Porsche Boxster 986 - engine swap project
Discussion
Thanks Pete. 
Before condemning my Audi ECU to the scrap pile I flashed the standard map back on it. My friend had changed the injector and MAF housing sizes in the parameters so we could get it started but it turns out this had caused problems with some other code in the ECU as once the standard map file was back on, all the error codes I had previously been pulling my hair out over are now gone. The drive-by-wire throttle is working perfectly. It' a relief to see it working.
I could keep the Audi ECU since it's all wired up but the decision has been made to go standalone. I've gone for an EcuMaster EMU, it's got plenty of features and it is very good value for money compared to other similar ECU's. I've bought the additional drive-by-wire unit and a Bluetooth adaptor which can display all the data on my phone/tablet, this will definitely come in handy as it means I can start mapping without needing to worry about getting the Boxster gauges working straight away.
The wiring loom was too long before and it was all coiled up in the boot as it seemed like too much hassle to shorted it when using the Audi ECU but now I have an excuse to take a huge section out of it when wiring the new ECU in. It sounds easier than it is as there are loads of splice points inside the loom which I'll need to re-do. It shouldn't take me long to wire up as I've spent so long looking at wiring schematics in the last month they are practically burnt into my vision like arc-eye.
Before condemning my Audi ECU to the scrap pile I flashed the standard map back on it. My friend had changed the injector and MAF housing sizes in the parameters so we could get it started but it turns out this had caused problems with some other code in the ECU as once the standard map file was back on, all the error codes I had previously been pulling my hair out over are now gone. The drive-by-wire throttle is working perfectly. It' a relief to see it working.
I could keep the Audi ECU since it's all wired up but the decision has been made to go standalone. I've gone for an EcuMaster EMU, it's got plenty of features and it is very good value for money compared to other similar ECU's. I've bought the additional drive-by-wire unit and a Bluetooth adaptor which can display all the data on my phone/tablet, this will definitely come in handy as it means I can start mapping without needing to worry about getting the Boxster gauges working straight away.
The wiring loom was too long before and it was all coiled up in the boot as it seemed like too much hassle to shorted it when using the Audi ECU but now I have an excuse to take a huge section out of it when wiring the new ECU in. It sounds easier than it is as there are loads of splice points inside the loom which I'll need to re-do. It shouldn't take me long to wire up as I've spent so long looking at wiring schematics in the last month they are practically burnt into my vision like arc-eye.
Edited by Escy on Friday 9th September 19:40
Excuse my ignorance but if you have ECU from manufacturer A and ECU from manufacturer B which dont talk the same language, how does the EcuMaster EMU bridge the gap?
Does it read each ECU and pair up the various settings itself or do you have to program it manually?
If you have to program it manually, how on earth do you know if you have captured all the needed settings, maps, etc?
Does it read each ECU and pair up the various settings itself or do you have to program it manually?
If you have to program it manually, how on earth do you know if you have captured all the needed settings, maps, etc?
I've finished up wiring in the new ECU but I've got a region lock problem with my laptop which is stopping me flashing a basemap. Hopefully I'll have a decent update soon.
KTF, i'm just using the EcuMaster EMU to control the engine. It's very configurable, I can invert outputs, adjust signals, etc. There isn't much I need it to integrate with, basically the Rev counter, engine management light, fan control and speedo, things like the oil light, low coolant etc are wired directly to the dash.
KTF, i'm just using the EcuMaster EMU to control the engine. It's very configurable, I can invert outputs, adjust signals, etc. There isn't much I need it to integrate with, basically the Rev counter, engine management light, fan control and speedo, things like the oil light, low coolant etc are wired directly to the dash.
I've got the new ECU wired up. I was lucky enough to pick up an RS4 basemap from a guy called Michele who works for Dutter Racing in Austria. First thing was to get the DBW throttle set-up correctly, i'm using the original Porsche pedal sensor rather than an Audi one. I've not used any software like this before and it's quite a steep learning curve, I was having problems with the throttle plate working the wrong direction (closed with the pedal depressed). Michele who sorted out the map helped me out massively, he logged onto my laptop remotely and set it all up for me, it took a while as I had the wrong firmware on the ECU causing some problems. Technology is awesome when someone in Austria can fix your car through the internet. 
Here is a little video of the DBW throttle working. Not really that impressive but it feels like a triumph after all the troubles i've had in the past.
https://youtu.be/XzDL8D5ptCw
I should be able to try and start it up soon. I've noticed an oil leak in the middle of the Vee of the engine so i'm going to take the inlet manifold off to investigate before I start it up.
Here is a little video of the DBW throttle working. Not really that impressive but it feels like a triumph after all the troubles i've had in the past.
https://youtu.be/XzDL8D5ptCw
I should be able to try and start it up soon. I've noticed an oil leak in the middle of the Vee of the engine so i'm going to take the inlet manifold off to investigate before I start it up.
Escy said:
...... he logged onto my laptop remotely and set it all up for me, it took a while as I had the wrong firmware on the ECU causing some problems. Technology is awesome when someone in Austria can fix your car through the internet.
