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AEM BEWARE!!!, Tuners please look, AEM vs Motech vs Microtech

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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 06:19 PM
  #31  
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From: 2003 Evo VIII - Silver
Originally posted by MalibuJack
Wow.. This is really disturbing.. Does anyone have any input on the Motek unit (E6K or E6X?)

The one thing that appealed to me about the AEM and Autronic was the Plug and Play, which meant very few, if any new sensors, and not hacking up the stock harness.

I consider myself fairly knowledgable, and competant, but because I'm inexperienced in the ECU's specifically, I am taking a wait and see attitude..

So far after hearing all this, I'm inclined to stick with my S-AFC, and S-AVC, and let the base tune be done with Dynoflash and use the S-AFC to make minor adjustments.. (Al, you'll be hearing from me shortly when I finally get the rest of the parts I need to finish my car)

There is one thing that I do feel comfortable with, and that is at those HP Levels, an aftermarket CDI ignition may be your only way to go, but thats just my personal experience with Supercharged V8's, I suspect that no matter what solution you choose, ignition will become an issue no matter which ECU choice you make. (Though I've felt this way from the very beginning, in the "old school" world that I used to live in, an Ignition upgrade was one of the first modifications you would make)

Its not that the Factory ECU or Ignition system isn't good.. Quite the contrary its impressed me way more than any other car I've worked on.. But my car in its current trim (With very few modifications) is ALREADY experiencing misfires, regardless of its the wrong plugs, or gap, it does happen.

I have to admit since my car is a daily driver, I'm not quite on the bleeding edge of all of this but trying to learn as much about the platform from you guys, and taking the bits and pieces that I find valueable and using it in my car.

Obviously I'm not in any way known, or respected as a tuner.. But my gut is telling me that the factory ignition system has a glitch or some other gremlin.

Good luck guys, I feel terrible that you guys end up becoming test mules, but ultimately it benefits ALL of us.. I wish I could be there, no matter how frustrating and expensive, but I'm just a poor I/T grunt who does this as a hobby and very shallow pockets.
You are right about the ignition - however since I already found out that the stock ignition can do 500 whp with ease - I would at least like my AEM to be able to do those numbers BEFORE I start dumping more money into the car and adding more parts

All I would like to see is some posting om the aem forum by aem letting us know what they are doing and why we are having this problem

Also hearing that they are using Frank at SFP as their testing department is also very upsetting

I think this comfirms what I have been arguing about with a lot of folks for a long time - - the factory ECU has millions of $$ in development and testing and is a super good platform to work with. When you do a reflash on a high boost car you are limited by the maf sensor , however you CAN get a lot of hp while keeping the car as problem free as a stock car. When you jump to a stand alone you get a little bit more power - a LOT more adjustability - you loose the MAF sesnor - BUT you GAIN lots of stupid little issues and problems and stress
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 06:23 PM
  #32  
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Originally posted by DynoFlash
Another option you may consider is the HALTECH - Dan at Pruven is an expert on tuning those on 4g63 and they have one on their evo which made almost 700 hp

As for the test mule - maybe they wanted to use that guy nick as the test mule??

I can not believe that didnt tell you that you were one of the first and you were getting an evaluation unit. Dosnt AEM give those out for free????

Seems a bit fishey to me . . . and maybe AEM isnt the only one to blame in your case?????
NOPE I was told the unit worked..I was told ill have the first one and they were finishing it up thats it...and nick had the one with just the board and not cover etc etc I paid for mine, frank was told they worked when we got my car on the dyno and the car was all done and tuned...aem duped him as well and got alot of free R&D from him...and now im getting more and more pissed at the thought of tearing down my motor to check for metal ...it has mayyyyybe 50 miles on it...Im sure ill get a refund for my aem..Im not that concerned about that....Im more concerned about the other issues
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 06:26 PM
  #33  
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i think you guys are getting confused with the haltech and motec, haltech has the e6k e6x etc and motec have the M48 M880 etc

the haltecs are about $1400us and the Motec are about $5000us,

yes i have used lots of other systems and tuned lots of other systems (Haltec, Wolf 3d etc)

the microtech is by far the eaiest system to tune, with there windows based software (avaliable from www.microtechefi.com) makes tuning fast and easy, the data logging on the software is awesome.

i would never use any other system on my own car, they work!
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 06:27 PM
  #34  
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Al...pruven made over 600Hp on their Evo? Why not dyno sheets updated pictures??? etc.? It seems stupid they don't utilize that for PR.
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 06:29 PM
  #35  
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u mean the fact you lost a 3000 turbo and possibilty of damage to the whole damn motor which costed an arm and leg? and the whole DOWN time waiting to this and waiting for that?...

yea i can see why u have grown pissed...as am i... makes the ****ing mad to see you go through these issues... something i dont wish on my worst enemy!

keep you head up Pesto

NOPE I was told the unit worked..I was told ill have the first one and they were finishing it up thats it...and nick had the one with just the board and not cover etc etc I paid for mine, frank was told they worked when we got my car on the dyno and the car was all done and tuned...aem duped him as well and got alot of free R&D from him...and now im getting more and more pissed at the thought of tearing down my motor to check for metal ...it has mayyyyybe 50 miles on it...Im sure ill get a refund for my aem..Im not that concerned about that....Im more concerned about the other issues

