob at this so lol. i set the table to 70kpa for low rpm and everything else is at 140 so its boosting like it used to. a professional mechanic looked over my car today and told me that the little silver bit sticking out from the top of valve cover should be plugged because its probably causing some sort of issue. he gave me a rubber plug for it and told me to run it passed you guys to see what you think about plugging it. we put it on the car and it ran but it was pouring white smoke out the back. he said that it just needed to be tuned to run with the plug but it should run better because hes pretty sure its a vacuum leak.

You can either put a cap on it, slap a breather (mini filter lookin thing) on it, or run it to a catch can. I opted for the first choice.

well i put the cap on it and i dont think it will help. the car was just dumping white smoke out of the exhaust. sure the AFR stayed around 14 the whole time but i dont think its safe to drive at all even to try and auto tune it.

I think some serious reading / research is in order for you my friend...:facepalm: