A humble request for some tuning guidance
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Hello,
I've read and watched videos and gone back to them multiple times. I've followed one guide to the letter with tuning idle and seem to keep working back to an idle oscillation that increases until the engine stalls, rarely recovering. I started with what I think was the base file that came installed on my MS3 (2004 Mazdaspeed). I might start all over with what is on the thumb drive...I'm quickly getting frustrated trying to tune a stable idle. My first engine start was bad, I realized this engine had RC 550cc injectors installed and it was getting 2X fuel. I adjusted Reqired Fuel and it started decently and idled after using the throttle to warm it up. Knowing it was running I swapped in Flow Force 640cc injectors again changing Req Fuel as well as dead time curve settings. After setting base timing offset and allowing it to warm up I leaned out the idle cells in the fuel VE cells. I went for a drive with VEAL on easy and a few times on normal and the fuel map is improving...I locked out the idle cells.
I go back and forth comparing the Turbo Kitty tune with 2-3 other turbo Miata tunes and just when I think I've made progress, I start the car the next day and it's again running rich after WUE times out. I leaned out the idle cells to get it near 14 AFR and tried idleVEAL but it always ends up in a circular lean/rich hunting circle of death so I gave up using idleVEAL. I disabled EGO and got it leaned out again near 14.0 - 14.3 only to have it stall every time I tried to start it. For some reason data logs showed it was stuck at 8 AFR. I let it cool off and loaded an older tune and it started up and idled in the 12-13 AFRs. I hope I'm just missing some important settings which is why I might start all over on the MS3 base map. I did recently notice my base map EGO authority was set at 0%. I changed it to 15% but might have made too many changes at one time. BTW, the TurboKitty and MS3 base map differences are not small.
I've been studying another turbo Miata tune using the same injectors but don't entirely trust it. Maybe I should load it and see how it starts and idles but I'd rather learn and understand the process to polish my own tune. I'm not asking for somebody to adjust the tune and fix all my problems, just hoping somebody looks and sees my mistakes. Once it warms up it drives pretty well although idle was hanging likely because my Closed Loop Idle Initial Values were set high...better than drooping and stalling (10# flywheel).
Please help even if it's just a "start over" recommendation. I'm not impressed with the MS3 base tune compared to what FM supplied on the Nemesis platforms.
Thanks,
Jess
I've read and watched videos and gone back to them multiple times. I've followed one guide to the letter with tuning idle and seem to keep working back to an idle oscillation that increases until the engine stalls, rarely recovering. I started with what I think was the base file that came installed on my MS3 (2004 Mazdaspeed). I might start all over with what is on the thumb drive...I'm quickly getting frustrated trying to tune a stable idle. My first engine start was bad, I realized this engine had RC 550cc injectors installed and it was getting 2X fuel. I adjusted Reqired Fuel and it started decently and idled after using the throttle to warm it up. Knowing it was running I swapped in Flow Force 640cc injectors again changing Req Fuel as well as dead time curve settings. After setting base timing offset and allowing it to warm up I leaned out the idle cells in the fuel VE cells. I went for a drive with VEAL on easy and a few times on normal and the fuel map is improving...I locked out the idle cells.
I go back and forth comparing the Turbo Kitty tune with 2-3 other turbo Miata tunes and just when I think I've made progress, I start the car the next day and it's again running rich after WUE times out. I leaned out the idle cells to get it near 14 AFR and tried idleVEAL but it always ends up in a circular lean/rich hunting circle of death so I gave up using idleVEAL. I disabled EGO and got it leaned out again near 14.0 - 14.3 only to have it stall every time I tried to start it. For some reason data logs showed it was stuck at 8 AFR. I let it cool off and loaded an older tune and it started up and idled in the 12-13 AFRs. I hope I'm just missing some important settings which is why I might start all over on the MS3 base map. I did recently notice my base map EGO authority was set at 0%. I changed it to 15% but might have made too many changes at one time. BTW, the TurboKitty and MS3 base map differences are not small.
I've been studying another turbo Miata tune using the same injectors but don't entirely trust it. Maybe I should load it and see how it starts and idles but I'd rather learn and understand the process to polish my own tune. I'm not asking for somebody to adjust the tune and fix all my problems, just hoping somebody looks and sees my mistakes. Once it warms up it drives pretty well although idle was hanging likely because my Closed Loop Idle Initial Values were set high...better than drooping and stalling (10# flywheel).
Please help even if it's just a "start over" recommendation. I'm not impressed with the MS3 base tune compared to what FM supplied on the Nemesis platforms.
Thanks,
Jess
Last edited by Jesse99James; 10-05-2021 at 05:33 PM. Reason: Removed tune/logs to avoid confusion with new questions/issues
#2
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Basemaps are configuration/start-up files, not tunes. FM supplied custom full-tunes and support. The price tag reflected this, as well as the fact that FM no longer provides this service as the ROI has to be terrible (new).