Last edited by designmanfx; Dec 21, 2003 at 06:31 PM.
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 06:30 PM
  #36  
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Originally posted by 10sec_rx7
i think you guys are getting confused with the haltech and motec, haltech has the e6k e6x etc and motec have the M48 M880 etc

the haltecs are about $1400us and the Motec are about $5000us,

yes i have used lots of other systems and tuned lots of other systems (Haltec, Wolf 3d etc)

the microtech is by far the eaiest system to tune, with there windows based software (avaliable from www.microtechefi.com) makes tuning fast and easy, the data logging on the software is awesome.

i would never use any other system on my own car, they work!
Does the microtech system process information faster? I believe that was one of the selling points..Is the Microtech plug and play?
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 06:31 PM
  #37  
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From: 2003 Evo VIII - Silver
Originally posted by Pesto360


NOPE I was told the unit worked..I was told ill have the first one and they were finishing it up thats it...and nick had the one with just the board and not cover etc etc I paid for mine, frank was told they worked when we got my car on the dyno and the car was all done and tuned...aem duped him as well and got alot of free R&D from him...and now im getting more and more pissed at the thought of tearing down my motor to check for metal ...it has mayyyyybe 50 miles on it...Im sure ill get a refund for my aem..Im not that concerned about that....Im more concerned about the other issues
I would pull the oil pan off at least and look about real good - - any bits that wind up in the oil pump and its game over !!!! If the intake side of the turbo was damaged I would also stock a bore scope into the spark plug hole and look about for any damage in the combustion chamber

Its not fun being used as a test mule - I spent all day taking my head off so I can get the exhuast port re - welded - lucily for me everything else is OK - it just winds up being a lot of work and a lesson to keep the power turned down till AEM gets the ign system fixed
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 06:34 PM
  #38  
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One cool thing about the microtech is that dash mounted unit and the tuneability without a laptop or with the laptop..the price isnt so bad either...does anyone know for sure if this will work with the evos stock ignition? even with these amp draws over 7200 rpm?

Here is the Microtech site check out the dash mounted unit
www.microtechefi.com
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 06:38 PM
  #39  
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Originally posted by Pesto360


Does the microtech system process information faster? I believe that was one of the selling points..Is the Microtech plug and play?
the current range have a 16bit processor, the new range due in Mid Jan have a 32bit processor which is twice the speed of the E6* range of haltech and on par with the $5000 Motec systems,

at this stage there is no plug and play for the EVO, i would just wire it into the loom in the car, it would take about 3 hours to install.

the dash units rock, they have built in shift lights etc, display water temp, air temp, battery volts, boost, low oil pressure warning etc.

microtech's have been used on the Mitsu motors for over 5 years down here, they work

Dale
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 06:49 PM
  #40  
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Why do you keep stating your Turbo was destroyed by the AEM. Do you have any evidence to support this? I have a hard time seeing how this could happen; but I'm no expert. Fill us in with your hypothesis
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 06:55 PM
  #41  
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Originally posted by 5StarSuzuki
Why do you keep stating your Turbo was destroyed by the AEM. Do you have any evidence to support this? I have a hard time seeing how this could happen; but I'm no expert. Fill us in with your hypothesis
I never said the aem blew it up.....I know i have a blown turbo..I know my car backfired once bad when i was there...and I know from what ive read and heard that it is very possible to ruin your turbo from the car breaking up...u can see the other rx7 post on this thread...and from a bad backfire liek my car had...Im also no expert but u can bet your last dollar im going to depend on several different experts to determine whats happened here...either way AEM got me good...I dont know how anyone can remotely defend them...Ill post pics of my turbo tomorrow
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 06:59 PM
  #42  
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From: 2003 Evo VIII - Silver
Originally posted by 5StarSuzuki
Why do you keep stating your Turbo was destroyed by the AEM. Do you have any evidence to support this? I have a hard time seeing how this could happen; but I'm no expert. Fill us in with your hypothesis
The aem unit misfires and back fires so badly that it literally blew a hole in my heads's exhuast port into the coolant jacket - I could esily see how this could damage a turbo
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 07:41 PM
  #43  
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Originally posted by DynoFlash
The aem unit misfires and back fires so badly that it literally blew a hole in my heads's exhuast port into the coolant jacket - I could esily see how this could damage a turbo
what would the turbo look like if in fact that happened? what would be the signs of the different failures?
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 08:31 PM
  #44  
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Pesto
The turbo should be inspected but a sure sign of a compressor stall on a turbo is to hold the exhaust side impeller and try to turn the inlet side impeller, if you can or the nut is actually loose you can be almost sure a missfire caused it. even if something goes through a turbo like a nut or bolt the inlet compressor wheel will still be tight but almost destroyed and even the shaft bent. I have had a lot of experience with turbo 's on high boost situations and failures. Lets see what the turbo says. But YES a miss firing engine can cause turbo failure.

Max
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Old Dec 21, 2003 | 08:32 PM
  #45  
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I posted something about Motec and the mods deleted it. Oh well.
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