Questions PM'ed to me..
 

I wanted to post this because I'm getting alot of PM's with questions and requests for information, normally I answer all of my PM's but I'm starting to see that many of these questions were either answered already, or can be answered by the community (sometimes faster than I can get to them)

So, If you guys ask me a question, and I don't get around to answering it, please don't take it personally, I sometimes can get 30 PM's in a day and on those days, its easy to overlook them, remember I also run my Own forum, have a day job, a house, wife and son, have 3 major project car builds going on, and I design parts and write applications.. So I don't always have the free time to answer everything :)

Anyway.. The BEST way to get an answer to your questions is to post it here in the forum, or one of the public forums on Aktivematrix. There are quite a few people who can easily answer these questions besides me. Some are more qualified to answer them also.


Here are some quick answers to common questions..

Question: Where do I get the software/logger/tools I need..

1)The reflash cable is available through www.tactrix.com or www.mynesperformance.com I have also seen some cables available on Ebay (Buyer beware on Ebay)

2)ECUFlash (reflash) software is available for free download on www.openecu.org

3) Loggers currently available
- Mitsulogger (my program) this is a basic logger for the cable.. Does alot but has more coming (Free)
- EvoScan ; This is a very good logger, similar in function to mine, but currently can log data from some wideband O2 sensors too. ($25)
- ECUEdit is a map editor tool, and has MUT-II logging support built in.. (Different packages, base tool is Free, not sure what is offered though)

4) ECU Unlocker for Mitsubishi's : This tool is used when you have an ECU that will not download maps no matter what you try, usually the response you get in your log with ECUFlash is "No response to any known code"
ECU Unlocker was intended to allow you to boot the ECU even after a bad flash that would normally kill a mitsubishi ECU. A side-effect of this, is that you can unlock ANY locked mitsubishi ECU that might have had its init code altered.

5) OBD-II diagnostics, the only tool I'm currently aware of for Windows that works with the Tactrix Cable is OBD ScanTech Generic v.76. I have assumed the support of this application from the original author, and will update and improve the application for him. This is available also on my website www.aktivematrix.com This allows your Tactrix Cable to check and reset your MIL/CEL light. Once this app is set up correctly for your cable, you actually can use the OBD software an cable on most ISO type OBD-II protocol ECU's.. Which is most Asian, European, and Chrysler vehicles. This program can be tricky to set up, but well worth the effort.


See next post for additional questions and responses...

Pm sent!









HAHA just playing.. I have never needed any questions answered from u but i did want to say thank u on behalf of the evo community. I always see u providing helpful info to evom members!

Question: How do I learn to tune, where do I get more info, etc..

Answer: It takes time, however reading the posts here, on openECU, Aktivematrix, etc. There are some EFI-101 books out there that can teach the basics. Also, its important to understand a bit about engine theory (4 stroke engines) and supercharging/turbocharging since the way to effectively tune your car, is to understand how it work. ANYONE can tune their own car with patience, common sense, and a little time. Make small changes and log alot of data..

Question: My ECUFlash won't recognize the cable..

Answer: Make sure you plugged in the cable BEFORE you launch ECUFlash, you'd be surprised, this accounts for 90% of the problem.



I think I'll update this more as I can think of more.. Or of course, ask your question here and I'll try to give quick answers..

MODS; You might want to sticky this thread..


I will be mirroring this content over on the knowledgebase of aktivematrix.

Here's a question I have that may help some people out.

When you make changes to the map, you are affecting open loop.
So during closed loop, are you still relying heavily on the car's short term trimming abilities to keep a stoich idle?

Furthermore:
If you swap out for larger injectors, is simply changing the injector size enough to get the car to run in closed loop?

Okay, this is actually a good question, and comes up often..

Open loop maps, ASSIST the closed loop fueling, in other words, if you tune the open loop map to be as close to your target AFR, including 14.7 at cruise and idle, and those transitional areas where you may still be in closed loop, the short term (and ultimately long term) trims will no longer have to work as hard, or make major adjustments to maintain a Stoich AFR.

Injector scaling is a good example of this, since because of their size and dead time, it can affect AFR's in the open loop tables differently at different RPM's.. Making adjustments to the injector size to get your fuel trims as close to optimum (within +/- 5% or so) will result in your fuel table also being fairly close to where you want it.

Keep in mind you also may have to adjust your voltage latency values a bit, but voltage latency has a greater affect on idle fueling than higher RPM [Edit: Had a brain fart], therefore watching the trims, and making appropriate adjustments over time is necessary. Ultimately once you get a good idle and close part throttle fuel trims, you can then go back and adjust the open loop tables under loads used at idle and part throttle cruse, and alter those cells so the result is your closed loop fueling is dead on.

There are several reasons this is done, but the primary one is so you don't have to wait for the ECU to re-learn the trims every time you reset your ECU, trims are intended to compensate for changes in weather, or other conditions where fueling changes are necessary but temporary, and not "Fix" a problem perminently.

Jack,

Actually, changing latency values will affect idle more than at higher RPMs, like at cruise for example.

Just for an easy example, let's say that your idle IPW is 1ms at idle and your IPW at cruise is 2ms.

If you adjust your latency values to add 100 microseconds, that is affecting idle fueling by 10%, but only affecting cruise fueling by 5%. This drops even more as RPMs increase and IPW is higher.

This actually allows us to dial in injectors when our LTFT Lo and Mid trims aren't equal. We can use the latency values to change the idle trims more than the cruise trims, until they are equal, then use the injector sizing to get both to 0.

As a side note, if you have a fuel pump that is overrunning the stock FPR or some other fueling issue, your idle trims may always be a little out of sync with the cruising trims and this method shouldn't necessarily be used because the final injector scaling will be off by more than you would want it to be.

It is sort of hard to explain witout making a very long post....maybe I will make a thread on this sometime.


Eric

OOPS, I got it backwards, my thinking when explaining this was exactly what you were explaining.. but I had a brain fart I guess.

This is sort of a "is this the right engine management for me?" question, but this thread seems like a pretty good place to ask.

I've been reading through this (and other forums) to get a feel for what can be done with EcuFlash, but I'm still kinda hazy on what would be the best choice for me. Basically, I race in the STU class for Solo II autocross, where as you may or may not know, tuning is allowed through reflashes, so long as the factory boost tables remain untouched. The only power mod I see on my car in the near future is a turbo back exhaust with a high flow cat. Is EcuFlash a worthwhile investment for me?

This needs to be a sticky

SCCA rules tend to be a "sticky situation" for drivers.. Yes, you can retune the car without touching any of the boost settings, but at what point is your tuning considered Illegal in your class may be the issue. Especially if your consistently winning.

There are way too many technicalities.. Since the factory boost level is controlled by a set of closed loop tables, but what about the boost cut tables (to prevent fuel cut) and the Boost timer, which just drops the boost at a set RPM..

The short answer is, Yes it can work great for you, but you must document everything you do, because its inevitable that someone will claim your cheating. And now with the ease of reading and writing the ECU, it makes it even harder to be sure.