SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Discussion regarding Turbocharged and supercharged MX-5s

Moderators: timk, Stu, zombie, The American, Lokiel, -alex, StanTheMan, greenMachine, ManiacLachy, Daffy, Sean

JZP
Learner Driver
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 3:19 pm
Vehicle: NB8B

SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby JZP » Sun Feb 03, 2019 9:27 pm

Sooo, my NA8 motor gave up the ghost and I was in the market for another engine.

I got a bit excited and jumped onto an SE motor that came up (Having a turbo skyline as a track car, the turbo aspect really appeals to me).

The motor comes attached with all the stock intake, turbo, coils, alternator, etc. My objective is to fit the stock SE motor into the NA8 without going nuts on after market mods. This is my backup car which I use for the odd track days and the occasional ‘cobweb clearing’ session.

So, now I’m committed. I was hoping for some input on expertise & a shopping list from those that know more than me:

- ECU (assume this is a must, which brand & what options)
- HD Clutch (assume the 5-speed box will cope with moderate power increase)
- wiring loom (not sure about this bit)

I can work out the exhaust, intake & intercooler bits and pieces.

Hoping for some constructive feedback please?

Thanks guys (and gals?)

User avatar
StanTheMan
Forum legend
Posts: 6824
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:00 am
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Balgowlah

SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby StanTheMan » Mon Feb 04, 2019 6:38 am

1. On the SE’s the Halteck seems to be a popular choice. But it all comes down to ....who will tune your car. And what is their preferred choice of ECU. If you go mega squirt . Go the PnP MS3 .
I personally have a MS2pnp on an NA6 chasis. With the same engine as yours But don’t have a turbo. The MS2 can control all the sensors present on the BP4W. The MS3 just does it better. But also gives you better control over ethanol if you choose to use it.

2 The 5 speed is good for decent hp. For a stock SE set up for power it should be fine.
If you’re going to 400 whp. Perhaps you need to talk to Daffy . Or at least look at his build thread. You then need to bend over .... bark... and take one for the team.







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Satans Ride called F33nix the resurrected NA6

User avatar
ManiacLachy
Forum Guru
Posts: 3266
Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 2:35 pm
Vehicle: NB SE
Location: Brisbane

Re: SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby ManiacLachy » Mon Feb 04, 2019 8:46 am

I agree with what Stan said. I run an MS3 on my SE, but tuners for MS are scarce, and I like to tinker. If you just want it done, then I'd put Haltech at the top and find a good tuner.

Don't forget, you'll need a wideband sensor as well.

JZP
Learner Driver
Posts: 21
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 3:19 pm
Vehicle: NB8B

Re: SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby JZP » Mon Feb 04, 2019 10:21 am

StanTheMan wrote:1. On the SE’s the Halteck seems to be a popular choice. But it all comes down to ....who will tune your car. And what is their preferred choice of ECU. If you go mega squirt . Go the PnP MS3 .
I personally have a MS2pnp on an NA6 chasis. With the same engine as yours But don’t have a turbo. The MS2 can control all the sensors present on the BP4W. The MS3 just does it better. But also gives you better control over ethanol if you choose to use it.

2 The 5 speed is good for decent hp. For a stock SE set up for power it should be fine.
If you’re going to 400 whp. Perhaps you need to talk to Daffy . Or at least look at his build thread. You then need to bend over .... bark... and take one for the team.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thanks for the feedback. Haltech seems a safe choice.

Not interested in big HP (at the moment).

We have e85 in kinglake, so will consider the flex fuel and wideband.

Any thoughts on the loom/wiring aspect?

User avatar
StanTheMan
Forum legend
Posts: 6824
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:00 am
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Balgowlah

Re: SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby StanTheMan » Mon Feb 04, 2019 10:34 am

I upgraded my leads to COPS installed a 36-2 trigger wheel, removed the NA6 CAS & used the cam sensor. you can also get adjustable cam sprockets to fit the NB cam sensor.

Unsure how good the SE coils are but they would have to be at least as ghood as your standard COPS from Toyota?

but no mone seems to be wanting to buy them off all the SE guys. But you ,may also want to consider the LS Coils for an upgrade.
Satans Ride called F33nix the resurrected NA6

User avatar
bruce
Speed Racer
Posts: 7707
Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2003 11:00 am
Vehicle: NA8 - Turbo
Location: Victoria
Contact:

Re: SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby bruce » Mon Feb 04, 2019 11:23 am

I would have thought having the SE loom and SE computer would make it a much simpler job.

Magpie
Speed Racer
Posts: 7468
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:49 pm
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Purga, QLD

Re: SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby Magpie » Mon Feb 04, 2019 11:52 am

bruce wrote:I would have thought having the SE loom and SE computer would make it a much simpler job.

:NETPOINTZ:

User avatar
StanTheMan
Forum legend
Posts: 6824
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:00 am
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Balgowlah

Re: SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby StanTheMan » Mon Feb 04, 2019 1:02 pm

bruce wrote:I would have thought having the SE loom and SE computer would make it a much simpler job.