Here is a little video of the DBW throttle working. Not really that impressive but it feels like a triumph after all the troubles i've had in the past.
https://youtu.be/XzDL8D5ptCw
^^^^That's cool! Here is a little video of the DBW throttle working. Not really that impressive but it feels like a triumph after all the troubles i've had in the past.
https://youtu.be/XzDL8D5ptCw
RC1807 said:
Escy said:
...... he logged onto my laptop remotely and set it all up for me, it took a while as I had the wrong firmware on the ECU causing some problems. Technology is awesome when someone in Austria can fix your car through the internet.
Here is a little video of the DBW throttle working. Not really that impressive but it feels like a triumph after all the troubles i've had in the past.
https://youtu.be/XzDL8D5ptCw
^^^^That's cool! Here is a little video of the DBW throttle working. Not really that impressive but it feels like a triumph after all the troubles i've had in the past.
https://youtu.be/XzDL8D5ptCw
It's small triumphs like that which help restore motivation in larger, more complex projects. Good work!
Another bit of homebrew fabrication...
I wanted to make a brace that ties the rear suspension subframes together, apparently it makes a big difference on a standard car as it keeps the geometry of the rear suspension correct during hard cornering. I've got wider rear tyres and the Quaife so want to make the most of it. There are a couple of aftermarket braces out there but they wouldn't fit as my gearbox sits lower in the chassis and my exhaust runs through the same area so I decided to make one. I had an old rear strut brace kicking about in the garage from an Ek9 I broke for parts years ago so I decided to see if I could use it.
To get the angles correct so I had the clearance I needed I had to chop it up into 5 parts, I also needed to change the brackets about. The brace is made from aluminium and I don't have the equipment to weld it so I had to come up with another way to put it back together. It's hollow inside and I happened to have a V-coil kit the right size for it so I tapped the threads, fitted the inserts and put it all back together with studs holding it all together. I then finished it off with some JB weld. I guess it's a little unorthodox but I am pleased with it considering I didn't have a clue how I was going to do it when I started cutting it up.
I got it back from the powder coaters today. It won't actually be seen when the car is done as there is an alloy breast plate that bolts under it. The clearance is tight in a few places, there was a couple of times while I was making it I thought I might be wasting my time.
I wanted to make a brace that ties the rear suspension subframes together, apparently it makes a big difference on a standard car as it keeps the geometry of the rear suspension correct during hard cornering. I've got wider rear tyres and the Quaife so want to make the most of it. There are a couple of aftermarket braces out there but they wouldn't fit as my gearbox sits lower in the chassis and my exhaust runs through the same area so I decided to make one. I had an old rear strut brace kicking about in the garage from an Ek9 I broke for parts years ago so I decided to see if I could use it.
To get the angles correct so I had the clearance I needed I had to chop it up into 5 parts, I also needed to change the brackets about. The brace is made from aluminium and I don't have the equipment to weld it so I had to come up with another way to put it back together. It's hollow inside and I happened to have a V-coil kit the right size for it so I tapped the threads, fitted the inserts and put it all back together with studs holding it all together. I then finished it off with some JB weld. I guess it's a little unorthodox but I am pleased with it considering I didn't have a clue how I was going to do it when I started cutting it up.
I got it back from the powder coaters today. It won't actually be seen when the car is done as there is an alloy breast plate that bolts under it. The clearance is tight in a few places, there was a couple of times while I was making it I thought I might be wasting my time.
I'm using a chargecooler system on my car. For anyone that doesn't know, a charge cooler system uses water to cool the hot charge air from the turbo. It comprises of an air to water radiator mounted at the front, a water pump, a charge cooler core and a header tank, it uses it's own coolant, separate from the engine.
I've not had any experience with a chargecooler system before so I looked around at what others have done. It seemed that the majority of people that use one tend to generally be disappointed by it's performance when compared to an intercooler, there are lots of things to consider and it's difficult thing to get right as you need the pump as low as possible and the header tank at the highest point, it's easier said then done when trying to find places to fit things and it not look crap.
There isn't much space at the front of a Boxster, it's impressive how Porsche have mounted the radiators, they've made the most out of the available airflow with some nice ducting. I don't want to mess with the shrouds as it's not like i'm going to be able to design anything better. Being a Boxster S, it has the extra radiator in the middle. Most Boxsters that are turbocharged use this centre radiator as the charge cooler radiator, I spoke to someone who tried it, the verdict was "fine on the street, won't cope on track". With that in mind I decided to go a different route and fit a pair of radiators either side in front of the engine radiators. I bought a pair of Polo radiators but they were too big, I then bought a pair of classic Mini radiators but they were also too big. I looked into large oil cooler radiators, quad bike and motorbike radiators but couldn't find anything the size I wanted so I thought I may as well see if I could use the air conditioning condensers (modified to take larger pipes).
I ran the pipework where the old a/c pipes used to be, up over the front arch liner, under the floor and into the boot through the air vent. I've put 6 bleed points in the various high points of the pipework.
