how to tune for dummies?

[Kenchinito]

Hello,

I've been reading all around and maybe it's just me being ignorant but i see all these terms like SAFC, DSMLink, ECM, piggyback, EPROM, etc. I'm not even sure what does what and what should i use.

To my understanding, SAFC is a fuel management system that is a piggyback system because it goes over our ECU? am i right?

If i have an EPROM ecu, does that mean i can tune with DSMlink and i need no SAFC or ECM?

If i were to start tunning, what should I be getting in order to do it?

 

[SkyGrowsCold]

I'll try and simplify this a bit for you, although take of it what you will since I'm still learning also. ECM Tuning created DSMLink so they are one in the same and in order to use DSMLink you need an ECU that is socketed to accept the chip that provides the ECU your tune. The EPROM ECU comes with a chip already soldered into the board and is usually desolder to add the above mentioned chip socket in order to insert the new chip provided by DSMLink or other aftermarket burned chip.

The SAFC I'm not as familiar with and I'm sure someone can further explain it but to my understanding that taps into some of your factory harness to get information from your car and sends that into the SAFC unit which than takes your desired inputs and relays that information back into your ECU.

To begin tuning it is recommended you first get a wideband and some form of logging software to monitor your engine.

Hope this at least gives you some insight to tuning and I'm sure more of the more knowlegable members will provide more information.

 

[ajpm26]

Hello,

I've been reading all around and maybe it's just me being ignorant but i see all these terms like SAFC, DSMLink, ECM, piggyback, EPROM, etc. I'm not even sure what does what and what should i use.

To my understanding, SAFC is a fuel management system that is a piggyback system because it goes over our ECU? am i right?

If i have an EPROM ecu, does that mean i can tune with DSMlink and i need no SAFC or ECM?

If i were to start tunning, what should I be getting in order to do it?

safc tricks the factory ecu, can't handle too big of injectors, etc.... it was good back when we didn't have any actual tuning solutions, but honestly garbage in comparison to what we have now-a-days.

You should research on the forums a bit more, more information than you can probably handle at this point, haha.

If you have an eprom ecu you can have it socketed and then buy dsmlink. I personally am not going with dsmlink but it does have plenty of support, guides, etc....

Tuning it yourself, however isn't always for everyone, remember, it's what can make your engine blow or your car run great, so if you don't have a single clue and just start playing around with settings, you're bound to mess something up.

 

[broken_eclipse]

Safc- distorts MAF reading to add more or less fuel, problem being it also adds or removes timing automatically with no control.

DSMlink- requires a socketed ECU and allows tuning of damn near anything. It is still however considered a piggy back because it uses the factory ECU.

If you want to only make 300-350hp in my opinion thats a budget build which can be accomplished on a stock motor and shouldnt require much more than an AFC. If you want 2-step, NLS or just better control over your engine then go with DSMlink.

 

[Blurred Talon]

You are no longer limited to an EPROM ECU for ECMLink. They can convert 1G and 2G non EPROM ECUs to EPROM.

 

[Kenchinito]

Thx for all the replies, I think I might be going the DSMLink way.

Truth be told, I am a little worried about messing something up in the tuning process but since i'm here in Panama, Central America we have no tuning shop around. Well we do have stores called "tuning shops" but all they do is install HID kits, 22" gangsta chrome rims, 100000000000 Watt sound systems, etc. The most performance related thing they'd do for you is to paste a NOS sticker on your car MAO... Not really "tuning" +facepalm+

I do know a guy or two who know their stuff about tuning though but not nearly as knowledgeable as the guys around here. So my plan was to follow on some guide maybe? what you guys recommend?

 

[92AWDHX40]

Go to the site and look around.

 

[projekt1]

Dsmlink is definitely the way to go although it's not cheap. I've had it for a while now and its still a little bit overwhelming for me. There's a ton of reading and understanding to get comfortable with tunning. I still have a hard time just trying to get my fuel trims linned up, and I haven't even tried WOT tunning because of it.

