megasquirt...who has done it? Who wants to do it? I\'m doing it!!

Just want to ask if anyone has successfully fitted one of these?
http://www.megasquirt.info
I am VERY interested and almost ready to buy for my notch project.
The MSII handles fuel and spark as well as MAP up to 21psi of boost!
There seems to be a few US distributors but nobody in AUS has done a group buy or distributes locally.
If there is enough interest I may look at bringing a few in and even building the kits for sale. They are cheap compared to anything else offered including the kalmaker.
Ideas and feedback please!!
Cheers,
Toby :thumb

[ Edited on 11-7-2007 by type3lover ]

Buy Australian made
much better quality , even the cheaper ECU 's

Hehe...a young apprentice i used to work with built one up for his ralley car...went well and he said it was simple to build and tune. Still works and that was 6 years ago.He is a destructive type of person so the fact he got it to work in the first place and that it still works at all must be a good thing.BIG following in the US as well.Personally i would go the SDS type or Aussie ecu's as the quality of the OZ ecu's is the best in the world. Do a search on www.shoptalkforums.com and look at what the people that use them say....

Back this up Johny, what ecu, which kit with what options..

Im not sledging, Im asking for more info in the answer :kiss

johny rotten wrote:Buy Australian made
much better quality , even the cheaper ECU 's

I have looked at these for quite a while, not into buying at the moment, researching a lot though as I want to go EFI

www.microtechefi.com

australian made and absolute top quality. if your a DIY'er meggasquirt is worth a look

There are lots of aftermarket ecu manufacturers out there that's for sure!

I spent 3 years in electronics as an assembler and a tech so I definitely like the idea of saving a few bucks to put it together. I am going to do the entire efi installation myself.
The megasquirt does everything I want and allows the use of "junkyard" parts, runs an open source code and is just sooo flexible. This has to be the best EFI on a budget setup that I have ever seen.
Jesus I sound like I work for them or something but seriously it's a pretty impressive read on the website even just to learn more about efi.
I would prefer to buy local but I haven't found anything that comes even close for the money.

Cheers, Toby :thumb

[ Edited on 31-7-2006 by type3lover ]

What cost? could be interested for subaru EA82

yeah I'll take a look one day - now all we need is inexpensive throttle bodies. I will be using a single TB to begin with

What happened to the IDF-style set-up you were so adament on Glen?

You didn't want any sort of long distance between your TB and ports because of poor throttle response. What's changed your mind?

koolkarmakombi wrote:Back this up Johny, what ecu, which kit with what options..

Im not sledging, Im asking for more info in the answer :kiss

johny rotten wrote:Buy Australian made
much better quality , even the cheaper ECU 's

OK

My opinion is use Mo Tech , thats what I would use cause its the best.

Pick up the phone and find some one who has used and can tune the brand u decide use .
Some of the cheaper ECU's may satisfy your needs and wants but I've been burned learning what type to use ,there is lots of crap available even in AU.




[ Edited on 8-8-2006 by johny rotten ]

56astro wrote:What happened to the IDF-style set-up you were so adament on Glen?

You didn't want any sort of long distance between your TB and ports because of poor throttle response. What's changed your mind?

Nothing. I want to get my1600 or some other dunger EFI'd first, then I'll spend another couple of grand on bling TBs for my 1916

[ Edited on 8-8-2006 by VWCOOL ]

type3lover wrote:Mega Joke????
What is wrong with this system in your opinion?
I am also now asking you to back up your claims...

Its not made here so what if it needs work or returning 4 some reason ?

wot ECU's have u used in the past johny

there is a guy in Toowoomba, Queensland who assembles and repairs megasquirt ECU's

I'm doing a MSII/EDIS install in my 914. I bought the kit from DIYAutotune.Com, along with the pre assembled Stimulator. It took me about a week to assemble, working on it in the evenings after work.

I haven't soldered anything for twenty years, and have never built an electronic kit in my life, but if you follow the online assembly manual (about 80 steps for the MSII), and do the tests as you go, you'll be fine.

The points about quality are total BS - YOU build it, so YOU do the quality control! It's customisable in every possible way.

Cost wise, the ECU and Stim cost me about $400,
Maybe $100 for the loom,
Ive used GSXR 1000 throttle bodies & injectors, used off EBay for under$200,
modified EMPI manifolds, for maybe $100,
and a Ford EDIS4 ignition system for about $160.

So, about $960AUD, and quite a lot of time.

