Adaptronic owners thread

kenson · Postby **kenson** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 9:53 pm

I've been dragging my feet but my wife finally gave me a deadline to "finish" the car.
I'll be installing in hopefully 1-2 weeks:
- Adaptronic e420c (bought from forum)
- Deatschwerks 700cc injectors
- Innovate Motorsports MTX-L

So far all I've done is finish/check the harness, removed the ECU cover and made sure the ECU worked.
Thanks to the forum members who have helped me start the car/calibrate the sensors!

Postby **Okibi** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 10:25 pm

Yeah I need to pull my finger out too! Keen to see how you go.

kenson · Postby **kenson** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:28 pm

Woo! I did it! Not too steep of learning curve, but I think the right word is overwhelming. I've only ever done general servicing on a car - hardest thing probably being a timing belt. But the last 1.5 days have been crazy. Though for work, I do work on things like compressor controls... But most of that is behind a screen haha.

First off, I have to thank the Adaptronic users here - they've been a great help. Simple things from experiences to even looking at a starting map for me.

Wideband install: I found it very easy. Even with Dann's 3 inch exhaust I still had enough clearance to install the sensor without removing the downpipe. Calibration was easy (as per the manual) and I can't fault it at all. Talks to the ECU well through the standard serial cable. I bought an Innovate Motorsports MTX-L.

Injectors install: This is the second time I've changed out injectors. Much better this time around. No serious leaks and only minor fuel puddles. No leaks (yet) and the DW stuff fits pretty well.

ECU install: OK, apart from the damn ECU cover plate it's not too bad. Luckily I removed it a few weeks ago when I wanted to confirm the ECU worked. Pretty much plug and play.

I just went for a 2 hour drive using the MAP I got from one of the forum members and chucked it into Rapid Learning. AFRs were solid (good) with a little correction here and there. But drive-ability, wow, it's like a new car. I only took it up to ~0 psi/100 kPa but it's smooooth.

Problems: DEADTIMES, DEADTIMES, DEADTIMES. I spent a good while on this and it still caused me problems. With the values DW gave me, I had to run VE's of 140%. Thanks to the interwebs, I found that these values could be "too good to be true". Increased them and the car idled, drove smoothly and VE's were in the range I expected.

A fantastic experience and there's a wealth of knowledge out there. Watch Andy's youtube video. They start to make sense when you open WARI at the same time

. My only tip, trust your gut feel. I wasted a lot of time doubting myself instead of the injector deadtimes. I'm talking hours!

Thanks to: BitRusty, Timk and Lokiel. I checked your thread a lot Lokiel to figure out how to run cables etc

I might try and nut out the idle then dyno time!

kenson · Postby **kenson** » Sat Mar 08, 2014 7:54 pm

Managed to get a steady idle today!
Once I got the deadtimes spot on, it was easy - sorted in about 30 mins.

Managed to idle at 14.7:1 with the 700 cc injectors too.
My idle bypass screw was out of whack so I corrected that today and now it's rock solid. Starts first time every time and doesn't hunt at all.

Also made a plate/bracket for both the Adaptronic and factory ECU. Not as nice as Lokiel's because of the harness but plenty of protection

Tuner in 1.5 weeks and I can finally go enjoy it.

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 10:28 am

Hi all, a bit of a silly question maybe but I can't seem to find a simple answer so far......

As part of the ongoing upgrade process various bits will be installed including a WBO2 sensor + gauge and most probably a stand-alone Adaptronic ECU.

Now there seems to be a range of different types of WBO2 sensor/gauge units out there and I was wondering which type/brand is recommended for, and plays well with, the Adaptronic ECU?

kenson · Postby **kenson** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 10:51 am

G'day Nev,

Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEu2YMseGdg
Actually watch more of Andy's videos!

They like the Innovate Motorsports MTX-L (or similar). I'm using that and I'm very happy with it.

Good luck with the ECU hunt!

sailaholic · Postby **sailaholic** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:55 pm

Innovate is the way to go with an adaptronic. Mtx-l is good if you want the gauge. Look at the others lc2? If your not going to want an ongoing display. Remember the value is displayed by the software for when your tuning.

