Microsquirt vs LH2.4 for adaptability

[MrKrabs]

Hello everyone, disclaimer: unexperienced in EMS's

Currently running LH2.4 and having issues with it (who doesn't).
I would've switched to a programmable EMS but my car is my daily and more importantly my "roadtripper". I drive 5/10k km's every summer throughout Europe, up 2800m high mountain passes and filling up with questionnable eastern-europe fuel.

If I where to switch to an EMS it'd be Microsquirt, and would get it tuned by a pro.

My question is, will the new ECU still be able to adapt to these varied conditions safely? It's important everything remains as reliable as possible when lost in the middle of nowhere. I feel like in stable conditions Microsquirt would be more reliable then LH but it could get trumped when asked to perform far from these initial conditions.

Cheers for any help!!

[blkaplan]

If you have something like this for microsquirt,,, you can compensate for altitude

https://www.diyautotune.com/product/...ic-correction/


I believe Microsquirt has multiple maps, definitely could have a "****" fuel maps and a standard fuel maps

If you are going on long trips to the middle of nowhere, its not a bad idea to have spares... Either spares for LH / EZK or spares for Microsquirt.

[bobxyz]

MicroSquirt is great for its logging capabilities and easy to change tables, if you know what you're doing.

If you want to learn how an engine works, in great detail, MS is a good choice. You should ask around to find a tuner familiar with turbo redblocks and who is willing to teach you some of the basics. You should then learn enough to retune it yourself as you modify the engine.

On the other hand, MicroSquirt does not have a knock sensor, so detecting low quality gas is left up to the driver. You can get a knocksense, but it's more of a RPM/Boost detector. You'll probably need to adjust it so that it blinks occasionally, then learn when the blinking is OK versus blinking meaning true knock. Or get a MS3 and add-on knock board (disclaimer: I've never done this). With MicroSquirt, there are some table switching capabilities and it should be possible to setup a dash switch to go between tables for good/poor gas. Check that your tuner knows how to do this.

For changing altitude, the standard MicroSquirt uses the MAP sensor value when first turned on, before starting the engine, as the baseline air pressure. If you expect to change altitude by a big amount without ever stopping the car, then dual MAP sensors can be used (one measuring engine MAP and one measuring outside air). The mapdaddy add-on board is for MegaSquirt, but I'd expect a second GM, or other, MAP sensor could be added to a MicroSquirt setup. Check with your tuner if you really think you need this.

MicroSquirt does not have a check engine light. If you're the only driver, and know what the engine should sound like, then you'll notice any major issues. If there are other drivers, a check engine light might detect major problems sooner.

[tryingbe]

I used a little knock meter for monitoring knock with my Microsquirt install.

http://www.insaneimportperformance.com/

https://forums.tbforums.com/showthre...quirt+tryingbe

[DNAsEqUeNcE]

Then factor in the important requirements:

barometric correction
knock sensing
lambda feedback (and the appropriate conditions/setup to drive the feedback to help the table in case you really mess it up)

Ms2 variant stuff can be decently made to work in all conditions, but requires much tuning and fiddling with to make right.

things to factor in!

[klr142]

Aka, what are your problems with Lh?

[MrKrabs]

Originally Posted by klr142

Aka, what are your problems with Lh?

It's running rich up top, crap idle, it's reaction time to richen up when boost kicks in etc.


However I feel like I should get an Ostrich tuner and tune it myself, rather then Microsquirt it as everyone's help here shows it can work un my situation but it wasn't really designed to.

[DNAsEqUeNcE]

I think that may be your best bet, to enter into that world. See how that works for you.

[klr142]

It’s definitely easier to do as far as acquiring parts and installing goes, it’s just more annoying to tune than something that can actually log data. Definitely worth trying.

If you’re too rich up top, you can try more boost or less fuel injector. Those adjustments won’t help the fuel ratio at the onset of boost though, you’ll need to tune LH for help with that.

Idle shouldn’t be too bad with LH if your throttle and base idle screw are set properly. Block off the idle motor when warm and set the base idle to at least 800 rpm. If you have a big camshaft(K or H and larger) or anything from RSI, you’ll probably want to idle above that, 900 or even 1000rpm. Make sure your valve clearances are at least .016” to help your idle.