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Usually it’s hunting around a cell that’s too lean, usually a little above idle. This causes rpm to fall, back to where it’s enough fuel. This will
cause rpm to rise, thus creating your loop. It’s usually exacerbated by CL idle trying to compensate constantly, and spark advance can also increase or decrease rpm. Then with the loop, you’ll jump in and out of idle VE, making things really bad.
even out your idle cells in fuel and spark tables, disable idle VE, use open loop idle, then use idle advance to stabilze RPM, tune for a hot engine, tune warm up enrichments next time it’s cold, then open loop idle next time its cold, then smooth out your spark/fuel tables, then enter your open loop idle values as your initial value table, then enable EGO. Repeat as necessary.
cause rpm to rise, thus creating your loop. It’s usually exacerbated by CL idle trying to compensate constantly, and spark advance can also increase or decrease rpm. Then with the loop, you’ll jump in and out of idle VE, making things really bad.
even out your idle cells in fuel and spark tables, disable idle VE, use open loop idle, then use idle advance to stabilze RPM, tune for a hot engine, tune warm up enrichments next time it’s cold, then open loop idle next time its cold, then smooth out your spark/fuel tables, then enter your open loop idle values as your initial value table, then enable EGO. Repeat as necessary.
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I studied both while manually leaning out my idle/cruise on the ancient Nemesis 2.6 software. I came to the conclusion that upgrading to Nemesis 2.7 through NemesisEMS with a new WBO2 sensor would have been best for me. Only Phil misled and ghosted me until I had to dispute the charge. Now I'm stuck learning to tune an MS3 which I thought might be a possibility when I purchased the car but some days chasing my tail gets me close to installing the OEM injectors and ECU and selling the car. 😞
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Thanks Curly, I started over last night after spending 30 or 45 minutes adjusting the base tune to where I felt ready to start the car. Most of the guides recommend starting with closed loop idle, I'll try open loop. I guess I just run out of patience too quickly and my data logs haven't been very helpful... Still not always sure how to decipher what I'm seeing.
I got it running and idling great, took it for a VEAL session drive locking out the idle cells only to get closer to home having it stall every time I stopped and then once I got it home it didn't even want to idle. If I can't get this thing running better before I park it for the winter in another few weeks I might take it to a Subaru tuning shop next spring and pay for them to sort it out.
I got it running and idling great, took it for a VEAL session drive locking out the idle cells only to get closer to home having it stall every time I stopped and then once I got it home it didn't even want to idle. If I can't get this thing running better before I park it for the winter in another few weeks I might take it to a Subaru tuning shop next spring and pay for them to sort it out.
#6
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Morning. Looking at this map, I would suggest:
- Raise your EGO control to above 1300 RPM (out of the idle range) or disable it altogether while you are doing your initial fuel tuning. Looks like you're getting caught in a loop there.
- Flatten fuel values from 25-30KPa and 500-900 RPM to whatever runs ~14.5 AFR, make them all the same
- Flatten timing values from 10-35KPa and 500-1000 RPM to 15*
See how that works.
- Raise your EGO control to above 1300 RPM (out of the idle range) or disable it altogether while you are doing your initial fuel tuning. Looks like you're getting caught in a loop there.
- Flatten fuel values from 25-30KPa and 500-900 RPM to whatever runs ~14.5 AFR, make them all the same
- Flatten timing values from 10-35KPa and 500-1000 RPM to 15*
See how that works.
#7
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Thanks Rrracer, I started totally over so the tune file above has been archived and deleted in the near future. I wasn't sure about EGO control, 1300 was where it was set but many tunes that I studied had it lowered way down. I disabled it for now and did flatten the fuel values. I read to leave closed loop and EGO enabled but that allowed too many changes and masked what I was editing. With EGO off and Open Loop idle I got it idling near 14.1 - 14.3. I didn't feel comfortable shooting for 14.5-14.7 just yet. I need to tune the fan settings soon as it's running fairly often (196F) and idle RPM and AFR changes could stand to be smoothed out. I doubt popping the hood will help but I guess it can't hurt. I lowered timing to 10-12* after reading that leaves more adjustment to compensate for stabilization but 15* should be fine. 25* in the base map seemed too high.
Thanks again Curly, your guidance finally sunk in and for some reason tonight during my tuning session, every time I checked to make sure it was running Open Loop idle I found Closed Loop was again enabled. I loaded a few tunes to compare but thought I had saved it as Open Loop in my tune. That's the first thing I'll check before I start making adjustments. I also finally noticed Idle/Warmup duty step was far too low, that's why it was stalling as it transitioned from crank to run (3 seconds). Too little air, for the amount of fuel. I'm using an 11-12" laptop but even enlarging the window didn't clarify exactly what I was adjusting because it looked like this "Co... Dut.." under crank settings. The Warmup/Idle Duty Steps window was clear and it finally made sense. Too many of these tuning windows still look like Greek or Mandarin. LOL
I've been using the IAC valve test mode to learn what PWM duty is at different RPM. I've been using it to hold RPM in cells while I adjust the Fuel VE for 14.1-14.3 AFR. Then watching what happens as I move the idle PWM between cells to see if one side needs to be richer or leaner. Then watching AFR if idle starts to get a little less stable to guide which cell to the left or right needs to be leaner/richer. I feel like I'm finally making progress and although I'm still super slow I'm learning some of the shortcut strokes and buttons like the up/down arrows change one (or multiple cells) by .1 and using "/" to interpolate.
