anyone know about aftermarket ecu's ?
Discussion
I run a TVR S with cosworth 24v BOA fitted.
the car also has jenvey itb's and the management is an omex ecu (not sure of the model atm)
the last few days its felt a little sluggish.
today I took it on a 200+ mile trip and again it seemed to have a bit less power than normal.
today especially the weather was somewhat cold.
but what I did notice today is that the engine seemed to be running colder than usual - temp guage was down by approx 10degrees and the heaters were only lukewarm.
however a few miles from home (and back in a built up(ish) area) I stopped at Tesco - when I came out ten mins later I left tesco and was involved in a little stop start traffic and I noticed the heater was lovely and warm and the temp guage was back up nearer its usual mark.
it was then I also noticed the car simply had more pep.
in any gear, at any revs.
so I was wondering if the mapping of an aftermarket ecu would involve maybe retarding the timing until the car was up to full operating temps ?
and if so could that operating temp range be quite narrow ? (either deliberately or mistakenly so)
the car also has jenvey itb's and the management is an omex ecu (not sure of the model atm)
the last few days its felt a little sluggish.
today I took it on a 200+ mile trip and again it seemed to have a bit less power than normal.
today especially the weather was somewhat cold.
but what I did notice today is that the engine seemed to be running colder than usual - temp guage was down by approx 10degrees and the heaters were only lukewarm.
however a few miles from home (and back in a built up(ish) area) I stopped at Tesco - when I came out ten mins later I left tesco and was involved in a little stop start traffic and I noticed the heater was lovely and warm and the temp guage was back up nearer its usual mark.
it was then I also noticed the car simply had more pep.
in any gear, at any revs.
so I was wondering if the mapping of an aftermarket ecu would involve maybe retarding the timing until the car was up to full operating temps ?
and if so could that operating temp range be quite narrow ? (either deliberately or mistakenly so)
Max_Torque said:
Get the thermostat fixed first, then worry about the ecu............ ;-)
i dont think the thermostat is faulty tbh - the car runs a HUGE alloy rad and simply ran a little cooler in the cold weather.i will probably look into a winter stat, but my question still stands.
could this slightly cooler running be the cause of lower power via ecu settings ?
BountyHunter said:
could this slightly cooler running be the cause of lower power via ecu settings ?
It would be possible, but unusual, but then some people mapping cars have been known to do very unusual things.Speak to whoever tuned it, or someone competent and able to work with the Omex.
BountyHunter said:
but the size of the rad could mean it simply never gets up to temperature in colder weather
The size of the rad is irrelevant surely, as in motion the thermostat shouldn't be fully open and allowing full flow round the rad 
The cooler climate will mean that the engine is running cooler though, but that's due to the colder air flowing through the engine bay
My BOA with Emerald is running cooler at the moment due to the colder temps, but in the summer months was running at a fairly constant 80 degrees coolant temp on the road
Just to add more fuel to the radiator sizing fire, my Alfa 147 only gets up to temperature when sat in traffic. As soon as I get the car into the airflow again, the temp gauge plummets back down to 50 deg C again. The heater goes cold at the same time. Classic thermostat issue 
And as soon as the temp drops below a certain threshold, the warm up fuelling map is turned on. T'is the season for sooty tailpipes.....
And as soon as the temp drops below a certain threshold, the warm up fuelling map is turned on. T'is the season for sooty tailpipes.....
BountyHunter said:
so I was wondering if the mapping of an aftermarket ecu would involve maybe retarding the timing until the car was up to full operating temps ?
It's more likely that the fuelling has been altered rather than the timing. Will be a deliberate act on the part of the person who originally mapped your car, not a mistake. If you're unhappy with it, you'll need a visit to a rolling road and they'll review it plus the cold start setup - usually involves leaving the car overnight so it's completely cold. This assumes you're not confident to have a crack at it by yourself, and by the sound of your question, you're not - no offence intended ;-)
GeoffW said:
It's more likely that the fuelling has been altered rather than the timing. Will be a deliberate act on the part of the person who originally mapped your car, not a mistake. If you're unhappy with it, you'll need a visit to a rolling road and they'll review it plus the cold start setup - usually involves leaving the car overnight so it's completely cold.
This assumes you're not confident to have a crack at it by yourself, and by the sound of your question, you're not - no offence intended ;-)
your right - and no offence takenThis assumes you're not confident to have a crack at it by yourself, and by the sound of your question, you're not - no offence intended ;-)
ive done all sorts of jobs on cars from changing exhausts, engine swaps (inc m50 into e30), fitting coilovers through to complete stripping for breaking but mapping an ecu although something i could probably do (as i do have a lot of IT experience) i just wouldnt feel confident and mess it up and it could be a lot of expense and hassle.
After filling up the car ran better??
Sounds like an intermittent sensor fault
If it was an ECU problem it would probably just not work
The ECU looks at set maps for spark and fuel and understands what the engine is doing from the sensors, sensor problem = wrong fuel or spark map position.
Do the cheap and obvious first, check wires and plugs.
Aftermarket ECU's can be read by a home computer easily and in my opinion you should have a copy of all the settings for your engine in case the ECU blows then you can put the same settings in a new ECU
Sounds like an intermittent sensor fault
If it was an ECU problem it would probably just not work
The ECU looks at set maps for spark and fuel and understands what the engine is doing from the sensors, sensor problem = wrong fuel or spark map position.
Do the cheap and obvious first, check wires and plugs.
Aftermarket ECU's can be read by a home computer easily and in my opinion you should have a copy of all the settings for your engine in case the ECU blows then you can put the same settings in a new ECU
PaulKemp said:
After filling up the car ran better??
Sounds like an intermittent sensor fault
no i didnt fill up i actually did a bit of shopping - lol Sounds like an intermittent sensor fault
then when i left i entered slower (and some stop start) traffic and the car entered its usual temp range.
Edited by BountyHunter on Tuesday 16th October 21:52
well its def a temp issue.
plugged in the laptop to ecu and went for a drive.
all warmed up and the car was an animal - power everywhere.
at lower speeds the temps steadily climb to high 80's, at a standstill temps reached 91degrees when the fan kicks in and temps drop back to 80's
then onto the duals and car performed well, but at a steady cruise temps drop to around 79degrees and seem to stay there.
performance seems blunted, so i pull off the duals and hit a roundabout - yep performance def not what it was.
pull over for a few mins, temps back into the mid 80's and low an behold the powers back.
will look at changing the stat this weekend if i get a chance.
plugged in the laptop to ecu and went for a drive.
all warmed up and the car was an animal - power everywhere.
at lower speeds the temps steadily climb to high 80's, at a standstill temps reached 91degrees when the fan kicks in and temps drop back to 80's
then onto the duals and car performed well, but at a steady cruise temps drop to around 79degrees and seem to stay there.
performance seems blunted, so i pull off the duals and hit a roundabout - yep performance def not what it was.
pull over for a few mins, temps back into the mid 80's and low an behold the powers back.
will look at changing the stat this weekend if i get a chance.
It isnt such a wildly varying range of tempatures that there should be any change in performance.
Unless whoever mapped it is a bit of a plonker and put in some very weird temperature compensations.
If that is the case, you should get it checked out ASAP, as when power is reduced, the engine could be running very very badly.
Unless whoever mapped it is a bit of a plonker and put in some very weird temperature compensations.
If that is the case, you should get it checked out ASAP, as when power is reduced, the engine could be running very very badly.
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