In reply to Run_Away :
Back in March I did some research on turbocharging the B3 but for numerous reasons the decision was made to go with a bigger engine.... or in this case the stock sized engine. Since I already had the 2000 Miata engine the decision was a bit easier.
Sadly the B3 engine is now collecting dust. 
Get an Aspire and but the B3 in the SHOgun position for a miserly mid engine go cart.
In reply to RossD :
Thankfully all the Aspires have disappeared.
I can't imagine driving my MX5 only to 4500 RPM
You mean 65mph? I kid, i kid..
I'm conflicted... on the one hand, I'm always a fan of off-the-beaten-path projects... on the other hand, deleting the idle air control on a car where you care about efficiency seems kinda dumb. Either the car will idle too high with A/C off in cold weather, or it will die when you turn it on in warm weather. Or you'll be messing with the set screw all the time. Closed loop idle control is great.
Also, be on the lookout for cracks on that header. The BP is a buzzy engine and the header isn't supported.
In reply to morello159 :
You can control the idle very effectively with spark. I would not call it dumb, for sure. Better would be not as effective solution.
I would also suggest to re-look at the removal of the throttle heater- it doesn't heat the air up that much, but it does prevent throttle body freezing. Which is a very nice feature in areas of the country where you can be both cold and humid- like we are in southern Michigan.
And EGR is an effective way to increase fuel economy. If used right.
Good to see you’re still going at it. I really enjoyed the 1.3 build and this one looks great too.
Following along as I missed the new thread somehow too.
Fun stuff!
The great welds on the cheapo exhaust are very likely machine-made. Orbital tube welders are awesome.
Not sure what you meant about comment about MAF, does the MegaSquirt not read MAF? Someone please educate me.
I bought and briefly used one of those GTech performance analyzers but then went for a phone app. They work using inexpensive accelerometer chips. The app I was using quit being supported and I really wanted it for autocross anyway, so I plunked the $200 for SoloStorm, which is auto-x/pro-solo/track-day specific. It uses both the built-in accelerometer and either built-in or external GPS. It will work with phone or tablet in the Android world, it has to be Android 4.0 or higher, and much better accuracy comes when you buy an external 10 Hz GPS unit for another $85. It's probably overkill for your situation though. I am sure I can use it for 0-60, but that happens in autocross never. It's awesome for comparing track runs, it draws a map, compares sections, uses either your phone/tablet video or can plug in GoPro video. Also records driver obscenities when you blow a corner....
Back on topic, any phone GPS, which works at closer to 1 Hz, will give you a VERY accurate road speed for speedo offset knowledge. (Try Swiss Army App if you don't already have one.) Likewise if you use a map program to tell you the actual distance between two spots (further apart is better, suggest two freeway exits for easy) you can check your odo. Then just keep the correction factor to apply to your gas mileage.
MegaSquirt can do MAF, but its a bit of a hack as it is designed to be MAP based.
I recently bought TrackAddict for my phone/tablet. It seems to work pretty well, it can combine the video from your device or some external cameras with the data it captures. It can interface with an OBD2 adapter to gather vehicle data.
In reply to morello159 :
I guess I should better explain why I pitched the idle air control. Originally I said the idle air control was ugly and got in the way... which was just the simple way of narrating what I was doing.
Anyway here is why the idle air control was pitched.
The 2000 model year engine has a different layout for the fuel lines and in my case the fuel return line connection was right next to the throttle body. With the idle air control in place, I needed to run a large loop of high pressure fuel line ... and that looked stupid.... so I removed the idle air control.
The B3 engine also had the idle air control deleted and from past experience, I knew the idle bleed screw would be sufficient.
Anyway, with the idle air control deleted, the air conditioning has to be switched off at idle. I have been doing this for 70,000 miles with the B3 so I am familiar with the drill.
Not the perfect solution, but a solution I can live with. The reason I am willing to make this compromise is because the circuits used for idle air control in the megasquirt have been re-purposed and reserved. The megasquirt is currently set up to trigger an alarm if engine temp gets to high, plus it also has another alarm that I use to help tune the engine. I'm reserving additional drivers to evaluate the dual intake runner feature found on the 2000 and up engine and yet another driver to operate the EGR valve.