I'm off tomorrow so I plan on going out first thing in the morning and tuning with a stone cold engine. Before I'll reread Curly's guidance again and let it set in before I turn the key. I am also thinking about upgrading to TunerStudio MS Ultra so I can set everything up with an idle tuning view instead of having to open and close or constantly move tuning windows around so I can see the gauge cluster.
Thanks again Curly, your guidance finally sunk in and for some reason tonight during my tuning session, every time I checked to make sure it was running Open Loop idle I found Closed Loop was again enabled. I loaded a few tunes to compare but thought I had saved it as Open Loop in my tune. That's the first thing I'll check before I start making adjustments. I also finally noticed Idle/Warmup duty step was far too low, that's why it was stalling as it transitioned from crank to run (3 seconds). Too little air, for the amount of fuel. I'm using an 11-12" laptop but even enlarging the window didn't clarify exactly what I was adjusting because it looked like this "Co... Dut.." under crank settings. The Warmup/Idle Duty Steps window was clear and it finally made sense. Too many of these tuning windows still look like Greek or Mandarin. LOL
I've been using the IAC valve test mode to learn what PWM duty is at different RPM. I've been using it to hold RPM in cells while I adjust the Fuel VE for 14.1-14.3 AFR. Then watching what happens as I move the idle PWM between cells to see if one side needs to be richer or leaner. Then watching AFR if idle starts to get a little less stable to guide which cell to the left or right needs to be leaner/richer. I feel like I'm finally making progress and although I'm still super slow I'm learning some of the shortcut strokes and buttons like the up/down arrows change one (or multiple cells) by .1 and using "/" to interpolate.
I'm off tomorrow so I plan on going out first thing in the morning and tuning with a stone cold engine. Before I'll reread Curly's guidance again and let it set in before I turn the key. I am also thinking about upgrading to TunerStudio MS Ultra so I can set everything up with an idle tuning view instead of having to open and close or constantly move tuning windows around so I can see the gauge cluster.
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New questions, thank you for your assistance while I dip my toes into the deep end...
If my engine runs rich on a cold start without any WUE (auto-tune totally zero'd it out) that means my idle cells are too rich, correct? I think I answered this question while typing. Yesterday I tuned the idle fuel cells on a hot engine to get a fairly steady 14.1 - 14.3 AFR with normal RPM oscillation. That's shown in the 8:55 AM tune file. The idle fuel cells are around 51. For some reason I must have added fuel as shown in the 2:26 PM tune file. If it idled well at 51 when it was hot but had zero WUE (WUE auto-tune removed it all) and it took closer to 60 then I need to lean them back out to the earlier tune file and add WUE (maybe 2%) at whatever CLT temp was at 8:55 AM, correct?
I'm still running Open Loop Idle trying to get a stable idle at cool, warm, and HOT CLT (this seems to be my worst issue). On my VEAL tuning drive it idled nicely at first as I stopped with little droop. As the drive progressed it started drooping more but recovering. The 10# flywheel doesn't help. Once it got hot it stalled every time I stopped no matter if I pushed the clutch in from higher RPM or eased down more slowly releasing slowly around 1500-1800 RPM. I limped home using the gears to slow down watching ahead to time the lights and stop signs. When I was forced to stop I had to restart with a little added throttle or use the parking brake while holding the throttle open slightly. This points back to my richer idle cells with hot CLT, correct? I think it's the exact same problem I mentioned with no WUE and the idle set too rich. I'm again chasing my tail and wondering why I added fuel to the idle cells this morning before my drive!
Something else bizarre, the AEM, X-series gauge usually takes a second or two to start reading but if I've been sitting with the KEY ON, without the engine running it gets stuck at 8 AFR for 15-25 seconds before it works. I wired an Add-A-Fuse to the METER fuse and it retains power while cranking. At the end of my garage tuning session, after I limped home and was trying to figure out why it would crank, fire, and quickly stall, the gauge read BATT. I plugged the smart trickle charger in and quit for today. I guess I'd been sitting for longer than I realized. In the attached "HotStartStall" log resting battery voltage is 12.7v - 12.8v. As the engine cranks it reads 10v - 10.6v. That's too weak, correct? The battery looks to be an AGM and the 2nd owner said he replaced it in 2018. He parked it in an open car port in Nevada for about two years without a charger. It only had 21,500 miles on the odometer so I doubt he drove it often. I've also read we should check the battery manufacture date before purchasing because they often sit too long because they aren't a common battery.
