Post-events 1 updates
After the events on August, I felt that my engine would not respond well from 2750 to 3200 rpm in third gear so I suspected that my AFR are leaning out in that range. And there was almost some lack of linear response from the throttle. So I decided to investigate that.
I then purchased an Innovate LC2 AFR controller with the bosch 4.9 sensor. After doing some logging, I found out that I was leaning out there from the injector reaching 90% duty. Looks like the ECU was lost.
So , I am looking at tuning platforms.
UpRev = $750 without a tune.
Haltech = $2000 without a tune.
Then I heard of Link ECU. They sell a plug and play 350z for $1200. Their software is very good and the documentation and support is amazing. So I bite the bullet and ordered one and while waiting to arrive, I started watching tuning videos online.
Installation is pretty simple, there is some caveats about the link ecu. The rear O2 sensors (post cat) are actually not powered, so running on the Link too much might foul them pretty quickly. I was able to pin the innovate wideband into the ecu itself without having to purchase a wideband can or some proprietary harness. I will do a full write up of the installation later and will post it here.
After doing a few road tuning sessions, I finally got an appointment at a dyno to do some stable-state tuning. The dynojet is less than 5 miles away and they will allow me to do the tuning myself.
After about 4 hours and around 5 pulls, I decided that my results were good and safe enough for my engine. 247whp and 231ft.lbs of torque, not too shabby for a 15 years old engine with 130k miles. More importantly , I was able to flatten the torque curve from 2250 rpm all the way to 6500 rpm with a peak torque at 4600 rpm. I kept the rev limiter to 6600 rpm. I know I might gain a few HP if I raise it to 7000 or 7100 but I felt I didn't need more power now. Just a better torque at mid-rpm. The only issue is that I am now running WOT at around 12.5 AFR instead of the 13.1 from the factory ECU, so I am expecting worse fuel mileage under the LinkECU.
Please note that I actually am running the factory ECU while driving around to stay legal. which was a requirement of going full standalone. It takes me less than 2 minutes to swap ecu. Thanks to the Nissan engineers to locate the ecu under the dash.
Post-events 2 updates.
I tried the seat belt lock trick ( where you slide you seat back , put the seat belt on, lock the belt and slide the seat forward ) but I was going full submarine in the breaking zones. It is time for me to upgrade my seats to some buckets with a full race harness.
