[sydude]

I'm about to commence a custom remote tune by Adam Marrer of Pops Racing on my '92 Bronco w/MAF conversion and E4OD (see below for all of my details) and wanted to know if anyone is interested in me documenting or posting pictures of any aspect of the process or the equipment on this forum. I'm a complete dumbass in regard to this tuning stuff (Adam's going to be holding my hand throughout) so expect me to say lots of inane and idiotic things.

I'm using a Moates Quarterhorse tuner/datalogger and an Innovate wideband sensor on the hardware side, and Binary Editor running on my MacBook Pro (through Parallels) on the software side. I'm welding two additional O2 bungs (even though I only need one additional bung) for the WB on my Bassani Y-pipe - one right at the collector, and one in place of my AIR pipe which I no longer use, and have temporarily closed up using a cork. That way I can pick the best location for the WB sensor and also use the bung plugs (that just sounds wrong..) to permanently seal off both openings when done. I think the best spot is the collector, but the hole for the AIR tube (6" further downstream) is just so convenient.

From what I understand, I'll be hooking everything up and datalogging what's going on with the Bronco while completing specific driving scenarios, and then emailing the data back to Adam. He will then make changes to my tune based upon the data and I will redo the driving/datalogging exercise. This may or may not get repeated (again, I am clueless here) and finally, when he feels he's got it just right, he'll burn me a tune onto a chip. I think! It's all supposed to work brilliantly... More info about Adam and remote tuning here:

http://eectuning.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18136

Again, let me know if you are interested in me documenting any specific areas of the process or the equipment.

S

-----
Ford Racing 6007-XE3 302 Motor in '92 Ford Bronco w/E4OD Tranny
Ford Racing 9000-L58 Mass-Air Conv. with AKC0 Lightning EEC, 80mm MAS & 30 lb Injectors
Ford Racing 6250-E303 Cam
Ford Racing GT40X Aluminum Heads with Port & Polish and Comp Valve Job
Ford Racing Shorty Headers w/Bassani 3" Y-pipe, H-Flow Metallic Cat & Flowmaster Delta Force 10 muffler
Edelbrock Performer Truck EFI Intake Manifold
BBK Twin 56mm Throttle Body
Ford Racing Windage Tray
Ford Racing Double Roller Timing Chain
4.88 Gears on LS Diffs
35" ProComp Xtreme All Terrains on 17" Walker Evans Simlocks

 

[mkiefer]

i doooo. i just bought a qh and an innovate

 

[clements408]

I would not recommend this person to tune your Bronco. I had a very negative experience dealing with him and kept it to myself for the most part but feel the need to give you something to think about. I would not use the Vex1 file he may try to sell. SailorBob on EEC tuning org sells an AHACB strategy file for $25 dollars that is much more complete in it's ability to datalog/tune a Bronco. This strategy is a direct competitor to the Vex1 Adam may try to sell. I would recommend the AHACB strategy if it fits your engine base strategy. Adam is a capable tuner so see if he will use the AHACB. Don't let him sell you a custom tune as it may be very incomplete. Remember he specializes in Mustangs and has multiple strategies to support. He does not have strategy files on Bronco ecu's. In my case, he downloaded the open source Vex1 strategy from Clint Garrity's site (which had known problems on it after I researched on EEC tuning org) and used HEX code to piece it together enough to work basic functions. Problem was every time BE was updated, this custom file would fail and Adam wasn't answering calls until he got more money. Clint was the one who pointed out how incomplete the "custom strategy" file was and pointed me to the AHACB strategy. A lousy $25 dollars would have saved us both allot of time & frustration. Adam's customer service stinks. I have a lengthy email between us airing our differences but cannot load it here. If you want more details and see both sides of the issue, email me and I will respond with the email between he, I, and Clint Garrity so you can see both sides. I tried to load it here but failed. The choice is yours.

 

[sydude]

Thanks for the advice, but I've been talking to Adam about this for 2 years and he's always been an absolute pleasure to deal with. Also, we just completed the remote tune on my truck, which went extremely well, and it runs amazing. Fixed every little and not-so little drivability issue, made it much smoother, as well as added a whole bunch of power. Super competent guy, super helpful.

I did a ton of research on him and the tuning of my particular EEC (which is an AKC0 on AHACA) and he's the guy for it. Plus, he is very highly regarded on eectuning.org, and that was good enough for me as well.

 

[sydude]

Mark, I'll try to post up pictures and play-by-play of the tune this weekend. I just got power back last night, the early snow storm we got up in NY wreaked havoc on us.

 

[B-man]

PLEASE POST EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING YOU CAN MAN!

I am in the process of hoping to go the same route you are going within the year. My rig is MAF and is a 393 stroker with an E4OD. have the Moates QH and am a member of EECTuning.org. I am running Clint's BE as well. I spoke with Adam months ago on EEC. Very helpful and informative guy.

