GTUser

If you can find that screw I'd appreciate it, There is a junk yard, auto retirement center, in Youngsville that has an 89 vert and they won't sell the screw but will sell me the TPS w/screw for $75 and the local Mazda dealer with order me a new TPS screw for $38! I hate to ask but how much to you want for yours? Did I tell you Friday how impressive your drifting skills were? If not, I sure meant too. You showed the rest of us what drifting is all about.

If you don't want to part with it could I borrow it until I can run one down somewhere. I've got a screw in there now with a couple of nuts on either end to give me some adjustment capability, at least I'm not getting the diagnostic code for TPS.

I'm going to pick up a new alternator after work and replace the headlight relay to fix my electrical problems. When the alternator spiked I think it blew both headlights as well.

AntiVenom7

Taylor, welcome back!

You can definitely do the clutch/flywheel while it is still in the car. The trick is getting the car high enough to remove the tranny.

Really, what happened is what we always joked about. The engine blew and I felt it was an appropriate time to go single.

Glad to hear you closed out the semester. Hope to see you at the next meet in January.

tookwik

wow, thats sweet how your one bad thing lead to a lot of good things. Hope it all goes well! Let me know when and if you get your car tuned after its all together because I would definately go in on it with you maybe to cut the price a little???

What single did you end up going with?

NCTII87

josh- the 86 is dead for about another week probably. i tore up the input shaft bearing behind the bellhousing and sent debris through the rest of the trans. it was pretty catastrophic considering that my 4th gear is gone, it made enough shaft play that its sending gear oil out the seal at the bell housing which has now led to clutch slip and makes horrible sounds in 5th. im throwin in the trans i bought(214$!-ex. cheap and lot less miles) today on thursday after i finish up some exams. when it rolls out it should be around 2 inches lower, ridin on phat chrome(only the lip) and possibly have a few less dents and a little more paint than when it came in. i said i wanted boost by christmas but 200$ set me way back on this project. that 200 for the trans was gonna go for my manifold but, i guess i'll have to wait a little while longer now. i think ima fix the real beater- the CRX. haha.

anyways- tyler, you left about a minute too soon man! i pulled in the driveway just as you went out of sight. hmm.. o well, i 'll see it again, i hope. good luck passin the sniffer!

johnny- get-r-dun man, you gotta put a few battle scars on it before its really ready! its like being baptised or something.

MaxDuo

Hrm, as far as cold and rotarians mixing goes.... I'm fine with it hahah. Steve saw me show up at his place Saturday in shorts and a t-shirt. Sadly the rain that had fallen some, along with the wind, did make me get a bit cold. Supposed to take like 40 degrees for that, heh.

Dave... That's pretty weird. Maybe next time

Johny zoom

iTrader: (5)

Bert : Consider yourself SCREWED I found my UIM it has a screw and spring. All I need is a little more sucking up about my driFTiNg skiLLs. Do you want me to mail them to you? I have a hood at steves I will need to pick up soon Maybe we can meet then. Let me know.

Im a MaD dRiFTer Yo!
Johny

AntiVenom7

Taylor, I wound up going with a Greddy PT74 modified by Sound Performance (big company in the Supra scene), probably the equivalent of a t78, with an .81 A/R housing. I might change the A/R housing for quicker spool, since I am not looking for HUGE RWHP numbers. Anything above say 400HP should be enough for me, and the smaller housing would help it spool a bit faster. I hope to tune for about 15-17psi which is pretty conservative for a turbo that size(or at least that is what I am told).

I am hoping to go down to Rotorsports to have it tuned sometime in February; March at the latest. I think Rick is going down sometime in that same time frame, so maybe we can all roll together. I still need to pick up my FMIC, that is why I am saying February; gotta save up the $$$.

Dave, that sounds like it hurt. I can't even imagine the metal on metal grinds and scrapes that tranny must have made. OUCH!

Johny, maybe you can pass on some of your mAd dRIfTiNG sKiLLz at the next meet.

GTUser

Oh great and wonderful Drift Master if you could see your way to bringing it to Steve's when you next drift down this way I'd be very grateful.

Have I told you how masterfully you drifted around the VIR road course this past weekend? If not let me take this opportunity to express my awe at your drifting skills and the bravery you exhibited as you attempted to drift at the head of line of fast moving road course amateurs.

If you can spare the adjusting screw I'll keep it safe and will check it periodically until I can find one as a replacement.

bond007

About 4-5 hours in and out (if you are a good mechanic). Have done it numerous times in my garage with no problems. You need an impact wrench that will do 600ft-lbs reverse to get the flywheel nut off. Replace rear main seal while in there as well as anything else that leaks.

AntiVenom7

Agreed. However, if you don't have an impact wrench I have the MazdaTrix big f'in tool and flywheel lock, that you can borrow, Taylor. Which, is what I used on mine with no problem.

tookwik

Yeah I would really appreciate that josh, would you or anybody else be interested in helping out???

