why wouldnt this ecu piggy back work?

[johl]

this is just a thread to discuss something that i have been pondering for a couple of weeks now. but first a little story-

i recently bought a new motorbike and put a new exhaust and air filter on it. to maximise the performance gains i decided to get a fuel controller. i ended up buying a Bazzaz brand fuel controller and also an o2 sensor with self mapping module. this ecu piggy back/fuel controller comes with a wiring harness that intercepts the signal sent from the ecu to the injectors, throttle position sensor, gear position sensor and the crank position sensor. to install it all i had to do was remove the plug from the injectors/sensor, put the bazzaz plug onto the injector/sensor and then the factory plug was inserted into an extra plug provided on the Bazzaz wiring harness so as it would not interrupt the signal sent from the factory ecu.

why does this not exist for cars? it may, but i have not seen anything like it. the fuel controller cost me less than $300. if you want to get the auto tune controller with o2 sensor then that is an extra $250. i ended up buying both, plugging it into my laptop clicking on the start log button and went for a ride. it keeps logging data until you click stop on the laptop when you reconnect once you come home. even if you turn off the ignition it will resume once you start riding again. it really is faultless.

here are some photos of the system if my works dont quite describe it well enough
supplied harness, which for my bike controls both sets of injectors which other brand ecu piggy backs do not


supplied diagram of the layout of the wiring harness


it comes with the capability to store 2 fuel maps which are switchable by removing this wire, or you can buy a push button from Bazzaz. this has been used to run a map for normal fuel and also e-85


the self mapping unit


the initial fuel corrections from the first ride


the fuel controller itself is generic and not specific to any vehicle. with some wiring know how and imagination i cannot see why someone couldnt wire in the 3 required sensors and the injectors and be on your way? the actual tuning of the bike is dead easy, just set your target Air Fuel Ratio and go for a ride/drive. come back and retrieve the logged data and it will tell you where you are lean/rich every 500rpm and 5% increments of throttle (as you can see in the above photo). From there you can apply your own changes or just accept the program's recommendations and apply all. you can also select groups of cells and smooth the data automatically to eliminate random spikes.

i am in no way involved with this company i would just like to get other opinions from people who think this can/cant be done?

[Dylan]

Piggyback type ecus are added to cars where you want to keep the factory dash/gauges and other controls such as drive-by wire throttles. Some newer ecus have that function to log and change the maps based on the AFRs.

[Frak]

P.S. reason for using this unit was it was CHEAP!!!

[johl]

the PCV also sells an autotune module, i would be interested to see if you could get similar results with this compared to your dyno runs

[Frak]

It does work for cars! I have been running a CBR600RR power commander 3 USB on my AE111 for about 2 years, I used this to correct the fuel in open loop. I wanted to keep all the standard idle up feature etc. When I contacted powercommander to get a 4cyl unit I just sent them a pic of my injector plugs, the cbr one matched. Now in the power commander the map goes up to about 15,000 rpm, not a problem, engine never goes that high. I only programmed it in open loop. The power commander was easy hook up, in between injectors using the loom supplied, then an earth and tps connection. I got it on the dyno and worked out at what throttle angle/load it went into open loop and only programmed those, at lighter loads/throttle angles the factory ecu looks after the closed loop programming, so fuel consumption is still sweet.

When I contacted power commander they said they actually did units to suit cars with more inputs/outputs etc, but I only wanted to adjust the fuel in open loop, works a treat.

I tune quite a few powercommanders/Bazzaz units on the dyno, they are generally alpha-n, tps over rpm and I have a very quick way of tuning these things great.

[johl]

good to know frak.
i also couldnt believe how cheap they are compared to aftermarket ecu's. sure it doesnt have all the features of a microtec but for a relatively stock motor i cant see why you wouldnt get one to correct your AFR