 

[RyanDS650X]

Im in on this as well. I need to start educting myself on eec tuning. its next on my list but scares the crap out of me... I start going cross eyed every time i start to research it.

 

[magnumpi]

Its an insane amount of reading, trail and error, question asking, PMing, reasearching, and cursing....over the course of months.
I've been repairing fuel injection systems for about 5 years now and there has been a big learning curve for me. Its worth it thou. You gain a complete understanding how and why the fuel injection does what it does, not just how to recognize faulty parts

 

[RyanDS650X]

Whats the good word Sy? Any progress? opc1:

 

[Poorboyz]

In for a update. What has been happening? Is the truck still running good? I spent 40 minutes on the pone with Adam yesterday and needless to say the guy knows his stuff.

 

[sydude]

Quick update (full update to follow hopefully tonight): Adam is amazing, and the tune went brilliantly well with fantastic results. If you don't have hundreds of hours to spend on tuning, hire Adam. A no brainer.

 

[B-man]

Quick update (full update to follow hopefully tonight): Adam is amazing, and the tune went brilliantly well with fantastic results. If you don't have hundreds of hours to spend on tuning, hire Adam. A no brainer.

LOL, What all went down? ya leaving us hangin? LOL.

How much it run ya?

 

[Poorboyz]

How much it run ya?

A tune from Adam is $450, doesn't matter if he spends 4 hours on it or 8 hours. I'll tell you one thing...you really have to know your stuff to dial in a car the way he does in the amount of time he does it in. From researching Adam and talking to him I feel confident that noone can go wrong by doing business with him, the guy knows his stuff.

 

[B-man]

A tune from Adam is $450, doesn't matter if he spends 4 hours on it or 8 hours. I'll tell you one thing...you really have to know your stuff to dial in a car the way he does in the amount of time he does it in. From researching Adam and talking to him I feel confident that noone can go wrong by doing business with him, the guy knows his stuff.

I have spoken with Adam before as well. And, I agree. I have heard nothing but good about him. And, hopefully he can help me when the time comes. I don't think I need much of tune to mine. Just mostly air/fuel and hopefully he can help with the shifting of the tranny. But, I will see.

 

[Poorboyz]

I have spoken with Adam before as well. And, I agree. I have heard nothing but good about him. And, hopefully he can help me when the time comes. I don't think I need much of tune to mine. Just mostly air/fuel and hopefully he can help with the shifting of the tranny. But, I will see.

Air/Fuel and tranny is al I need as well but there is a lot more to it than messing with fuel trims and tranny shift points. First everything that has been done to the engine has to be input, then the parameter of those things, then you have to datalog and use the wideband along with KAMFR to establish the AFR needed to get as close to stoic as possible and from ADAM tells me he likes to get it as close to stoic (.99 or better) as possible.

 

[Poorboyz]

Quick update (full update to follow hopefully tonight): Adam is amazing, and the tune went brilliantly well with fantastic results. If you don't have hundreds of hours to spend on tuning, hire Adam. A no brainer.

Update?

 

[quickestang]

I have 2 quarterhorses 1 was in my 331 stroker in my mustang. Adam is a very smart guy and set me up with a base tune for mine. Once you mess around with BE you will be able to make fuel and timing changes and dial it in but the wide band is the key.

 

[sydude]

Here it is, finally. But before I start, a big 'sorry' for the update delays. Also, I really wanted to take more pictures of the process - actually ANY for that matter.. I actually didn't take any pictures of the tune or the equipment at all, I was so swamped with work and other things at the time that it just fell by the wayside. Now the Bronco is at the body shop again, waiting to get a proper paint job AGAIN, but this time with a different friend who will hopefully actually paint it and not let it sit in a corner for 4 months collecting overspray. So when I get a chance to sneak into the shop I'll take some pics of the ECU, the Moates Quarterhorse, the USB cable setup and mounting etc.

So here's what I did to prep for my (remote) tune, which Adam walked me through every step of the way:

1. Hire Adam, and pay him $450 or so to do the tune.

2. Used my Apple MacBook Pro running Windows XP as the PC, which worked flawlessly, and used LogMeIn to let Adam control my computer remotely. Make sure you have a fast Wifi connection or a long ethernet cable available for your PC where your car is.

3. Bought and registered a copy of Binary Editor. I think I paid $70.

4. Bought a license for my EEC's strategy file ($200, I think that's the priciest one). Some strategy files are open source (free), but some are not. I don't know that much about this part.

5. Bought and installed a stainless steel bung & plug from Innovate onto my Bassani SS Y-Pipe (see below for pics and more info on this)

6. Borrowed an Innovate LM-2 wide band controller from a friend (you can use the much cheaper LC-1 instead), plugged it into the PC using the USB cable, installed the wide band sensor onto the new bung and connected it to the Wide Band controller. Please note that you must always have the WideBand O2 sensor powered when the engine is on, otherwise you'll damage it.

7. Buy a Moates Quarterhorse and install it. Mine took all of 5 minutes to do, as I have no interior panels and have easy access to my EEC. To install the Quarterhorse, you remove the small pop-out J3 access cover from the case, and slide the Quarterhorse in, with the USB cable already attached and routed through. When done, 'seal' the remaining open areas of the J3 port opening and the USB cable using a suitable tape (I used racer's tape). Connect the USB cable (which will remain permanently in the Quarterhorse and therefore the car) to the PC.

When this was all complete, Adam did a quick test to make sure all of the equipment was working properly, and then we commenced the tune, which we completed in around 7 or 8 hours total. This was the general process (every step below had the computer and wide band controller running and connected to the car):

1. Initial drive to datalog base calibrations / settings. Took a 5-10 minute drive, came back and reviewed general datalog as well as my verbal feedback about drivability and came up with a strategy on which areas to attack first.

2. Calibration of Mass Air meter using additional test drives of a few minutes each, with data analysis and adjustments after-each drive. This was the first step of the tune, to calibrate and the meter and 'smoothen' the curve. At first, it was jagged and all over the place, but by the time he was done it was smooth, and the truck ran much markedly better (it was already good). He used a number of proprietary calculation and visualization tools on the computer to do this.

3. Air Fuel ratios. The next set of sessions focused on getting the AFR curve just right. My truck wasn't very far off from the outset, so he didn't have to make major adjustments, just lots of tweaking throughout the range. Still, this made a very noticeable additional improvement. Used additional tools as above.

4. Timing Curve. Same as AFR - small tweaks throughout, and an additional noticeable improvement. Used additional tools as above.

5. Transmission shift points / Torque Converter lockup controls. Same procedure - make adjustments, go for a test drive, come back and analyze the data as well as my verbal feedback, make new adjustments and repeat. He made major changes to the tranny line pressure settings, the rpms where shifts occur as well as when the torque converter would lock up. This area of work gave the biggest improvements overall in the seat of the pants - every shift now occurred at the right time and would be completed firmly. Plus, he matched the lockup of the converter to the torque curve of my E303 cam, so I no longer had a 500 rpm band of 'slipping' - just power. A huge difference in this area, I can't stress it more.

6. Drivability, etc. Based on one or two drivability issues I was having, as well as additional tuning changes in areas I don't recall he made a whole bunch of other modifications. In addition to fixing my pre-existing issues, the biggest improvement he made was throttle response - evidently Ford dumbed down the throttle response (in this particular EEC only?) so he made a few changes there, and it made another big improvement.

7. Turning off unwanted functions. My EEC is one of the ones that does not like the EGR eliminator kit, and so it still showed the annoying CEL with code 332 (EGR valve closed). Adam turned the EGR function completely off for me, so no more CEL. My Bronco is now 111 and proud!

Outcome:

It's another vehicle entirely. It's much faster and smoother, and the throttle and transmission are much more responsive. Plus, all of the little niggling quirks and issues are gone.

My Observation on Adam's Work:

I'm a very proficient guy in many technical areas (other than EFI tuning) and so it was instantly apparent throughout the tuning process how incredibly fluent he is in regards to this work, and how rich his experience and knowledge-base is as well. With all of his experience (20 years doing this kind of stuff, and I think he's done 1,000+ EFI tunes), he is able to view, analyze and manipulate data on an instinctive basis - where you or I would sit there and fumble through countless hours and page after page of functions, curves, scalars and other chinese goobledygop, he instantly sees or knows where horsepower can be gained, and just does it.

It's like a complicated language which we don't know, and he's a native speaker. I also liken it the movie The Matrix - how Morpheus could look at bunch of green numbers falling down a screen and see it as three dimensional reality.

It'll take you or me 1,000 hours to become MAYBE half as good as him. At one point while he was doing the tune, he was moving so quickly from screen to screen making calculations and adjustments I just broke out with a big smile. Too impressive. Adam was also incredibly courteous, patient and generous with his knowledge throughout the process, and it was a pleasure dealing with him.

My Observation on 'EEC Tuning':

Really powerful and effective, and absolutely worthwhile to have done... BUT.. not by yourself. This is a task for a pro. Let them do it, it's not expensive when you compare it to the results you get and the immense amount of time you'll save. I figure it would take someone two hundred hours of learning, trial and error and pain to get a tune to work 90% as well as he can in eight. What are those 192 hours of your life worth to you, your job and your family?

 

[sydude]

Note on the O2 bung extension tube that comes on Bassani Y-pipes, as well as general pics on a dual O2 sensor install on the merge pipe section.


1. With the extension tube utilized, the sensor is not in the direct exhaust gas stream.

2. Extension tube cut-out, ground flush and ready for SS block plate. Same for the AIR tube, using a SS bolt head (not shown)

3. New Wide and Narrow band sensor bungs welded in to merge pipe, mounted slightly offset from each other. You can see the AIR tube pipe sealed in the right side of the picture.

 

[quickestang]

it is something that I will always mess with now that I can. Guess its good and bad