NCTII87

all this talk of these massive turbo's is makin me feel small... sniffle sniffle. gotta remember josh- boost really doesnt mean that much, its how much CFM. i got the 86 runnin today ( that makes up for all this big turbo talk!) i did my tranny in 2 hours basicly by myself( in and out) so it must be a real bitch for a FD. i think i might take it to capital saturday to see if anyone wants to make a reasonable offer in its current state. if anyone's out there i'll see ya i guess. im back to work now. everyone stay warm cause its friggin cold outside!

AntiVenom7

Taylor, LMK when you wanna do it. I will help you out. I will look for the tools today. I know where the big socket/wrench is, but I gotta find the little flywheel stopper.

Dave, congrats on getting the AE86 running.

AntiVenom7

OK guys I am going to have to stand corrected on some info I gave out about my turbo setup. Here is the real scoop on the turbo:

"It is a Precission Turbo's(PT) turbocharger not
> a Greddy. But since it is from sound performance it is called a
> SP74. Also a Greddy T78 has a 68mm compressor as opposed to your
> 74mm. So the turbo is actually a bit larger than the T78. The
> T78 just looks bigger because of the huge outdated housings. And
> the T78's typically come with a 1.00A/R and you have a .81."

I had made the wrong assumption as to the manafacturer of my turbo and the size of the t78. Sorry, for shooting off at the mouth without all the info in hand.

NCTII87

whatever you say josh- its still huge!

macdaddy

OK, guys and gals, it looks like I'm probably going to need to modify or upgrade my ECU. As I understand it, the choices are to have Pettit or M2 modify my ECU, use a piggyback like Peter Farrell's, or go to a complete stand-alone unit (PFC, AEM, Wolf, etc.). The latter obviously gives me more flexibility in the future, but requires tuning. I'm currently running stock engine, turbos, and IC, staight pipe/cone filter intake, dp, 3" cat, Apex'i 3" cat-back exhaust. I had not thought I would need to alter my ECU with those mods, but I'm overheating on the track, despite having done most everything I can do except ducting the radiator (just haven't gotten to that, yet). I'm putting it on the dyno this afternoon to confirm my suspicion that it's leaning out at WOT. Assuming that is the problem, and I have to make a decision about which ECU to do, anyone have any advice about local or regional tuners, since that's potentially as or more costly than a standalone ECU itself?

AntiVenom7

a good local tuner is Rotorsports Racing out of Kannapolis(i don't know 1st hand, but they have a good rep). You can buy a used PFC & Commander for about $900 these days, tuning I think runs about $300. If you plan on upgrading more in the future I think the PFC is the way to go. If you are going to stay where you are a preprogrammed ECU should work, though, you could still get more power out of a properly tuned PFC.

tookwik

Yeah, i would definately go with a stand alone ECU if money is not an issue at the time and you have more future plans for the car. If possible, I'm hearing great things about the new AEM unit... the only down side to this one is that it doesn't run directly out of the box like the PFC (i.e. you'd basically have to install it at the tuner's shop). The PFC is an idle monster, the thing gets perfect idle as soon as its plugged in (you do have to let it learn your car for about 15 minutes though).

Saying that, the AEM has a lot more benefits than the PFC. Just to name a few, it has data-logging built in as to let you have the most control over your car directly out of the box. The PFC has this, but its more or less a hack-job. I have the PFC with the data-loggit and it's amazing, you can control anything down to the temperatures the fans come on. (Each one seperately!). The newer AEM units have a built in traction control device as the PFC has nothing like this. Also, the interface that AEM uses with the laptop is a lot nicer looking (not that you may care, but i thought it was cool none-of-the-less)

With the non-stand alone ECU's you're still going to be stuck with all of the problems that the stock ECU had. I had ran the Peter Farrel PMS ECU before for a long time, it ran perfect though... this was prolly cuz Peter Farrel's shop tuned it. It still suffered from the 3k rpm hesitation though, BAD... that was a key role in helping me decide on going stand-alone.

Rotorsports racing should be a good tuner like Josh said. There's one of 7 (i think its 7) AEM tuners located in Raleigh, actually Cary called Eurospeed Performance, with a dyno and all the needed stuff. I almost had them intall the AEM and tune it for me but the guy was kind of an ***. He wouldn't let me buy the AEM anywhere else than him and if i bought it from him he was making me buy AEM's wide-band stuff too. I didn't like that. But anyhow, go hang out in the ecu discussion forums, theres a lot to learn in there.

Taylor

bond007

Don't waste your money. Fix the ducting and your overheating issues will go away. With a stock radiator I was running the snot out of the car with those same mods and it didn't overheat.

--Ashraf

bond007

Don't forget the $350 of Datalogit because the PFC is "useless" for tuning (especially part-throttle on the street as you log stuff) without and some sort of way to corrleate AFR's with your fuel maps. I have a Datalogit for a vehicle I'm working on and while it does the job, I think there are better solutions.

bond007

Bull$hit. It does and I have firsthand experience with this the same AEM unit (in fact, it is an early serial #0002) having operated on two different FD's I was troubleshooting - plug in, turn key, car starts and idles pretty darned well (and drives okay).

Not on everyone's car. From what I've seen on someone's car, we've checked over the car for bad vacuum control/smog gear, and leaks, and it still won't idle below 1000rpms. Probably get something conclusive in terms of a "failure" on that specific case by next month.

