Standalone ECU vote.

[Dudeland]

I am looking to install a 318 manifold, injectors, and a turbo.  I need something for my daily, and want to manage a lot of inputs.  Looking for a vote on which one you would get. 

 

Haltech:  $3K(ish)

Pros: Well supported, seen as a premium brand. 

Con's: Modular design results in a lot of extra modules to manage boost, injectors and coils.  Lots of dollars. 

 

Holley HP: 2K

Pros: All in one,  with built in boost controller and injector drivers. 

Cons: Only 4 additional inputs and outputs

 

EFI source Gold megasquirt 3: $950

Pros: Lots of inputs, lots of mods, can and will manage pretty much everything.  This version has a robust connector for both inputs and outputs. 

Cons: Still kinda a home brew solution in terms of software, but this version is built from the ground up.  The strength of the injector drivers have been questioned. 

 

Plain old Megasquirt 3: $350-600

Pros: Cheap with tons of flexibility, used by a lot of people, good forum support. 

Cons: Home brew, connector is kinda questionable. The cheapest one needs to be soldered together. 

 

[tomorrowcalling]

Have you looked at Link  https://www.linkecu.com/?.  I have a very old one in my 2002 rally car (from the mid 90's) but they were still happy to repair it when it developed a fault recently.

 

I also crew for another rally car with a current model one (Fury) , it's been very reliable and has more features than we need

[Schnellvintage]

I would recommend Megasquirt 3, it has the most versatility and adjustability. Just make solid solder connections, route the wiring correctly and your all good.. just like you would with the other units.

Cheers,
Matt


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[jimk]

9 hours ago, Dudeland said:

Haltech:  $3K(ish)

A model 750 will handle a waste spark 4 cyl.  That 3K price is about $2k too high and that includes a wiring harness.

[theNomad]

I think Megasquirt 3 is robust enough and has all the bells and whistles you'd need but needs tuning, setting up, massaging etc. This is good but not a "simple plug and play" approach. I think the company offerings have a lot of pre programmed mapping so more plug and play but with the ability to massage the tune. 
I think it depends on how hands on you want to get. If you've got the budget and your gut instinct prefers plug and play then pay for it. If you're on a shoestring (like me) or truly love to geek out on every little setup thing then you'd enjoy the more hands on approach. 

 

I think some people get talked into MS by the tecnogeeks and then realize they just wanted to plug and play. 
 

[TobyB]

Whichever you have the most faith in!

 

I have a couple older Megasquirts, and I would not

use the DB37 connector, and I'd pot a couple

of the caps, but then, due to its open- source nature,

I'd be very comfortable running it.  I'd also keep a cold

spare in the glove box, but that's why I bought 2.

 

Also, download the software and try it.  Everyone's brain

works differently, and if you don't like the interface, 

the hardware's not worth the effort.

 

t

 

[d.hitchcock]

I have Electromotive TECs in my car, running EFI with a 318 manifold, wideband 02, etc.

So far, it has been fine! I did not do my own tuning

https://electromotive.com/our-products/tecs/

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by d.hitchcock

[Dudeland]

Here is a quote for a 1500 with the same options that that the Holley HP would come with.  So like for like. 

 

The total is $2794 for the Elite 1500 

 

The MS3 box would be about $ 950 plus $650 for the additional parts so about $1600, But the MS3 has about 2-3 times the inputs and outputs.   I would be hard pressed with the Holley to run boost, and perhaps flex fuel and fuel pressure, oil pressure, and respective temps. 

 

I like the idea of running EGT sensors for each cyl.  It is a good safety measure and will also indicate if I have a problem with one of the CYL's. This alone will eat up the spare inputs on the HP. 

 

 

Quote 2 Haltech – Engine Management Systems Cart - Haltech - Engine Management Systems.pdf

[jimk]

This is a small case Haltech ECU so it has to be no more than a 750 running a 1150cc engine.  These are sold with premium harness for less than $1500 from dealers on ebay.

 

[Dudeland]

17 minutes ago, jimk said:

This is a small case Haltech ECU so it has to be no more than a 750 running a 1150cc engine.  These are sold with premium harness for less than $1500 from dealers on ebay.

 

Agreed, the difference between the 750 and the 1500 is $350, it is the other bits that make it expensive.  He is also running a Haltech CDI ignition system which is sitting by his right foot at 9:56 in the video ($900).   I expect that he is running a Canbus expansion to give him more inputs as well.  The 750 has no engine protection where the 1000 a single level and the 1500 has multiple levels.  So for the extra $350 it will allow me to go LHM for lean, low boost, oil pressure, misfire etc.  Considering it is a daily, I like that level of protection. 

 

  

 

 

[Dudeland]

1 hour ago, TobyB said:

Whichever you have the most faith in!

 

I have a couple older Megasquirts, and I would not

use the DB37 connector, and I'd pot a couple

of the caps, but then, due to its open- source nature,

I'd be very comfortable running it.  I'd also keep a cold

spare in the glove box, but that's why I bought 2.

 

Also, download the software and try it.  Everyone's brain

works differently, and if you don't like the interface, 

the hardware's not worth the effort.

 

t

 

That is just it.  After my TBI challenges, I am a little gun shy.  I lack faith and am relying on others.  The DB37 is not a great connector,  Something that ran my printer 30 years ago worries me.   I like the MS3 Gold box due to robust connectors. 

 

Did you have any issues with bad signals or injector drivers? 

 

What are you running now?  Do you like/recommend it? 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by Dudeland

[Dudeland]

1 hour ago, d.hitchcock said:

I have Electromotive TECs in my car, running EFI with a 318 manifold, wideband 02, etc.

So far, it has been fine! I did not do my own tuning

https://electromotive.com/our-products/tecs/

 

Nice unit but no boost control.   Even their new EVO doesn't support boost. 

 

[jimk]

1 hour ago, Dudeland said:

Agreed, the difference between the 750 and the 1500 is $350, it is the other bits that make it expensive.

What other bits?  There isn't anything special to the Haltech that can't be the same exact device that other systems use, crank wheel, crank trigger, map sensor, tps sendor, wideband sensor, ignition devices, coils, cam sensor, etc.  What else is special?

[Dudeland]

What other bits?  There isn't anything special to the Haltech that can't be the same exact device that other systems use, crank wheel, crank trigger, map sensor, tps sendor, wideband sensor, ignition devices, coils, cam sensor, etc.  What else is special?

With the Holley you have a lot more built in functionality and if you order the kit, you get most of the sensors you need. Plus injector drivers and coil drivers are built into the unit

The Haltech to be comparable you need to add those to the initial price. Plus you don’t get injector plugs like you do with the Holley and some other wiring and adapters.

In addition if you want auto tune you need to buy an upgrade license to enable it in the software for the MS3.

I think it is time for a spreadsheet.





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[Dudeland]

At a high level I am kinda looking for reliability knowing that they have different price points.

I have learned that sometimes one is not directly correlated with the other.



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