Question for those with Megasquirt experience

[77crewcab]

I have been trying to read up on this system and keep getting information overload because of all the computer parts tech. My Father in Law is a electronics tech and will be assembling the kit for me while giving a walk through as to what everything is. The biggest confusion comes in trying to figure out what I actually need. I want to be able to run a TPI intake setup with it. What components do I actutally need to buy? And I still haven't figured out if I buy all the components myself at Radio Shack or buy a kit from Megasquirt? For those who have done it, can you clear it up for me?

 

[dyeager535]

I would tell you on the electronics side, stay away from radio shack except when you need that one piece in an emergency, as they tend to be way marked up.

Sorry I can't help you on the actual Megasquirt portion though. I know we've got a member or two (at least) running it.

 

[ryoken]

Blue85 and Seafarer76 run this iirc... they'll know a ton....

from what little research I've done, I've come to the conclusion that their kits are the way to go/start... not overly expensive... looks like you could do a pretty loaded system for under $500....

http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/...le-efi-system-pcb30-kit-black-case-p-119.html

I do know when I do mine in a year or 2, I want to run the most up-to-date, tricked out setup I can... just to have the system remain viable and relevant as long as possible...

 

[77crewcab]

Blue85 and Seafarer76 run this iirc... they'll know a ton....

from what little research I've done, I've come to the conclusion that their kits are the way to go/start... not overly expensive... looks like you could do a pretty loaded system for under $500....

http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/...le-efi-system-pcb30-kit-black-case-p-119.html

I do know when I do mine in a year or 2, I want to run the most up-to-date, tricked out setup I can... just to have the system remain viable and relevant as long as possible...

The diyautotune site is honestly the one that created the confusion for me. I did a search for the megeaquirt kit and that was the first site to come up. Once I finally found the actual megasquirt site a lot made more sense. From what I can tell here is what I need to get.

MSII kit
Stimulator kit
tuning cable
DB9 wiring harnes to
possibly the relay box kit or use another fuse/relay setup


One thing I saw on the megasquirt site was that you can do the MSII as a sort of piggyback to the TPI ecm and it all fits in the TPI ecm case. Would it be worth doing it this way or would a strait MSII setup be the way to go. One thing I am trying to do is compare doing the MSII versus converting the TPI to the LS1 pcm. So far it seems like the MSII is cheaper, but the LS1 pcm has some features included that I really want i.e. coil on plug, sequential fire, trans control. I know the megasquirt guys are working on adding these features but not quite ready yet. So right now it is sort of a toss up. Either go with the MSII system that doesn't have all the features I want right now but is cheaper, or spend more on the LS1 pcm conversion which has all the features I want right now.

 

[ryoken]

keep in mind the open format of MS allowing for continual updates, new features, etc...

 

[77crewcab]

keep in mind the open format of MS allowing for continual updates, new features, etc...

After weighing the pros/cons of each I have decided the Megasquirt setup is the right way to go. One main consideration is that I want to have the same type of system on both a SBC and a BBC. The only way to have with the LS1 system currently is to buy a Gen V/VI crate engine. The MSII will be able to work on both, is MUCH less expensive to put together, and the software is free. The MSII doesn't currently offer sequential injection but it is coming, same with coil on plug and trans control. So it seems to be the winner. Now I just need to get the kit ordered, assembled, and get it set up to test on my 350TPI. The only thing I see that isn't currently or soon to be supported is the drive by wire, but I can live without that, I just thought it would be a nice feature.

 

[dyeager535]

Perhaps you can make DBW better if you can tune it, but all the cars I've driven with DBW (non-performance cars FWIW) absolutely sucked. Throttle response was anything but.

I assume that DBW availability would facilitate very late model engine installations into older vehicles though?

 

[77crewcab]

Perhaps you can make DBW better if you can tune it, but all the cars I've driven with DBW (non-performance cars FWIW) absolutely sucked. Throttle response was anything but.

I assume that DBW availability would facilitate very late model engine installations into older vehicles though?

The guys at EFIconnection are the ones making the parts to swap the LS1 electronics onto the older genI TPI. With that they have also come up with a DBW throttle body for the TPI. The cruise control is built into the throttle body and really cleans things up. It is a cool option but not one that I just have to have. My main goal is the coil on plug, sequential fire, and possibly transcontrol.

http://www.eficonnection.com/eficonnection/default.aspx

 

[dyeager535]

That would clean up cruise, hadn't thought of that.

What do you get out of coil on plug? Has anyone documented the benefits?

I know sequential vs. batch on TPI is worth a whopping 5HP or so (probably depends on the engine) but I haven't seen anything documenting what happens on a Gen1 SBC when it's used. Obviously with some serious effort, and at least one injector per cylinder, you could tune individual cylinders.

Obviously these things have benefits, GM did it, but I temper that with the fact that the LS motors are quite dissimilar to the Gen1 and results may not be the same.

 

[77crewcab]

That would clean up cruise, hadn't thought of that.

What do you get out of coil on plug? Has anyone documented the benefits?

I know sequential vs. batch on TPI is worth a whopping 5HP or so (probably depends on the engine) but I haven't seen anything documenting what happens on a Gen1 SBC when it's used. Obviously with some serious effort, and at least one injector per cylinder, you could tune individual cylinders.

Obviously these things have benefits, GM did it, but I temper that with the fact that the LS motors are quite dissimilar to the Gen1 and results may not be the same.

I honestly look at it as the potential for stronger spark but I could be wrong. The more I think about it the less it matters, just a "cool" factor I guess. The MSII is looking better and better.