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Megasquirt 3 on RB CAS


foodie

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Hey guys,

 

I have read a lot about the megasquirt 3 and it really is a nice bit of kit.

 

What I am unsure of is the ability to use your standard RB25/20 cas sensor.  Some say yes, some say no, some say yes but change X/Y/Z

 

Anyone in here with experience?  I am on a wild Google chase for correct information before I lay out some $ on a prebuilt ecu.  Otherwise I am looking at the sprint 500 haltech, which will do the job, but not as cool as a megasquirt.

 

Cheers!

 

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Happy to be talked out of it :)

 

Currently running an rb20det with microtech mt-8 which I think is flakey.    Goal is to build a reliable strong rb25 that can push the 260 to mid 12sec quarters.

 

The sprint 500 is my next choice.

 

Anything else I should think of?

 

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I wouldn't use the Megasquirt.

I found mine difficult to work with, and the tech support on the forum assumes you are a electronics engineer with a masters degree doing programming on the side for fun.

 

While it will work, you'll get better results if you spend a bit more on the Haltech.

The after sales support is also about 11ty billion times better.

You can actually call and speak to a tech person on the phone.

try that with Megasquirt and see how far you get.

Changing to a Haltech was the best move i made with my car.

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Megasquirt is a open source community designed ECU, there is no one to call for support. You should be aware of this before deciding whether to use one or go with a an ECU designed and built by a company, like Haltech or Mictotech that support their product.

 

Sure you can buy pre-assembled Megasquirt units, but they are not backed by a company that designed them.

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I am new to efi - but I have been working with computers for 20 years.

 

What I do and don't understand about the sprint 500, is how does it control a 6 cylinder.

 

I understand wasted spark, igniting on the exhaust stroke, but when I try to find information on the injection, it looks like 2 cylinders will inject fuel at the same time, one on the powerstroke and one on the exhaust.

 

4 ignition and 4 fuel - how does that work on a 6 cyl?  It must, as many are doing it, but I cannot read or see a diagram for it.

 

I like the idea of megasquirt, after all, for $100 I can get a phone with more processor power than any ecu on the market, which makes me cringe when by default many cannot run independent spark and injection per cyl.

 

 

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well spend some money and buy a real ECU and see real power and get a real. megacrap and sprints are for people that know no better  , there Base products the sprint is a cheep thing that is OK to make it run ,,  that's all it does

 

Get to the point and suggest something :)

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1 motec 

2 autronic

3  haltech pro

that's the order, you pic one  that you can pay for

motec is by far the best race ECU  in Australia  and will run any moter , better than any 1 hear needs  with the best service i have ever had , we had a problem at the dyno on a Saturday at 3pm and we got tech support from the man who built the unit  and he has the ability to run your program and tell you the problem with your setup and get you back to work with in 1 hour ,,, best by far .

                                               

autronic is as good as it gets but has to be set up by some one that knows his stuff,  tuning power is very good built for pros  very good setup 

 

and haltech lots of cool things now  with easy tuning softwear and good backup from peter the bloke knows his stuff

 

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Re, injector drivers and coil drivers, most ECU's dont need to use all 4.

In my haltech, it has 4 injector drivers, but i only use 2 (3 injectors batched together)

It could also be setup as 2 injectors per driver, using 3 drivers.

In some ECU's it'll sit dormant, in others, you can assign it as a digital or PWM output for a custom application.

 

Best to read up on the specs of the ECU you chose.

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If you don't have too many $$ to spend, a better cheap unit would be a Wolf 3D. You can find them on ebay from time to time for around 4-500 dollars depending on the model. Earlier versions are a bit crude but I had it working well with a L28 with ITB's. Current version can run a 6 cylinder engine sequentially (each cylinder fires one injector at a time) and my tuner has never had an issue tuning. One thing to think about..

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And,,,

I have a brand new, never fitted Autronic SM4 for sale, with install instructions, wiring loom, plug, PC interface cable

Current new price, $2600

 

Sell this one incl postage $2000

 

You muck around with the cheap stuff, sure, you can get it to work, eventually, but when it comes to backup and assistance, as Peter Mc mentions, well!! Try getting stuff for slightly older Haltech's, i know the family, old man died a while ago, sons took over, re-invented the wheel, and went downhill, business was sold, and the new owners got it back going, but all new units, if you get an old one, forget backup.

