[kenecchi]

I have a holiday coming up, during which I'm taking some time to work on the interior of my car. Since I'll have all of the dash panels off anyway I think it'll be a good opportunity to install some parts I've had lying around for awhile, namely a Link G4+ plugin, some Bosch EV14 injectors and a set of R35 ignition coils. I was planning on taking it to my tuner and just having the shop do it but I figure I might save a little money on labor hours doing it myself, and then just taking it in to have a wideband installed and get it tuned on the dyno.

My question is, how hard is it to get everything up and idling properly initially with the G4+ on an otherwise stock RB26? I'm reasonably handy with electronics but I've never installed or set up a standalone ECU before. I've read the instructions that come with the Link software and it doesn't seem difficult but, well, nothing ever *seems* that way, does it? Is it a better idea to leave it alone for now?

 

[alexcrosse]

Pretty easy. Instructions, as you've seen, are very good with the link. Just follow each step.

You'll need to remove the injector ballast resistor with the EV14's. I'd recommend fitting a wideband yourself as the same time as the ECU. Helps get the initial fuelling safe.

You'll want a timing light, and a plug extension.

 

[kenecchi]

Cool, I'll give it a shot then. I was thinking I'd better have the shop install the wideband because I don't have a welder and thus can't put the bung in the downpipe but I guess I can just take out one of the narrowband sensors for now. I'm assuming the rear one (aka the awful pain-in-the-ass to remove one) would be the best position, right?

 

[SlinkyDog]

Interesting thread -- I am wondering about doing the same. Don't like paying for other people to put their hands all over my car . I'm 100% confident I cant get the physical aspect of the install done, but the tune / setup of the ECU is what is making me nervous. Will be interested to hear you get on.

How many widebands are you planning to run? 2 to replace the 2 narrowbands and run 2 x 3 cylinders, or 1 and run 1 x 6 cylinders? My plan is to run 2 in the same place as the narrowbands so I get to keep the 2 x 3 cylinder setup..

 

[kenecchi]

How many widebands are you planning to run? 2 to replace the 2 narrowbands and run 2 x 3 cylinders, or 1 and run 1 x 6 cylinders? My plan is to run 2 in the same place as the narrowbands so I get to keep the 2 x 3 cylinder setup..

My original plan was to keep the narrowband sensors in place and run one wideband in the front pipe. If I set it up myself I'll probably just put the wideband in the rear sensor's position to get it running (there's a "quick tune" function that uses closed loop wb feedback) and then have the shop weld a bung into the front pipe so I can put it there when I take it in to tune.

I recall reading somewhere that it's better for wideband sensors to be run further downstream in the exhaust than the stock sensors. Can anyone confirm that's true?

 

[Ares]

If you're getting a wideband installed you may also want to discuss if they can wire in the MAP sensor too - my G4 GTT-Link and G4+ GTR-Link both required a change to MAP which needed to be wired in and to have the ECU housing modified.

Otherwise check out the High Performance Academy website for a few tips on tuning

Good luck!

 

[kenecchi]

If you're getting a wideband installed you may also want to discuss if they can wire in the MAP sensor too - my G4 GTT-Link and G4+ GTR-Link both required a change to MAP which needed to be wired in and to have the ECU housing modified.

Otherwise check out the High Performance Academy website for a few tips on tuning

Good luck!

I'll just be using the internal MAP sensor so it just looks like a matter of running a vacuum line off of the intake manifold into the car, as there's a little nipple for it built onto the board. If modifying the ECU housing means drilling a hole I think I can manage, but was there something more that had to be done? How much boost are you running?

 

[SlinkyDog]

My original plan was to keep the narrowband sensors in place and run one wideband in the front pipe. If I set it up myself I'll probably just put the wideband in the rear sensor's position to get it running (there's a "quick tune" function that uses closed loop wb feedback) and then have the shop weld a bung into the front pipe so I can put it there when I take it in to tune.

