I finally installed HonData s300 v3 in my EJ1 d16a vtec NA daily driver which is same as d16z6 with the help of the dyno tuner. I will post the results here. It's a little more power but not quite what I expected however i still need to remove my cat, which tuner said was holding it back from making power at higher revs so he put the limit a little lower than he would have or something.

here are my relevant upgrades that i can think of and the results of tune. Main problem is gas mileage is too low for the power gains. My mpg went from like 32 to 22 mpg. It's a daily driver, short trips around town and long wv backroad journeys. Rarely long highway trips.

95 Honda Civic EX 1.6L VTEC
Engine says D16A which is same as D16Z6
Transmission
P20 - 3 (same as S20)
2nd owner, bought in 2003.
400k miles 2nd engine.

AEM Short ram cold air intake.

Skunk2 Alpha Series Silver 66mm Throttle Body.

Skunk2 Pro Intake Manifold with 66mm throttle body opening.

Skunk2 Alpha Header with 2.5" outlet.

Tanabe T70003 Medalion Touring Cat-Back Exhaust System 2.5"

Skunk2 Pro Adjustable Cam Gear.

Exxeddy stage 1 clutch.

Golden Eagle High Volume Fuel Rail with AEM Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator and Fuel Pressure Gauge.

Walbro upgraded Fuel Pump i think is still installed.

AEM 30-0300 X-Series Wideband UEGO AFR Sensor Controller Gauge.

High Output Alternator, Two batteries.

Lightweight power steering pulley.

Wilwood calipers.

Lots of suspension upgrades.

Hondata S300 V3 w/bluetooth in OBD1 P28 vtec ecu computer.







im new to tuning , let me know if u need more info. Paid $440 for the tune and partial install and tips.

 

He prolly tuned you pig rich to keep you safe, those are fairly basic bolt ons the stock ECU could still run, you might get better MPG on the stock ECU .

You don't need the AEM Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator you can still use the OEM FPR. Sell it and get your money back.

Find another tuner or go back and say you want better fuel trims.

If you want a second opinion send a data log to Phearable.net: Honda & Acura Performance Solutions and have them check your fuel trims and make any adjustments they think is needed, they can take a look and fix anything needed as well as remote tune you, just send them the data log back if you want more adjustments. They will of course charge you but won't be as much as you paid the tuner.

 

When i was having sputtering issues a while back, hondatech user maxcapacity said

"So aftermarket throttle body and intake manifold on a stock ecu.. That doesn't help. Tuning the ecu may be your only resolution to make it run "right" or converting back to stock until then.."

but you say no need to ever tune ecu until i go turbo?

how do i make this data log to send to the remote tuners?

 

"High Output Alternator, Two batteries."
Why?

I agree with finding either a different tuner, or if you trust your current one and are simply unhappy with the MPG, ask them if it would be possible to get closer to OEM spec. Phearable has been around for a long time and is reputable.

Final option would be to sell all of the pointless bolt ons and go back to 100% stock. There's no point building an NA D series.

 

This.

You’re going the wrong way if you are expecting more fuel economy by dumping a bunch of air (manifold and throttlebody) and then needing to dump more fuel to compensate.

Look at a d15b7 or the VX engine and the size of their throttle bodies and intake manifolds.

 

That's the vtec map, when your cruising your not in vtec so this doesn't tell us much.
We are in the 21st century and we have the capability of tuning an engine, doesn't matter the mods. We have full control over fuel and spark using S300 or HTS or Crome or whatever.
Low cam on the dyno graph looks like bad btw before vtec engages and also where you are having a fuel economy issues. Message me privately and ill give you a few steps to confirm what i'm saying without even showing me the rest of the tune file.

Pretty much needs a tune, it wasn't setup correctly.

 

This. He likely didn't tune the part throttle/cruise regions for crap. This is where you spend 99% of your time and where you stand to lose the most with respect to fuel economy. If the timing is too retarded here, your drivability has also suffered and you make less torque in the lower columns. Combine this with the fact hat it probably feels a little peppier than before in the higher columns and the result is you driving the car more aggressively than you did before, compounding your poorer economy.

It's a stock cammed D16... there's not much power to be made. But it shouldn't cost you 30% of your economy either.

Street cars should have a catalyst. If yours is an old factory sized one, it is holding you back. Get a decent Magnaflow 2.5" welded on there and you'll be good.

 

ennah i will pm you thanks.
i know it's possible to tune it without the dyno at this point? I want to learn.

caoboy and chance eg, i have an uninstalled turbo but I'm taking it slow, I've had car since 2003. It has two batteries and high output alternator for over 5000 watt stereo system so it will show higher than normal voltage.

 

???

Did you override the voltage regulator to put out higher voltage?
That sounds hard on your electrical system.

Watts = Voltage x Amperage.

I am guessing your stereo is spec'd for 12-14V, and your alternator will put out more than the factory (~90amp) alternator.

 

I didn't mention i have a magnaflow 2.5" cat but we could smell it cooking during the dyno pulls, and he said it was holding it back a little.

