Piggyback ECU for the z18xe?

[SilentShout]

Greetings All

Im posting this in the general section as the z18xe is used in a few cars

Has anyone had experiance with piggyback ecus and our dear old opels??


The particular one I was looking at is the AEM F/IC 6 which not only adjusts fuel, but also ignition timing aswell which is perfect for boost.

Heres some breif info about the unit from their website:

•Configurable load and RPM break points
•Modify injector pulse-width by +/- 100%--drive larger aftermarket injectors and maintain proper AFR!
•Drive up to 6 additional injectors
•Drives high- or low-impedance injectors with addition of AEM Peak & Hold Injector Driver
•Retards timing based on engine RPM and load inputs
•“Clamp” the MAF for proper fueling in boosted conditions
•On-board 41 PSIA (25 PSI boost) MAP sensor


I have learned that the cam sensor is a Hall type, and the crank sensor is a MAG type, both of which this piggyback caters for.

I spoke to OZSRI on the corsa-c.co.uk forums and he believed it wouldnt work as you would need 4x outputs for timing and 4x outputs for injectors.

It has enough outputs for the injectors however i was looking into how the unit works in regards to timing and to change ignition timing it retards the signal from the cam and crank sensor to make the ecu believe the rotation is different to where it actually is, thus retarding timing which is a must for boosted applications.

the other beauty of this unit is that it can change injector duty cycle by +/- 100% so you can run larger injectors and reduce fuel to ensure it doesnt run rich off boost. plus not to mention the large amount of control you have over fueling. You can also clamp the MAF sensor when the engine sees positive pressure and use the onboard MAP sensor to tune for boost, hook up an AEM wideband and datalog/tune directly in the unit. the list goes on.



tl:dr I think it would work well and allow for at least a mild setup of around 7-10psi

Thoughts, experiance, input?

[andrew]

the AEM F/IC 6 or 8 is just not suitable for our motors, the factory ecu's are very smart and would shut down the spark and coil pack as it see no fuel injectors as the aem will control them,
your best bet would to look at the microtech LT-10C or the haltech ps1000 plus there are going to be a few extra sensors you will have to get as well, I got the haltech ps1000 but soon I think I am going to change it to the haltech elite it is a bit more in the $$$ but it will control everything even the throttle body, the microtech is going to be on the cheaper side as it is only about $1100, the haltech ps1000 is going to set you back about $1800 and the elite is around the $3000 mark, I hope this helps a little

[SilentShout]

Its my understanding that the signal from the injector output from the ecu goes to the appropreate input on the AEM and then there is an output from the AEM to the injector itself allowing you to adjust the pulse by + or - 100%.

If the pulse width is not changed at all the factory signal will pass through the AEM to the injectors untouched.

How does the ECU "see" the injectors?

The AEM has narrowband o2 support etc. It is just an interceptor same as the emanage series etc, difference is you can subtract or add 100% fueling and control the spark retard by delaying the crank and cam sensors.

It doesnt advance the spark though so it wont be completly suited for NA application. Just unclear how our car will react.

I didnt really want to go the standalone route as then you have to literally create everything from scratch such as cold start etc etc. the car is a pain in the butt as it is from the factory :lol: