Anybody Megasquirted?

[Monzsta]

I just landed an Edelbrock Pro Flo manifold, t/b and rails for an astounding $310.00. So naturally, I also ordered a Megasquirt kit and am chomping on the twin turbo kit bit. Things are slowly coming together.

[greg72]

once after a keg party I had to go really bad...... oh wait that isn't what you meant.

Sorry I couldn't resist. Long weekend coming up and I am in a good mood.

Sounds like you got a great deal. I personally have never messed with any aftermarket FI , but know that at some point I will. I am sure someone here will be more helpful than me......yeah i know, perhaps everyone.

[NixVegaGT]

Which kit did you order? Some kits come with spark features. We used a prebuilt MegaSquirt box that was used on a similar 1.8 16v turbo VW (the same engine we used). It worked but I would have had more faith in it if I'd built the circuit board myself. You're going to need an old fashion laptop or computer with a serial port to connect the main board to in order to setup your fuel curves.

One component that is useful is a Wideband O2 sensor. It helps you tune for use a bit better. You can customize the AR ratio better that way for a turbo application. Starting with an all new wiring setup is helpful too. We chased a no start situation for a couple weeks thinking the fuel curve wasn't mapped right but it turned out the injectors weren't getting power. LOL! The other thing is to get a fuel table to start with. One that somebody has already used with a turbo engine like yours. Once you get the fuel curve setup right you can just change the rich or lean across the whole curve with a button in the software.

I think MegaSquirt is really great because it gets you a system that is really tunable. Don't get me wrong it's complicated but you control everything. Be patient. It will pay off.

[Monzsta]

I got the V3 board, but ordered the MS I. Oops. I'll order the MS II chip/board and probably an EDIS-8 Ford module and coil set. Have you seen the LCDash? http://lcdash.wikispaces.com/ TOUCH PROGRAMMING!!! AAAAHHHH!! Whoo. I gotta settle down.

[NixVegaGT]

That's really sweet! I guess you can save programs too. SO when you get to the track you can load your track curve. When you leave, load up the economy curve. On the fly! WOW. Did you notice that it refreshes WAY quicker? When we were trying to set up the curves and view realtime telemetry on the engine we got that really slow half second reading. It reminded me of those really old school tachs the british used to use for the le mans cars. 300 rpm BAM 4000 rpm BLINK 400 rpm. LOL! you know what I'm talking about?

The MS boxes definitely take extra time and patience, also a lot of learning about fuel curves and sensors but I think it's good to know how that stuff works anyway. Good stuff.

[Monzsta]

As much as I hate cables, I'm probably going to implement their bluetooth solution. You just pair your laptop with the bluetooth node you install. Or end up with the LCDash. God, that thing is slick. I have a wideband already, so it'll be installed, as well as a Viper Hydro fan. I'll have to build a pwm circuit in the proto area of the board to drive the solenoid. Those fans when locked up move HUGE air, but are silent below 50% and I never want to fear a traffic jam ever again. And being as I'm (foolishly) boosting a 10:1 hypereutectic piston, I'm keeping the boost real low and will put heavy emphasis on detonation and knock control.

Pics on the way as this build ensues.

[NixVegaGT]

Ever consider E85 under that condition? You could even boost a little more. Just something to thing about.

[Monzsta]

There's two stations in my area that carry it. (both over 40 miles away from home) I'm keeping an eye out for a closer one. That'll put me over the edge for E85.

[res0o7eb]

once after a keg party I had to go really bad...... oh wait that isn't what you meant.

NO, wait ...
I have a small dog named Hunter who likes to hike his leg on everything everywhere all the time - I call him Little Squirt.

MegaSquirt - that is cool stuff.
I really want to do that on one of my engines - either the Vega 140 SOHC and/or my stroked Iron Duke.
Good luck with it Monzsta and keep us posted.

[Monzsta]

I'm a soldering fool as we speak....

[Boostedballs]

I built the V3 board with spark control in hopes of using it on a turbocharged Harley Sportster. That project is on hold until I get my Monza on the salt flats.
I am using the GM factory OBD I LT1 ECM with my 94 LT1 in my Monza; they are fully programmable with Tunercat, and LT1 edit. You can upgrade to a 2 bar MAP and everything. I have yet to get that far with it though.

The MS is great but it seems that everyone I know that is using it is still tuning it or trying to figure out some weird problem. The sand alone systems like AEM are the ultimate way to go but that's a lot of dough.