Its a shiltoad of work. taking the old loom out replacing it with the SE loom.
you've also got to got the keys with the ECU and perhaps make some black magic get it to fire up.
when you can just get the aftermarket ECU which has a loom to plug straight into your existing loom.
OK the Halteck 1500 is like 2.5K by the time you have it all. plus tuning.

but yes.....its a lot of work. worth $3.2 K with tune? perhaps a better tune than OEM
Satans Ride called F33nix the resurrected NA6

Magpie
Speed Racer
Posts: 7468
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:49 pm
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Purga, QLD

Re: SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby Magpie » Mon Feb 04, 2019 1:37 pm

StanTheMan wrote:OK the Halteck 1500 is like 2.5K by the time you have it all. plus tuning.

but yes.....its a lot of work. worth $3.2 K with tune? perhaps a better tune than OEM


The Haltech is $2.4k with a 8' loom. You will have to remove the engine parts of the NA8 loom to wire in the Elite 1500 as well as then wire in the ECU. This is not a patch ECU loom rather a full replace...

So for $800 you can tune and install an Elite 1500 onto an engine into a car that from OEM never had the engine being installed?

User avatar
StanTheMan
Forum legend
Posts: 6824
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:00 am
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Balgowlah

Re: SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby StanTheMan » Mon Feb 04, 2019 2:06 pm

ohhh shite.....

why is it so difficult?

I was under the impression the Haltech has a plug & play solution for the NA Mx5.
https://www.haltech.com/product/ht-1509 ... a-mx-5-na/




cause the Ms3 isnt exactly plug & Play either from what ive seen.
Satans Ride called F33nix the resurrected NA6

User avatar
bruce
Speed Racer
Posts: 7707
Joined: Fri Apr 25, 2003 11:00 am
Vehicle: NA8 - Turbo
Location: Victoria
Contact:

Re: SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby bruce » Mon Feb 04, 2019 2:22 pm

I wouldn't think the NA8 loom would plug into an SE engine? It would be easier to just swap loom and engine together, then figure out what needs to be done.

User avatar
hks_kansei
Speed Racer
Posts: 6154
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 10:43 am
Vehicle: NB8A
Location: Victoria

Re: SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby hks_kansei » Mon Feb 04, 2019 2:28 pm

StanTheMan wrote:I was under the impression the Haltech has a plug & play solution for the NA Mx5.
https://www.haltech.com/product/ht-1509 ... a-mx-5-na/

.



They do, but the problem is that at one end or another the plugs wont match.,


The NA Haltech will plug into the NA loom, but the NA loom wont plug into an NB-SE engine.
So you'd need to do a lot of cutting and splicing at the engine end to match sensors etc up.


Conversely, if you had the SE loom handy, it plugs into the engine fine, and you then can use either the OEM SE ecu, or a Haltech ECU to suit an SE.


and the third option is to just custom wire the lot.



Also, OP, if you want I have a spare ECU plug to suit NA (will confirm NA6 or 8) that has about 6ft of wire pre-terminated.
so you'd just need to wire the sensors on the end where needed.
PM me if you want more details.
1999 Mazda MX5 - 1989 Honda CT110 (for sale) - 1994 Mazda 626 wagon (GF's)

User avatar
plohl
Racing Driver
Posts: 1922
Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 12:13 am
Vehicle: NA8
Location: Brisbane

Re: SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby plohl » Mon Feb 04, 2019 2:30 pm

I would look at the the Link ecu options over the haltechs.
I've had an e6x, ps1000 and elite 2500... the links look like the software is a bit better and comparable price.

Anyway, haltech sell a patch loom for the mx5s, or used to. You could just get an NA8 patch loom to integrate with the existing wiring, then add another small connector, dtm 12 pin or similar for the extra stuff you need to run, which off the top my head is just the intake - anyway, you don't need to rewire the whole car, just cut off a few connectors and run some new wires. If you do it smart you can have pig tails left around to make it stock again.
Cheers,
plohl

Magpie
Speed Racer
Posts: 7468
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2011 12:49 pm
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Purga, QLD

Re: SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby Magpie » Mon Feb 04, 2019 2:33 pm

StanTheMan wrote:I was under the impression the Haltech has a plug & play solution for the NA Mx5.
Yes if you are taking the NA8 ECU and not changing the engine yes plug and play.

User avatar
StanTheMan
Forum legend
Posts: 6824
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:00 am
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Balgowlah

Re: SE motor into NA8 - prep questions

Postby StanTheMan » Mon Feb 04, 2019 2:38 pm

I was under the impression the Haltech plugs into the NA loom directly

this means he would have to run some wires from various sensors back to the ECU depending on which he chooses to use.

he doesn't have to use the front cam sensor, he can just use the 1.8 Cas. the NA8 also has Crank angle sensor so that's fine,

He doesn't have VVT to deal with. so that's sweet.

Unsure if the SE engine manifold has the VICS or not. he can choose to take that out or run it. It will need to be controlled by the ECU if he chooses to run it. 2 wires.
1 to earth the orther to the ECU at the back of the Haltechj which hopefully has a accecsory plug.

Unsure if the NA8 has a knock sensor. but is the same simple stuff

I'm not convinced that for that sort of Money you still have to do all the wiring to all the sensors.
Satans Ride called F33nix the resurrected NA6


Return to “MX5 Forced induction (Turbo/Supercharger)”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 117 guests