Specs about the car:
1999 10ae
FM 3071r turbo kit
FM big flex fuel kit with 1000cc injectors
FM Big spark kit (ls3 coils)
Hydra nemesis 2.7 ecu

Two main problems:

1. Engine stutters hard under boost (15psi), but runs better when closer to redline. It runs fine when out of boost though. Bought someone's project, so unsure when it started occurring.

The stutter/misfire went away initially when I swapped in new NGK Zfr6f-11 spark plugs gapped to .0025", but returned after about a month. Swapping in new plugs didn't help.

2. Car also doesn't like starts, takes 7cranks and then reluctantly turns over. Won't even do hot starts.

Is it possible that the issue is spark blow out? Seems electrical as it's intermittent, and changing the spark plugs the first time fixed the issue for a month.
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Tune came with the car. I plan on getting it re-tuned, but want to fix the issue before i bring it to my tuner.

Link to the tune itself:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gnal8jjy6i...0tune.hyd?dl=0

Link to datalog of stuttering:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1a05kovkt7...ering.rdf?dl=0

 

I would offer to assist but I do not speak Hydra. Not many do.

 

 

Any recommendations for replacement plug wires that worked for you?

And good call; checking the datalog I do see some unusual knock activity under load. Though I'm really new to tuning and not 100% sure exactly what it means or the solution (pull timing?)....

 

I've considered replacing the hydra with a megasquirt because the community is so great and people actually know it.
I looked into getting a digital gauge cluster setup, which is super simple for megasquirt with a raspberry pi. But Hydra? Have fun playing around with CAN bus.

 

 

Sometimes launch control has that effect in MS. Not sure if it's the same for hydra, but you might turn it off and see if it goes away.

*edit* I should clarify: I had a similar symptom on my MS3, and turning off launch control got rid of it. I think for some reason LC was pulling timing straight to 0, so it acted like it was cutting out.

 

 

I had the same issue and the only thing that fixed it was a tune by someone competent. Make sure your tuner has experience with Hydra. It is a weird beast.

 

Hit up 18psi (Vladi) he tuned my hydra 2.6 without issue. I've got the big spark kit too. One thing you might consider, is the LS3 coils are not OEM you could have some trouble there. I've gotten misfire before on mine, they are denso brand. Thats north of 24psi though. But I agree a retune from a good tuner would help.

 

Looking like this was the issue!

Checked resistance of the wires, cylinder 3 was 1.87 kilohms and cylinder 4 was a 1.44 kilohms. Per conversation with FM, the wires are rated between 2.2-8 kilohms. Jiggling the wires actually caused the car to run better. Just waiting on getting them warrantied now.

 

Getting a good tune is the next item on my list. I'm in NJ, so was looking at Jeff Evans Tuning as i've heard good things about him.

There aren't many hydra tuners, let alone miata tuners near me, so will see what I can find.

 

If you dump too much fuel in the engine you'll get a shudder. Find out what the source of the issue is. Buddy thought he had bad struts and warped rotors. Turned out he had a low fuel pressure problem.