stand alone engine management questions

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turbocad6

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ok, I've been doing some research on stand alone engine management systems & so far it seems like the haltech is the best for versatility & end user programming.

I do have a few questions though & haven't been able to find answers with searching, so I started this thread in hopes of getting at least some answers.

my main questions are,

#1) I'm assuming the replacement haltech ecu still has the ability to communicate with the factory can buss? wouldn't this be necissary to retain all other vehicle functions, like transmission comunication & stuff? what is the tradeoff? what do you loose?

#2) I know there is a kit made for the vq that includes a harness adaptor to make it a plug in affair, but as far as the ecu itself, are they pretty universal? can the same unit be used on a v6 as well as a v8 or are they specific for each aplication? can it be used on a 6 cyl then changed to an 8 with the same unit? of course I know there will be harness differences, but aside from that?

#3) is there something else that I should also look at besides the haltech? my main concerns are maintaining the factory communication & keeping as much drivability & creature comforts as possible, I'm assuming that even with something like the haltech, that I would loose stuff like the estimated mpg & distance to empty & stuff, but any other input is appreciated


right now I'm still trying to decide on what direction I'm going to go for performance, part of me wants to do a twin setup, but part of me knows that even that has some pretty low limitations without building up the motor itself, & even then, were talking big $$$ with still a cap on how much power it can make & bang for the buck seems relatively low compared to an engine swap.


I'm seriously considering the possibility of an LS2 or even an LS7 swap, I researched the possibility of having a gm ecu communicate with the nissan buss have come to nothing but dead ends there, but can this be done with a haltech or the like? I'm not too clear on the communications something like a haltech has with the factory systems, but from what I've seen so far, I'm thinking this may be possible. I haven't contacted anyone from haltech yet as this is more exploritory at this point, so this thread is the begining of any possibility of going down this road, any help or advice or information would be greatly appreciated:tongue:
 
i dont really know about the managament system, i dont know too much about them, however the ls7 would be pretty insane swap, first in an fx diffenatly one of kind, would the tranny have to be upgraded for having that much torque on it?
 
yeah, I guess that certainly couldn't hurt:tongue:

a lot of it comes down to how hard your going to thrash it, feather it out of the hole & come on gradually will help the whole drivetrain live... I would guess eventualy I'll break something, just depends how much restraint I can have, the 4wd should help a little in spreading the load more than a rwd, as long as the transfer case even holds up... this still remains to be seen... with a little restraint I could still do great et & mph, but maybe not as great 60'... still a worthwhile project I think

I don't want to really butcher it up too bad, or I'd just do motor & tranny, forget about the 4wd all togeather, but I'd rather retain the nissan tranny & 4wd . still researching fabricating the plate to the tranny, getting mixed answers there, my buddy who is a race car fabricator has already given me the thumbs down for him building that plate with me... that should be the only other major challenge besides the management issues. mounts, brackets, exhaust & plumbing & stuff is relatively easier to deal with...
 
that theres going to be a lot of fabrication into that build engine mounts, hows the fittment? is it going to be tight in the engine bay to work with?but like i said if theres success in it, that will be one hell of a ride, not like it already isn't though lol
 
well I'm pretty sure it will fit, if it don't I should be able to make it fit:tongue: can't say yet if I'll have to build a custom pan or anything, def gonna need fabricated headers & mounts & stuff, not to worried about that stuff really, that I think I can handle...

before I can get into to many details & measuring & stuff I need to get the 2 biggest hurdles under control, management & engine to tranny plate to see if it's even worth getting deeper... I don't want to build a butchered race car really, that would be pretty easy, but I want it to be refined & very usable & comfortable... I don't want to sacrifice too much just to get the gains or it wouldn't be worthwhile at that point...
 
ya very true, well look more into it and see what happens, from your previous mods, i know this for you will be a piece of cake lol alot of time and $$$ though
 
def not a piece of cake, but I've done my share of engine swaps before, time & $$$, but in the end I'm looking this route more to save some $$$ believe it or not, I think I could do over 500hp+ for around 10k really... can't do that building the VQ...
 