I usually don't go into too much detail because it is hard to write and not many people read this stuff. I'm glad you called me out on this, because it means you actually read the post.
Now for some pictures..
These are two alarms that have been wired to the megasquirt and they have been programed to trigger during certain events. Because this car is somewhat a science project, I need alarms to keep from blowing stuff up. These alarms use driver circuits originally intended for the idle air control.
Here is a picture I gleened from the internet showing a second set of throttles on the 2000-up intake manifolds. In the near future I want to experiment with controlling these throttles to see if I can get a boost in torque on the low end. I plan on programing the megasquirt to trigger the second set of throttles... should be interesting.
Stay tuned!
^ About 15 years ago, I had moderate success, with tuning my secondary butterflies on my Galant Vr4 with the jdm cyclone intake. Several guys were playing with them at the time and there may be some good stuff out there to search and use for you. I can remember we altered low end torque to keep the butterflies closed longer until boost was well underway but not at peak when the wastegate opened. It may not help that much since probably 100% of what’s out there with Cyclone manifolds is for turbo applications but it’s something.
Doc Brown said:
Here is a picture I gleened from the internet showing a second set of throttles on the 2000-up intake manifolds. In the near future I want to experiment with controlling these throttles to see if I can get a boost in torque on the low end. I plan on programing the megasquirt to trigger the second set of throttles... should be interesting.
Stay tuned!
Just an FYI, the manifold pictured is know as a VICS manifold, and was stock on the '99-00 Miata. '01-05 got what is known as the VTCS manifold, in which the butterflies were moved to the runners at the flange where the manifold bolts to the cylinder head. On the VICS, the intention was to make more torque by varying plenum volume, and it's been proven to be beneficial with aftermarket control by MS. IIRC, the best results were achieved with two switching points. Search M.net and MT.net and you'll find some info.
The VTCS manifold is considered inferior, and most remove the butterflies completely, or switch to a VICS, non-US 'Flattop' or aftermarket manifold. The butterflies on the VTCS were strictly for warm-up emissions.
I know it is cooler to have it computer controlled but what about a progressive throttle. The first 2/3rds operates the usual throttle body and the last 1/3 does the VICS ones (or whatever they are called). You could have a heavier spring on it too so you could feel the added force required.
But if MPG is the end goal, MS would probably be the smarter way.
In reply to RossD :
Hmmm. that could work. I need to look into this. For now I'll use the megasquirt because dataloging and ease of programing, however if I can find the sweet spot then a stand alone would free up resources.
Paint day!
Lets take a look...
This is the most satisfying part of painting.....
I used two harbor freight guns. The big gun was twenty something dollars the little gun was $12.00. Meh, the guns work fine. Driveway paint jobs always need a bit of extra work because of bugs and whatnot. An expensive gun would make a better surface for the bugs to land on......
Paint came out great, Once the surface hardens I can color sand and reassemble the car.
Doc Brown said:In reply to morello159 :
I guess I should better explain why I pitched the idle air control. Originally I said the idle air control was ugly and got in the way... which was just the simple way of narrating what I was doing.
Anyway here is why the idle air control was pitched.
The 2000 model year engine has a different layout for the fuel lines and in my case the fuel return line connection was right next to the throttle body. With the idle air control in place, I needed to run a large loop of high pressure fuel line ... and that looked stupid.... so I removed the idle air control.
The B3 engine also had the idle air control deleted and from past experience, I knew the idle bleed screw would be sufficient.
Anyway, with the idle air control deleted, the air conditioning has to be switched off at idle. I have been doing this for 70,000 miles with the B3 so I am familiar with the drill.
Not the perfect solution, but a solution I can live with. The reason I am willing to make this compromise is because the circuits used for idle air control in the megasquirt have been re-purposed and reserved. The megasquirt is currently set up to trigger an alarm if engine temp gets to high, plus it also has another alarm that I use to help tune the engine. I'm reserving additional drivers to evaluate the dual intake runner feature found on the 2000 and up engine and yet another driver to operate the EGR valve.