Traction control is "experimental" and nothing like a Race Logic, although it is a neat feature. I think the top selling point about the AEM is that they, the company who built the ECU are supporting it by:
1) Updating the tuning software (which is for MANY different cars)
2) Updating the ECU firmware itself

I tuned on a EFI PMS and even got it to datalog from a wideband. ANY ECU has limitations and the key limitation is the nut behind the computer/laptop tuning the car. You have to do a thorough job and have a properly running car "infrastructure" to make it run as well as or better than the stock ECU. You also have to tune more than the WOT/boost maps to have a good tuned ECU for a daily driver/track car.

Bob Liu, of P1 Auto in Charlotte, will hook you up with a properly tuned AEM. He knows his stuff.

macdaddy - stop by the meeting next Jan or when I get back in town and I'll be happy to talk to you in details about this stuff.

--Ashraf

tookwik

Ashraf, there are so many comments that you just said that could be debated either way, I'm not even going to try to rebute it. You and I will just end up being in a stupid argument. I was simply giving the man some basic info... the PFC is easier to use but the AEM offers more out of the box.

macdaddy

OK, on the dyno yesterday:
max hp: 224 max torque: 208
AFR 4500-7000 rpm: <= 11
7000-8000 rpm 12

Is this good enough that I don't need to consider the ECU upgrade at this time? From what I can see, most folks are tuning to keep the AFR's in the 10's.

bond007

^^^^^^^
See above...my objection is to the fact that you mention that you should search the ECU section for information. It is not entirely correct and biased when it comes to the AEM. The AEM Forum contains MUCH more information than the one here about getting a FD3S implementation up to speed and reflects that there are way more folks running the AEM than one may perceive.

I have access to both units and would be happy to discuss at length pro's and cons with locals. I have also done some tuning on a EFI PMS (which can be made to work okay for fuel enrichment provided you spend the time to get to all the map values and have a properly working stock car/harness/ECU - heck, I got widband input in there, albeit a little tricky since the voltage range is narrower) as well as a Haltech E6K. I had a remapped ECU in my car for a trial and unless you up the boost, you probably won't notice a whole lot of difference. I personally don't think a remap is worth the $400-500 that folks are asking for them. As it is obvious from their nature, they are a "close" approximation to what fuel values you need and would only work well if you had the car on the dyno and a PROM programmer for the ECU. I have also helped build/test/tune a MegaSquirt, so I think I have an edge as to the internal workings of a car's ECU.

Above are just some quick comments in response to what was written here. I think that the average user probably prefers the PFC but I think a tinkerer or someone looking for more features would be happier with an AEM. No one should make up their mind about an ECU purely on what they read here. Bad call. Research thoroughly for yourself. Your tuner plays a large part into that decision but I don't think it should limit the decision.

I also highly recommend that folks modifying their cars extensively for more power who are going to retain a stock wiring harness to replace the wiring harness with a new one that has been re-wrapped. Cheaper than a new motor and well worth it for a 100k/mile chassis that has been subjected a heat-scarred engine-bay.

My main beef is that that folks have trashed the AEM because they can't understand it and offer a narrow-minded perspective. It's like saying that a MoTeC is inferior to a PFC when I don't know of any professional racing teams using a PFC. I think that EACH ECU replacement has it's place in a person's budget and needs.

macdaddy really should invest his $$$ and time into fixing his cooling ducting, because those mods listed won't cause the car to run so lean as to overheat, as I have tracked my car with similar mods with no detriment. That is provided that the ECU's sensors and wiring harness are in good condition.

--Ashraf

bond007

11's are nice if you are dynoing in cold weather with really dense air. 10's are safer but will probably tend to foul the plugs out more. Make sure that you aren't overboosting and you should be fine.

I am concerned about seeing 12's but I've seen them before and if EVERYTHING is okay with the car (injectors serviced and not hitting 100% duty cycle, 80% is a nice number - which you could find out by putting a multimeter to the secondary injector pins on the ECU) you probably don't really need an aftermarket EMS as a lot of folks have run that combo for a while on stock ECU, although anytime you modify the intake (in particular, you are allowing for denser charge cooling, and thus change the AFR's) you should consider it - cone filter with hot air intake isn't really a step in that direction although you let more air in (albeit hotter, since a stock intake with K&N has better air temps than the Pettit kit, which is an open intake with a divider and not a "box").

I can't remember what the target AFR's are for high load high RPM's, but a little richer might help you since you are road racing. It wouldn't hurt to borrow an aftermarket chipped ECU and go for a dyno run.

If it were me road-racing my car, I would duct the front of the car first. Your warmer temps whlie road-racing (and I know you are a darned good driver, so you are REALLY ringing out that motor for all it's worth) may be solved with a water pump pulley under drive. Much cheaper than an ECU, tuning, etc. I'd get your injectors balanced/blueprinted and look over the wiring harness. Takes me about 1 hr to get the injectors out from a stock car. Takes longer to get them back in.

Proper diagnosis and testing and don't patch things over. Would you want your doctor to cut off your hand because you had a splinter in it?

--Ashraf