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ye, how much does the ls7 motor run from gm anyways? fuck that why not put this bad boy in ? :rofl:

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:laugh:no big block dude!... I barely want the extra weight of the 8 to begin with, an all aluminum small block sounds good though:wink:

motor wouldn't come from gm, I would by one out of a wreck...
 
woh, I just read half of that thread so far... realy nice.. here I am thinking how cool it would be to be able to tune my ecu on my touchscreen, & now were talkig self adapting no tunning necissary & no pc interace needed or even possible... mixed emotions there, but man, that's sweet. reminds me of when alpine came out with F1 status processor with auto tuning, before it would take hours & hours of tweeking & tuning & now that has been replaced with fully automated adaptive... good stuff.

man, now I gotta join my350z too:mad: I was trying to avoid yet ANOTHER forum:tongue: oh well, it was going to happen eventually anyway I guess:laugh:



thank you very much for that link... don't answer all my questions but I think I can do some of that right there in that thread I guess really, THANKS:smile:
 
well, I did a lot of digging today & it seems that the mangement may not be as much of a problem as mating the nissan tranny to the ls2 motor, that seems to be the biggest problem here now, even more than the management problem.

I talked to some guys about building this adaptor & there isn't much interest as a one off piece really, & no one see's much chance of this being something that would sell. the problem with building it myself is it would be very dfficult to get it lined up with the precision required to have the tranny pump last... guys are taking to me about like .01 & .001 tolerances... might be a little beyond doing without some pretty fancy machinery.... I could build something to work, but not last as far as the tranny pump, slight misalignment will kill it.

so, the next thing to consider is, screw the nissan tranny, go with either a 6 speed or a gm automatic... if I wasn't 4wd then I'd probably be shopping for one of these already, but this might wind up being too much butchery eliminating the 4wd... adapting a gm 4wd setup would be serious pains & in the end a sleaved vq tt would probably be easier & cheaper than that route

so, is it worth giving up the 4wd for an ls2 swap?.. I don't know really yet, not ruling that out yet.... one big benifit would be I won't even need a funky engine management at that point, just use the gm box too for the ecu... save a few grand there too... the real question I guess is how much do I realy want to butcher this fx & why can't I just enjoy it for what it is...

I love this fx, honestly say it's the best vehicle I have ever owned... life would be so simple if I could just be happy with that, but, then again I say I've done engine swaps & big systems & all kinds of custom work to so many other less worthy vehicles too, why not do it to something really worthy of it & that I realy love... if I did engine & tranny I could realisticly pull this of nicely... hmm, too much modding on the brain I think, but the gm ls2's & ls7's are just so hp friendly so cheap & reliable power, where the vq is so expensive to build....

don't know what I'm thinking really, but I'm thinking & thinking... loose the 4wd that I really don't care all that much about anyway.... tough decision...
 
ls2 my friend:cool:, remeber your fx will still be an beautiful fx, except, with this bad boy , no thinking needed here lol

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turbocad6 said:
well, I did a lot of digging today & it seems that the mangement may not be as much of a problem as mating the nissan tranny to the ls2 motor, that seems to be the biggest problem here now, even more than the management problem.

I talked to some guys about building this adaptor & there isn't much interest as a one off piece really, & no one see's much chance of this being something that would sell. the problem with building it myself is it would be very dfficult to get it lined up with the precision required to have the tranny pump last... guys are taking to me about like .01 & .001 tolerances... might be a little beyond doing without some pretty fancy machinery.... I could build something to work, but not last as far as the tranny pump, slight misalignment will kill it.

so, the next thing to consider is, screw the nissan tranny, go with either a 6 speed or a gm automatic... if I wasn't 4wd then I'd probably be shopping for one of these already, but this might wind up being too much butchery eliminating the 4wd... adapting a gm 4wd setup would be serious pains & in the end a sleaved vq tt would probably be easier & cheaper than that route

so, is it worth giving up the 4wd for an ls2 swap?.. I don't know really yet, not ruling that out yet.... one big benifit would be I won't even need a funky engine management at that point, just use the gm box too for the ecu... save a few grand there too... the real question I guess is how much do I realy want to butcher this fx & why can't I just enjoy it for what it is...

I love this fx, honestly say it's the best vehicle I have ever owned... life would be so simple if I could just be happy with that, but, then again I say I've done engine swaps & big systems & all kinds of custom work to so many other less worthy vehicles too, why not do it to something really worthy of it & that I realy love... if I did engine & tranny I could realisticly pull this of nicely... hmm, too much modding on the brain I think, but the gm ls2's & ls7's are just so hp friendly so cheap & reliable power, where the vq is so expensive to build....

don't know what I'm thinking really, but I'm thinking & thinking... loose the 4wd that I really don't care all that much about anyway.... tough decision...
Click to expand...

contact him for you harness and subframe :biggrin:
http://www.hinsonsupercars.com/
 
thanks chinke, I'm now thinking of using the gm motor & tranny, so this would be much less of an issue, I myself would do what hinson has done to that z , I would modify the x-member & wiring myself though... still considering my options... thanks for the help:smile:
 
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