I usually don't go into too much detail because it is hard to write and not many people read this stuff. I'm glad you called me out on this, because it means you actually read the post.
Now for some pictures..
These are two alarms that have been wired to the megasquirt and they have been programed to trigger during certain events. Because this car is somewhat a science project, I need alarms to keep from blowing stuff up. These alarms use driver circuits originally intended for the idle air control.
I'm all for a clean engine bay! Been considering deleting the Ide Control Valve in my 2.3t racecar just for cleanliness sake.
I also really like the idea of audible alarms for temps and whatever else. Those look like they might have been salvaged from a computer or something? Have any useful links for how to setup alarms on the MegaSquirt?
In reply to AWSX1686 :
Connecting and programing an alarm for the megasquirt is fairly simple. The little buzzers I used are called "active" alarms, and can be picked up on ebay for a few bucks each. Keep in mind they also sell "passive buzzers" . The difference between active and passive is the active buzzers generate a tone when connected to power. The passive buzzers require an external tone generator circuit.
Apparently I did a half ass job covering this subject in the old build thread Look-----> Buzzers and megasquirt.... I'll do another write up in a few days with screen shots and better pictures. This is probably one of the best practical mods for the megasquirt.
Picture of a ACTIVE buzzer that can be purchased on EBAY
Stay tuned!
In reply to Doc Brown :
Awesome! Always appreciate the good people here sharing their knowledge!
In reply to AWSX1686 :
No problem, Look for the update in a few days.
Whelp, the Miata is back together... for now. I still need to paint the hard top and find a clean rear bumper cover. The bumper cover that's currently on the car has issues and I would rather put effort into a nicer one. So far it's been a difficult to find a NA bumper cover locally.
Anyway, yesterday I put 137 miles on the car, and so far it runs perfect. ...although I noticed it was running a bit lean in some spots but that can be sorted out with a few edits of the VE table.
Because fourth of July weekend, the Rozzers are out in full force. This year they are being very sneaky, or I'm just acutely aware of their presents. At any rate this ain't a great weekend to collect performance data on the Mazda. Just for the record, all my acceleration runs are done while entering the freeway at legal speeds.... I should be golden, but Johnny law might have a different opinion.
Meh, time to go deep undercover and play with the G-tech Pro RR. The goal is to figure out how to operate it and how to fiddle with the bits on the laptop computer. The Forest Green 1999 Saturn SW2 is the perfect stealth automobile. Four hubcaps and four doors will let you glide right under the radar during the holiday ticket blitzkrieg.
Anways, let's see how bad this car is...
What an absolute terrible car... pssht, this thing cant get out of its own way... and ohhhh she struggles switching gears. The things I do in the name of science. Anyway. the Saturn was pushed as hard as possible...... and it got a little scary.
Back at mission control, the data was pouring in........
and here comes the excuses.....
Keep in mind this data is was recorded from a 99 Saturn SW2 with an automatic transmission on one of the hottest days this summer.... also note the automatic transmission shifts like a fully loaded diesel garbage truck going up a hill.
Hmmm 0-60 (red trace) is 10.39 seconds. The internet says that a 5spd Saturn should do 8.48 unfortunately there is no data for an automatic. Whelp, it is what it is.
This is interesting, the HP and TQ numbers were derived from different parts of the acceleration curve. The red data looks like it was gleaned from data generated in 2nd gear and the black data was poached from first gear. Apples and oranges. I reckon in the future I need to verify the data is coming from the same part of the graph.
For the record the crank HP on a twin cam Saturn is 124. Apparently, most of that evaporates before it gets to the wheels.
This is the RPM vs TIME. We can see that the ECU will go all the way to 6000 RPM before it dumps the transmission into the next gear. This is of course at WOT.
The black trace may be indicating the torque converter got confused and locked up or something... not sure what happened
Well, as you can see I figured out how to use the G-Tech PRO RR. It has some quirks, but it will be just fine.
Stay tuned.
By special request, here is the greatest Megasquirt mod EVER!