After reading the HotStartStall log I realize it is too short. I'm learning but the battery was getting weak. The only other thing I see in the log is that the engine seems to be lean while cranking (16-19 AFR). It sounds a little slow to fire but that could also be the battery. Should I add cranking fuel around the >180F CLT? I'm not sure if that's normal just before idle catches and stabilizes. Maybe I can add fuel to the very beginning of ASE and taper it down? I feel like I should be learning this more quickly! I stepped through the log using the arrow keys and made some minor adjustements based on RPM, MAP, and VE where it showed rich or lean. Next time I'll get a log from cold start through warmup waiting until it's warmer to drive away and continue logging. MegaLogViewer can VEanalyze from the log but I like using TunerStudio because I'm not sure you can lock idle cells out in MLV like you can in TS.
Thanks for bearing with these noob questions. Tomorrow after work I'm going to rewatch OGPedXing's tuning videos and go step by step through his process. This is TRICKY![Laugh](https://www.miataturbo.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif)
If my engine runs rich on a cold start without any WUE (auto-tune totally zero'd it out) that means my idle cells are too rich, correct? I think I answered this question while typing. Yesterday I tuned the idle fuel cells on a hot engine to get a fairly steady 14.1 - 14.3 AFR with normal RPM oscillation. That's shown in the 8:55 AM tune file. The idle fuel cells are around 51. For some reason I must have added fuel as shown in the 2:26 PM tune file. If it idled well at 51 when it was hot but had zero WUE (WUE auto-tune removed it all) and it took closer to 60 then I need to lean them back out to the earlier tune file and add WUE (maybe 2%) at whatever CLT temp was at 8:55 AM, correct?
I'm still running Open Loop Idle trying to get a stable idle at cool, warm, and HOT CLT (this seems to be my worst issue). On my VEAL tuning drive it idled nicely at first as I stopped with little droop. As the drive progressed it started drooping more but recovering. The 10# flywheel doesn't help. Once it got hot it stalled every time I stopped no matter if I pushed the clutch in from higher RPM or eased down more slowly releasing slowly around 1500-1800 RPM. I limped home using the gears to slow down watching ahead to time the lights and stop signs. When I was forced to stop I had to restart with a little added throttle or use the parking brake while holding the throttle open slightly. This points back to my richer idle cells with hot CLT, correct? I think it's the exact same problem I mentioned with no WUE and the idle set too rich. I'm again chasing my tail and wondering why I added fuel to the idle cells this morning before my drive!
Something else bizarre, the AEM, X-series gauge usually takes a second or two to start reading but if I've been sitting with the KEY ON, without the engine running it gets stuck at 8 AFR for 15-25 seconds before it works. I wired an Add-A-Fuse to the METER fuse and it retains power while cranking. At the end of my garage tuning session, after I limped home and was trying to figure out why it would crank, fire, and quickly stall, the gauge read BATT. I plugged the smart trickle charger in and quit for today. I guess I'd been sitting for longer than I realized. In the attached "HotStartStall" log resting battery voltage is 12.7v - 12.8v. As the engine cranks it reads 10v - 10.6v. That's too weak, correct? The battery looks to be an AGM and the 2nd owner said he replaced it in 2018. He parked it in an open car port in Nevada for about two years without a charger. It only had 21,500 miles on the odometer so I doubt he drove it often. I've also read we should check the battery manufacture date before purchasing because they often sit too long because they aren't a common battery.
After reading the HotStartStall log I realize it is too short. I'm learning but the battery was getting weak. The only other thing I see in the log is that the engine seems to be lean while cranking (16-19 AFR). It sounds a little slow to fire but that could also be the battery. Should I add cranking fuel around the >180F CLT? I'm not sure if that's normal just before idle catches and stabilizes. Maybe I can add fuel to the very beginning of ASE and taper it down? I feel like I should be learning this more quickly! I stepped through the log using the arrow keys and made some minor adjustements based on RPM, MAP, and VE where it showed rich or lean. Next time I'll get a log from cold start through warmup waiting until it's warmer to drive away and continue logging. MegaLogViewer can VEanalyze from the log but I like using TunerStudio because I'm not sure you can lock idle cells out in MLV like you can in TS.
Thanks for bearing with these noob questions. Tomorrow after work I'm going to rewatch OGPedXing's tuning videos and go step by step through his process. This is TRICKY
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#9
Cpt. Slow
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Try this. I reenabled CL idle, gave it some EGO authority, and some aggressive ASE enrichment settings. This should help it with the hot restart stalls. If you get me a log of it idling (no TPS input) from ambient to thermostat temp, I can make it a lot better.
Unfortunately, the later year the Miata, the worse the basemaps seem to be, so with an '04, there's a lot that could be improved.
