Ecu Upgrade R33 Gtst

[fletch63]

I just tried one of Toshis famous stage 1 ECU's and it is amazing the difference it makes

I have a new car!

Heaps smother power

Hardly any lag

Just blew away an EVO 9 on the way home from work,

Best money I have ever spent on a car

The only issue was when I first put the new ECU in it was pinging badly

So I retarded timing with no timing light until ping dissappeared

Goes great

My question is without knowing timing (I think it's way retarded because the adjustment is way to one end

Is this problem?

I understand the symptoms of retarded timing to be lack of power

I certainly don't have this

If it was what problem could it cause

Also if it is still not retarded enough and is still detonating and I can't hear it I know this is a problem

I will try to get timing light soon

I am a cheap arse and can't justify the funds for a dyne tune

Any help to clarify things would be great

Sorry I am new to the turbo tuning thing

By the way thumbs up for Toshi

[mad082]

there are a few possible causes for the pinging. 1: leaning out, 2: too much timing, 3: too hot spark plugs. each of these has possible causes for it so it isn't such a simple problem to solve.

if the car wasn't pinging before the ecu then that rules out a lot of possibilities such as it leaning out because of a bad fuel pump (not completely ruled out though) or too hot spark plugs.

i'm guessing that you bought the ecu second hand and that it wasn't done specifically for your car (or simply sent the ecu off for a generic tune). the down side to this is that you aren't running the car at it's optimum settings. you may be maaking more power than you would with a proper tune, but this is at the expense of damage to your engine. this is because the timing may be too advanced for your engine (as you discovered) and/or the AFR's might be too lean, which may also have contributed to the pinging. it may well be that if you bought the ecu second hand that it was tuned for bigger injectors, so it is leaning out with your smaller injectors (if it was only tuned for slightly bigger injectors then it would still run, but not as good as it should, but you might not notice because to an extent leaner = more power. also if it was tuned on a car running cold plugs (such as heat range 7) and you have plugs that are heat range 5 then there will be much more heat in the cylinders.

first thing you should do is get a timing light to see what you have backed the timing down to. you should also book it in for a dyno run. they will put a wideband o2 sensor in when they do it so they will see whether it is leaning out or not. might be worth also getting a run done with your stock ecu (if you still have it) to see how rich it was. if it wasn't too rich then you may have a fuel pump issue.

[Toshi]

Hi

I sent PM to you.

Did you read ?

Please go to dyno shop then check and adjust base timing and also check AFR ,engine knock , power curve etc.(adjust timing to factory timing 15 degrees)

Because I do not know your cars condition.

Normally you will get around 200kw (depends on dyno).

[fletch63]

there are a few possible causes for the pinging. 1: leaning out, 2: too much timing, 3: too hot spark plugs. each of these has possible causes for it so it isn't such a simple problem to solve.

if the car wasn't pinging before the ecu then that rules out a lot of possibilities such as it leaning out because of a bad fuel pump (not completely ruled out though) or too hot spark plugs.

i'm guessing that you bought the ecu second hand and that it wasn't done specifically for your car (or simply sent the ecu off for a generic tune). the down side to this is that you aren't running the car at it's optimum settings. you may be maaking more power than you would with a proper tune, but this is at the expense of damage to your engine. this is because the timing may be too advanced for your engine (as you discovered) and/or the AFR's might be too lean, which may also have contributed to the pinging. it may well be that if you bought the ecu second hand that it was tuned for bigger injectors, so it is leaning out with your smaller injectors (if it was only tuned for slightly bigger injectors then it would still run, but not as good as it should, but you might not notice because to an extent leaner = more power. also if it was tuned on a car running cold plugs (such as heat range 7) and you have plugs that are heat range 5 then there will be much more heat in the cylinders.

first thing you should do is get a timing light to see what you have backed the timing down to. you should also book it in for a dyno run. they will put a wideband o2 sensor in when they do it so they will see whether it is leaning out or not. might be worth also getting a run done with your stock ecu (if you still have it) to see how rich it was. if it wasn't too rich then you may have a fuel pump issue.

