Studiogeek

iTrader: (6)

HIPSI, AliSC3,
When you have time, would you both please elaborate on your experience with the AEM and why you both went back to the TT ECU. We could all benefit from more information on the details of your switch to AEM and your switch back to TT.
I have always had a standalone in the plan, mainly for the failsafes but the fact that both of you went back to TT ECU after AEM gives me significant pause.
When time allows, please elaborate on both decisions, problems and processes.

Thanks a million guys!

joe diego

iTrader: (3)

After a five day turnaround I received my Aristo ECU from Tanin. It's sucks to say that I'm having the same issues. At idle the AFR is around 10 and jumps to 11 when revved. When the car warms up there's erratic idle, sputtering then shuts off. Timing seems to be jumping above 10 to 14 with no audible change when inserting the jumper in diagnostic port. There's no check engine light and my tach is no longer working. I added a wire to R73 in the back of the cluster but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to remove the resistor so I left it. Was I supposed to remove it?

Also, I checked the voltage on the map sensor wires. The middle wire (signal wire) had about 4.6 V and the read/lavender wire had 5.1 V. I did this check when the ignition was set to on.

440 cc inj
Aristo ECU
Map
IAT
DS62

HiPSI

iTrader: (2)

If you aren't getting the audible change in idle when the jumper is placed in then the TPS sensor is probably the culprit and it needs to be adjusted. Make slight adjustments to the TPS, tighten it back down and then try jumping the terminals to see if you hear the audible note change. The sound is the ECU locking timing and it means the TPS sensor is within acceptable range. When mine was out of range it would do all sorts of weird things like idle hunt, idle weird it wasn't consistent.

HiPSI

iTrader: (2)

Where I live at I don't have access to a tuner or a shop that specializes in 2JZ or any imports really. There are alot of domestic guys locally and one dyno but I wouldn't trust them to setup AEM on my mutt of a setup, they would have no clue.

So when I went AEM, like all my cars, I tried to learn it myself and tune myself. I ran into alot of issues, electrical gremlins and weird voltage issues. This was probably a combination of the NA-T setup and having different parts thrown together like the 7mCPS versus the stock distributor for the cam sensor, is300 coil on plug, etc etc. I got it to the point where the car would start in warm weather and drive fairly decent but it didn't run 100%, the tune was finicky and I was in over my head with the setup and learning AEM. I couldn't enjoy the car, cold starts it refused to start and I was chasing my tail in problems.

The GTE ecu is just plain reliable. The car starts, every time with ease and I never have to worry about not being able to jump in and enjoy it.

I see the value now in having a shop tune / setup a EMS ecu because when you have problems (and you will), they will know or have some indication as to what is causing it. The stock GTE ecu more than covers the power levels I wanted to achieve and when that day comes (if it comes) that I want more power I will more than likely have a shop setup Proefi and never look back.

Oh and the AEM Forums are useless, there is no support. I received more help from the genuine guys on the supraforums and clublexus like Ali Sc3 while trying to set the ECU up. This was the worst part as you felt helpless. When I used to run DSMLink in the talon the ecmlink forums were amazing in support. The developers are passionate about their product and making sure their customers receive the help they need. The MAPECU forums remind me alot of the DSMlink boards as well. If you create an account and login there you will find all kinds of crazy thrown together setups that people are trying to tune and the developers are trying their best to problem solve and give some help or at least guidance.

joe diego

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for your input. It's hard to believe moving around the TPS is going to solve my issues. I am going to re-read your responses and I'm going to attempt to do what you did.

HiPSI

iTrader: (2)

This is also the only way to know if your timing is set correctly. Otherwise timing will bounce around erratically at idle.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

thats called "acell fuel". all ecu's have it even standalones the idea is that when you hammer it the ecu gives you extra fuel % for like 1-2 seconds then it graduall fades. if you roll on slowly you won't get it. still need to drop the afr's one point it seems, especially with that little boost cause the twins flow a ton of air down low and your single turbo isn't going to do that, but around 12-14 psi it will be closer to the same airflow on both setups.