Andy's pricing is pretty reasonable vs importing direct from innovate as well.

You should also watch Andy's engine protection functions video as well and think about if you want thoes features. You can of course add these later.

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Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:36 pm

So Innovate is the way to go then, cool.

Given I'm looking at pairing this with an after market gauge from speed-hut that would mean an LC1 or LC2, correct?

sailaholic · Postby **sailaholic** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:40 pm

Lc2, lc1 is obsolete.

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Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:58 pm

sailaholic wrote:Lc2, lc1 is obsolete.

I still prefer the LC-1's separate Heater GND and Sensor GND wires. Tying them to the same GND wire just introduces the chance of noise on the Sensor signal.

Roadrunner · Postby **Roadrunner** » Fri Mar 14, 2014 3:07 pm

Lokiel, I thought you were using the PLX modules in your car?
I was looking at picking up their AFR module and dm-6 gauge soon as it plays nice with my headunit display etc but if it doesn't work with an Adaptronic I will have to reconsider
Plus with the gauge, module and sensor all separate it would be easy to replace down the track if the o2 sensor needed replacing etc

sailaholic · Postby **sailaholic** » Fri Mar 14, 2014 5:25 pm

Innovate is the same, can replace the sensor. The adaptronic will now output to the plx multi gauge but needs a daughter board to feed to gauge 5v.

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Postby **Okibi** » Fri Mar 14, 2014 6:16 pm

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 8:29 am

Roadrunner wrote:Lokiel, I thought you were using the PLX modules in your car?
I was looking at picking up their AFR module and dm-6 gauge soon as it plays nice with my headunit display etc but if it doesn't work with an Adaptronic I will have to reconsider
Plus with the gauge, module and sensor all separate it would be easy to replace down the track if the o2 sensor needed replacing etc

Since playing around with Adaptronic tuning, I've come to appreciate the Innovate AFR module's ability to inform the Adaptronic when the signal is valid or not. Like most AFR sensors, the PLX AFR module merely outputs an analogue 0-5V signal to the ECU; unfortunately this signal is only valid once the sensor has warmed up so initially the readings are all over the place - if you're doing any auto-tuning (ie. "Rapid Learn" or "Slow Coverage", this will really screw up your fuel map cells that haven't been marked as tuned - or if they have been marked as tuned but you've disabled that feature).

I've now purchased an Innovate MTX-L AFR gauge and have the PLX board that Okibi referenced above. I also received the latest generation of the Adaptronic ECU which is about 1/3 the size of the original ECU AND is completely standalone so I'm hoping to install all of this, along with the PLX DM-6 gauge, on a plate that will sit behind the glovebox lid (I plan the "gut" the rear of the glovebox and mount it to the two bar braces mrpham used here: http://mx5cartalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=50703&start=230).

As sailaholic said, "Innovate is the way to go with an Adaptronic." but I'd like to add, also any ECU that makes use of it's ability to report that the reading is valid/invalid.

sailaholic also said "Andy's pricing is pretty reasonable vs importing direct from innovate as well." and this is definitely true when you factor in S&H and the A$ at the moment.

I'm actually kicking myself that I sold my LC-1 to james_93 since I don't really need the gauge now that the PLX board allows me to display the data on my PLX DM-100 and DM-6 gauges, as well as being able to see it on the Adaptronic Live gauges, or Shell's AdaptiveTuner Android application (which now also works with the Adaptronic USB output if your phone has a USB OTG port - most new phones will have this).

Nevyn72 · Postby **Nevyn72** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 8:54 am

Lokiel wrote:sailaholic also said "Andy's pricing is pretty reasonable vs importing direct from innovate as well." and this is definitely true when you factor in S&H and the A$ at the moment.

I find it interesting that Andy's site only lists the LC1 which has been superseeded rather than the current LC2 version.
Also his price for the LC1 appears to be on-par with what I can find the LC2 (with a basic gauge) listed for on eBay.....

Is there any adavantage in either the LC1 or LC2?
I know that sometimes the newer model actually has fewer features and/or is not as good.

Also, Lokiel, why not mount the ECU where the old one was? Are you just trying to simplify wiring?