need help with 2000 civic si

[YBLEGAL]

no idea unfortunatly. unless you wire in some sort of electronic hardware or devices (resistors, or plds) in between the map and ecu, i'm gonna guess you would have to get crome or hondata or w/e, because those enable you to specify the map sensor's range. making it work w/ an ecu that's set for a stock map, would to me, suggest the use of external hardware. idk. bad guess and a bump, cuz no one's answered you yet. gooood luck.

 

[bpounds]

Well, I'll just have to save up some money to purchase either an AEM EMS or Hondata. I don't want to only run 7 psi when I spent $7500 for the turbo and to have my engine rebuilt. The edelbrock tech said I can't tune the piggy back over 7 psi. I asked what I should do if I do want to run my car around 13-14 psi. He said I would want to get an AEM EMS or Hondata and remove all the electronics, then have the car professionally tuned.

I read on forums that the AEM EMS is really good and that most people hate Hondata because it is unreliable and that their customer service sucks. Anyone have an opinion about either?

Also, has anyone here purchased an ECU (obd2 to obd1 conversion) from phearable.net? They look like they know what they are doing...

 

[YBLEGAL]

never had a problem with my hondata. had to call customer service twice to activate ROM editor. quick and helpful. no complaints here.

 

[bpounds]

Is there a way to test my stock map sensor to see if it needs to be replaced? I know it only can handle up to 10 psi, and I was running about 13 psi for a few months. I didn't know if that would make it go bad, or if it just wouldn't work properly at the time when going over 10 psi.

I was reading about somehow being able to check the voltage...would that tell you whether or not it needs to be replaced. I would just hate to buy it and it not solve my problem...I can't return it since it is electrical.

 

[bpounds]

oh yeah...another thing is that my engine smelled like it was burning when I lifted the hood today to check my fluids. That's the best way to describe it is "a burnt smell."

I forgot to add....about two weeks ago, my car was backfiring real bad...right after that, my car overheated. I had to pull over on the interstate with my hood up to let it cool down for about 30 minutes...

Last week when I checked the oil, I noticed that the rubber stopper (towards the part of the oil stick with the handle) was burnt and crispy like it had previously caught fire or was fried when my engine overheated.

Ever since then, my engine always smells like it is burning after I shut the engine off. Any thoughts there as well?

 

[bpounds]

I got my car tuned down to 7 psi on Thursday. I went ahead and purchased a stock map sensor. I just wanted to know if I have to adjust anthing with the ECU, etc. to work with a new map sensor or should it just work by replacing it?

 

[bpounds]

I installed the map sensor last week. The car still runs like crap. It sounds like it is knocking when engine is on and car parked. A few people have told me it sounds like something wrong with my pistons. I am dropping the car off tonight and they are looking at it tomorrow. A friend recommended to run a compression test.

I spoke with a tech from Edelbrock again and he said it sounds like detonation.

anyone suggest anything or have some extra insight from what's been going on?

 

[YBLEGAL]

hehe i'm just about to pull the head on my buddies 4G63 cuz it's got a knocking sound, but runs, though like crap. his was runnin rich as hell. we're suspecting piston rings. that's a good possibility from too much boost. or maybe you've got valve float. either way, ur gonna have to take it apart now...that sucks. let us know what you find. best of luck!

 

[bpounds]

Just giving a update (my car was looked at again about a month and a half ago)...Jamie at TVR found that the piggy back was making it have a lot of problems. For some reason, one of the settings was making the V-tec kick in at the every rpm...that's why is was soooo slow from the takeoff; it was opening the valve all the way. He disconnected some wires and it starts off a lot faster now.

But, as soon as I took it on the interstate, it was acting up. It started out great and I thought the problem was fixed until, all of a sudden, my speed started slowing down even though I had the gas pedal pressed down. It would not stop slowing down until I put the car in neutral for about 5 seconds, and then put it back in 5th gear. Then it would go again....for about two minutes, and then the same thing kept happening over and over.

I also found out through Edelbrock that the piggyback is only flashed for 7 psi and no higher. This kit was made for a 100% stock engine. However, the technicians at TVR must not have known that since they upgraded me to Skunk 2 valves and low compression pistons to handle 13-14 psi.

I call TVR every week and they always tell me they are busy or will call next week...I never hear back from them. I am going to talk to them in person tomorrow to try to settle this.

What I think is that the problem will never go away w/o upgrading from the piggyback to a nice EMS (which I don't feel I am responsible for since they told me I didn't need anything else besides what they sold me)...the crazy part is that they are a very reputable company around here.

 

[Hasid Lafre]

I say pull the car from there shop and take it to a different shop.

To me it sounds like your only problem is the ECU tuning, Take it to someone that knows hondas more than others.

 

[YBLEGAL]

yeah i'd say take it to a different shop. reputable or not, seems like a bad experiance.

did you change your o2's? that loss of power could be the ecu mis-calculating fuel trim from bad o2 readings. Could also be related to the EGR system.

 

[bpounds]

Finally!!!!!! My car runs great! The main thing problem was the entire wiring harness. It had a short in it causing other things to mess up. The piggy back was also bad. The map sensor had to be replaced again. Also, they set the psi to 10-11.

I still can't drive it too hard right now since I have a brand new clutch. I have a Spec hybrid clutch. The spec stage 2 clutch I had went bad after 6 months. The only thing I don't like about this new clutch is how hard you have to press it. Jamie said that's just the way heavy-duty racing clutches are since this one is guaranteed not to slip.