would any of you recommend selling my turboII ECU, AFM, pressure sensor (not sure if it is good or not), safc, wiring harness, etc.
all to get engine management? i'm not really sure how much all the turboII stuff and safc is worth, but i will have some extra money and would like to maybe get an EMS system. me and my friend did a haltech install (adamlewis on this board) on his 89TII, so the install wont be a big burden or anything.

my car is a daily driver and a weekend car, regular little streetraces, track visits, etc. so i'd like to keep dependability and not go too hard core, but also have way more control of whats going on with my engine electronically...

 

I'd say that a standalone ems would make your car more reliable than the stock mazda ecu and sensors.


I have no exp. with standalones though, just basing that off what I have read.

 

Definatly get an afermarket computer.

IMHO...

 

its not a question of which is better, its a question of "is it worth all the time for the install and wiring vs the ease of leaving my stock stuff in there"

 

Well I guess thats more upto you than us...

edit: If you talking simply about the wiring harness, I feel it is definatly worth using the new ECU's one and taking the stock one out, all stock ones i've seen are all crusty and ****.

 

how much can i get a used EMS for?

the only one i have any experience with is haltech, i'd like to check out the microtech stuff.

 

I would fix your S-afc first.

because A. once it's fixed you might not mind what you have.

and B. it's worth nothing the way it is

 

scott you are my lover. i dont like canada but you're still my lover.

 

Stand alone all the way.

 

yeah listen to santiago he really know's his ****. lmfao.

 

I don't mean to steal your thread lol, but this might help u to. When I get my TII I wanna eventually have a low 13 second car (not sure how much HP/TQ that takes). It's also gonna be my daily driver, and I don't expect this goal overnight. Anyway my question is, would you recommend I go with a stand alone system? Is it worth it? Also how hard is it to tune one of these? Can I do it myself or should I take it to a dyno place or something (the closest one is like 2.5 hours from here so i'd rather not but I will if I have to)? I already own a laptop (an older compaq 266MHz pentium with windows 98) so that portion is covered. Also can a standalone control boost or do I also need a boost controller? Thanks for all the help!

 

And the answer to your questions is.......
........it depends..


But seriously I think if you don't particularly care about emmisions/the enviroment and you just want performance, then theres no other way to go other then get rid of the stock computer and get an aftermarket one.

As far as wether or not you can tune it...
The answer is probably a resounding no, unless you know how to interpret an wideband O2 meter and have acess to a dyno of some sort.

An aftermarket ECU could control the boost, really depends which one you go for.

 

Operating an aftermarket EMS and tuning an engine are two totally different skills, and should not be confused. Anyone with even basic computer skills can operate an aftermarket EMS with ease, but if you don't know what's involved in tuning an engine to make power safely (plus setting up the many other functions), and don't have a dyno with a wideband A/F meter, then you should leave this job to a professional.

 

Yea I read up a little bit, and I really think it's worth getting an EMS. First because of the complete tuneabilty, and also because these cars are getting old, and so are the harnesses and ECU. I really think getting one of these will eliminate some problems that people have. Also I will definetly get it tuned by a professional, after reading up I really am not compitent enough to do this, also the fact that I don't have a wideband O2. I'm pretty sure the dyno place will tune these also, so I'm in luck I guess. BTW another question: Exactly how much splicing/wire tapping is involved? Do I have to solder like every wire in the ECU harness? How long do you think it would take a person with OK electrical and mechanical skills to do this? Also does the EMS need to be hooked up to all sensors and ****? Do you have any good sites I could read up on these and how to install them?

Thank you so much!

 

Any Aftermarket ECU you buy SHOULD come with wiring diagrams for your car, or at least be able to be interpreted by a person with "OK electrical and mechanical skills" as to pertain to your specific car.

Personally I would not splice into the existing wiring loom, I would use the new one that came with the new computer, cleaner, simpler, newer.

Also, generally speaking, aftermarket ECU's don't need to be hooked up to any stock sensors, they usually come with their own, TPS,MAP,Water Thermo,Air temp.

The Hitmans website has some good info on setting up Haltechs, theres a few other sits around similar to that which talk about setting up a microtech.. forgotten them off the top of my head though.

 

knock sensor, don't forget that.

 

Wow thanks for the site! That should help a lot. I didn't know that they came with their own sensors, thats good then (no old beat up sensors used ). I skimmed through the install part of hitmans site (if u click haltech then installation guide), and I can handle this. BTW if I use the 13BT stock map from his site, would that let me drive my car like normal until I can do more mods and get it to a dyno (I plan on doing this as a mod I do before installing a bigger turbo, etc)? Thank you so much for that site, I will really learn a lot when I get a chance to read it all.

 

Yes, I know one of my friends used that 'stock' map on his haltech for a while, and had no problems.
You SHOULD get it tunned properly before getting on it too much, just in case, but that map on his site is actually quite good has good water/air temp corections aswell IIRC.

and Parastie, almost no aftermarket ECU's run knock sensors.

 

Yea I wouldn't get on it too much, its just that the 7 will be my daily driver, and if I do this in a weekend (install it) then I won't have time till next weekend (thats even if I have money ) to get it dyno tuned properly. So for that whole week i need to drive it to school and work! But I can always take the bus if something goes wrong (public transportation has saved my *** a lot when I screw around with my car too much ). Well time for bed gotta get up in 7 hours, tomorrow I will definetly read up more about all this EMS stuff and start planning about which one to buy and all that jazz. I was planning on buying a SAFC2 and fuel cut defensor but thats like $400 alone, then lets say my ECU or wiring harness goes, who knows how much that sht would cost, so I think spending the extra $500 for all the tunability I will ever need is worth it. Also I won't be limited at all by the stock ECU as the SAFC is still limited by that.

How does this look: http://www.k2rd.com/haltech/E6X.html

Does it have all the sensors I need, and is that a good price/good unit? Would that unit be able to control boost, or do I need a seperate boost controller? Do you guys recommend a microtech for me instead? I would like to keep it around $1000 but $1165 is ok i guess. Thanks again for all the help, when I am running low 13s it will be all thanks to you guys!!!!

 

No aftermarket EMS's have knock sensing.

 

Basically buy which ever aftermarket ECU the tuner your taking your car to is more familiar with tunning. Both have very similar features/performance.