My car was D-Jet, so I could have re-used my manifolds, TB, and injectors. I have kept the stock fuel pump, pressure regulator, and relay board.

Also the MS support forums are just amazing, as is the FREE tuning & datalogging software.

It's not for everybody, though. If you want a straight bolt-on solution, look elsewhere.

Do your homework, and choose what's right for you and your car.

See ya,

Rick

[ Edited on 7-5-2007 by Ricks56 ]

are u hppy with the perfomance of ur gsxr T/B's Ricks56

I don't know, yet. I just put the engine in this weekend! Idles well, and revs nicely in the garage. They are probably a bit big at 42mm, I'm running a 1.7. They are an experiment for a stroker that I want to build in a couple of years.

thats awesome rick, i would love to see some video footage

A friend of mine got sick of his webbers. Grabed a MS kit and some Suzuki GSXR throttle bodies and couldn't be happier!

Cheap motorcycle wreckers can see you with these throttle bodies that will suit perfectly for bugger all.

hello hotrod matt would u be able to give a few details on ur friends car?

Nice setup you've got there Rick, the throttle bodies look great.

Did you get the EDIS4 parts in Australia? What did they come off?

I've being trying to track it down in NZ, but not much luck (probably not trying hard enough).

Cheers
Jeremy

Jeza wrote:Nice setup you've got there Rick, the throttle bodies look great.

Did you get the EDIS4 parts in Australia? What did they come off?

I've being trying to track it down in NZ, but not much luck (probably not trying hard enough).

Cheers
Jeremy

Mine came off an early '90's US Escort ( not at all like our Escorts). As far as I know, the version of EDIS we got here was built into the ECU, not a seperate module.

You could possibly find the VR sensor, trigger wheel, and coil pack locally, though.

There are always a few complete set ups and components on EBay, from the States or the UK.

76bug, I'm a little video challenged, at the moment, but I'll see what I can do...

Guys - At the risk of being again accused of promoting the ECU I used with great results, take a look at the Gotech @ www.gotech.co.za. They now have an Aussie agent. well under a $1000 with wiring harness and on board map and temp sensor.(and no need to solder) I'm very happy with mine. I took the same approach but used 36 mm throttle bodies off a K100 BMW motorcycle. I mated these to std type 4 lower manifold ends.

Ken

pic

[ Edited on 8-5-2007 by Judsons4eva ]

[ Edited on 8-5-2007 by Judsons4eva ]

Ken,

Those TB's would be just about the perfect size!

We're certainly spoiled for choice at the moment when it comes to ECU's.

Nice job for sure!
I'm almost ready to order my MSII with relay board and megastim for the notch.
Thinking of using a VL fuel pump, magna injectors (beige top bosch type) bosch magna/commodore regulator, magna efi dizzy, stock vw type 3 intake runners - for now and either stock vw or a magna throttle body, bosch wideband o2 sensor and maybe AFR digital display, with the megasquirt supplied MAP sensor.
I want to build and program it myself. All the resources are out there but I would have to agree that there are easier ways to fuel inject your VW. Depends on your cash to time "ratio" too. Some ppl usually have less of one of them!
Cheers, Toby :thumb

Toby, what kind of price would we be looking at for one of these kits? any idea?

I have a DTA system for my current project, but there's always another project just around the corner. I like the idea of an open source platform.

Good news...I have ordered the megasquirt II V3 kit as well as the relay board and the stim from www.glensgarage.com and should be getting it all in the next week or so.
Mick - the prices are all available on the suppliers' websites.
http://www.megasquirt.info will show you the way.

So now I'm committed to building and tuning this thing!
I will try to post my progess on here as the project progresses. Fingers crossed!
Cheers! Toby :thumb

Just take your time building it, and do the diagnostic tests for each stage. I printed out the assembly guide, and marked off each component as I went - I still missed a couple though! It was easy enough to back track to find what I'd missed.

I've had my 914 out on the road a couple of times now, to get the roadworthy, so I'm getting a few datalogs to tune with.

Should be registered in a couple of weeks, so I can really do some tuning then!

That's great!
Yep, I printed the assembly guide. I hope it's as close to the actual kit as possible.
Do you have any more info or progress pics?
Cheers! T 👍

for what its worth i've always used Microtech's. i've fitted heaps of them and they are easy to fit and tune.

I just had the 914 on the freeway for two hours, in the pouring rain, to get my VASS certificate.