Unfortunately, the later year the Miata, the worse the basemaps seem to be, so with an '04, there's a lot that could be improved.
#10
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Wow, I first want to say THANK YOU! Late last night I checked and saw the change you made to the ASE taper curve but didn't notice the other changes.I added it back into my tune file. When i first saw something similar in the base map I thought it was a mistake after compared 4-5 other tune files. After it warmed up I was seeing 12.8 - 13 AFR so I grabbed the six corner idle cells and used the down arrow to gradually lean them until I got an average of 14.5 AFR. Feeling like I was making progress I headed out to let VEAL do it's thing after locking out the corner idle cells. It drove nicely other than a stumble because TPS enrichment isn't tuned. I'm waiting because I don't want to make too many changes at one time. There was some minor idle droop but not bad. As it got hotter the idle started to get slightly less stable. I could see RPM oscillating slightly, more so in the AFR but still not too bad so I headed home. Just before I got to my garage the engine stalled. I logged a few start and stall loops to see what was happening . I made some minor adjustments to fuel but failed to regain stability and was still in open loop idle control. That's when I decided to load your tune and the engine started back up nicely with a nearly stable idle without quickly stalling out.
I went inside for dinner and used MSDroid to compare my tune to your adjusted tune on the laptop. That's when I noticed the other changes you mentioned. Over the weekend I watched a YouTube video thinking I found the perfect tuning video. It was over two hours long and I fell alseep about 45 minutes in. Changing the Idle RPM Timing Correction Curve to +10 / -10 degrees across the board is exactly what I saw in the video. Only the next day the user had removed the video and I couldn't remember where to make those changes. I think the video was a remote tuning session with Techsalvager that looks like he might have been banned here or hasn't posted in almost a decade.
I think the Idle RPM Timing Correction adjustment made the biggest difference in idle stabilization. I also see you enabled EGO with an authority table. Your table is slightly different than what I see in the base map after those options are enabled. Some of the grayed out options aren't yet clear to me as to where to enable those options. Tomorrow I'll start with your tune file and go from there. The idle cells still need to be leaned out and some WUE added back in. The fact that the engine started quickly and didn't die within 2-3 seconds tells me your changes where exactly what my engine needed. I'll try to take it from here but I very much appreciate the help.
BTW, I think I found another error in the base map and I'm seeing it in a lot of the tune files I've been studying. Under Advanced Engine, Speed and Gear Sensors, the VSS pulse per mile defualt is 40k. I searched online as I was filling in the information and looking at all the available options. I believe it should be set to 4k pulses per mile. I need to log and see if VSS now reports useful data as it seems that can be used to help Engine States if I get around to enabling and tuning it. Now it's clear when somebody said it might take two years before you feel you're done tuning.
I went inside for dinner and used MSDroid to compare my tune to your adjusted tune on the laptop. That's when I noticed the other changes you mentioned. Over the weekend I watched a YouTube video thinking I found the perfect tuning video. It was over two hours long and I fell alseep about 45 minutes in. Changing the Idle RPM Timing Correction Curve to +10 / -10 degrees across the board is exactly what I saw in the video. Only the next day the user had removed the video and I couldn't remember where to make those changes. I think the video was a remote tuning session with Techsalvager that looks like he might have been banned here or hasn't posted in almost a decade.
I think the Idle RPM Timing Correction adjustment made the biggest difference in idle stabilization. I also see you enabled EGO with an authority table. Your table is slightly different than what I see in the base map after those options are enabled. Some of the grayed out options aren't yet clear to me as to where to enable those options. Tomorrow I'll start with your tune file and go from there. The idle cells still need to be leaned out and some WUE added back in. The fact that the engine started quickly and didn't die within 2-3 seconds tells me your changes where exactly what my engine needed. I'll try to take it from here but I very much appreciate the help.
BTW, I think I found another error in the base map and I'm seeing it in a lot of the tune files I've been studying. Under Advanced Engine, Speed and Gear Sensors, the VSS pulse per mile defualt is 40k. I searched online as I was filling in the information and looking at all the available options. I believe it should be set to 4k pulses per mile. I need to log and see if VSS now reports useful data as it seems that can be used to help Engine States if I get around to enabling and tuning it. Now it's clear when somebody said it might take two years before you feel you're done tuning.
#11
Cpt. Slow
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Yes, the +/- 10 helps greatly with idle stabilization. You can do more, and I've adjusted it some be even more aggressive in the +/- 50rpm area, but those settings work for most cars.
The EGO authority table is a must, but all I did was select the lower left corner and make them 10, so it would include idle. I wouldn't necessarily run that table in the higher RPMs until I gave it a better look. I usually taper off to be zero % by full throttle/boost.
If you're looking in a menu, hover your cursor over the greyed out area, a little help menu will pop up letting you know what needs to be enabled to access those features.
And yes, I think I've found the VSS error before as well, NBs should be able to use factory VSS.
