New Power FC installed........

[USRB25S13]

Well if anyone remebers from my last post I got a new PFC and it wasn't working for me. So I sent it back to Japan only to find I was missing a power feed in my ECU connectors.

Now I got it back today and hooked it up. Car fired up with the check engine light illuminated. I went to the setup menu and turned off the boost controllers option. First thing I noticed is the idle was funny. It sounds like a miss but after monitering the Ing timming I see it goes from 18-20 BTDC and drops to 3-9 BTDC. It's like the ECU is retarding timing maybee to get the idle down? I did adjust the idle screw up to keep the car from stalling when it comes down from a high rev. Maybe the idle control valve is shut all the way but the ECU is trying to get the idle down by retarding the timing?

Also what kinda timing do I want to see under boost? When crusing around I see 30-38 BTDC. I haven't gotten on the car much yet for I want to get it to a dyno ASAP. I also find that when crusing under light throttle the throttle feels like an on/off switch and if I get it just right the car will bog off and on. Should I look at My TPS voltage? What should it be at closed throttle?

Where can I find a manuel in English?

[Sydneykid]

Well if anyone remebers from my last post I got a new PFC and it wasn't working for me. So I sent it back to Japan only to find I was missing a power feed in my ECU connectors.

Now I got it back today and hooked it up. Car fired up with the check engine light illuminated. I went to the setup menu and turned off the boost controllers option. First thing I noticed is the idle was funny. It sounds like a miss but after monitering the Ing timming I see it goes from 18-20 BTDC and drops to 3-9 BTDC. It's like the ECU is retarding timing maybee to get the idle down? I did adjust the idle screw up to keep the car from stalling when it comes down from a high rev. Maybe the idle control valve is shut all the way but the ECU is trying to get the idle down by retarding the timing?  

Also what kinda timing do I want to see under boost? When crusing around I see 30-38 BTDC. I haven't gotten on the car much yet for I want to get it to a dyno ASAP. I also find that when crusing under light throttle the throttle feels like an on/off switch and if I get it just right the car will bog off and on. Should I look at My TPS voltage? What should it be at closed throttle?

Where can I find a manuel in English?

Hi, try

www.apexi-usa.com

30 degrees is OK in some conditions, but 38 is not. Monitor the knock levels on the Commander, that will tell you if there is too much timing. The Power FC takes some time to "learn" the engine characteristics. Lastly don't drive it too hard with the "out of the box" tuning, get it onto a dyno and, if you do nothing else, check the A/F ratios.

Hope that helps

[krawler]

Just for a bit of info ...

We were having idly and low rpm problems associated with our stock ECU a while ago.... Took it to autotech and they diagnosed it as missing a power feed or two. I believe there are meant to be 4 total, ours had 2? We had half what was required anyway. All the problems were fixed up when they repaired this.

I dont know how relevant this is, what with our problems being pre-existing and on a stock ECU, but anyway.

[USRB25S13]

Idle right now is better. I set the idle to 1100 and it holds it steady. It will still shut off if you let the revs drop to quick but it did the same with the stock ECU.

Now the weird crusing problem is pretty bad. It's very hard to go down the highway at a constant speed. The car surges on/off a bit. It's not sudden but very noticalbe to me. I don't think my passangers can tell but with my foot on the throttle at a constant speed the car will feel like the brakes are being lightly applied and then released. It's the feels the worst around 3000 RPM's which is highway speed in 5th gear. One idea I have is it may have somthing to do with going between open/closed loop. Is there anything on the PFC to control it or moniter it.

My timing maps where as high as 42 BTDC. I set them back to 30 degrees for now. With the knock moniters on I didn't get much of a reading. But I turned the timing back just to be safe. The A/F's look good. 11.5:1 and richer under boost.

[Sydneykid]

Idle right now is better. I set the idle to 1100 and it holds it steady. It will still shut off if you let the revs drop to quick but it did the same with the stock ECU.  

Now the weird crusing problem is pretty bad. It's very hard to go down the highway at a constant speed. The car surges on/off a bit. It's not sudden but very noticalbe to me. I don't think my passangers can tell but with my foot on the throttle at a constant speed the car will feel like the brakes are being lightly applied and then released. It's the feels the worst around 3000 RPM's which is highway speed in 5th gear. One idea I have is it may have somthing to do with going between open/closed loop. Is there anything on the PFC to control it or moniter it.

My timing maps where as high as 42 BTDC. I set them back to 30 degrees for now. With the knock moniters on I didn't get much of a reading. But I turned the timing back just to be safe. The A/F's look good. 11.5:1 and richer under boost.

I don't know enough about your mods to comment too much, other than 3,000rpm is where you get a boost ramp up. It is past the normal point of swap from closed loop to open. RB's are very sensitive to A/F ratios and ignition timing at that time. It is easy to pick on the dyno with part throttle loadings, spend a little time and you can easily tune it out.

Hope that helps

[USRB25S13]

Well My setup doesn't make full boost till after 4,000 RPM's. I am running a 56 Trim T3/T4 with a stage 5 exhaust wheel .63 housing. So at 3K there isn't any boost. What kinda A/F's should I target while crusing? Right now it's 14.2-15.1 and it goes back and fourth.

As for the manuel Apexi-USA doesn't have a manuel to navitgate the Comander menu. It just shows how to hook it up.

[Sydneykid]

Well My setup doesn't make full boost till after 4,000 RPM's. I am running a 56 Trim T3/T4 with a stage 5 exhaust wheel .63 housing. So at 3K there isn't any boost. What kinda A/F's should I target while crusing? Right now it's 14.2-15.1 and it goes back and fourth.

