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Sleepyjk

I want to learn how to Tune Standalone ECU's (EFI Controllers)

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Hi,

As per title, I want to learn how to tune from a professional.

So far as I can see there is an online course 'HPA', which looks legitimately promising,

but wanted to know if anyone had any other bright ideas.

I work a full time job as a drafty so the hours are not that flexible.

And I don't just want to know, how to work on one particular brand of ecu.

I don't bite, everyone's 2 cents is appreciated.

Ta

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I think this is an acquired skill more than something you can just learn unless sitting along side a professional daily for a while.

Having a sound knowledge of electronics, the basics like wiring and sensors to understanding the duty cycle of solenoids etc would be a very helpful starting point if you wanted to get into vehicle tuning.

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Yeah. Definitely want to start with the basics. I'm not looking for a 5 minute tutorial. I'm thinking it will take me a good year or two.

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Both of these are a good read.
http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Tuning-High-Performance-Injection-Systems/dp/1932494901/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
http://www.amazon.com/Modify-Management-Systems-Motorbooks-Workshop/dp/0760315825/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

I haven't yet purchased anything from HPA. Main reason being is all the free webinars etc that i've seen haven't added much to what these books have given me.
As soon as they bring back lifetime membership to their forum i'll hand over some money to see what it is like.

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Try these guys there not about smoke and mirrors, when i first started tuning no one helped it was about hard work and as stated a understanding today its about bright lights and sitting behind a PC and selling your self where no one can judge if your right or wrong cause its on google so must be true.

http://www.efi101.com

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Thanks guys. Time to sink my teeth into it. I'll go with thorburn's recommended books and some of the video guides from efi101. For now.

I'll go into a full course (maybe HPA because they're local), when my current project is finished...

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HP are what they are based on others knowledge not his own, even i get mentioned in his retirement speech at the end hes done well using others experience, tuning is a black art regardless what you read if it wasnt then everything would tune up the same and thats not the case.

Im so lucky to be mentioned......not

https://stmtune.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/end-of-an-era/

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Heya 3pedals,

To be able to do "'Intelligent' tuning adjustments" (as you put it), is what I'm aiming for. But I'm not sure what you mean when you say, I should "set some parameters"?

While this is a personal endeavor, I am potentially looking at a career change. I'm not going into this half-hearted, but at the same time I'll need to work and study. (Bills don't pay themselves)

Edited by Sleepyjk

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HP are what they are based on others knowledge not his own, even i get mentioned in his retirement speech at the end hes done well using others experience, tuning is a black art regardless what you read if it wasnt then everything would tune up the same and thats not the case.

Im so lucky to be mentioned......not

https://stmtune.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/end-of-an-era/

Sounds like he really grinds your gears.

Edited by Sleepyjk

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Jo- you have started by saying you want to make it a new career, so who is your target employer ? what qualifications do they expect you to have?

Heya mate,

The key word is 'potentially'.

Like I said, this is a personal endeavor first.

Who knows what opportunities come up once you have a skill set,

and the willingness to work.

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Sounds like he really grinds your gears.

He gets his know how from others and profits accordingly including from me, just trying to direct in better ways

It takes many years to understand a few lessons wont get you far

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Heya mate,

The key word is 'potentially'.

Like I said, this is a personal endeavor first.

Who knows what opportunities come up once you have a skill set,

and the willingness to work.

I commend you for wanting to further your life skills however you have picked a complex one to further your in-devours,

Ive been at this over 30 yrs and still learn daily if i was to look at someone like your self i would like to see at least 5 plus years in the industry, bare in mind things are changing daily so you have a hard task ahead.

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I commend you for wanting to further your life skills however you have picked a complex one to further your in-devours,

Ive been at this over 30 yrs and still learn daily if i was to look at someone like your self i would like to see at least 5 plus years in the industry, bare in mind things are changing daily so you have a hard task ahead.

Thanks, I haven't wanted to do something this bad before, but I'm all talk at this stage.

Will update this topic as I progress.

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A good mate of mine has been learning himself and started with the HP Academy courses. Has since managed to get use of a dyno and been tuning stuff as a hobby and doing it pretty successfully. I think the key here is a really good base understanding of what where how, tag that with some practical examples and a bit of hands on experience and your well on your way to getting into it.

People in the industry are unfortunately as a general rule of thumb fairly guarded, and I can understand why when its their livelihoods. Getting in with the right crowd/mentor really helps accelerate things.

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Been reading these, another book on order.

What is an all-rounded standalone Ecu to start with? Going to install it on my m20 stroker. (motronic)

I'll learn better if I can physically hold it and work on it.

I know I risk damaging my engine, but I will have limited supervision.

No risk, No gain.

Appreciate all opinions.

post-51152-0-80787500-1434428847_thumb.j

Edited by Sleepyjk

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Go for it

Not sure if sarcasm or encouragement :ph34r:

But looking at getting an ecu imported from South Africa,

ever hear of dictator or unichip? Wouldn't mind a quick recommendation, as i will be adding forced induction to the m20.

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Heard of both they just intercept the load signal, Unichip is sold by licence for each unit ( last i checked )

All i do is forced induction and if you want good control over the big bang theory then full stand alone ecu is best, people get scared of what is real a black art for tuning.

Thats not putting you off, each tuner has his strong areas thus they choose to stick to one brand of car or ecu, if you really want to learn go Haltech even the entry level unit the Sprint 500 ( i run one in my E36 turbo ) great unit great price and lots of back up, very easy platform to work with it also decodes the 60-2 BMW trigger which very few can.

Main issue is the reluctor voltage output can be as high as 30v which is a pain for the ecu thankfully Haltech allow you to clamp the signal, i found 1.7v works a treat, you can also code in the stock BMW sensors and calibrate or pick one from the menu and use other brands already supported, i tune in VE not many can but im sure youll learn much.

Word of advise, regardless what certain tuning schools tell you tuning is a black art yes you can do certain calc to a certain deg but if the calculator says you can run x amount of fuel and x amount of timing and the car says no!

Then the motor decides what your going to get not the calculator no matter how smart the tuner thinks he is or that Big Bang theory will soon be a reality, some of these so called tuners on line are giving people a loaded gun they have no idea what your dealing with and itll end in tears.

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Reluctors which is a seriously out of date term (inductive devices) like capacitive devices are designed to be connected into a loaded circuit to produce an appropriate signal shape.

Correct loading is used to shape an output signal the rise time . It's not just about the voltage , its about the noise, the threshold and the rise time of the signal , whether it triggers on the positive going or the negative , all of these and numerous other factors all come into play.

Loading of the device controls the resonant "Q" and makes the output more consistent - creating the correct circuit Q is a science like a lot of things in tuning - piecing them all together is skill and experience.

Messing with them without the science is exactly that, just messing around- If you understand the science you have a better chance of understanding the process.

No disrespect to the crunch but black arts are practiced by those who know some of the science and wing certain parts.

Gurus are people who know all the science and work within their expertise.

Ah please correct me but the sensor on a M20 crank is called a reluctor pickup

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Buy a megasqurt system and have fun. It's a steep learning curve but if I could do it, anyone can. Good luck.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Buy a megasqurt system and have fun. It's a steep learning curve but if I could do it, anyone can. Good luck.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That would learn you a fair bit. The deep end has always been my favourite way to learn, for better or worse ahem....

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