Sent from my Atrix 4G using Tapatalk

 

[SkyGrowsCold]

I'm biased to DSMLink since thats what I run but the wiki and support forums for it are pretty amazing. Seeing how your profile says your car is stock, in my opnion, this is the perfect first modification (along with a wideband). ECM sets a base tune with the chip which will work for you so there's not much tuning until you start to get into modifications. Aside from that with the way the program is set up it almost makes all the standard calculations for you and as you learn you can further fine tune the car.

 

[95AWD6Bolt]

Dsmlink is definitely the way to go although it's not cheap. I've had it for a while now and its still a little bit overwhelming for me. There's a ton of reading and understanding to get comfortable with tunning. I still have a hard time just trying to get my fuel trims linned up, and I haven't even tried WOT tunning because of it.

Sent from my Atrix 4G using Tapatalk

You guys need to get over the whole "its not cheap thing." You have to be prepared to pay to play and $500 give or take a few is not much when it comes to tuning.
OP, Do it right the first time and you wont have problems.

 

[4Lurker4]

The biggest question you need to ask yourself when buying tuning software is to what limit/power you're willing to push the car. Running an SAFC will be great for 250-300 without any issues. DSMlink has a bigger learning curve costs more but enables a more in depth tune. I'd state your power goals and what you'll be using the car for before suggesting what you need.

 

[XiKeiyaZI]

When it comes to tuning solutions, there are several various ways to go about selecting one. I'll go ahead and share a little, although they can all easily be searched.

1 : SAFC - A SAFC is a piggy back. It is effective for moderately mild tuning and getting things dialed within a specific range. It is not, however very capable when it comes to other things besides intercepting signals from your MAF, changing the variables, and sending that to your ECU. This, in turn, makes your ECU think that there is more or less air being drawn in and attempts to compensate by adding or removing fuel. Essentially, if you want to run a little leaner, you set the SAFC to tell the ECU that there is more air coming in than what's really there. The ECU dials back fuel and keeps taking in the exact same amount of air as usual.

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2 : MAFT - A maft basically is the same as a SAFC. A MAFT allows you to use a GM MAF which is superior to ours as it can read pressure. Our MAFS cannot be placed inline with our charge system whereas a GM MAF can. This allows you to eliminate the intake snorkel from the intake side of the turbo, clean up the engine bay, and also manipulate fuel the same way that a SAFC allows you to.

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3 : ECU Flashing - A low of later model DSMs have what we call a Flashable ECU. These work the same as flashing a BIOS or a Chip. You can create a definition file, essentially a tune, plug up your software, and flash the ECU with updated information such as Timing, Fuel maps, injector sizing, two step, anti lag, and other things. This is a well known and moderately supported tuning solution.

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4 : Chip Burning/Ostrich - If you have an Eprom ECU, you're in luck. An Eprom (erasable programmable read only memory) is - Well... just read this Link. Essentially what we can do is remove this chip, place a socket in it's place, and replace the chip with a blank chip that we have burned Data onto, much like a CD. These chips can be removed, the data erased, uploaded with new data (think of it as flashing the chip, like a flashable ECU above), placed into the socket, the ECU hooked back up and viola! A new tune is acquired! The alternative is something like Ostrich, where the stock Eprom chip is removed and the Ostrich unit attaches to that place with a ribbon. See my explanation of Ostrich Here.

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5 : DSMLink - See the same post from Above - Yes, I'm linking this twice. Link not only allows you to edit every electronically controlled aspect of your vehicle, but allows you to monitor it all in absolute real time.

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6 : Now, the End all to End All is a Stand Alone Engine Management System. A well known one is an AEM EMS. These simply cannot be touched. These are fully tunable systems that you setup yourself. I would suggest doing heavy research on these as they are temperamental and there is simply too much information to type.

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Hope this helps to some degree.

 

[Arthris]

Im gonna be using a Socketed Eprom with a flasher to do my tunning. Also there is MegaSquirt-II Engine Management System w/PCB3 - UnAssembled Kit DIYAutoTune.com Im using this kit on my 83 Rx7. Its all personal preferance. Some of the advanced kits are a headache to understand