The EGO authority table is a must, but all I did was select the lower left corner and make them 10, so it would include idle. I wouldn't necessarily run that table in the higher RPMs until I gave it a better look. I usually taper off to be zero % by full throttle/boost.
If you're looking in a menu, hover your cursor over the greyed out area, a little help menu will pop up letting you know what needs to be enabled to access those features.
And yes, I think I've found the VSS error before as well, NBs should be able to use factory VSS.
#12
Cpt. Slow
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I should also say, I didn't mess with the target idle. It's a little low IMO, 950rpm tends to have less vibration than 850, and you're at 900, mess around with that and see what you like best. I'm also not sure why it's going higher at high temps. The NA basemaps tend to have cold targets at 1500, NBs tend to be 1200, so feel free to target 1500 cold idle if you feel like it helps it run better when cool. This could be useful for a clutch that's grabby when cold, to make starting off easier.
I also didn't like any of the column values. I like to have one for my warm idle (900 in your case), a column slightly below, and a column slightly above. So probably 700, 900, and 1100. That goes for AFR target, VE, ignition, EGO, and initial values. That way you're tuning exactly what you're running at, vs. an interpolation between two values.
For your AE, you may be trying to tune it around a fuel table that isn't good. Try zeroing out AE, you should feel a stumble, and see a lean spike, but it should rev. If it's breaking up horribly, your added fuel from AE is compensating for a poorly tuned VE table, basically the stuff above 35kpa in the idle/above idle region. If it revs better, your VE table is too rich to begin with, and you're literally adding fuel to the fire.
I also didn't like any of the column values. I like to have one for my warm idle (900 in your case), a column slightly below, and a column slightly above. So probably 700, 900, and 1100. That goes for AFR target, VE, ignition, EGO, and initial values. That way you're tuning exactly what you're running at, vs. an interpolation between two values.
For your AE, you may be trying to tune it around a fuel table that isn't good. Try zeroing out AE, you should feel a stumble, and see a lean spike, but it should rev. If it's breaking up horribly, your added fuel from AE is compensating for a poorly tuned VE table, basically the stuff above 35kpa in the idle/above idle region. If it revs better, your VE table is too rich to begin with, and you're literally adding fuel to the fire.
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I'll have to look at the idle RPM timing correction more closely after you mentioned the +/- 50 RPM area. It's idling nicely, tonight I took it out for a spin logging the drive, not waiting for it to warm up much. The engine only stalled once and the log doesn't seem to show any reason why. The other day I noticed the CLT sensor drop out where the log suddenly showed 75-100F colder for a split second before recovering. This time, everything seemed stable in the log while idling and the engine just stopped. Today I realized this fairly raw tune still runs better than the 30 year old, beat up, USPS LLVs I drive at work. :-)
After it warmed up I turned EGO and Closed Loop Idle off to fine tune the idle cells a little leaner hitting 14.5 AFR. About my idle RPM targets, I raised the hot target to serve as a warning to my ear because I'm chasing very minor leaks with the FM coolant reroute and crossflow radiator. I can't get the silicone hose to seal at either end despite using constant torque clamps. The original hose OD was too wide for the OEM spring clamps. The replacement hose they sent might be ok but I misplaced the clamps. It's not really losing much coolant but once I get the coolant system sealed up I'll lower that hot RPM target back to normal. Then again, looking back at it that extra 150 RPM would barely be noticeable.
I wasn't sure about RPM column selections so I used the TurboKitty tune settings. I noticed you changed the RPM around the idle columns and realized it minimizes interpolation. I compared tunes using the 3D map and saw that your adjustment also widens the idle area slightly. Fuel and timing don't ramp up as quickly and there's a more stable idle plateau. I was wondering about the choice of a 500 RPM column. So...when I tune higher RPM fuelVE, would it be better to turn EGO correction off and use VEanalyzer. Then once I've gone through Easy/Normal and maybe Hard modes, turn EGO back on maybe allow less authority as the fuel map wouldn't need as much adjustment? I can see in tonight's log that I still have a long way to go but I first need to verify my idle fuel VE cells are repeatable day to day on a hot engine with EGO disabled. Then I can continue to focus on the WUE curve each time I start on a cold engine. I should also need to read to see if AE is taken into account while running VEanalyzer. If not disabling it and continuing to use smooth throttle inputs would work better.
I'm haven't tried tuning AE just yet but what you said makes sense. There's so much tuning to do and so little time left in the MN driving season!
After it warmed up I turned EGO and Closed Loop Idle off to fine tune the idle cells a little leaner hitting 14.5 AFR. About my idle RPM targets, I raised the hot target to serve as a warning to my ear because I'm chasing very minor leaks with the FM coolant reroute and crossflow radiator. I can't get the silicone hose to seal at either end despite using constant torque clamps. The original hose OD was too wide for the OEM spring clamps. The replacement hose they sent might be ok but I misplaced the clamps. It's not really losing much coolant but once I get the coolant system sealed up I'll lower that hot RPM target back to normal. Then again, looking back at it that extra 150 RPM would barely be noticeable.
