This is for the guys that have the ems and tuned it yourself. Is there a real steep learning curve? Because i have been thinking about my engine management situation and i think the ems would be perfect for me since i am already obd-II.

I just want to hear from the guys who already been down this road.(Arturbo,Falcongsr,etc.) Any feedback would be appriciated.
TIA.


[Modified by willyboyD16, 2:06 PM 11/26/2002]

 

anybody?

 

It took me one evening to get it idling - the new base maps should be a little easier, but do NOT attempt to tune a standaloen yourself unless you have a wideband AF meter. If you have one of these, the AEM will do most of the fuel mapping for you in a relatively short time. I didn't think it was that bad, but some people have had difficulties that took weeks to get through. I don't understand how... but they're out there.

 

The new version makes things a lot betterm and the base maps should get your car idling just fine until you have special requirements.

 

This thing is a bear to get tuned properly. I have been working with mine for 4 months now and still have idling issues. I'm getting the engine rebuilt now due to other problems i was having. hopefully after I replace the ignition and build the block I will be able to have the EMS tuned properly. If you decide to take it to a tuner check their credentials and successes with the EMS.

 

Id say Ask Art or Joe, hmmm if this goes well I might get it and Ditch the Hondata 2B ... Bump ...

 

usinge the techedge wideband...autotuning is now possible

 

how much is a wide band set up for the ems?

 

the techedge wideband sensor/box/display is like $269, & you jsut hook up the wire to the o2 sensor #1 on the ems

 

i'll tell you what guys. i am trying like hell to get my car to be JUST like a stock ecu with boost. and its not easy. probly the main hurdle for me right now is the air temp sensor. i ordered a GM IAT sensor that i will install in my charge piping so i get a more accurate air temp reading. when its cold i am leaning out all over (not major, but its just a little leaner) since my air temp sensor is in the intake manifold and just gets hot and stays there.

for most of you, getting the thing up and running and idling and get your fuel maps set up with automapping will be adequate. it'll get the car running good enough. but if you want a true daily driver setup, its going to take A LOT of fine tuning. getting idle to behave well, get the accel/decel fuel features dialed in, cold start fuel. tweaking boost timing, configuring the boost control solenoid, and constantly datalogging to make sure you're not pinging.

anyhow in short i'd say that i'd recommend it for : all out race cars, street cars that race a lot, street cars that don't mind spending a lot of time tuning on their own, or anyone that knows an expert AEM EMS tuner (i don't know ANYONE in the world that qualifies as an expert on tuning hondas with this thing yet, but i'd like to consider myself one of them some day).

i dont think you can beat hondata tuned at a dyno for setups that are street driven or daily driven. my goal for my car is to have it qualify as a daily driver, but since i cant actually drive it every day (it would have been stolen many times over) it wont ever have to be a true daily driver, but i WILL just get in it and drive someday.

 

Holy Geez, $269 for a wide-band O2 setup? That's incredible! Any links for information to read up on?

Thanks,
Nick

 

http://www.techedge.com.au/vehicle/wbo2/default.htm

 

Mine is running fine....if you download the newest basemaps and tune only what you need to tune for your car (ie.fuel, timing) it should drive around fine daily driven. We didnt have any problems getting it to start up, idle, and drive around at low and high loads...



[Modified by tegpilot, 10:04 PM 11/26/2002]

 

Yeah.. everything everyone said is pretty true..

I have it, hooked it up.. uploaded a base map, and it started up just fine..
BUT since I had 550cc injectors, the idle fuel was too low, and I had to beef
up my numbers across the board to get a good idle.. I'm finding now that
it has gotten colder that I need to start making adjustments for more fuel
with colder intake temperatures... All the options are there.. but it takes
alot of time.

I think tuning the normal WOT is easiest... definitely easy if you have a wideband
hooked up.

BUT all other functions we took for granted (deceleration fuel cut, fluctuations in
air temperature) we now have to worry about ourselves..

Anyway, I'm still having trouble idling at a decent A/F with 550s.

 

thanks for the replies. My car will be a daily driver, so having a good standalone is very important. I just figure the ems would be better because if i have a problem it don't have to pay 300+ to go hondata tuner, I could just hook up my laptop to find out whats going on.

 

Hey tegpilot is your car boosted?

 

hopefully my car setup / sensors / tune will be stabilizing soon and i wont have to plug the laptop in every time i drive, but expect to do that for a month or 2 minimum.

 

my car is running without a laptop Maybe its the tuner.....

 

maybe you're happy if your JDM jalopy just rolls down the street and i am tuning every little facet of the system.

Mase: does ur car just not run well w/ the ems?
falconGSR: its on jack stands
Mase: why do you always have to plug a laptop in?
falconGSR: cause tuning every little ******* aspect of a whole standalone engine management system takes a lot of time
falconGSR: and i am going off the hook tweaking it cause i enjoy that kinda ****
Mase: very true, but what have you dicked around w/?
falconGSR: what HAVENT i dicked around with
falconGSR: is an easier question
Mase: heh
Mase: figures
Mase: that may lie your problem ;-)
Mase: my car really is running good w/ the ems
Mase: i leaned it out a hair...
falconGSR: good to hear!
Mase: the warm up enrichment is the only real thing i dont like
falconGSR: that can be tweaked of course
Mase: yeah but i dont know where to tweak it
falconGSR: therein lies YOUR problem

Mase, wait til the weather changes

 

....we'll see who's putting out more power soon....


But i do have to hand it to you......the only people that probably know the EMS better than you, are the damn engineers at AEM

 

i wouldnt have gone greddy if i was trying to spend more money than you..

oops did i say that? i meant to say if i was trying to make more power than you


and i wonder about some of those guys haha

see what happens when i get a couple of s in me?

 

Say my name bitch.....yeah thats right, its mr cheap bling, I bet i end up spending less than you


You and that beer, Im gonna make art take you to AA

 

we will see about that biznatch. your car isint boosted and on the road yet.

yeah i gotta watch it. my parents are/were alkies.

 

Oh its on the road alright, all nice and two toned.....christmas is coming soon enough for Mase though. New paint job....new turbo set up......oh yes, December is the month for me......all the expensive parts are out of the way...except for the turbo.....


Btw, how many hours do you have into your ems tuning?

 

since i was futzing around with version 0.73 for about 10 hours, and it was doomed to never work...

then 0.89 about 4-5 hours that includes automapping driving around and just tweaking the maps and stuff.