At least Motec and Autronic are tightly controlled by their distributors/dealers/programmers, this is what you pay for, and fully up- gradeable

 

So many guys have gone down the route of injection or turbo, they go cheap controllers, but, they end up wishing they went for better, they wont say so, but,,,,

Yes the dollars are up there, but if you have a $10 car, get a $10 controller,

Oh and buying a second hand unit, inspect it on the car running, then do a deal, but unplug and detach loom then and there, that way you know it WAS working.

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I thought wolves were pack animals and tend to stay together? I guess now the ecu's will be called 'lonewolf 3D'

Yes, but Dimitri is a one man Wolf Pack!

Aaaawwwoooooooooo

 

Pick and choose the info and advice given. Then buy within your budget.

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hahaha...

 

There is a bit of support available including HybridZ forums but once it's running, I have yet to touch anything other than adjusting shift light points and rev limits.

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One more question while you are all here :)

 

On a semi-sequential injection setup, the injector is spraying twice while the inlet valve is shut per cylinder per 720d.  Does this mean you can get double the fuel capacity out of an injector?

 

 

 

 

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Just on temps on a Rb 26 with a AFR of 10.00  to 12 .00 there is 3 deg of combustion temp change  at full lode

intake valve temps hardly change , its the exhaust valve that gets hot if you run lean 

running retarded timing has more to do with high temps on valves than any other thing 

running batched injectors the exhaust temp is slightly cooler  and hp is down slightly

 

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Has anyone had experience with Adaptronic? Aussie built etc, good customer service, great features too.

 

I was talking to Jason  (installer & tuner) a few years back, he flew to canberra to install on a few cars and tune the same day...

4AGZE (t) Toyota sprinter, very much fun......

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Will have a look at Adaptronic.

 

Also interested in the Link G4 Storm.  Thoughts?  Sits between the Sprint and Sport haltechs on price

 

Q. On the CAN systems in these.  I assume apart from the connectors, you can plug in any CAN enabled device.

 

 

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If the price is right, I'm going the Link G4 ecu and new loom for the rb20det and carry over to the rb25 once I blow this up.

 

Very comprehensive documentation and explanation into lots of areas.

 

 

 

 

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Vipec, with launch control, and sequential think its the upper level unit but from 1800 has functionality of the motec m800.

need abs sensors or similar pulses coming from both front and rear wheels so diff and front brakes would both need an update to utilise  such features.

do some research,

some say its a newer link, but others including tuners say irs way ahead of the link, even though the same guy/guys behind it. its the quiet achiever in rally now too.....

nat0

just a suggestion as its something i would consider myself.

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Don't discount donor EFI, that being an EFI system, namely ECM and harness from another vehicle, or tuning the OEM ECM.

 

NISTUNE is available for the RB series of ECM, and seems to  be easy to tune. I haven't actually used one (myself), but I have socketed a few ECMs for friends, that do use it. From the limited time I have seen the tuning, it seemed to be pretty intuitive.

 

I know Apexi also makes a replacement ECM for the RB, I am working on a friend's '71 240Z that he has an RB20DET in, that will be using the Apexi ECU, with boost control add-on.

 

Personally I use a Delco (General Motors) ECM, with some custom code (public domain) that runs my turbo L28. The ECM I am using was originally used on N/A and turbo I4s and turbo V6s, the code is a modified version of what was used on the turbo V6, though many other variations for N/A, and cylinder counts can be used.

 

I haven't used a MegaSquirt, because it lacks a few things that I want in an ECM, but with the MS3, it has one of the big ones added in, the VSS, that can make quite the difference in how an engine responds, in my experience with other EFI systems. I plan to get one at some point, mostly for curiosity reasons, than actually using it on anything for a long period.

 

The nice thing about the donor route is that you know that millions of dollars and many years of research have gone into their development, many have limp home modes, in the event that a major or several minor sensors fail, if a replacement is needed, a call to the local wreckers will usually find you a quick and inexpensive replacement.

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