Which ECU and why?
Discussion
sapper said:
Bassfiend229hp said:
ChimpOfDarkness, myself and KateV8 went for CANEMS...
Did you fit it yourself? and how huch did it cost if you dont mind me asking?
http://www.lloydspecialistdevelopments.co.uk/engin...
Trv
I had Lloyds Specialist Developments fit mine - they supplied it - and with a wideband lambda it was a bit under £2k for drive-in-drive-out.
ChimpOfDarkness did the same. KateV8 had Lloyds supply the entire kit but had somewhere local to them fit it.
They will supply as a complete kit and it looks fairly straightforward to fit ...
ChimpOfDarkness did the same. KateV8 had Lloyds supply the entire kit but had somewhere local to them fit it.
They will supply as a complete kit and it looks fairly straightforward to fit ...
I have just purchased an Emerald which i am going to fit myself along with making a new loom. The reason i went with Emerald over the other usual candidates was soley because the guy i am going to use for mapping stated it was a quality piece of kit and also his preferred ecu to work with out of the lot of them. Going to be using Joolz Spitfire4v8 for the mapping.
Bassfiend229hp said:
SILICONEKID350HP said:
Someone on another thread mentioned the MIL light ,are the after market ECU`s connected to the MIL light ?
Only if you wire it to an output on teh ECU - question is, what do you get teh ECU to do with it?
SILICONEKID350HP said:
?
What's your question here?For the MIL light to do anything it has to be driven from something - so if you want to connect it to the ECU then you can do as most have outputs.
Those outputs from the ECU can be set to turn on on various conditions - the available criteria will vary from ECU to ECU.
Bassfiend229hp said:
SILICONEKID350HP said:
?
What's your question here?For the MIL light to do anything it has to be driven from something - so if you want to connect it to the ECU then you can do as most have outputs.
Those outputs from the ECU can be set to turn on on various conditions - the available criteria will vary from ECU to ECU.
SILICONEKID350HP said:
The question is i don`t 100% know what the MIL light detects ? if its a fault on the ECU maybe it would be a good idea to connect the aftermarket ECU to it ..
The MIL light doesn't "detect" anything in itself - it's a light (that should be) triggered by an output on the ECU (although it frequently isn't even connected).On the 14CUX that output is used to indicate the presence of certain fault conditions ... however just because the 14CUX uses (or should use) the MIL light for that it doesn't follow that any other ECU *HAS* to be connected to the MIL light and even if it is then it doesn't necessarily follow that the ECU in question will have the same "there has been a fault" output.
To the OP
I'd like to think I completely researched the back end out of my engine management change, allow me to share what I learnt.
What I quickly discovered was there is a huge choice of ECU's out there, all more or less sporting the same features.
As such your evaluation needs to include and focus on many other critical elements, not just the ECU.
You must understand this is the most significant & important change you will likely make to your car, installed correctly it is a collection of equally critical elements, NOT JUST THE ECU!
Do not underestimate the significance of each element, I will list these elements in the order of importance as I see it.
THE INSTALLERS
I strongly recommend reducing the number of people involved in the supply & installation of your new engine managements system.
Buying the ECU & sensors from one supplier, the loom from another, then getting a third party to fit & map the system can leave you extremely exposed if things go wrong.
Each contractor may choose to blame the other should you start to experience issues, ultimately the more people in the chain the less control you have if things go wrong.
You are strongly advised to reduce your exposure to this type of risk by reducing the suppliers/contractors/fitters to one trusted & respected company.
Research your potential single provider back to front, canvas opinion on here from the widest sample of individuals who have gone through the same process already.
Take that information, then investigate your short list again from a different angle of evaluation, recommendation is great but ultimately you need to satisfy yourself you are choosing the right team.
VISIT THEIR PREMISES to get a feel for how they work, ask them reasonable but challenging questions based on your research, and gauge their answers carefully.
Use your gut feeling!
Can you work with them, do you feel you can trust them, what sort of after care do they offer & at what cost!
The professional installation of a completely new engine management system requires many different skills, the three most critical are:
THE LOOM
You have two options here when installing a new engine management system.
1) A splice job
This is where your existing loom will be cut and the new engine management system is grafted in
2) A new loom
This is a purpose made new wiring loom specifically designed for the change
If there's one thing to rival the importance of choosing the right supplier/installer it's the loom.
Choose a splice job on your pride & joy over a completely new correctly designed loom at your own risk, the difference in reliability is not to be underestimated
THE ECU & SENSORS
Research your short listed hardware very carefully.
These days (especially on our RV8 application) functionality almost always will exceed your requirements so this is a less critical element.
Review the software & evaluate, is it intuitive, how many mappers are happy to work with it?
However, far more important is reliability & manufacturer hardware/software support.
