Why am I Afraid to Buy a Megasquirt???
 

I have a Greddy Turbo'ed 1.6L with all the bandaids right now. Bipes, o2 Clamp, Vortech FMU, 99 Injectors, MBC at 7psi, and an FMIC. I have the extra cash to buy a Megasquirt setup from Braineack but for some reason i feel really intimidated buy it. With the extra cash i would make selling my bandaids i would buy an LC1 to watch my afr's, however i never really tuned a full standalone. Im sure i could contact a couple guys from a local NJ forum but I just dont know if I'm ready to hear my engine go pop. Anyone want to help me get over my fears?

If I could tune it, you could tune it and I started as one of the most illiterate people when it came to engine tuning there is.

You can tune it super conservative at first. Then work your way toward a more optimal tune as you become more familiar with everything. There are plenty of resources here to help you along.

learning to tune a standalone is intimidating, but when you get the hang of it, you wonder why you waited so long and wasted so much time and money on the kludges.

I just love the flexibility of plugging up any size injectors, no afm for simpler intake ducting, and the launch controller (Rice Bling Factor). Did you start off tuning a Turbo or NA miata?

Every time i read a thread on tuning and stuff they make it seem like one wrong move and your engine is toast. I have another motor lying around and the car isn't my Daily driver but i don't want to have to tear out a motor that i would have gotten plenty more miles on if i would have stayed with my band aided setup.

Throw Jerry's basemap in there and get an LC-1 hooked up and be careful. If you make one BIG mistake, it could toast your motor, but we've all heard a little ping here and there and made it out alive. These aren't rotaries. ;) Start at wastegate can pressure, get the overboost fuel cut working so you don't get any boost spikes, and feel your way through it as you go.

Or shell out and have someone professionally tune it. There is something to be said for the absolute peace of mind.

Mike, dont worry. im sure paul would be willing to help you out with the tuning. and i should be putting one in in about a month and once i get the hang of it all ill be more than happy to help ya too.

I'm was kinda intimidated by ms aswell but after tuning my emb with a narrowband greddy sensor with the wife, its seems easy enough with the support here.

Used the narrowband to get afr round 11:1 then once I got a wideband pulled all that fuel out.

Start by over fueling pull alot of timing (I was pulling a degree per psi at first) then slowly pulling fuel and putting the timing back in. Then I was confident enough and was craving more power so I add boost ;) and did it all again.

I was the same way, and I have no spare engine, or tools or willingness to replace one. I said to myself if I toast my engine, im throwing the car in the garbage. Knock on wood, with the help of this forum, a lot of reading, and even more patience I made it out well.

So come join the dark side.

.

funny you should say that. I used to have an Rx7 TII. That car was fun but I never attempted to tune it for that very reason. One small mistake and bye bye apex seals.


Thanks Artie i figured i could turn to some of you guys for some advice.



I guess I'm in, Thanks guys! I'll contact Braineack shortly. So without starting a small war... LC-1 or Uego?

LC-1. It's a bit cheaper, the sensors are a bit less expensive, and it's programmable (although the Uego might be as well).

Well the uego goes for about $220 with a viewable gauge. The lc-1 is $190 shipped but it has no gauge so the only time I could see my afr is when I have a laptop handy. I was leaning towards the uego until I read it can only accuratly read down to 11.1 afr which isn't quite low enough for my liking on a turbo car.

Check this one too - a bit more expensive but it is quite nice:
http://www.wbo2.com/2j/default.htm

Leaner than 11.1:1 AFR? Are you trying to flood that engine?

No but if i was running say 10.9 or something the gauge would just read 11.1 and i would never now by only looking at the gauge. I just picked up a brand new lc1 with G2 gauge off ebay for $215. The gauge bezel had a small dent in it so he let it go for cheap.

I've got one of TechEdges wideband WB2A0 kits fully assembled and teh fuggin thing doesn't work! Figured, Oh, Hell I can build megasquirt no problem! Yeah right. There is like, NO support for TE's kits and the thing cost me a small fortune. I've got over 300 invested in it, and don't have the time to try and figure out why its not working. :confused: Not knocking their products, I've heard nothing but good from their prebuilt systems, just their kits are a little beyond my scope I think. :crx:

I'd go LC-1 myself. Check the top of this subforum, Wideopentuning sells LC1s for 189 shipped! Hes HELLA fast on shipping too!

Only time u'd need to read that rich is if your running a rotary..otherwise its useless info.

In reality, the LC-1 is most valuable when it's hooked up to the MS and you're datalogging it. Beyond that, it's just a monitoring tool, and to be honest, it's not totally necessary. If I were doing a budget build, the DB gauge would be one of the first things to go.

driftin8ez but tuningMSis.


and as artie said i would be willing to help on that end if you needed it.

i run the AEM UEGO and as far as it not being accurate below 11.1 WTF does it matter? 10.9..11.1, you take fuel out either way till you get it to a minimum of 12 anyway.