As for the manuel Apexi-USA doesn't have a manuel to navitgate the Comander menu. It just shows how to hook it up.

PM me your email address and I will email it to you, it is in Acrobat format.

Is your turbo plain bearing or ball bearing?

[USRB25S13]

You got PM

I was out doing some test pulls at lunch. First thing I checked was my A/F ratio. It was nice and rich compaired to the stock ECU. With the stock ECU I was seeing 11.5-11.1. Now with the PFC in place I see 10.8-10.5 So I got plenty of fuel. I also saw that the knock wasn't going above 13 on the PFC display. So I layed into it in 3rd gear till about 7K. Knock was still below 13 and car felt pretty strong. Injector pulse max was 85.8% with my A/F ratio in the mid 10's. I did another pull and looked at the moniter. It showed knock at 83!! I guess the stock SMIC must be getting heat soaked or my timing is a little bit advanced? I am only running 10 PSI BTW.

So could somone explain the #'s for the injectors on the map? I assume lowering the # will lower the amount of fuel in that cell. Sorry for all the questions it's just being in the US there isn't anyone here who would have a clue of how to tune this setup. But I do have my own resources as to tuning myself (Wideband, Ears, and a good friend to ride with me to moniter things)

I still haven't taken care of the weird surging problem at cruising. My TPS voltage is constant, Air flow isn't jumping. The only thing I can say that is wierd is the A/F goes from 13.8:1-16:1 while crusing which I think it a bit much. I think with the Stock ECU it was going from 14:1-15:1. I don't know how I can adjust that though since it's in closed loop. Any ideas?

[BlueRB240]

Do you guys have 93 gas? or 91? if it's 91 you better keep the timming at 22max. We only get the best piss water 91 octain here in SoCali.

[clarkey]

PM me your email address and I will email it to you, it is in Acrobat format.

Hi SK

sorry to be presumptuous, but if you have instructions for the commander could you please also email them to me as I have absolutely no idea. Thanks mate

Regards Alan

[email protected]

[Sydneykid]

I still haven't taken care of the weird surging problem at cruising. My TPS voltage is constant, Air flow isn't jumping. The only thing I can say that is wierd is the A/F goes from 13.8:1-16:1 while crusing which I think it a bit much. I think with the Stock ECU it was going from 14:1-15:1. I don't know how I can adjust that though since it's in closed loop. Any ideas?

It's not closed loop, put the Commander in Monitor mode and note the map location. Then adjust (Setings) that point on the map. Simple.

[riggaP]

Do you guys have 93 gas? or 91? if it's 91 you better keep the timming at 22max. We only get the best piss water 91 octain here in SoCali.

98 here in Melbourne

[USRB25S13]

What is the F/B control O2 in the function menu? When I turn it off the car doesn't surge as much but it won't idle at all. Also what does the little Jappens writing mean next to the different functions? Is it on/off? I know when I first started the car the check engine light was on and when I went in and turned the Boost option to what I think is off then the light went out. I left the other things alone (Knock, injector warening) But funny thing is I have never seen the knock turn on the check engine light. At what point is that supose to happen?

BlueRB240: I am using 94 Oct fuel. Gotta love living in PA.

[Steve]

closed loop for O2, the characters are on/off - if you dont have the boost control fitted, then you would have to turn it off for the engine to work.

the car should idle with the O2 feedback on or off. You should turn the O2 feedback off for tuning. the O2 sensor could need replacing.

previous question, the TPS should read around 0.48 - o.5v closed. 0.4 to 0.6 indicates throttle shut. The AAC valve, I found, works best when left as open as possible, until the idle starts going above where you have it set. You should be able to get a good idle below 1100rpm, mine is fine with 256/264 cams at 900rpm, and there are people around running larger than that and still getting a good idle.

the adjustments in the fuel map are correction to the base power fc fuel map, so as you guessed raising the number means more fuel. To adjust the base map you need the power excel software only available throught Apexi authorised dealers

I think that just about covers the questions.

[USRB25S13]

Ya that covers most questions I have soo far. Thanks

Now as for the stalling problem when the engine revs down. I have an HKS SSQ BOV on the car and ever since I put my larger turbo on it stalls. I can't get the BOV back into the intake because I made my own intake and my external wastegate gets in the way of the recirculation pipe.

[USRB25S13]

Ok I turned off the F/B control and the car feels much better at crusing. I guess there isn't any way to control what the ECU does in Closed Loop mode? The O2 sensor seems to be working properly. The voltage goes up and down like it should while driving in closed loop.

[Steve]

I changed my O2 sensor, and the car was alot smoother at cruise. Voltage was doing what it was supposed to, but what made me suspect was that the voltage came down during cold start, to 0.02-0.00V. Once I fitted the new sensor, the voltage stayed at around 0.92-1.00V during cold start - so the old one was obviously knackered.

It will make a difference to economy, as the car goes into closed loop at idle and cruise - if you arent worried about that, then not much point in changing it I guess.

Another thing I found with a bigger turbo, is that reversion out of the AFM was greater - probably due to a larger inducer and more air flow, but anyway, I fixed that by replacing the mesh on the AFM. If you have both meshes, another thing to try would be perhaps to tension up the BOV a little.

Also, not sure where you have fuel cut recovery rpm set, but mine is 1200 and 1250 - might make a difference.

good luck.

[Zebbie]

You can find various apexi manuals here : Russian Site for manuals

Hope this helps.

:headspin:

- Zeb