Offroad-Express

dose any body run 1 of these ecu
are they the same thing as a link a full ecu replacment

talk to pedro or howie

yep they do fuel and ignition if you want

I was gonna use a mega squirt computer, the only thing that put me off was if something crapped out it would be harder to get support here in NZ and when it came time to the dyno, would end up taking more time on it compared to a link/motec/mitec etc. but if ya got the know how i would do it

philux wrote:I was gonna use a mega squirt computer, the only thing that put me off was if something crapped out it would be harder to get support here in NZ and when it came time to the dyno, would end up taking more time on it compared to a link/motec/mitec etc. but if ya got the know how i would do it

i got mine off a guy who builds them in Chch, i managed to fry a bit of the circuit board and a driver chip (don't ask) cost $20 to get it fixed and shipped back to wellington. in about 2 days.
Easy to program once you read the manual about 4 times, and it is handy to talk to someone who has played with one before, get a wide band oxy sensor for tuning.
once setup i have only altered mine twice, once for top end ign timing, and once for fan turn on temps, mine is the squirtnspark version. running GM sensors and commodore coil packs on a supercharged V6.

personally if the "experts" can't figure in a hour then they have limited knowledge, mine cost $700 kiwi, Vs over $2000 for link pacakge (i think) and the software for the mega is freeware and downloadable, and programmable by a low tech (read cheap) lapop. $1300 bux price difference gets a reasonable dyno time before you even get to link purchase price.

Pedro

I megasquirted my P40 engined MQ Patrol a couple of years ago using a throttle body of a Falcon EA.

We built the megasquirt ourselves from a kit for about $400 including a relay board. An LC-1 wideband O2 controller cost another $400 approx - you really can't tune without a wideband O2. The other major component of the conversion was an external HP fuel pump. I reckon we did the whole conversion carby to efi for not much over $1200 using bits salvaged from a variety of vehicles.

The megasquirt is a great ecu but it is not plug and play. You have to build your own fuel maps, acceleration enrichment, warm-up enrichment, spark-advance tables etc, but that is the beauty of it - you tailor it for your specific engine and your specific driving style. That said there is a wealth of advice available on the Megasquirt forums and in the on-line Megamanual.

The megasquirt can also handle ignition timing from a variety of inputs including a standard dizzy as there is an on-board high current driver. We recently installed the Ford EDIS system with parts off an EF Falcon and it connected straight up to the Megasquirt with no problems. We did have to jumper a couple of components on the circuit board as per Megamanual instructions but that is not a hassle if you can use a soldering iron.

Megasquirt is DIY but that does not mean it lacks the sophistication of the commercial units. It is totally flexible as evidenced by its numerous applications - everything from lawnmowers and motorbikes to dragsters. Just have a look at the success stories on the Megasquirt site.

Tuning is time-consuming unless you can afford a dyno. My co-pilot sat with the laptop plugged in to the Megasquirt. All gauges AFR, Ignition etc were displayed and he tuned it on the fly. We would drive a bank or hill, say, recording a log with Megalog (another free program). We would then examine the log with Megaview, tweak and drive again.

In summary a great cheap way of converting to efi but not recommended if you are not prepared to put the time into reading the Megamanual and into tuning. We went from knowing nothing about efi to a complete tuned working system in 6 months.

And yes it transformed the old engine.

David

nothing wrong with a squirt at all there quite a capable ecu... BUT
you can get a second hand link off trademe for 5-700 bucks
and they do have way more support ....

but also in saying that .. once you have a ecu running and tunned and setup .. you shouldn't have to touch it again

so if your good with wiring and want to learn
megasquirt is a cheap alternative to a BRAND NEW ecu

but .. if that's not your bit of cake ... you can get a second hand link of something quite cheap


and yes they are easy to tune .. 2 hours with a pro and you'll be done

who supplies these in nz?, or do you have to buy them online?.quite keen on one to turbo and efi a slant 6,cheers
vaughan

my nephew is the guy who builds them in chch .pm me and i,ll flick you his contact details

sig wrote:my nephew is the guy who builds them in chch .pm me and i,ll flick you his contact details

Stuart?

Because of the DIY nature of the MS units there are many websites with many different starter fuel/ignition maps available.

Anyone running a supra motor in their lux (for example) has quite a few different maps available for dowload should they look hard enough.

If you are lucky you should be able to get it at least running from these.

I built one a few years back and even with my limited automotive electrical knowledge was able to work out how everything worked and interfaced with the car. The instructions are fantastic and show you how to bench test the board after every step is completed.

If you are wanting to make one yourself - get one of the bowling and grippo (or something iirc) kits as well as a plastic lead bender (worth its weight in gold.. they sell them on the website) and go to DSE for a decent cpu/thermostat controlled soldering iron.

wjw wrote:

sig wrote:my nephew is the guy who builds them in chch .pm me and i,ll flick you his contact details

Stuart?

paul shaw

flyingbrick wrote:Because of the DIY nature of the MS units there are many websites with many different starter fuel/ignition maps available.