I wasn't sure about RPM column selections so I used the TurboKitty tune settings. I noticed you changed the RPM around the idle columns and realized it minimizes interpolation. I compared tunes using the 3D map and saw that your adjustment also widens the idle area slightly. Fuel and timing don't ramp up as quickly and there's a more stable idle plateau. I was wondering about the choice of a 500 RPM column. So...when I tune higher RPM fuelVE, would it be better to turn EGO correction off and use VEanalyzer. Then once I've gone through Easy/Normal and maybe Hard modes, turn EGO back on maybe allow less authority as the fuel map wouldn't need as much adjustment? I can see in tonight's log that I still have a long way to go but I first need to verify my idle fuel VE cells are repeatable day to day on a hot engine with EGO disabled. Then I can continue to focus on the WUE curve each time I start on a cold engine. I should also need to read to see if AE is taken into account while running VEanalyzer. If not disabling it and continuing to use smooth throttle inputs would work better.
I'm haven't tried tuning AE just yet but what you said makes sense. There's so much tuning to do and so little time left in the MN driving season!
#14
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You can use warm up enrichments and cold advance (except use negative numbers) when the engine gets hot to try and cool it off, but fix the leaks first.
You can use VEanalyzer for higher RPMs, then later smooth the table by hand while looking at a good log of the area, then enable EGO to make small corrections once tuned, however supposedly VE analyze takes EGO into account.
You can use VEanalyzer for higher RPMs, then later smooth the table by hand while looking at a good log of the area, then enable EGO to make small corrections once tuned, however supposedly VE analyze takes EGO into account.
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Thanks for the tuning tip to cool off a hot engine, that's something for future thought but I doubt I'll use it since I won't be racing. I read VEanalyzer takes EGO changes into the equation and to leave it enabled. I built a new base map from the one that came installed using everything I've learned. This time I used the interpolation method to adjust columns and copied the fuel VE map, >100 kPa cells from another turbo MIata map with the same injectors. I turned off EGO and closed loop while tuning and think I'm very close to a super stable idle. I need to confirm and still had a little tuning to do in the 1200 RPM zone, likely because timing was ramping up. Unfortunately I am stuck messing with this leaky FM reroute kit.
My first failure was probably my fault because I used silicone without allowing it to set before tightening, nor cure before filling. About a month ago I replaced the adhesive paper gasket without using any sillicone. I made sure both sides were spotless but it still leaks. This third time I'm tempted to use a thin coat of silicone on the engine side of the gasket but the coolant dye also seeps through the paper gasket. I'm at my wits end as the dye also shows on the cut ends of the silicone hose showing on the layers of reinforcement strings after I clean it. I considered buying the hard pipe from Blackbird Fabworx and using rubber hose after buying OEM spring clamps but why spend the money if the rear reroute block doesn't stop leaking? Also, the MSM catch can drain hose and fuel/vacuum stuff makes me wonder if it'll fit well.
My first failure was probably my fault because I used silicone without allowing it to set before tightening, nor cure before filling. About a month ago I replaced the adhesive paper gasket without using any sillicone. I made sure both sides were spotless but it still leaks. This third time I'm tempted to use a thin coat of silicone on the engine side of the gasket but the coolant dye also seeps through the paper gasket. I'm at my wits end as the dye also shows on the cut ends of the silicone hose showing on the layers of reinforcement strings after I clean it. I considered buying the hard pipe from Blackbird Fabworx and using rubber hose after buying OEM spring clamps but why spend the money if the rear reroute block doesn't stop leaking? Also, the MSM catch can drain hose and fuel/vacuum stuff makes me wonder if it'll fit well.
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Does anybody offer paid remote tuning and what does that require? If it's live I'll need to buy a new laptop. I'm frustrated beyong belief with a massive headache after another two hours today trying to tune idle. Should I just schedule with the local Subaru performance shop?
The weather is getting colder and the tires aren't good on cold, wet roads like today. I've spent countless hours trying to adjust AFR on a hot engine in the idle cells and EVERY time I get it spot on, the next time I start the car, even after WUE ends it's pig rich. I lean it out and then it starts stalling every time I stop. I've tried adjusting and adding timing advance to compensate for load and cannot get it to idle with headlights on when the fans kick on likely because the fuel is off on the left side of the map as it dips into 65-85 kPa cells. I still get minor RPM and AFR oscillations that I haven't been able to totally tune out. I know it's constantly interpolating between four cells but figuring out where to add/subtract fuel is more of a guessing game. Reading data logs is painful and doesn't seem to help pinpoint what I need to do.