OTHER THINGS TO ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND
Always have in the forefront of your mind that even the very best ECU, if installed & mapped badly, will be a significant step backwards from the original Lucas 14CUX & distributor system.
Remember, as ancient as the Lucas 14CUX & distributor is, it can at least be considered very reliable.
An engine management change has the potential to end in tears if badly planned & researched, this is typically where the owner has failed to look at the project holistically.
Avoid the temptation to think you can do things better/cheaper by putting your own kit of parts together from lots of different sources, this is another sure-fired path to tears.
You must consider every element of the change in great detail, from the very start to the very finish.
Be honest with yourself about your objectives, what are you ultimately trying to achieve, what are your future plans to develop the vehicle?
And most importantly; WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS?
NB:
I know the OP is looking for a simple recommendation, I could (& will in time) offer this.
But I think it's a more objective approach from me to first outline the decision making process I used with great success to achieve a truly excellent engine management change.
Changing your engine management system is full of potential pitfalls, get it right & it's by far the best thing you can do to your RV8 TVR.
GET IT WRONG, AND YOU MAY JUST END UP WISHING YOU'D STUCK WITH THE ANCIENT BUT RELIABLE LUCAS 14CUX & DISTRIBUTOR
I'd like to think I completely researched the back end out of my engine management change, allow me to share what I learnt.
What I quickly discovered was there is a huge choice of ECU's out there, all more or less sporting the same features.
As such your evaluation needs to include and focus on many other critical elements, not just the ECU.
You must understand this is the most significant & important change you will likely make to your car, installed correctly it is a collection of equally critical elements, NOT JUST THE ECU!
Do not underestimate the significance of each element, I will list these elements in the order of importance as I see it.
THE INSTALLERS
I strongly recommend reducing the number of people involved in the supply & installation of your new engine managements system.
Buying the ECU & sensors from one supplier, the loom from another, then getting a third party to fit & map the system can leave you extremely exposed if things go wrong.
Each contractor may choose to blame the other should you start to experience issues, ultimately the more people in the chain the less control you have if things go wrong.
You are strongly advised to reduce your exposure to this type of risk by reducing the suppliers/contractors/fitters to one trusted & respected company.
Research your potential single provider back to front, canvas opinion on here from the widest sample of individuals who have gone through the same process already.
Take that information, then investigate your short list again from a different angle of evaluation, recommendation is great but ultimately you need to satisfy yourself you are choosing the right team.
VISIT THEIR PREMISES to get a feel for how they work, ask them reasonable but challenging questions based on your research, and gauge their answers carefully.
Use your gut feeling!
Can you work with them, do you feel you can trust them, what sort of after care do they offer & at what cost!
The professional installation of a completely new engine management system requires many different skills, the three most critical are:
- Wiring
- Engineering
- Mapping
THE LOOM
You have two options here when installing a new engine management system.
1) A splice job
This is where your existing loom will be cut and the new engine management system is grafted in
2) A new loom
This is a purpose made new wiring loom specifically designed for the change
If there's one thing to rival the importance of choosing the right supplier/installer it's the loom.
Choose a splice job on your pride & joy over a completely new correctly designed loom at your own risk, the difference in reliability is not to be underestimated
THE ECU & SENSORS
Research your short listed hardware very carefully.
These days (especially on our RV8 application) functionality almost always will exceed your requirements so this is a less critical element.
Review the software & evaluate, is it intuitive, how many mappers are happy to work with it?
However, far more important is reliability & manufacturer hardware/software support.
OTHER THINGS TO ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND
Always have in the forefront of your mind that even the very best ECU, if installed & mapped badly, will be a significant step backwards from the original Lucas 14CUX & distributor system.
Remember, as ancient as the Lucas 14CUX & distributor is, it can at least be considered very reliable.
An engine management change has the potential to end in tears if badly planned & researched, this is typically where the owner has failed to look at the project holistically.
Avoid the temptation to think you can do things better/cheaper by putting your own kit of parts together from lots of different sources, this is another sure-fired path to tears.
You must consider every element of the change in great detail, from the very start to the very finish.
Be honest with yourself about your objectives, what are you ultimately trying to achieve, what are your future plans to develop the vehicle?
And most importantly; WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS?
NB:
I know the OP is looking for a simple recommendation, I could (& will in time) offer this.
But I think it's a more objective approach from me to first outline the decision making process I used with great success to achieve a truly excellent engine management change.
Changing your engine management system is full of potential pitfalls, get it right & it's by far the best thing you can do to your RV8 TVR.
GET IT WRONG, AND YOU MAY JUST END UP WISHING YOU'D STUCK WITH THE ANCIENT BUT RELIABLE LUCAS 14CUX & DISTRIBUTOR
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