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PFC plus AT tranny

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Old 05-13-14, 11:17 PM
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PFC plus AT tranny

I wrote to apexi tech support several times, but still have no any answer.
So please tell me is it possible to replace stock fd brains with pfc? Without any additional harnesses or something else?
I don't need Hold feature.
Old 05-14-14, 12:42 AM
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no
Old 05-14-14, 02:56 AM
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Banzai make a loom so you can use the PFC for the tune and retrain the stock ecu for the auto functions.

Banzai Automatic ECU Adapter (93-95 RX-7)

.
Old 05-14-14, 03:12 AM
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Yeah, i know
Its extremely expensive and i should find a place for new ecu... not a good idea
Old 05-14-14, 03:17 AM
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They both fit behind the kick plate. You could make your own solution/harness with resistors and wires if you're keen .
Old 05-17-14, 09:35 AM
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You don't have much of a choice. Either you buy the harness and your transmission behaves correctly, or you don't buy it and it shifts improperly.

Fabbing your own to save a few hundred is just asking for strange electrical gremlins
Old 05-17-14, 07:22 PM
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I have a '92 RHD Automatic using a PFC.
The car runs ok, no major issues.
I've found that the HOLD function will work if you press it right away after the first crank of the day, but won't later on. Im guessing the PFC discovers a way to bypass it. I've taken the car for some long drives and still manage to get it home all in one piece (knock on wood). That said I almost have everything for my manual transmission swap!!! =)
Old 05-17-14, 10:51 PM
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You drive at one gear whole day?
Old 05-18-14, 03:52 PM
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Originally Posted by iTrust
You drive at one gear whole day?

No, the hold will work until the PFC learns to bypass or glitch. Its only good for a few minutes of fun when you first start the car and warm it up. After that it doesn't seem to work. It runs a lot better than when I was using the stock ecu.

I use all the gears, primarily 1 and 2 for city driving. I only use [D]rive for highway use.
Old 05-20-14, 08:13 AM
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No, the hold will work until the PFC learns to bypass or glitch. Its only good for a few minutes of fun when you first start the car and warm it up. After that it doesn't seem to work. It runs a lot better than when I was using the stock ecu.

I use all the gears, primarily 1 and 2 for city driving. I only use [D]rive for highway use.
So if i don't need Hold feature i just replace stock ecu with apexi and go driving?
Old 05-20-14, 09:02 AM
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You can give that a try, but it is not that simple.

The automatic transmission will not shift properly, that is why he is driving around manually putting the car in 1st and 2nd. The trans will shift up by itself once at the incorrect shift points, then it will not drop down to a lower gear when you come to a stop, at which point the hold light will start flashing, which mean the transmission control unit is throwing codes from having no input from the PFC. This is why the hold button works only once when the car is first started. As long as you don't mind shutting the car off to reset the automatic control unit you can drive around like this. I personally would not recommend driving the car like this if you intend on keep the transmission for any length of time.

Back before we developed the PFC adapter for the automatic cars there were a few people that installed the PFC and drove around like this, seems they had premature transmission failures.

Since we came up with the harness there have been people making close to 500whp on the stock transmission.

I really do not understand the issue, for $270.00 you can have a PFC and a perfectly functioning transmission, this seems like a no brainer to me. This is a small price to pay considering the cost of a transmission rebuild.
Old 05-20-14, 02:28 PM
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^This!

In my opinion, if you are afraid to spend $270 to do something properly, you need to sell the car and get a Civic.

The FD is not a car that tolerates cheap parts or ghetto fabrication. My car has taken 3 years to go from a non-runner to being on the road. If the parts I needed were costly, I just waited until I saved enough to get it. Doing that resulted in taking much longer to get to drive it, but the results are worth it.

With these cars, either do it properly or leave it alone.

Vince
Old 05-20-14, 09:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Project88Turbo
^This!

In my opinion, if you are afraid to spend $270 to do something properly, you need to sell the car and get a Civic.