Hi mate,

Sounds like you know your shit,

I have copper BCPR6es gapped to 0.8 running about 11lbs boost

Standard turbo FMIC big fuel pump 3" exhaust everything else standard ......oh pod and cold air

ECU was pre-tuned for These mods

Original ECU just started to ping at 11lbs so I just backed the boost off a little

Hoped this ECU would fix it

if I take it to dyne what would they do

Set timing to 15 and it will probably ping

Then how would they change AFR ?

Isn't it in the ECU tune which is SET

Will they then sell me a SAFC or equivalent..??

Any suggestions..

[Toshi]

If engine will knock or AFR too lean or too rich on dyno please ask to tuner what rpm is knocking.

I will send new chip.

[fletch63]

Hi

I sent PM to you.

Did you read ?

Please go to dyno shop then check and adjust base timing and also check AFR ,engine knock , power curve etc.(adjust timing to factory timing 15 degrees)

Because I do not know your cars condition.

Normally you will get around 200kw (depends on dyno).

Hi Toshi

Yes I did read your messages

By the way thanks for all your help

I appreciate your patience as I am still learning about these cars

I just can"t see the point of paying money for someone to set timing to 15 degrees for me

And then tells me it pings and I need to buy more stuff

I gradually retarded timing until no more Pinging

Tested by HARD driving

I have driven approx 200 kms now and under all conditions it is perfect

Idles better than ever (about 850)

At low speed in high gears has great torque when accelerating

At high speed it is great

No pinging to be heard under any load I've put it

It flies! Is now like a new car to drive.......CAN NOT RECOMMEND THIS ECU UPGRADE MORE HIGHLY

What damage could I be doing!

[fletch63]

If engine will knock or AFR too lean or too rich on dyno please ask to tuner what rpm is knocking.

I will send new chip.

Thanks Toshi

I might go to Hyperdrive when I can afford it

They are very good

I will let u know how I go

[Toshi]

Please tell me How did you check engine knock?

If you do not have S-AFC , knock monitor or microphone you can not check engine knock.

Engine knock will piston and cylinder crack , melt etc.

Also AFR too lean will piston and cylinder crack , melt etc.

Please send PM.

[mad082]

bad pinging you can hear. don't need any special equipment to hear bad pinging.

if it was pinging at 11psi on the stock ecu then it was leaning out, or it had a buttload of timing to start with. at 11psi on the stock ecu it should be rich as hell and not that much timing. to put it into perspective, a good tune at that sort of boost level should gain you about 15 to 20kw, so the stock ecu should have plenty of safety margin. definately get it on a dyno ASAP to see what's going on.

[PM-R33]

One quick thing I will always mention in threads like this as inexperience can somtimes cloud the truth.

Are you sure the car is actually pinging and you are not simply mistaking it with missfiring?

Might not be the case and you actually do know what a missfire and detonation sound like. However many times I have come across people that hear a missfire and call it detonation.

[mad082]

you may be right there phil, but does backing the timing off help with misfiring? i honestly don't know

[fletch63]

One quick thing I will always mention in threads like this as inexperience can somtimes cloud the truth.

Are you sure the car is actually pinging and you are not simply mistaking it with missfiring?

Might not be the case and you actually do know what a missfire and detonation sound like. However many times I have come across people that hear a missfire and call it detonation.

no def pinging

Sounds like rattling

sounds like all cars sound pinging

I used to just spin the dizzy but this is a bit more complicated

It all seems great just really just want to know why the adjustment is so one ended

Am I running too retarded say 10 BTDC and will this cause damage

Would that be possible if it is going so good

I have had it 4 years and def never gone so quick

[fletch63]

bad pinging you can hear. don't need any special equipment to hear bad pinging.

if it was pinging at 11psi on the stock ecu then it was leaning out, or it had a buttload of timing to start with. at 11psi on the stock ecu it should be rich as hell and not that much timing. to put it into perspective, a good tune at that sort of boost level should gain you about 15 to 20kw, so the stock ecu should have plenty of safety margin. definately get it on a dyno ASAP to see what's going on.

I will call Andrew @ Hyperdrive on Monday see if he do me a good price

Thanks for your advice

[mad082]

all you want is a power run. don't bother using the word tuning or anything like that when speaking to them, since that is all they will really be doing anyway.

[fletch63]

all you want is a power run. don't bother using the word tuning or anything like that when speaking to them, since that is all they will really be doing anyway.

Thanks mate

That's what I"ll ask for