I initially bought a Bosch pump (the one used on the Mk1 Focus RS) but took some advice that it wasn't going to be up to the job. I started looking at other options and it looked like the Pierburg pumps are the best performers, I'm using a CWA-50 which is controlled by a tiny-CWA from Tecomotive. It will allow me to have the pump speed controlled by the coolant temperature, no point in blasting coolant around at full speed if i'm sat in traffic. I have to say, Tobias at Tecomotive was extremely helpful.
The chargecooler core was mounted in the boot, I went for a pretty large one. I bought a header tank from the US, there aren't many options I found in the UK. The tank is 5.5 litres, the more water capacity, the longer it will take to warm up. I don't know what the total capacity is, would probably say around 15 litres. I wish I could weld alloy so I could design my own bits as using off the shelf parts has made for a compromise. The tank should be the highest point of the system but I can't mount it any higher as sit's under the rear light and that's pretty much the only place it was going to fit. As the highest point is the chargecooler, i've drilled a hole and added a bleed screw that i'll use to top the system up, the cap on the tank will stay closed. You can see the Tecomotive pump controller in the picture, it's the red square that's by the expansion tank, it'll be mounted into the boot carpet.
It's taken me a while putting it all together, i'm please with how the install looks, hopefully i'm pleased with the results.
I've not had any experience with a chargecooler system before so I looked around at what others have done. It seemed that the majority of people that use one tend to generally be disappointed by it's performance when compared to an intercooler, there are lots of things to consider and it's difficult thing to get right as you need the pump as low as possible and the header tank at the highest point, it's easier said then done when trying to find places to fit things and it not look crap.
There isn't much space at the front of a Boxster, it's impressive how Porsche have mounted the radiators, they've made the most out of the available airflow with some nice ducting. I don't want to mess with the shrouds as it's not like i'm going to be able to design anything better. Being a Boxster S, it has the extra radiator in the middle. Most Boxsters that are turbocharged use this centre radiator as the charge cooler radiator, I spoke to someone who tried it, the verdict was "fine on the street, won't cope on track". With that in mind I decided to go a different route and fit a pair of radiators either side in front of the engine radiators. I bought a pair of Polo radiators but they were too big, I then bought a pair of classic Mini radiators but they were also too big. I looked into large oil cooler radiators, quad bike and motorbike radiators but couldn't find anything the size I wanted so I thought I may as well see if I could use the air conditioning condensers (modified to take larger pipes).
I ran the pipework where the old a/c pipes used to be, up over the front arch liner, under the floor and into the boot through the air vent. I've put 6 bleed points in the various high points of the pipework.
I initially bought a Bosch pump (the one used on the Mk1 Focus RS) but took some advice that it wasn't going to be up to the job. I started looking at other options and it looked like the Pierburg pumps are the best performers, I'm using a CWA-50 which is controlled by a tiny-CWA from Tecomotive. It will allow me to have the pump speed controlled by the coolant temperature, no point in blasting coolant around at full speed if i'm sat in traffic. I have to say, Tobias at Tecomotive was extremely helpful.
The chargecooler core was mounted in the boot, I went for a pretty large one. I bought a header tank from the US, there aren't many options I found in the UK. The tank is 5.5 litres, the more water capacity, the longer it will take to warm up. I don't know what the total capacity is, would probably say around 15 litres. I wish I could weld alloy so I could design my own bits as using off the shelf parts has made for a compromise. The tank should be the highest point of the system but I can't mount it any higher as sit's under the rear light and that's pretty much the only place it was going to fit. As the highest point is the chargecooler, i've drilled a hole and added a bleed screw that i'll use to top the system up, the cap on the tank will stay closed. You can see the Tecomotive pump controller in the picture, it's the red square that's by the expansion tank, it'll be mounted into the boot carpet.
It's taken me a while putting it all together, i'm please with how the install looks, hopefully i'm pleased with the results.
Using water wetter is useful in charge coolers (I had one on my GT4) to help with cavitation. It's also worth protecting the charge cooler from any radiant heat underneath.
I've never added any additional cooling the the charge cooler itself but you could try some heatsinks on the top of the polished surface (plenty of space there) to increase the thermal efficiency of the box itself? Maybe some ducting to air cool the box too? Great project by the way, excellent work.
I've never added any additional cooling the the charge cooler itself but you could try some heatsinks on the top of the polished surface (plenty of space there) to increase the thermal efficiency of the box itself? Maybe some ducting to air cool the box too? Great project by the way, excellent work.
Escy said:
I don't think the hoses will need protecting but it's something I'll keep an eye on.
Yes, the engine radiators will be less efficient but it's no different to having a big intercooler in front of a water radiator and that's common practice.
No less effective than when you are running AC in sure! Lol Yes, the engine radiators will be less efficient but it's no different to having a big intercooler in front of a water radiator and that's common practice.
Only question is have is how are the radiator configured? Are you running them in serries or parallel? The size of the pipework looks pretty small so would think that parallel would be the best option.
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