EFI for everyone
01-04-2012 | 09:09 PM
#111
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From: Portland, OR
I wired up the ECM malfunction light and Check Gauge Lamps to standard 12V Hersee LED lamps on my dash. MEFI-5 also has output for a buzzer, and input for load anticipate when you shift into gear.
If programmed and set up properly, there should be no trouble codes.
Call Jeff at Ateco. He has spent considerable time working all these issues out with MEFI-5
If programmed and set up properly, there should be no trouble codes.
Call Jeff at Ateco. He has spent considerable time working all these issues out with MEFI-5
01-04-2012 | 11:31 PM
#112
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From: Vancouver BC
01-04-2012 | 11:39 PM
#113
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From: Vancouver BC
All, or most of the aftermarket EFI systems use a proprietary language on their CAN lines. It would be nice if they'd just stick to J1939 as there's several j1939-NMEA200 converters available. Down the road there will be more options I'm sure. The next Holley display that's coming out will have an output that you can run into your Ratheon, Garmin, etc. dislay and will show the gauges.
01-04-2012 | 11:50 PM
#114
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From: Charlestown, IN
All, or most of the aftermarket EFI systems use a proprietary language on their CAN lines. It would be nice if they'd just stick to J1939 as there's several j1939-NMEA200 converters available. Down the road there will be more options I'm sure. The next Holley display that's coming out will have an output that you can run into your Ratheon, Garmin, etc. dislay and will show the gauges.
Last edited by DEFYN GRAVITY; 01-05-2012 at 02:17 AM. Reason: Spelling
01-05-2012 | 08:25 AM
#115
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From: Minneapolis,MN
I had a customer ask if he could use the FAST System on his marine engine we were using and gave him the info, pricing etc.....he then asked if we could get it with the traction control option......I took a couple seconds to consider his question......and politely answered " Yes it is available for that but you won't need it".
01-10-2012 | 04:57 PM
#116
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Alexi is the EFI Master
He does good for me and a few other friends with big Cats! Efi stuff is a true science! 
Alexi is a good guy and does great work.
It actually is lighter than the Porsche engine being taken out in most instances and moves the weight more toward the center of the car. See:
http://www.renegadehybrids.com/
It actually is lighter than the Porsche engine being taken out in most instances and moves the weight more toward the center of the car. See:
http://www.renegadehybrids.com/
01-10-2012 | 05:18 PM
#117
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Funny
Yea, people ask interesting questions on those EFI units. Usually we need to custom package each system to comply with all of the parameters of these Boats and custom vehicles.
I had a customer ask if he could use the FAST System on his marine engine we were using and gave him the info, pricing etc.....he then asked if we could get it with the traction control option......I took a couple seconds to consider his question......and politely answered " Yes it is available for that but you won't need it".
01-10-2012 | 05:25 PM
#118
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The Mefi is a great sophisticated unit if used properly. Like any computer, it is based on the tuner and the platform one uses to program it. The Mefi Burn is a great all around unit. I personally seem to have tested or used several units from Australia to the US and of course prefer a specific combo for our parameters of production. Their are a lot of after market ones we like as well.
Let's not forget the Fast EZ-EFI or the new MSD Atomic EFI:
http://www.atomicefi.com/
http://www.fuelairspark.com/ezefi/default.asp
A few points:
You can go down to any GM dealership and buy a MEFI 4A and harness for about $600. It is one of the best deals in EFI out there. There was also just another large run of MEFI 4B controllers produced, many thousands are available.
If you take the time to look at it closely, this is not true at all, the control algorithms and flexibility of the controller is enormous, and yes, by today's standards. GM controllers and algorithms evolve over time, and the MEFI embodied GM's best thinking at any given time. The MEFI 4's can be run with widebands in closed loop, do 7x, 9x, 24x, 58 trigger wheels, run alternate maps, and much more, it is just of matter of setting it up. Even a MEFI 1 from 1993 can be run in closed loop.