I recall reading somewhere that it's better for wideband sensors to be run further downstream in the exhaust than the stock sensors. Can anyone confirm that's true?

I am going to get rid of the narrowbands I think, no point in running wide and narrow if the G4+ can run in closed loop with the more accurate widebands. I could be wrong but to me it makes sense.

Re the positioning -- Bosch (who manufacture many of the wideband sensors) recommend running them as hot as possible as long as it is less then 930c constant, and less than 1030c for a 'short time'. Your EGT should be less than that in the stock narrowband position, so that is where I plan to put mine. I also plan to run CAN bus from the sensor to the G4+ rather than the analogue signal for improved accuracy and reliability.

http://www.bosch-motorsport.com/med...nsor_LSU_49_Datasheet_51_en_2779147659pdf.pdf

https://www.telematica-uk.com/produ.../X-Series-Inline-Wideband-UEGO-AFR-Controller

Quite an expensive way to do it, but I like to over engineer things

 

[alexcrosse]

I run lc2 closed loop in decat. Flow is high so its fine, plus you dont run closed loop at high loads / transients.

 

[SlinkyDog]

So do you run all the cylinders off the 1 sensor?

I'm half tempted to run closed loop all the time (ECU getting feedback on boost would be nice), but am nervous of destroying my engine if the ECU decides erroneously to cut back on fuel right at the wrong moment ha.

 

[alexcrosse]

Yes.

You cant run closed loop all the time.

 

[SlinkyDog]

Well afaik you can, it is just more catastrophic if a sensor or something fails. I like the idea of it from an idealogical point of view, just makes me nervous.

 

[kenecchi]

So RE: this process...

I've been slowly working at it for a few days. For anyone who isn't familiar with my car (why would anyone be?) it's an S15...

...with an R34's engine. Basically stock, Coppermix Twin clutch, Tein coilovers/EDFC, Tomei cam gears, etc.

Parts going in are of course the Link G4+ plug-in, boost solenoid, Innovate LC-2 lambda controller, Bosch injectors and R35 ignition coils.

Parts coming out include a stock R33 ECU, stock coils, an HKS EVC 5, and this thing...

...which I'd been running in the glovebox. Did some ignition wiring. To install the R35 coils on an old style ignition system, you basically remove the PTU, match and splice the colored wires on both sides of the connector and connect the seventh (black) wire on the harness side to ground. I joined the wires with a connector that I found on Amazon which belongs to some kind of a Toyota.

The coils were then fitted up using a Supertech kit. There are lots of these types of kits made here in Japan but they generally start at around 50,000 yen.

I also fitted the injectors and lambda but you'll have to just take my word for it; didn't take any pictures. Injectors (EV14s) basically look stock and use the same harness connectors.

In fitting the ECU, the first thing that has to be done is to get the old one out of its housing which looks and sounds so straightforward but unfortunately it isn't, or maybe it just wasn't that way for me. There are 4 screws on both sides of the outer shell which come off easily, but then there are six soft 20-year-old Philips headed screws that secure the board to an aluminium sandwich plate, which as if that wasn't bad enough, have been soldered over. I ended up having to drill all of them out.

It took about an hour of messing with it, but eventually this happened

I also built a makeshift painting area in my garage and decided to refresh the interior panels.

Most of the interior back together...

 

[kenecchi]

At this point I've set up some of the parameters in the Link software to match my injectors and coils and I'm ready to calibrate everything and hopefully start the car, so I'm waiting on NZEFI to provide me with my Link unlock code because I have no idea where to find it (it's not in or on the box, or in any e-mails or invoices...)

 

[FRRACER]

So RE: this process...

I've been slowly working at it for a few days. For anyone who isn't familiar with my car (why would anyone be?) it's an S15...

...with an R34's engine. Basically stock, Coppermix Twin clutch, Tein coilovers/EDFC, Tomei cam gears, etc.

