Home Tuning Vipec And Link G4 Skyline Plug In Ecus Thread .

[discopotato03]

I though rather than asking numerous questions about tuning these ECUs for newbys that having its own thread would be easier .

I gather quite a few have migrated from Apexi PFCs and the interface is totally different to the hand held or Datalogit .

Guilt Toy got into these early and had one thread running for a while . I'm pretty new to the ViPec though I know enough to get around in the software but not to an advanced level .

Hopefully people that know these computers intimately won't mind helping the rest of us out occasionally so we can learn something about engines and tuning .

Do what ever you will at your own risk but always consider the safety of yourself and others FIRST and at all times .

It's obviously not safe to drive and tune at the same time in public places and being caught doing so won't end well .

I believe the place for power tuning is on a dyno because with these there's a controlled environment so much less risk to life limb property and engine .

Also I've seen many threads turn into Link vs Vipec wars and these don't get anyone anywhere . People buy what they buy and use what they have so please daggers down so we can get where we want to be with our cars .

That aside like with most things theres different ways to achieve similar ends but often only a few or one way works best overall .

The Vipec/Link opens up many options or a group of options for doing lots of things , options you never had with a Power FC .

Showing specific settings or tables is a simple matter of using the snipping feature of Win 7 and saving an image you can load/post like I did with that Aux1 PWM map vs revs cam switch table .

From what I've seen there is enough sophistication with these computers to get good results provided the engine is physically capable of it . This means having cams and injectors etc capable of smooth running if thats what you want .

Floors open , cheers Adrian .

[KiwiRS4T]

Are you planning to copy some-one elses settings? Have you got a wideband afr meter and a decent knock detector and exhaust temp gauge?

[discopotato03]

Tech Edge WB3A2 wired in and correcting as per AFR target table . Bosch LSU 4.9 probe from memory .

No , not copying anyone elses maps . No to EGT and tuner said at this state of tune (engine) difficult to make it detonate on E70 .

As I said I'm not tuning the boost areas just the areas that make a road car - a road car round town . This is said to be difficult to do purely on a chassis dyno . I dunno , maybe people put up with average to poor drivability at less than WOT everywhere thinking it's unavoidable .

A

[KiwiRS4T]

Tech Edge WB3A2 wired in and correcting as per AFR target table . Bosch LSU 4.9 probe from memory .

No , not copying anyone elses maps . No to EGT and tuner said at this state of tune (engine) difficult to make it detonate on E70 .

As I said I'm not tuning the boost areas just the areas that make a road car - a road car round town . This is said to be difficult to do purely on a chassis dyno . I dunno , maybe people put up with average to poor drivability at less than WOT everywhere thinking it's unavoidable .

A

Not so - get another tuner.

[wolverine]

The tuner is fine Bob.

[discopotato03]

I am hoping this thread could be a place where people with these computers can share ideas and help each other where posible . I don't suggest anyone blindly load maps up and go blasting down the road . Obviously not everyone is a gun tuner or has a dyno right next door , some people like to have a go at doing some of their own tuning and there's been threads here for a long time about people DIYing PFCs .

A

[Guilt-Toy]

the first thing you need to do is learn how to set the ignition timing properly.

NEVER use the white loop on the wiring harness.

you must remove the coil, then tape a coil lead from the coil to the plug, then connect the timing light to the coil lead, on #1 of course. then you need to calibrate the ignition offset to be correct.

[discopotato03]

I didn't fit this system so didn't set the base timing etc . What happens if you do use the white loop ?

Cheers A .

[Guilt-Toy]

I didn't fit this system so didn't set the base timing etc . What happens if you do use the white loop ?

Cheers A .

then the timing can be out up to 10deg

[discopotato03]

Is it the same story with a factory std car ?

A .

[scotty nm35]

Yes.

Best way is always to use a timing gun off #1 plug lead.

[Guilt-Toy]

so.. one thing you should get stuck in your head when it comes to this ecu... say it out loud 20 times and you will never forget it....

Press F4 to store it.

F4it to store it.

x20.

then say it another 20 times.

thing is with this ecu / software you must press f4 to send any changes you have made to the map or in the software to be saved.

Don't laugh... it took me losing a tune before i finally got it stuck in my thick head

if you are unsure if you have stored it or not, press f4 and store it anyway... it only takes 2 seconds to do a store and it does not hurt the ecu to store it 100 times in a day.

hope this hint helps.

cheers

[Guilt-Toy]

So... lets continue.

F1 is your best friend. and the good news is the Vi-pec online help system is one of the best online help systems I have ever seen on any ecu platform.

You can pretty much click on ANY option in the software ANYWHERE and simply press F1, OR right click and click "whats this???"

then the help related to what you have highlighted will come with extensive information on what it does, how it works, and sometimes even some examples on how to do it, and also links to other related help topics!

its simply amazing, you can pretty much teach yourself how to tune in this help file that is that good.

[Guilt-Toy]

Once you have connected your timing light the correct way i have mentioned above, its a good idea to to put the engine on TDC and then mark 0deg on the pulley with some white out, also mark the point on the engine cover so its easier to see when doing the timing.