Anyone running a supra motor in their lux (for example) has quite a few different maps available for dowload should they look hard enough.

If you are lucky you should be able to get it at least running from these.

I built one a few years back and even with my limited automotive electrical knowledge was able to work out how everything worked and interfaced with the car. The instructions are fantastic and show you how to bench test the board after every step is completed.

If you are wanting to make one yourself - get one of the bowling and grippo (or something iirc) kits as well as a plastic lead bender (worth its weight in gold.. they sell them on the website) and go to DSE for a decent cpu/thermostat controlled soldering iron.

i shave a microstim that i woudl happly donate to anyone that seriously gets into this

vvega wrote:

flyingbrick wrote:Because of the DIY nature of the MS units there are many websites with many different starter fuel/ignition maps available.

Anyone running a supra motor in their lux (for example) has quite a few different maps available for dowload should they look hard enough.

If you are lucky you should be able to get it at least running from these.

I built one a few years back and even with my limited automotive electrical knowledge was able to work out how everything worked and interfaced with the car. The instructions are fantastic and show you how to bench test the board after every step is completed.

If you are wanting to make one yourself - get one of the bowling and grippo (or something iirc) kits as well as a plastic lead bender (worth its weight in gold.. they sell them on the website) and go to DSE for a decent cpu/thermostat controlled soldering iron.

i shave a microstim that i woudl happly donate to anyone that seriously gets into this

Took me a while to work out what you were saying there Wayne. Thought ya were being dirty for a while.

I have one kicking around here too someplace (unless you have mine.. I cant remember) that i'll donate too.

Also- Helpful hint!

You need a 12v power source to run the microstim etc when bench testing.

old 12v power suplys are great at this.

micro what?,i think i would be best to get one assembled like sig was saying,what i want to do is build a new motor for my old hearse,at the mo it is 3.7l slant 6,10-1 comp 13mm of lift in the cam, forged pistons blah blah, still a new motor but not that suited to dragging 2000+ kgs around. so new motor will be 8-1 comp,std cam at this stage,alloy inlet from aus so i can mount the injectors,got a ceramic skyline turbo off a rb20det on the weekend and a throttle body and injectors from a ed 4ltr ford motor,will probaly be fuel only as should be easier,
vaughan

spanky wrote:micro what?,i think i would be best to get one assembled like sig was saying,what i want to do is build a new motor for my old hearse,at the mo it is 3.7l slant 6,10-1 comp 13mm of lift in the cam, forged pistons blah blah, still a new motor but not that suited to dragging 2000+ kgs around. so new motor will be 8-1 comp,std cam at this stage,alloy inlet from aus so i can mount the injectors,got a ceramic skyline turbo off a rb20det on the weekend and a throttle body and injectors from a ed 4ltr ford motor,will probaly be fuel only as should be easier,
vaughan

if ya doing that amount of engine mods, get a tooth wheel and mount of the cam and run the edis coils from a ford, makes changing the advance retard of the spark a whole lot more easy than recurving a a dizzy

and yeah get one from his newphew, paul, i had issues which when you can ring some one who can point you in the right direction it worth the extra $$ and if like i did fry bits of it they can fix for ya.

had my megasquirt running on the trials truck for over a year now and had no problems with it at all.


pedro

pedro

My 2c worth

1) It's not difficult to build your own MS from a kit and helps you to understand the whole system better as well as saving a few $.

2) The stimulator board allows you to bench test MS before installing it in the vehicle.

3) Make sure you get the Relay Board too. Makes wiring much simpler and neater. I put mine in a waterproof box from DSE.

4) You can't tune easily without a wide band O2 sensor and controller. I used the Innovate LC1

5) If you are rebuilding your engine consider building in a trigger wheel for EDIS or similar ignition and a bracket to hold the sensor now. Easier to do with the engine off the vehicle than on.

6) Do either fuel or ignition first but don't try both at once. I did fuel first and got it tuned and running on the distributor before switching to the Ford EDIS system. If you have the trigger wheel and sensor already installed hooking up the ignition to MS is only a week-end job.

7) MS can handle a range of ignition systems, not just EDIS, but EDIS is simple and robust.

8.) Any fuel or ignition map you download will only give you a starting point. (Literally) To get best performance you must tune the maps (particularly the fuel map) to suit your engine.

9) Read the manual carefully

10) Read the manual again!!

11) Make and update wiring diagrams as you go. They will be invaluable in a year's time

There is a write-up of my installation on

http://www.rmp-o.com/phpbb/viewtopic.ph ... l+injected

About halfway down on 2nd page.

David

Have two megasquirt units here , I have had them wired up on a couple of engines but never completed tuning . First was a v8 rangie , next was a suzuki 1600 , a nissan CA18de with factory cam sensor and wasted spark and no its on a 1300 suzuki with a vitara cam sensor with wasted spark again .
Keep printed copies of your wiring and board layouts cause when your computer crashes you loose everything .

Cheers
Chris