Anyone with Megasquirt experiance?

320iJT · Post by **320iJT** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 9:35 am

I bought back my old Sierra Beige e21 from the kid I sold it to in 2010. He converted it from 4-speed to a 5-speed but the most significant modification he did was remove the K-Jet fuel injection and installed a Megasquirt set up. It ran enough for the kid to drive it a few miles but he said it was running very rich and it is not really road ready yet. Unfortunately, have no clue about this stuff and I seem lost. It doesn't run properly and I feel I may have bit off more than I can chew. I have most of the original K-Jet components to reinstall if I wanted to but since this MS is now there, it would make the most sense to find out the gremlins and fix it.

Does anyone have experience with the Megasquirt Fuel Injection conversion?

HELP!

m20power · Post by **m20power** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 1:07 pm

JT,

I converted my track car >5yrs back to MS and love it. MS is an excellent, full-featured engine management system. When built, installed and deployed properly, it can rival most any aftermarket system (especially one from last century!). The quality of the build/install plays a big part in the reliability and performance. Assuming that this was done properly (big leap), it comes down to tuning.

The best advice I can give is for you to familiarize yourself with how the system works and to become proficient with tuning. The beauty of MS is that you have control over all aspects of engine managment, but this is something you will want to optimize over time.

Your interest, skill set and end goal will determine if this is practible. If you're looking for a street car that would pass emission inspection, starts when cold and idles smoothly, that's one thing. If it's for a track car and max power, carbon-footprint-be-damned, that's another. My objective was the latter, so I did most of my tuning on the road/track and then one dyno session. As long as I'm making good power and not running lean, I'm happy. My tune is not refined sufficiently for road use.

Your options are:

- get on the learning curve using the excellent resources/knowledge base within the large MS community - start here http://www.megamanual.com/mtabcon.htm

- hand off the car to a MS proficient tuner with a dyno

In either case, I think you should at least have the basics so you can troubleshoot a problem.

I'd be happy to help you make your decision and plot your next steps. Do you have any details of the system? MS version, bought or home made, WBO2 sensor, open or closed loop? There are only a million other details, but this will get us started.

HTH, Bob[/url]

edw1 · Post by **edw1** » Mon Feb 13, 2012 1:44 pm

I have installed a Haltech and an Electromotive Tec2. My next system will definitely be a MegaSquirt. It has all the features and tuning capabilities the average track rat (and occasional street car) needs.

For what it's worth, the owner of the Tec2 car paid $400 for an experienced shop to do some real tuning. I got it running well enough to drive around after a couple hours of playing but my eyes were burning from the unburned fuel

320iJT · Post by **320iJT** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 5:39 pm

Thanks for the replys. I charged the battery and the car does start and run. It seems to run rich and the throttle is a bit sluggish, which I think was an issue the kid was having.

He did give me an old Dell laptop with the MS software to hook up to the brain, which I have no idea what to do with but at least this will help if I can figure out what I have.

Bob - I can send you links to the posts from the PO on the build and issues he came across on Bimmerforums if this helps. Its MS V3.0. The kid built it himself. I am assuming WB02 is the wide band oxygen sensor - do you need to know what kind? (at this point you smack your head going "JT is lost already")

EDIT** - I got word back its a Bosch wide band 02 with a controler made by Innovate Motorsports.

m20power · Post by **m20power** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:44 pm

JT,

Yeah, send me the links - I'll PM my addy. The Innovate WBO2 is good, if done properly. The fact that he (I mean you) are doing spark and fuel complicates the matter.

Your quote is incomplete "The kid built it himself" - you need to append "then he sold the car."

Bob

320iJT · Post by **320iJT** » Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:04 pm

Bob - thank you for your assistance. I think after your comments as well as the suggestions of two other shops I spoke with I've determined that the issues are most likely with the install. Since I was not thrilled about the whole complicating a once simple car I am returning it to stock and will sell off this injection abonination. Hopefully the next user will be able to spot the flaws on the reinstall. I for one do not wish to trace every inch to see where the PO screwed up when it will take me less time and money to go back to stock.

RealM3E30 · Post by **RealM3E30** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 7:50 am

For us not familiar with M/Squirt, what exactly does it do ?? How much is the initial investment, time to install, time/cost to tune. HP/Torque gain ?? R

320iJT · Post by **320iJT** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 11:46 am

MS is a stand alone fuel management system to convert to an EFI. Basically the previous owner took the injection system from an e30 318 and mounted it to the old old M10 plus using crank triggered coil packs and other more modern enhancements. The benifits would be a tuneable system using a laptop in theory for better power and fuel mileage.

But... it has to be done right.

As for time to install and investment, all depends on how good you are at following instructions, wiring, mechanics etc. Price depends on if you go all used parts or new. I would guess the kid spent around $800 or so to convert the car.