I had to make some changes to the Megasquirt harness today and I figured this would also be a great time to document the engine temperature alarm mod. This mod should be done on all megasquits because its cheap to do and may actually save your engine. This writeup was done on the megasquirt II with the 3.57 main board. These mods will work on the 3.0 main board, however the board is different so the connections will be different.
For projects like this, I find it handy to use a simulator to run the megasquirt on the bench top. I'm using the basic simulator Ver 2.21, I'm not sure these are still available, however the more advance simulators are available.... although a bit pricey.
The Megasquirt II with the 3.57 main board has a DB15 connector right next to the DB9 serial port. Anyway, the DB15 is attached to the main board, but isn't really connected to anything. The connector has a few power and ground pins but the rest of the pins are left open for easy input/output modifications.
This little harness is something I custom built and plugs into the DB15 connector on the megasquirt. The harness allows me to do quick mods to the megasquirt without upsetting the main harness.... Basically this harness allows me to add / subtract or move wires for various experiments. Anyway, the alarms buzzers are wired into this harness.
Close up shot of one of the active buzzers. This buzzer only requires 5V and ground to produce a somewhat irritating tone. The buzzer doesn't draw a lot of current so it can be connected directly to the Megasquirt without adding a driver circuit.
For the engine temperature alarm mod, the idea is to re-purpose and re-program one of the LED lights to power the active buzzer
The two orange wires on the lower right are the jumpers used to re-rout the LED indicators to the DB15 connector. This picture shows jumpers for two buzzers. The yellow jumper wire is a semi high current 12V lead not necessarily used but can be used for a different type of buzzer system. (see video below).
This picture shows the bottom of the 3.57 main board with all the necessary connections for two buzzers. While one buzzer is for the temperature alarm, the other buzzer is sort of an auxiliary buzzer. Depending on your application, it may be a good idea to have a switch to disable the auxiliary buzzer.
Wow, a lot going one here....
For the temperature alarm, the idea to to re-program LED D14 to turn on when the coolant reaches a certain temperature... but instead of turning on the LED, the signal actually gets sent to the active buzzer. Anyway, clicking on the arrow marked "1" will open the configuration window and you can make the necessary changes.
For the TLDR crowd, click on the video below...
Stay tuned!
Whelp, I took the car out for a ride last night. The evening air was cool when you consider how hot it's been during the day. Anyway, about 5 miles into the ride, I noticed the car was running a bit rich. Normally the megasquirt will hold the A/F exactly where I want it and 12.3 AFR during cruise was somewhat alarming. A quick scan of the instruments revealed the problem. The engine temperature gauge had barely moved off C and the megasquirt was still in warmup mode. I guess I could have ignored the problem and continued on my ride, but instead I turned around and drove home. My instincts lead me to believe the thermostat had failed.
Back in the day, the easiest thermostat I ever changed was the one on my 2.5L Fiero. This has to the second easiest I have ever done.
There is your problem.......
After a bit of wiggling and some tomfoolery I managed to get the thermostat to close. Even with the stat closed, it still has a large gap where the rubber had cracked. Regardless of the outcome, the thermostat was destine for the trash bin.
The chick behind the counter ...who was easy on the eyes... managed to set me up with the stuff I needed. Everything was going great until she asked me for my phone number (for warrantee purposes).. When I replied 'I don't give that information out' our short relationship suddenly ended. In the tone of the soup nazi, she said ' NO WARRANTEE FOR YOU '
I run into this problem a lot, I never give out any information, especially my phone number. IDK, perhaps I come across as an shiny happy person, but whenever I refuse to provide personal information clerks seem to get offended. What's the deal with that?
Before I put in the new thermostat, I reassembled everything (because easy) and filled the cooling system up with vinegar. I let the car ran for an hour and cool down for another few hours. Then flushed the cooling system with a garden hose.
Pointless picture showing the car running with vinegar in the cooling system...
While the engine idled away the better part of my morning, I shot some pictures. I found a feature on the camera that selectively filters out all color except the target color. Here we can see the blue cam sprockets spinning... yawn
Anyway, Stay tuned!
That's a neat picture.
How nasty was the coolant with the vinegar? Lots of crud?
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