Aftermarket Fuel Injection
Does anyone have experience with after market Fuel injection systems, " Megasquirt " in particular. There is a huge presence on the web about the system, but is seems very disorganized. Having 'inherited' a system, ( basically a box of components ) when I purchased a rebuild project, I'm wondering if I should not acquire the oem harness & ecu, rather then reinvent the wheel. The engine is a 4AG 20 valve/>safty valves< Toyota "silvertop". I am not as interested in wringing the last bit of power out of the engine, as I am in driveability.
The main problem I'm having, is locating components; The 20 valve
engines apparently were never sold in the USA, but are desirable in the
rice-rocket 'drift' boy racer market. altho the "blacktop" engine is the
more desirable, I'm told. I have, however, located an ECU as of this
writing. I also have an AFM, swinging gate type, (like the older Bosch
ones)supposedly 'in the mail' . All I lack now,
is the ecu harness. The engine is going in a '70 type 65 Lotus Europa. I
will be placing the megasquirt components on Ebay; as suggested.
thanks for your responses.
As someone who has an entirely homebuilt EFI/Mapped ignition engine
management system, based on Megasquirt and junkyard hardware, built into
a 60's Triumph, I think those who rubbish aftermarket ECUs in general
and Megasquirt in particular are missing the point.
Sure, modern
(say mid nineties on) engine management is much more sophisticated and
better mapped. But, if you have a situation where your car either never
had fuel injection, had rudimentary fuel injection from a bygone age,
or has modifications outside the ability of the stock ECU to allow for,
then you have a problem. These wonderful modern ECUs are not easy to
modify or to apply outside their intended application. Aftermarket
therefore fills this niche.
I can only speak for Megasquirt
(MS), but I found it to be very cost effective and reasonably easy to
use, even with no prior EFI/management experience. Power, torque, fuel efficency
and driveability, yes driveabilty, are all significantly improved over
the standard carb/points setup. With a wideband oxygen sensor I can set
target tables to control AFR over the working range. The open format
means I can use software created by a number of clever people (for
free!) to help me tune and tweak the maps and get the best out of the
car.
Can it achieve todays emissions legislation for new cars? - I
doubt it, but that is not the point of it. However, I would be very
surprised if a properly set up MS installation does not drive every bit
as well as a modern factory build.
Sure, plenty of people have
problems with their MS installs. Plenty of people have problems with
the other other aftermarket systems too (not to mention OEM!), but with
MS you see alot about it on the web because that is where you go for
help. The low cost of MS also means it falls into the hands of backyard
tinkerers who are punching way above their weight....
Just a case of horses for courses really.
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