Hi PSI said it pretty well, its just a ton of work to get a standalone to run like a stock car, mst tuners achieve in my book 80% of a full tune if you are lucky on the first round, and every round of tuning costs $$ if you can't do it yourself. I learnt how to do it and became quite proficient at it, but the limitations of a standalone designed to run every vehicle means there will be limitations cause in the cold it does not pick up the stock n/a crank sensor very well. most of the time not only does it not start but the ecu injects fuel everytime you try so you also flood the motor and that means holding the throttle down to clear out the fuel, and in 30-40 degree weather that almost always means by now your starter has weakened your battery so far that there is no chance of it picking up the crank sensor, cause the higher the battery voltage the stronger the signal, so you can see after the first no start you are pretty much boned. I would only run it if you can oput a batter tender on it and then you have to have that initial crank pulse of fuel perfectly tuned to start in cold weather, too little it wont fire off, too much you flood out.

I carried my laptop to the car every day of winter so I could tweak it, it was parked outside and I was miserable every morning, flagging down people to jumpstart me after I dropper $1200 on the ecu and another $600 for a first tune that never started my car in the winter. by the end I had it starting decent, but there were always some idle issues or deceleration issues (think going down a parking garage slowly it would buck 50% of the time instead of going smooth. I eventually learned to tweak the decel fuel cut points and decel fuel amounts to get it better, as well as dropping timing in those lower load cells so I wasnt embarressed driving throught the parking garage at work..

the only things that worked great was wide open throttle, it was always perfect, and regular driving was pretty spot on, but a well trained monkey can get that stuff running right and is basically what most tuners focus on. boost control and boost cut worked great also, as well as o2 correction, no complaints there. if it idles they move past that.. and the next season it wont idle right if it was no set up with wide parameters. you have to tune the amount off it is, how fast it corrects (so it doesnt swing constantly) and how much timing vs error you want (I zero this out most do not, n/a motors do not like timing swings at higher compression).

most of the time they load up a gte map they tuned on someone elses car, and tweak it to work. the thing is all the small stuff is very different between the 2, they pull different amounts of vacuum at idle (affects decel fuel cut drastically among other things), basically you need a very very good tuner to get even close to a factory tune. there are only a couple people I know that can do it right, and they are in high demand.

you can kinda see that its alot of stuff to learn, and you need a laptop and some basic knowledge of adjusting idle/starting the car or you risk being stuck until the tuner can fix it .. again more $$ which is good for the tuner.

thats why I said eff it and researched how to use a gte ecu.
before me there was only 1 person to do it and its linked on page 1 on club-nat.
captdale in Hawaii did it cause there as no good tuners there, but he went FFIM and full gte ignition, which is why my first setup I installed a FFIM and gte coils (even though I had vvti coils in I didn't know for sure they would work), and then tweaked it from there using my vvti coil setup which allows the stock intake to stay on.

yeah Hi psi is correct if you dont hear the noise you are not setting the base timing to 10, u are setting the actual timing to 10 and that means it wont run right (base timing is probably like 4-5 degrees then).

Joe diego the ecu will only let you set it when its idling, same with the check engine light, move the tps back and try again. its bolded on the first page.
I askd for more info like rpm's and stuff you didnt respond, I need to know that stuff to help, be as descriptive as possible I am not in front of the car to read it. thanks.

joe diego

iTrader: (3)

I soldered a wire to r73 but my RPMs are still not working. Was I supposed to remove the resistor then and a jumper wire? I just left the resistor on R73.

I adjusted the TPS and there was a change in the idle but when I added the the jumper in diagnostic port there was no audible change. When the car warms up it just shuts off. The AFRs where around 15 at a cold start then it falls to 10.0.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

you can leave resistor in but add wire across it that jumps it. I forgot you cant read rpm.

