Andys Porsche 944 Turbo - Emerald ECU Conversion Dec 2009

Ed

Fusion Motorsport
MSC Founder
Official MSC Trader
<p>#</p><p><u><strong>Porsche 944 Turbo Emerald ECU Conversion </strong></u> </p> <p>We had a call a couple of months ago asking if we could work our magic on a 85' Porsche 944 Turbo. The brief sounded simple, Andy its enthusiastic owner had a problem where he believed it had suffered an ECU failure. He had subsequently started a project of ripping out the factory fitted ECU and then fitting an after market Emerald unit. <br />Having never done such a project before it became apparent that the project was perhaps a little more involved than he anticipated and became a bit overwhelmed. We gladly agreed to take the project and shortly later Andy delivered the car to us.</p> <p>Upon inspection it soon became clear the extent of work that would be required. The engine had been stripped of its intake pipework/intake manifolds rad etc. The original engine loom had been cut out and discarded, leaving only the loom that controlled the lights/washers etc. Our usual approach on this kind of project would have been to dissect the engine loom and keep what was required and remove what was not adding where necessary anything required on the new loom/ecu. <br />In this case this was not possible, not only that the engine loom was also responsible for controlling most of the dash without which the water temp/over heat/oil level/oil pressure/low pressure warning systems would function.</p> <p>First of all was to find out exactly what everything did. There were many cut wires that lead to the fuse/relay box that needed to be understood. Using our normal methods of diagnosis/testing/reverse engineering these wires they were soon labelled up and and their function noted down. In the process we established control of the fuel pump/turbo cooling system pump and tacho inputs. </p> <p>Next the crank angle sensor and timing wheel needed to be to be fitted. The simplest solution to this was on the front pulley. Measurements were taken and the timing wheel was machined to fit central on the pulley. We then TIG welded this in place. Next we fabricated a sturdy metal bracket to hold the sensor in place.</p> <p>After those steps were completed the and the front rad fitted, the new loom could be assembled. Cables were run to all the sensors and connections made. Slowly the engine bay began to resemble some form of order. Pipework was fitted back in place, additional sensors fitted and the intake manifold and fuel rail fixed.</p> <p>Eventually the ECU could be powered up and a sensor check completed. Everything responded and worked as expected. The dash came alive and the fuel system primed. First step was to program the reference point on the ECU so that it would be aware of the engines TDC. The reference point measurement was taken and programmed, now the real test could take place, starting of the engine!</p> <p>Emerald ECUs are supplied with a base map that is intended to be capable of starting the engine. Only a few minor adjustments should be necessary provided everything is set up correctly to make a car run, so the key was turned and the engine turned over. On the first attempt nothing else happend, it had already been established that the fuel and spark worked, so a second attempt was made. The engine coughed! The first sign of life after what was a very long time of inactivity. <br />With things looking very promising, further minor tweaks were made and on the third starting attempt, success! The car came to life. With the engine running a more tweaks were made and the engine began to idle happily whilst checks could be made for any leaks etc on the pipework.</p> <p><u><strong>On to the Dyno </strong></u> </p> <p>Basic running tests could now be carried out. The engine was allowed to warm up, and everything checked with no problems except a minor water leak. So with everything under control the car was driven out of the workshop for its first short test drive around the site. Immediately it became apparent that the setup was already working very well, but now the first of the real tests - onto the dyno! The intention here was to get a bit more heat into the engine do some minor ECU tuning and get some more run time to see if any changes needed to be done before a real power mapping could be carried out.</p> <p>Running tight for time, the car was driven onto the dyno and setup ready for its first run. In all it was on the dyno for just 15 minutes. However this was enough to allow us to run a power run with which we recorded 157bhp @ 0.3 bar boost. Not a bad result at all! No anomalies were noted and the car ran faultlessly. However time had run out...</p> <p>A further Dyno session was organised with time for a full power map. The car was again allowed to warm up and it was driven onto the dyno. Progress continued from before this time winding on more boost. It was found initially that the boost control solenoid was not plumbed in the right way round (no documentation provided) but this was quickly resolved and after a few tweaks the power began to rise.</p> <p>Power had now passed 200hp and was still climbing, a little more boost and this saw the injector durations exceed safe limits and so it was tailed back to 0.7 bar. There may be various reasons for this, all of which will be looked at in the future (25 year old fuel pumps for example). Finally a few more changes were made and the final power result was a healthy 225hp at 0.7 (approx 10psi) boost.</p> <p>Next refinements were made in the light running areas of the map. Of course its essential that the car has perfect road manners to drive around town. So this was all scrutinised and made sure that it would be as smooth as you would expect from us.</p> <p>And for now that's it. The car needs an MOT and then some road miles and we hope to see it again in the near future just to check everything is just how it left us.</p> <p><br /><br /> </p> <p>Hopefully some pictures will be added soon, ECU wiring isn't a terribly interesting topic to take photos of!</p> <p><br /><br /> </p> <p>If you would like any information regarding our services like you have read above please do contact us with your enquiries and we will be happy to help.</p>

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Ed

Ed

Fusion Motorsport
MSC Founder
Official MSC Trader
Ah yes I must update that (and add some new stuff) Ill do that in the next few days.

Cheers,

Ed
 
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