I got some good datalogs on the way there, made some adjustments to the MSII while the engineer did his thing, and loaded the new maps for the trip home. It ran nicely, and just wants to get up and go.

Oil pressure was at 2.5 bar cruising, Oil temp 80C, and Cylinder head temp settled at 165C at 100kph (about 2550 RPM).

My timing map is loosely based on the Type 4 dizzy, and will get tweaked a bit as time goes on.

I get registered tomorrow!

Sounds great Rick!
My MS-II kit has cleared customs and should arrive this week!!
Did you take a lot of photos of the build and installation on your car?


[ Edited on 9-7-2007 by type3lover ]

I think I posted most of what pics I have in this thread.

I finally got my 914 registered today, and put about six hours worth of driving in.

This thing has soooo much more get up and go than when it was was a 1911 running D-Jet.

The TB's only feel oversized when I coast up to a red light in second, and the light goes green. Then there is a bit of a flat spot. but taking of from a standing start feels fine, and everywhere else does too. I may need to look at the angles of the bell cranks...

I left the laptop at home today, and let the "Automatic Mixture Control" in the MSII do its thing. It seems to work quite well - although it pulled the VE table down to zero in two places, so I need to adjust the "Vertex Tolerance" down a little. The places that are going to zero are both in the over-run.

I noticed that the VE table was topping out at around 80%, so I changed my ReqFuel from 14.0 to 11.2, and scaled the table by 125%. It should make no difference, but the VE table will make more sense (to me, anyway)

The engine seems to be happy, max oil temp was 80C, cruising oil pressure is 2.5 bar, and CHT didn't go above 165C, though I wasn't pushing too hard - I'm only tuning 1200-4000 RPM at the moment.

What are you doing about a cable? Ready made, kit, or DIY?
I ran into a couple of issues with my home-made cable, I wrote down the ignition module wire colours in reverse, and spent an afternoon looking for spark! The MS support forums set me straight quickly, though.
What about ignition? What are you using?

Congrats on getting your car on the road Rick!
To answer your questions:
I am using the relay board so I just need to make my own cable from the ECU (which will be under the rear seat) to the relay board (engine bay).
For ignition I am using the inbuilt coil driver to drive a magna efi coil, and am starting with a modified magna efi dizzy.


To everyone else, an update...

I received my kit yesterday morning. Spent about 5 hours on it and then another 3 hours today and it's all assembled and tested. Everything worked first go too!!
I am using the stim board for testing and the megatune software on my laptop.
Yes I am absolutely stoked so far. The kit was spot-on down to the last detail and I would recommend the glens garage kit to anyone interested in doing this themselves.

Next "mini project" will be making the loom and then fitting megasquirt to the car.

Still lots to sort out.

Cheers! Toby :thumb

[ Edited on 11-7-2007 by type3lover ]

I am also very interested for a MS setup, for several seperate projects 😉

just interested, what do you guys run for a temp sensor input on an aircooled VW?
usually its a coolant temp probe, but no coolant in a volksy.

I am thinking of using EA falcon CFI TBs x2 in Danielles beetle (starting 1600TP until I build something bigger) but I think the injectors may be too big.

For Coolant Temp, I'm using the Cylinder Head Temp sensor that was standard on D-Jet equipped cars. My heads don't have the tapped hole, so I used an adapter that has a 6mm thread, used as a sheetmetal screw into the head. I *think* that's a Type 3 part.

It isn't critical, because it only meters the warm-up phase. My warm-up ends at 60C, so anything above that is just read straight from the tables.

I have over 3000 km on this setup now, and it's working great!

gday chapss, whats the cost outlay from scratch.
very interested in applying to my 2276 vw. carbies are
driving me nuts at the moment.

cheers Rufbug

Seen the cost must have missed a page, that sounds like a great deal, who cares about time, its all fun and games.

[ Edited on 6-9-2007 by rufbug ]

[ Edited on 6-9-2007 by rufbug ]

Rufbug it is cheap compared to any of the "name brand" EFI computers.
I think I paid around $450AUS for the MS2 V3 EFI kit, stim board(a must for testing) and the relay board delivered from the US.
I have not yet decided on a "coolant" temp sensor but have seen a few options that others have used.

Updates due very soon...

Cheers! Toby 👍

any progress mate?

i was mightily impressed by what i saw a few weeks ago!

chatchya soon....

kai

Ms2 is a great ecu i have one, you can get them from diyautotune.com