Parts going in are of course the Link G4+ plug-in, boost solenoid, Innovate LC-2 lambda controller, Bosch injectors and R35 ignition coils.

Parts coming out include a stock R33 ECU, stock coils, an HKS EVC 5, and this thing...

...which I'd been running in the glovebox. Did some ignition wiring. To install the R35 coils on an old style ignition system, you basically remove the PTU, match and splice the colored wires on both sides of the connector and connect the seventh (black) wire on the harness side to ground. I joined the wires with a connector that I found on Amazon which belongs to some kind of a Toyota.

The coils were then fitted up using a Supertech kit. There are lots of these types of kits made here in Japan but they generally start at around 50,000 yen.

I also fitted the injectors and lambda but you'll have to just take my word for it; didn't take any pictures. Injectors (EV14s) basically look stock and use the same harness connectors.

In fitting the ECU, the first thing that has to be done is to get the old one out of its housing which looks and sounds so straightforward but unfortunately it isn't, or maybe it just wasn't that way for me. There are 4 screws on both sides of the outer shell which come off easily, but then there are six soft 20-year-old Philips headed screws that secure the board to an aluminium sandwich plate, which as if that wasn't bad enough, have been soldered over. I ended up having to drill all of them out.

It took about an hour of messing with it, but eventually this happened

I also built a makeshift painting area in my garage and decided to refresh the interior panels.

Most of the interior back together...

Looking good I see you got the coils fitted

You can trim the cover and fit it back for oem look.

 

[kenecchi]

Looking good I see you got the coils fitted

You can trim the cover and fit it back for oem look.

Thanks, actually that's exactly what I did, I just took the cover off to get a picture and try to check the timing. The kit fits great, by the way.

 

[FRRACER]

Thanks, actually that's exactly what I did, I just took the cover off to get a picture and try to check the timing. The kit fits great, by the way.

Your welcome glad that your happy Ken

 

[alexcrosse]

NZEFi forgot my unlock code too. Said it was with the tracking email, but it wasn't.

I had to email them, but got a fairly swift response.

Car looks great.

 

[kenecchi]

NZEFi forgot my unlock code too. Said it was with the tracking email, but it wasn't.

I had to email them, but got a fairly swift response.

Car looks great.

Exact same experience; I e-mailed them and they got back to me this morning with the lockout code. Must happen a lot. And thanks about the car!

 

[kenecchi]

So, to update: I got the ECU unlocked, calibrated all of the sensors and started the car, it ran lumpilly for a minute or two and then cut out. I checked my fuel setup, wherein I had entered the data for injector flow rate, etc. that had come with the EV14s under a "modeled"-type fueling equation. I switched that back to "traditional", set base timing to 20 degrees and trigger offset to -83, and fixed a couple of issues involving the lambda controller getting disconnected which involved me chasing a blown fuse for a couple of hours, and then I started it again.

And it ran! So I adjusted the "master fuel" value down progressively until it would idle, ended up settling on a value of 4, and then I opened up the fuel table. I've never tuned anything before but the concept seems easy enough; raise or lower the numbers in the cells to make the engine run better. The interface is a lot like using Excel and you can perform simple mathematical operations on groups of cells by highlighting them and choosing "offset by value" or "offset by percentage". It's hard to explain and I obviously have no idea what I'm doing, but I got it to achieve a decent idle.

My timing is still slightly retarded (looks like just one degree) so I'll try moving the CAS and checking it again tomorrow. First impressions are, it's a little louder and the throttle response is much tighter than it was on the stock ECU.

To answer the question, how hard is it to install and set up the ECU by yourself armed with only the help file and some vaguely educated guesses, it isn't, but it is time consuming. I've been working on this basically nonstop since last Sunday, so it definitely isn't a weekend project unless you have some help. And no, you probably can't tune it yourself unless you have some education or experience, but you can probably get it to a point where it runs enough to be driven, hopefully to a shop with a dyno.