If you read the instructions that come with it, all the important parameters are clearly called out, and there are not that many of them needed to do a very good tune. Trashes post above shows how someone who has never done an EFI system did it in a short amount of time with outstanding results. He read the instructions, was methodical, and cranked it out.
If you have a MEFI or most any other OEM controller you already have very precise barometric correction tables available, no need for different maps.
Actually, salt water does them in the quicker.
Which is exactly why they are not usually implemented in a marine environment. As an example, look closely at the exhaust systems of the newer ski or pleasure boats from 2006 on with O2's and catalyzed systems to see what it takes to keep the O2 sensors from being contaminated. These exhaust systems are nontrivial.
There are a large number of very competent people worldwide who can dial in a MEFI or pretty much any EFI system in short order. Just because they don't post to this forum doesn't mean they aren't out there.
A very good point. All these EFI systems will work relatively well if you take the time to understand how they work and set them up properly, whether is it a Holley, Fast, Accel, Motec, Haltech, AEM, Megasquirt, etc. It really doesn't matter if you have a carburetor, a trained monkey squirting ether into the engine, or the latest EFI system, if the fuel, air, and spark requirements are being met properly at any given instant, the engine does not care. It is the granularity and speed of control that are the differentiating factors.
It mainly comes back to how comfortable a person is setting up a particular system, and if it makes sense economically to do it. Effective laptop computer use is a huge issue for many people when it comes to EFI systems. It rarely makes sense for someone to switch to a completely different system if the current one can be dialed better, whether it be a carburetor or EFI system.
The MEFI or any of the OEM controllers are far more sophisticated than the aftermarket controllers for the most part because of the huge amount of R&D money spent on them and the stringent requirements for production engines. You get to harness this technology for relative pennies. The MEFI and any of the latest OEM controllers, whether it is Delphi, Bosch, Denso, or whoever, are staggeringly complex when you really get deep inside of them. The knock detection and control systems are usually not nearly as advanced in the aftermarket controllers, and the control algorithms for idle control and fault detection and engine protection are way ahead in the OEM controllers. Pop over to the EFILive or HPtuners forum to see how complex the latest Delphi controllers are, and yet there is a huge user community out there tuning them effectively. For the most part, there is not going to be a big red easy button on any of the OEM controllers, and this is by design. I can say with a fair amount of certainty that the car or truck most people use as their daily driver did not get calibrated at the OEM by putting a wideband in it and doing an autotune. Big teams worked on those calibrations for months in painstaking detail. An autotuning system is not bad if it works properly, but even with a good system the maps usually need to be smoothed by hand to put them spot on.
As a brief anecdote, I recently worked on a pair of PSI blown 632's with large cams generating very little vacuum at idle. It formerly had the latest Motec controllers on it and well over $100k was spent on getting everything set up with just the Motec hardware alone. After a year and a half of trying to get this large expensive boat dialed in, with the best people Motec had working on it, this boat would not idle properly or go in an out of gear smoothly, with it being very intractable around the dock or on and off the trailer. The Motec hardware was taken off and MEFI 4B's were put on. I selected a good base calibration for a big blower engine, and on the first engine start on the dyno, it just sat there and idled perfectly. Why? Because the control algorithms for the MEFI, or any of the Delphi controllers are superior. Think about it, how much development time and money has GM and Delphi put into their controllers and algorithms, versus any of the aftermarket controller companies?
For all those throwing their MEFI's in the garbage such as HaxbySpeed suggests, send them to me instead and I will give you money for them!
Bob
http://www.atomicefi.com/
http://www.fuelairspark.com/ezefi/default.asp
A few points:
You can go down to any GM dealership and buy a MEFI 4A and harness for about $600. It is one of the best deals in EFI out there. There was also just another large run of MEFI 4B controllers produced, many thousands are available.
If you take the time to look at it closely, this is not true at all, the control algorithms and flexibility of the controller is enormous, and yes, by today's standards. GM controllers and algorithms evolve over time, and the MEFI embodied GM's best thinking at any given time. The MEFI 4's can be run with widebands in closed loop, do 7x, 9x, 24x, 58 trigger wheels, run alternate maps, and much more, it is just of matter of setting it up. Even a MEFI 1 from 1993 can be run in closed loop.