Once you have done this and the timing light is running, you will be able to see the timing. On the RB it goes from left to right.

| | | | | | |
0 5 10 15 20 25 30

If you look at this pic you can see the ignition timing calibrate screen.

Some tips in this screen,

1:) this is what the ignition timing is being locked to, so atm its set to 10deg, that means the ecu is running the engine at 10deg. So if you shine the light on the pulley it should flash when the marker is at 10deg, if not then the timing is not correct and you need to adjust the offset value.

2:) this is the offset value, if you find that the light is flashing on 5 then you should remove 5 from this value and you can pretty much see the timing light flashing / changing on the fly.

Keep adjusting the offset until the igntion timing on the pulley is the same as what you have in the software. Once the offset is correct you can pretty much change the number 1 value to 0 or 20 or even 30 and the timing light will show the correct value on the pulley.

The biggest tip i have for this screen is that you MUST and i mean you MUST press enter after changing the value in any of the box's for it to be sent to the ecu and for it to come into effect, once you have done this the background will change to blue.

Once you have set the timing press DONE then press F4it to store it.

before you removing the timing light, go to the tuning menu up the top, and click on "run time values" then click on "ignition" this will tell you the current live ignition value the ecu is at "IGN ANGLE" , it might be at 18 or something, just quickly shoot the gun and double check that its calibrated correctly.

then press F4. and store it!

The calibrate menu is under the menu "triggers" -> Calibrate, then highlight "Set base timing" and press enter.

[Joshbigt62r]

Your the best guilt toy. Thanks for spending the time to teach us how to set our timing correctly and not off the silly white loop. Also on showing how to set up the Vipec correctly with timing ect.

Cheers josh

[discopotato03]

I will get to that but can't bend over engine bays ATM .Voltarin makes life livable .

That aside I had a look into injection timing because mine was set to a single point - 360 crank degrees at end of injection .

I noticed a table option so I opened that up and when you click on the table icon you get this .

I have had a few lifetime mechanics tell me that sequential injection timing doesn't matter and I suppose beyond a certain rev/gas speed point it becomes less important . My theory is that at low engine speeds the stop go of air and exhaust through the manifolds and valves may need a bit more precise injection timing to get the best use of the fuel injected .

Theory aside , and because yep I'm well used to the F3 and F4 keys , I used their generic injection timing table and if anything it does feel better at part throttle round the burbs revs and speeds . The TE Wideband display , the smallish rectangular LCD numeric one , shows the AFR changes with varying loads (MAP) being a bit more inline with what I'd expect to see ie higher pressure/load with increasing AFR and vice versa but reacting a bit faster in both directions than in single point injection timing mode .

One thing I struggle with is slight rich spikes when backing off particularly at smallish throttle openings low revs .

Ultimately fuel consumption shows how things are and I reckon if drivability and consumption is good then yo've gone in the right directions . As you know I burn EFlex and the tune doesn't have to be very far out to being going through lots of it , the best I ever got out of it consumption wise was with the PFC Z32 and no closed loop control . It's frustrating not knowing what settings the Datalogit was using where we don't have access to like injection timing etc .

A .

[discopotato03]

Compared to the tuners initial settings I changed a couple of reference modes around so the plug in controls a few things differently . Firstly cam solenoid control went from TPS to MAP and accel load from MAP to TPS .

The next one I'm thinking about is the warm up enrichment which at the moment is TP referenced . I'd like to have a go at using manifold pressure as the reference because it doesn't take a lot of throttle movement to reach 100 kpa/atmo pressure so MAP load may give better mixture control .

Also I find that once it's fired up it doesn't need AFRs like 0.85 L to idle as well as it's going to . Off idle is a different story and you probably have a scale of around 40-100 kpa to work with .

Guilt one thing you may be able to tell me is how to turn some of these single row scales into tables because I think having two dimensional control of some things would be better than just one . I know there are limits to how many tables you can have and I have a few free .

Thanks for your input , cheers Adrian .

[Lithium]

I will get to that but can't bend over engine bays ATM .Voltarin makes life livable .

That aside I had a look into injection timing because mine was set to a single point - 360 crank degrees at end of injection .

I noticed a table option so I opened that up and when you click on the table icon you get this .

I have had a few lifetime mechanics tell me that sequential injection timing doesn't matter and I suppose beyond a certain rev/gas speed point it becomes less important . My theory is that at low engine speeds the stop go of air and exhaust through the manifolds and valves may need a bit more precise injection timing to get the best use of the fuel injected .

Optimising injection timing can give interesting results

[discopotato03]

Yes went there with no real positive results - needs to be done on a dyno I think .

I've been experimenting with a couple of the accel settings sens and decay . The sensitivity was set at 30 and I kept getting rich spikes on uneaven road surfaces because my foot was bouncing on the loud pedal . I'm down to 23 ATM with no drivability issues and more consistent "steady" throttle AFR . Was spiking from ~ 0.94L to 0.87-0.85 .

I will try slightly increasing the decay and its up 2 from 30 ATM .

Be interesting to see if it improves consumption , cheers A .

[Guilt-Toy]

Adrian, some functions you cannot adjust the axis on, if you right click and are unable to adjust axis properties then it is usually not supported...

which ones are you trying to adjust ?