The FD is not a car that tolerates cheap parts or ghetto fabrication. My car has taken 3 years to go from a non-runner to being on the road. If the parts I needed were costly, I just waited until I saved enough to get it. Doing that resulted in taking much longer to get to drive it, but the results are worth it.

With these cars, either do it properly or leave it alone.

Vince
Yeah, i agree! And that's the reason why i don't want to buy pfc and this harness. It's not ideal to use two ecus with AT ecu and spend so much money for that... i want a clean setup. So i think i will use ms3
Old 05-20-14, 10:12 PM
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There is a reason we developed the adapter, it is the best solution for the automatic. I don't think you understand why the stock ecu is required, with our adapter it is not controlling anything that has to do with engine management. This is a very Clean setup, we have it in our own auto FD.

Good luck with your car.
Old 05-21-14, 07:17 AM
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Clean simple install, no need to find a place for the ECU.



Old 05-21-14, 11:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Banzai-Racing
You can give that a try, but it is not that simple.

The automatic transmission will not shift properly, that is why he is driving around manually putting the car in 1st and 2nd. The trans will shift up by itself once at the incorrect shift points, then it will not drop down to a lower gear when you come to a stop, at which point the hold light will start flashing, which mean the transmission control unit is throwing codes from having no input from the PFC. This is why the hold button works only once when the car is first started. As long as you don't mind shutting the car off to reset the automatic control unit you can drive around like this. I personally would not recommend driving the car like this if you intend on keep the transmission for any length of time.

Back before we developed the PFC adapter for the automatic cars there were a few people that installed the PFC and drove around like this, seems they had premature transmission failures.

Since we came up with the harness there have been people making close to 500whp on the stock transmission.

I really do not understand the issue, for $270.00 you can have a PFC and a perfectly functioning transmission, this seems like a no brainer to me. This is a small price to pay considering the cost of a transmission rebuild.

As I said, the PFC works, the car runs, and I can change gears. I wouldn't doubt it might cause premature transmission failure. I also can't vouch for any other transmissions out there that have been abused or perfect before trying the PFC, but currently my transmission still works after having owned it for over 7 years with the same set up. I was originally having issues keeping the car running smoothly, I took it to my trusted Rotary mechanic Greg Staff, from Staffs Auto. He said the PFC will work with the Automatic, get the car running smoothly and it did. I was tempted to get the Banzai adapter, but for approx. the same price I managed to get the manual transmission/driveshaft etc. and a bunch of other swap stuff for $250.00 (it was a great deal I couldn't pass up). I only drive the FD in the summer and I don't put a ton of KMs on it during the summer. My goal was to do a manual swap regardless of how good or bad it worked out. I'd buy the adapter if I was staying Automatic, but don't see the point in buying it...Using it for a bit ... then try to sell a used (half of what I paid) adapter to someone else when I finish my swap. My situation I guess.

I'm really glad you guys made that adapter for the PFC. For someone who can only drive autos, like my brother, it would make a big difference for him to have a nice smooth running motor and transmission with everything working as it should.
Old 05-22-14, 05:29 AM
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The engine will run that is not the issue, all the wires are the same for the sensors, injectors, coils etc.

The PFC does not have the outputs signals for the Automatic Transmission Control Unit, this is a completely separate system that is connected to the ECU. Without these signals (RPM, water temp, pressure, TPS, etc) that are fed from the ECU, the transmission controller is incapable of shifting the car properly.
Old 05-22-14, 02:17 PM
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cuz everyone's 99...

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to OP:

(used, for sale)
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...apter-1064297/


really...200 bucks is NOTHING man--you're trying to adapt a 1200 part to something it is NOT designed to do, and worried about 200 dollars?
Old 05-22-14, 03:37 PM
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Furthermore, if I can chime in, you can get a used PFC for about 700.00 bucks and used Banzai Auto adapters are going for 150.00 to 200.00. So for $900 to $1000 bucks you get the PFC and the auto adapter and then you have no worries. That's what I'm doing with my FD once we get my son's FC where he wants it to be.
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