If you read the instructions that come with it, all the important parameters are clearly called out, and there are not that many of them needed to do a very good tune. Trashes post above shows how someone who has never done an EFI system did it in a short amount of time with outstanding results. He read the instructions, was methodical, and cranked it out.
If you have a MEFI or most any other OEM controller you already have very precise barometric correction tables available, no need for different maps.
Actually, salt water does them in the quicker.
Which is exactly why they are not usually implemented in a marine environment. As an example, look closely at the exhaust systems of the newer ski or pleasure boats from 2006 on with O2's and catalyzed systems to see what it takes to keep the O2 sensors from being contaminated. These exhaust systems are nontrivial.
There are a large number of very competent people worldwide who can dial in a MEFI or pretty much any EFI system in short order. Just because they don't post to this forum doesn't mean they aren't out there.
A very good point. All these EFI systems will work relatively well if you take the time to understand how they work and set them up properly, whether is it a Holley, Fast, Accel, Motec, Haltech, AEM, Megasquirt, etc. It really doesn't matter if you have a carburetor, a trained monkey squirting ether into the engine, or the latest EFI system, if the fuel, air, and spark requirements are being met properly at any given instant, the engine does not care. It is the granularity and speed of control that are the differentiating factors.
It mainly comes back to how comfortable a person is setting up a particular system, and if it makes sense economically to do it. Effective laptop computer use is a huge issue for many people when it comes to EFI systems. It rarely makes sense for someone to switch to a completely different system if the current one can be dialed better, whether it be a carburetor or EFI system.
The MEFI or any of the OEM controllers are far more sophisticated than the aftermarket controllers for the most part because of the huge amount of R&D money spent on them and the stringent requirements for production engines. You get to harness this technology for relative pennies. The MEFI and any of the latest OEM controllers, whether it is Delphi, Bosch, Denso, or whoever, are staggeringly complex when you really get deep inside of them. The knock detection and control systems are usually not nearly as advanced in the aftermarket controllers, and the control algorithms for idle control and fault detection and engine protection are way ahead in the OEM controllers. Pop over to the EFILive or HPtuners forum to see how complex the latest Delphi controllers are, and yet there is a huge user community out there tuning them effectively. For the most part, there is not going to be a big red easy button on any of the OEM controllers, and this is by design. I can say with a fair amount of certainty that the car or truck most people use as their daily driver did not get calibrated at the OEM by putting a wideband in it and doing an autotune. Big teams worked on those calibrations for months in painstaking detail. An autotuning system is not bad if it works properly, but even with a good system the maps usually need to be smoothed by hand to put them spot on.
As a brief anecdote, I recently worked on a pair of PSI blown 632's with large cams generating very little vacuum at idle. It formerly had the latest Motec controllers on it and well over $100k was spent on getting everything set up with just the Motec hardware alone. After a year and a half of trying to get this large expensive boat dialed in, with the best people Motec had working on it, this boat would not idle properly or go in an out of gear smoothly, with it being very intractable around the dock or on and off the trailer. The Motec hardware was taken off and MEFI 4B's were put on. I selected a good base calibration for a big blower engine, and on the first engine start on the dyno, it just sat there and idled perfectly. Why? Because the control algorithms for the MEFI, or any of the Delphi controllers are superior. Think about it, how much development time and money has GM and Delphi put into their controllers and algorithms, versus any of the aftermarket controller companies?
For all those throwing their MEFI's in the garbage such as HaxbySpeed suggests, send them to me instead and I will give you money for them!
Bob
03-02-2012 | 11:59 AM
#120
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Posts: 1,181
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From: Vancouver BC
Holley TBI 550-400, about $2000 for everything including fuel pump and filters. There's a couple guys on here that sell a sandwich adapter to run an 02 bung in your exhaust, just drive around for a couple days while it tunes itself then disconnect the 02 sensor and you're done.