I understand not much power to be made, i just want to get fuel economy back at least somewhat yet make it feel a little peppier, and get a better understanding before i do more to engine, prepping for turbo.

 

not sure, it's a 320 amp alternator, 160 amps at idle. With two yellow top optima batteries.
Reed Chapman of TRC Tuning dyno tuned it and said the voltage was high, but wasn't a problem. He had one of the fastest EGs in northeast at one point. I will probably ask him for help soon but want to see what i should say and what y'all think.

 

You're not in California. Quick internet search tells me West Virginia doesn't do emissions/smog testing on vehicles, so you could consider replacing the catalytic converter with a 2.5" straight through, baffled resonator instead. Granted nothing you do to a D series while keeping it NA will have a substantial impact on power.

Installing a tighter final drive into the transmission would have a much bigger impact, but also negatively affect MPG.

Not going to comment on the sound system, outside of the fact that it's gross overkill and if you want to look at it from a speed/MPG perspective you're definitely weighing yourself down.

 

Street cars should have catalytic converters on them. it has nothing to do with what state you’re in, it’s federal law and it’s the good, clean, and correct way to do it. One properly sized and in good shape is no more restrictive than a resonator. It’s a 112whp d-series anyway.

 

​​​​​​you see this video at 7:41 he does this fuel trim method, I could follow that and trim my fuel like that?

 

Here are more pictures of my calibration file.
Please let me know if you see something that may have been overlooked, or something with fuel trim?












Low Speed Ignition

Low Speed Ignition

How do i get this to start showing readings? Do i go up in the menu and go to download?

 

Your engine will of course run better if its tuned but sometimes the tuner can do a poor job or put a basic base map and a few adjustments to get you on your way. This results in poor MPG and low performance. It still may run ok but you can also experience issues with cold starts for example if its not tuned very well. This is why the stock ecu is always a good thing because the parameters in the stock ecu will always run good for the most part, throwing big mods at the stock ecu is when it will start to not run correctly, light mods like a intake maybe a muffler is fine but when you change your intake manifold, cams, header and exhaust piping the stock ecu can no longer run the engine the ways its designed and it will start to throw codes and possibly go into limp mode at some point.

There's nothing wrong with being on a tuned ECU it's just don't expect to have the same drivability and mpg as the stock ecu.


Start the car and have your lap top connected to the ecu and open up Smanager, click the lightning bolt at the top and it should turn yellow and all your parameters will display live, hit the record button next to it and again to stop recording, go for a drive and then stop and save the recording and give it a name like datalog 1 and send that in email to Pheriable.

Watch this tutorial,

You can also customize your display screen, and or download and use a saved one on Hondata there is lots of saved displays you can use and change to your liking. This helps give you a good visual on your parameters. And also looks cool!

SManager Display Templates - Hondata

 

I haven't gotten around to fixing the bad fuel economy, instead I'm trying to fix my AC.

the compressor clutch is not engaging. I put in the old ecu back in and the problem goes away.

Hondata back in, i looked at the hondata parameters and nothing is set to use the AC switch that im aware of. I checked several tabs. AC control is set to turn off at 7k rpm and 100% throttle

in the sensors section, when i turn AC on it says the fan and compressor is on, but when i look only the fan is on.

i posted my calibration file here
https://www.hondata.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26644

the ecu part number has been removed but eBay described it as a P28 s300 v3

 

Bump, i uploaded a datalog file there as well. If pease help me get AC

 

see if these 2 plugs are mixed (ac/radiator) connectors.

Change the settings to 5500 and 30% throttle,

 

Find a better tuner and get the AC + fuel economy sorted out in one swing.

Or put the stock ECU back in and call it a day. You've taken a 30 year old SOHC car and over complicated it severely for almost no value back, it seems.

 

With the ignition on and your laptop connected to the ecu, go to online --> test outputs and turn your compressor output on and off. If you can hear/see the clutch actuate, it may be a calibration issue. If not, you have other issues.

 

ecu says it's working, hondata forum saying ecu is missing a/c components or is damaged. How can i check if it has the components or repair it? If i run wire from battery positive terminal to a/c compressor wire and turn kn a/c , the clutch engages, but is that the same as having a/c on?

 

Read my post again. I already suggested a way to test.

No usdm ecus came without ac control. It is possible that you have damaged hardware.

@Chance EG is right though, if everything works with a stock ecu in there, just run that until you find a more qualified tuner.

 

I went to online > test outputs and turned on a/c using laptop but nothing happened. So i turned on the ac in the car, which causes the rpm to rise and condenser fan comes on , then I turned it on with the laptop, too. But nothing happened so I turned it off in the car, but the rpm didn't settle like it usually does until I turned a/c off on laptop as well.

 

My tuner suggested I change the fuel filter because motor needs fuel for the added power. He's gonna lean the vacuum tables out and look over the tune. He also may send another p28 that's s300 ready to see if it fixes the A/C.