A little background before I get started with the charts and graphs....

Power Mods:

3inch TBE
Open cone intake
MBC
272/272 cams
TurboTrix Custom reflash

Car made 320whp, but it was a little lean (close to 12:1) so he put a little more fuel on it and it made 315. This was at 23psi.

I bought ECU+ and a Wideband. The ECU+ came first so I install it, make no adjustments to my current tune, and run a pull to see if it needs adjusting.



You can see from the picture that it's knocking pretty good, almost 2.5v of knock.




I add 5% fuel up top and the knock goes away pretty much.


Wideband comes in the mail yesterday, I installed it today. (Sidenote: Doing stuff without a howto is horrible, I don't have a digital camera, so I didn't make one either, but I will just say that...some of the dash and most of the center console/shifter base console gets pulled on this one).


First pull with the above mentioned adjustments.....




13:1 AFR ......in some places a little worse....

Change the fuel map...start adding 8% fuel instead of 5%




12.5ish AFR with this one, at this point I'm like "do I need to add 15% fuel or what?" so I did....I also lowered the boost from 23psi to 20-21psi.




Finally getting some decent AFRs....11.0s...but lower down, up top it was still going 11.5, to 11.6. So I added 18% fuel from around 5500rpm on.




Then it dawns on me, that because I'm tuning this thing myself, I should probably be shooting for the 11.5-12.0 range. I'm going to make some correctiongs, but just look at the differences, I'm VERY new to all of this, so maybe this isn't such a big deal.



Any helpful hints from expirienced tuners would be appreciated =)

 

props for trying all this yourself

 

Trying to learn to tune myself also. I've looked at alot of these types of threads. I don't think I've ever seen one where someone added fuel up top. Seems mostly they are taking fuel out at that point. Interesting. Thanks for the post. Hopefully I'll learn something from it.

 

Well, my ecu had already been custom reflashed, hence why it was so lean....To make matters worse, I'm at 90% duty cycle on my injectors running that much boost. I ended up having to run lower boost because I don't have the fuel to support it.

 

Mad props to you 4TUN8, I'm following the ECU+ threads myself. I wish I can help but I'll be in your boat as well (learning as tuning).

What puzzles me is, there doesn't seem to be any knock despite 13+ AFR and 23psi boost at 6000+rpm?

Stupid questions: you sure you have your wideband installed correctly? What about CALIBRATION of the wideband? Did you select the correct model within the ECU+ software?

 

you should definitly upgrade the fuel pump. also, never try to tune with out a wideband.

 

I have a walbro 255 pump, I didn't list it because I only listed my power mods. I'm also running br8es plugs (that's a shade colder).

 

try tuning in a different gear. You will get a better resolution reading for your AFR.

ive never heard of having to add fuel up top also, but the custom flash may be the culprit there too.

when was the last time you changed your plugs, and what is the gap?

 

changed them at my last oil change, they're copper so they don't last long. They're gapped to the stock config, I can't remember what that is right off the bat, because I searched or something.

 

You got the right idea and definitely a great tool to tune with. Ecu+ is well worth its money. I always start of with boost alone, usually 19psi and up. This will depend on pump gas or race gas. Pump gas 21psi to 22 psi is about as far as you might be able to get on 93 oct. If you have 94 oct somewhere in your area you can push 23psi. On all my old 1g's and 2g's (DSMs) I was able to run up to 24 psi, on 94 oct. but this wasn't all the time. I always watched my a/f (wideband) and constantly read my logs.

Keep doing what you are doing right now, you are following the right methology. Its good that you atleast understand the concept, you saw knock so you added fuel, noticed knock was still there, go on to the next thing, lower the boost. Start with a baseline, like I said at a lower boost with the car rich up top and go from there. Use your dyno graph, it will help you atleast know if the changes you are making are effecting the car in a good way.

Also always make sure you check your plugs to double check everything. Search the web there are plenty of places that tell you how to read spark plugs, this is old school but it is still VERY widely used. The stock gap is 0.28 to 0.32 . If you want run higher boost with race gas, a tighter gap is always better. The gap can vary from 0.22-0.26, it all depends on the tuning. As for now you are on the right track, keep playing with it and keep logging and adjusting. Experience is key!!

As for your fuel system, its good that you have a fuel pump already. You will find that the stock injectors, you will be adding fuel up top since they have to work harder. You can compensate this by adding a fuel pressure regulator and bumping up your base fuel pressure. This will give you a bit more space to work with but you will also start exhausting it as you keep on pushing the fuel system. By that point it would be a good idea just to invest on bigger injectors.

Once you have mastered the A/F aspect of tunning or atleast feel comfortable, you can start playing with timing. Thats were the real fun begins but its also alot less forgiving. Again log, learn and adjust!!

By the way Tom is a great support person, he is also always willing to help out.

Go forth and tune!!!!

 

How did I know that a guy named DrEvo was going to make an OUTSTANDING post. I appreciate the feedback and the suggestions. My timing curve looks like an upside down version of a dyno, is this the way it should be curving?

 

Yes this is normal. If you log your timing when are driving around you will see your timing go way high, 30+ easy. This is the ecu correcting ltft fuel trim maps and timing maps. Once you go into WOT (Wide Open Throttle) you will see that it will go down as low as 4 degrees and gradually go up as your rpms go up. If you are in the sweet spot, on pump gas and no knock, your timing should be around 18-22 degrees depending on psi being ran and octane. On race gas you will see 25+ degrees no problem, as long as you aren't knocking. Keep looking at your knock voltage and read your timing logs, you'll start understanding once knock hits, your timing will have already been retarded big time, this is the ecu safeguarding itself. This should be another clue if you are doing the right thing or not.

Thanks for the compliments, but its just time and experience. Also it doesn't hurt to pass on the information to others as long as they understand to take it and use it very carefully.

Go forth and tune!

 

Thanks DOC. I think Ill have to save this from when I get my UTec!