I just realized you said the middle pin is giving you 4.6v on the map sensor... it should be like 2.x volts key on engine off then 1.x something with key on engine on. sounds like you have a busted map sensor also.

try adjusting the tps all the way the other direction. if you hear a stumble in rpms half way through then tps is working, its just on the wrong side. there will be a noise when jumpering when the IDL pin has continuity. you cant pull codes or set timing correctly unless its idling and you hear the noise with the jumper. like on my car the timing will fluctuate from 14-16 degrees at idle, but when i put in the jumper it instantly drops to 8 degrees where I have the base set. the reason its fluctuating is cause you arent looking at base timing, the tps is responsible for that. its a safety as you want engine idling when doing that stuff.

you probably need a new map sensor and adjust the tps. make sure the tach pin is seated well in the new ignitors connector.

HiPSI

iTrader: (2)

You hit the nail on the head. I ALWAYS had my laptop in the car, always adjusting the tune. It's fun to learn how to tune but after awhile I realized I had all this money invested in a car I can't even enjoy. The GTE ecu (Once setup correctly) gives you your car back, boost capable, and runs drives like a stock car.

joe diego

iTrader: (3)

I double checked the MAP sensor and the signal wire reads 2.x volts when key is the "on" position. I also adjusted the TPS to the other side. I stuck the jumper in (no audible change) and rotated the distributor to the right. Seems like the timing is fluctuation between 5 - 9. It's hard to hear the idle in vid cuz my damn fans are so loud.
Still, after the car warms up it'll shut off.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

it sounds like its wired right for the most part but the no tach makes me think maybe a wire is switched up, recheck all the colors on the ignitor etc.. make sure that tach wire clicks into place, no click = loose connection. usually its the solid black wire.
its idling good just a touch rich, but the o2 should fix that. if you have no o2 then that could be a big part of the issue.

its running very rich, do you have an o2 sensor plugged in? a cold engine needs and can tolerate a rich mixture but a warm engine will just shut off, which is what I think is the issue.

if you dont hear the change in timing and its reading 5-8 you have moved the dizzy back to far as thats you actual timing and not the base, so if you arent hearing stuff it should be more like 12-14. the more you retard the timing the richer the mixture on the wideband, so I think you just need to figure out the tps and timing issue which will hopefully lean it up some.. get the o2 sensor plugged up as usually within a minute on these ecu's the o2 corrects to 14.8 (these ecus really need the o2 to be working well), the motor wont want to idle at 10-11 afr warm, so you have an o2 in there right now?? you are close but now I am wondering if your tach problem and timing thing is related. make sure the ignitor has a good ground, run it to the battery if you need to, if you put it under the bracket you need to scratch off some paint. the ecu also depends on the IAT and coolant temp sensor alot, make sure its still plugged in if you were doing work around there. what IAT did you use? what kind o2?

joe diego

iTrader: (3)

Here's a pic of the sensors. The one closest to the firewall is oem and the bottom is the AFR sensor. I disconnected and removed the lower 02. I'm gonna going to put it back on and see what happens.

I just realized that I have a 3rd O2 sensor post cat, so I'm going unbolt that and bolt in the AFR sensor in that one.

I was having issues with my Tach before attempting this mod. The RPMs would work intermittently. I would have to bang on the dash for it to start working.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

the JDM ecu only uses 1 o2 sensor, so since your car came with 2 make sure its wired up to the right 02 connector otherwise ecu doesn't see it. leave the afr gauge there, if you put it after the cat it wont read right its fine where it is. just make sure its correcting after like 1 minute and goes leaner, if not you need to plug the o2 into the other connector in the engine bay. get that working it should help alot with the turning off issue.

joe diego

iTrader: (3)

If I went COP would it likely eliminate my warm start issues?

I'm using the AEM universal IAT sensor and the OEM O2 4 wire Cali sensor. Just made another attempt on a cold start and it idled ok for about 9 minutes then shut off (temp gauge got to about 1/4 high). No audible change when inserting jumper.