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aftermarket ecu's

General Tech Talk

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aftermarket ecu's

Post by HLX4B »

hey guys just wondering what ecu's people are running and how they are finding them, adding a turbo onto my 3rz and there are really to many choices ecu wise.

any feedback would be great.

cheers

matt
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Post by ludacris »

I have a Haltech E6X and find it great. Haltech service is great which is a big plus. Give them a call and ask them what computer they recomend.

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Post by MightyMouse »

Money plays a big part.

Things like Motec have FANTASTIC software and more options than you can poke a stick at - but they don't come cheap.

Best is relative.
( usual disclaimers )

It seemed like a much better idea when I started it than it does now.
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Post by 404HZS »

I am going to run a EMS 4424 V4 stinger on my turbo 3rz.
EMS is an australian designed and built engine management system that has heaps of features for a good price.
Can often pick up some good second hand units on fleabay.
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Post by Thommo 73 »

ive got a microtech on a 1uz and works well, have put the same one on two other 1uz's and never had a problem
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Post by HLX4B »

cheers for that guys, thommo what model microtech are you using?
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Post by Thommo 73 »

LT10s, not sure it's what you'll need but microtech are pretty good with knowing what you'll need, and it will handle boost (was going to turbo/supercharge the 1uz oneday)
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Post by berad »

Any tuneable ecu with a map sensor that reads above atmospheric pressure will run boost safely, most ecus use 1 bar map sensors as std this does not mean 14.blahblah positive pressure, this means atmospheric pressure as in no boost.

I ran a haltech e6x on my turbo 3rz, several mates run microtech lt10's on turbo 3rz's.... 3rz's are a basic motor and therefor only need a basic ecu, as said, it comes down to what you want out of a ecu, and the power/tuning ability you want out of it.

The main difference between haltech's & microtech's which is the governing decision IMO is a haltech can be reprogrammed to suit different motors and/or ignition setups without being rechipped, this mean buying second hand is easier, in saying that if i had my time again i would choose the lt10 as it does everything you need to do for minimal money with good service etc from microtech staff.

As mightymouse said motec's are the ducks nuts, but a waste of money IMO for a 3rz and for road use, but a waste to some is not for others.

I have ran a EMS stinger ecu on my gen 2 3sgte, and had nothing but trouble trying to log onto the ecu to adjust/finetune settings, this is my experience and probably wouldn't happen to all stingers.
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Post by AFeral »

Did a bit of reasearch on this before buying mine.

First choice motec, exspensive and from everything I could read manage the engine very well. Motec M4 ecu come up on ebay fairly often for simuler money to a new microtech, would suit you engine well.

Second choice, Autronics a lot of tuners I spoke to rated these to be as good as motec without the price tag. I picked up an Sm4 for $1500 off of ebay.

Third choice Haltech, again good unit. Can be picked up fairly cheap from the US via ebay . If I could not have found a good second hand Motec or Autronic I would have bought a new Haltech.

From what I discovered with my reasearch I would not go a microtech. I got reports of poor fuel consumsion and difficulty getting a good tune. On the same note some people seemed very happy with there microtechs.
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Post by 404HZS »

berad wrote:I have ran a EMS stinger ecu on my gen 2 3sgte, and had nothing but trouble trying to log onto the ecu to adjust/finetune settings, this is my experience and probably wouldn't happen to all stingers.
I have mate running a 3SGTE in his mr2 with EMS running the show and it works great. this is what made me decide to go the EMS route. Software is easy to use and can be tuned at home with a laptop.

I would be interested in what was hard with it and what you had problems with berad.
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Post by berad »

404HZS wrote:
berad wrote:I have ran a EMS stinger ecu on my gen 2 3sgte, and had nothing but trouble trying to log onto the ecu to adjust/finetune settings, this is my experience and probably wouldn't happen to all stingers.
I have mate running a 3SGTE in his mr2 with EMS running the show and it works great. this is what made me decide to go the EMS route. Software is easy to use and can be tuned at home with a laptop.

I would be interested in what was hard with it and what you had problems with berad.
This is why i said most others wouldn't have the problem as i know others running them with great success, logging into the ecu via laptop was my problem, connection would always be interrupted/booted off, settings that were changed would not stay changed etc, tried alot of different things, could have been the laptop but the same laptop works fine with the haltech and microtech, as i said would have been a isolated thing.
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Post by berad »

AFeral wrote:Did a bit of reasearch on this before buying mine.

First choice motec, exspensive and from everything I could read manage the engine very well. Motec M4 ecu come up on ebay fairly often for simuler money to a new microtech, would suit you engine well.

Second choice, Autronics a lot of tuners I spoke to rated these to be as good as motec without the price tag. I picked up an Sm4 for $1500 off of ebay.

Third choice Haltech, again good unit. Can be picked up fairly cheap from the US via ebay . If I could not have found a good second hand Motec or Autronic I would have bought a new Haltech.

From what I discovered with my reasearch I would not go a microtech. I got reports of poor fuel consumsion and difficulty getting a good tune. On the same note some people seemed very happy with there microtechs.

Out of curiosity, what motor are you running the motec with.


All these comments are true, but running a top of the range computer on a very simple motor is a waste IMO, the higher end ecu's have closer tuning points as well as plenty of other good extras, the tuning points allow for very fine tuning of the injectors etc resulting in a near perfect tune, although, meaning (a slight difference in throttle and/or load might result in a 1.5ms injector time jump instead of .3ms jump of fuel)

I still don't believe a 3rz will benefit anymore from a $3000 ecu, to a $1100 ecu, not for the money and for a street driven car that is not pushing the absolute limits of a motor lap after lap. Better than factory fuel economy can still be had from the microtech ecu, as well as good reliable power without costing $2000 to tune it. A microtech/haltech has enough outputs to run everything on a 3rz and have some spare.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9irXr10bI0c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyJJcvTODEA

The above cars are running turbo 3rz's & microtech lt10 ecu's and both have been running for a long time, the red wagon gets 10litres/100km's when babying it around, the stock ecu will not return those fuel figures.
Last edited by berad on Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by HLX4B »

cheers for the reply's guys,

berad ill chat to you later on msn if thats ok, at the moment microtech is looking like the way to go for the price of a lt10 i dont think you can go wrong.
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Post by geoffro46 »

i always used to use microtech but hav used adaptronics lately good price and more ref points and features than the micro.ifn you hav to pass an emissions test with it you will have great difficulties with the microtech.
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Post by berad »

I have no idea, never bothered to look into mod plating an ecu, but i dont think you can in qld??, i could be wrong. In saying that if you can get 10l to 100k's in a turbo 3rz format i dont think you'd have a problem smashing the stock emissions that a 3rz hilux makes, does the hilux even fall into meeting emissions as it has no cat converter in standard form anyway?, mine didnt anyway, the 2tr-fe's would have one, many people confuse them for a 3rz with vvti, it isn't a 3rz.
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Post by AFeral »

Some good points there Berad. The list I wrote is from the reaserach I did to run a Tb48 nissan patrol engine and may not be 100% true for the 3rz. I ened up going with a the autronics, simple because one came up at the right time for the right price and it does everything I need it too.
Anything is possible, it just comes down to time and money.
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Post by ludacris »

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Post by HLX4B »

well after doing some more research its just added to the confusion ems look like they make a good ecu the motorsport 4860 bit dearer than the microtech 1600 vs 1100 but more features more tune points and i guess ecu's are just like every other part you can buy some people love some hate them.

Keep the opinions coming guys

cheers

matt
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