I've watched and followed along with YouTube tuning videos but my that's difficult using my phone screen (no ads) whereas, if i try to watch on the laptop I'm stuck with annoying ad interruptions. I'm going to go back to Curly's adjusted tune after the laptop charges and try again but I'm supremely frustrated and ready to throw in the towel. Time to get some pain killers and distract myself from another failure.
The weather is getting colder and the tires aren't good on cold, wet roads like today. I've spent countless hours trying to adjust AFR on a hot engine in the idle cells and EVERY time I get it spot on, the next time I start the car, even after WUE ends it's pig rich. I lean it out and then it starts stalling every time I stop. I've tried adjusting and adding timing advance to compensate for load and cannot get it to idle with headlights on when the fans kick on likely because the fuel is off on the left side of the map as it dips into 65-85 kPa cells. I still get minor RPM and AFR oscillations that I haven't been able to totally tune out. I know it's constantly interpolating between four cells but figuring out where to add/subtract fuel is more of a guessing game. Reading data logs is painful and doesn't seem to help pinpoint what I need to do.
I've watched and followed along with YouTube tuning videos but my that's difficult using my phone screen (no ads) whereas, if i try to watch on the laptop I'm stuck with annoying ad interruptions. I'm going to go back to Curly's adjusted tune after the laptop charges and try again but I'm supremely frustrated and ready to throw in the towel. Time to get some pain killers and distract myself from another failure.
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#17
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I do. So does 18psi. I prefer live, I can fix issues much faster that way. Tuning by log also requires disciplined restraint from the owner. You need to load the tune we send, log with that tune, and send the log back with zero alterations, and wait even up to 2-3 for a modified tune to be returned for another check. Since it's mainly idle, it can be done without driving, you just need an internet connection at your tuning device. Idle isn't usually this difficult, so there's a chance we'd be looking for something wrong vs. "just" tuning.
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Ok, thanks...I retract the throwing in the towel statement. I've done more reading and after taking some Ibuprofen and sleeping on the problem I am again making some progress. Baby steps which doesn't help my mood as I tend to learn faster than this. I uploaded today's tune as it stands along with a warmup log. The fans didn't want to run as it's chilly here today, barely getting above 50F. I let it run for a while as a neighbor came up to talk and then I revved it a few times allowing it to settle completely each time. At the very end the low speed fan (MSM) came on so I waited until it cycled off.
What I did was go back a few tunes and loaded Curly's tune on my HTPC 60" TV with my older, more stable tune on the laptop. After double checking I took the richer fuel map out and warmed up the engine leaning it out a bit and trying again to balance everything using the IAC test with EGO turned off. I think I left it somewhere between 14.1 - 14.5 because being too lean seems to be causing most of my idle and stalling problem. I drove it to Home Depot and i was ok on the way there but stalled many times after it got it fully warmed. I logged to analyze later and when I stepped through them I focused on just before the engine stalled. I made adjustments watching MAP - RPM - AFR readings and visually which FuelVE cell was most active to make corrections. I also added some fuel in the 20 kPa column as RPM decreased to smooth things out but mainly added in the 700 RPM from 40 up to 65/75 kPa. I also altered the timing map to smooth it out in the higher kPa cells of the 700 and 900 RPM columns. The timing map is still mostly what I took from the TurboKitty basemap IIRC. I tightened the Idle RPM Timing Correction Curve and made it a bit more aggressive. The other day with the engine running I enabled Idle Advance and moved the last load % number outwards while increasing timing advance.
Today after work I loaded that revised tune after adding a click to the dashpot duty % (3.9 up to 4.3). I changed "Leave Valve Closed Above" value from 1800 RPM to 1900 RPM thinking it might help to better catch the lightweight flywheel. I meant to change "For This Number Of Seconds" to between .5 and .7 seconds but noticed it's still set at 1 second. I also changed the "PID Control Interval" from 150ms down to 100ms. Revving the engine tonight was smoother with very little stumble when I pressed the throttle and the MS3 caught the idle smoothly each time. I was going to take the neighbor for a spin after she put her dog inside but I didn't see her again so there's no real world driving log/test. I think the worst of the stalling issue should now be fixed. I haven't yet analyzed the attached warmup log but am open to criticism or guidance. My mood the other day might partially have been because Cypress Hill, "Insane in the Brain" was playing on FM radio as I drove home with the car stalling every time I stopped!![FAEL](https://www.miataturbo.net/images/smilies/sawzall.gif)
P.S. For those climbing the learning curve (more like a cliff face), this link helped me wrap my mind around what was happening and in what order.
What I did was go back a few tunes and loaded Curly's tune on my HTPC 60" TV with my older, more stable tune on the laptop. After double checking I took the richer fuel map out and warmed up the engine leaning it out a bit and trying again to balance everything using the IAC test with EGO turned off. I think I left it somewhere between 14.1 - 14.5 because being too lean seems to be causing most of my idle and stalling problem. I drove it to Home Depot and i was ok on the way there but stalled many times after it got it fully warmed. I logged to analyze later and when I stepped through them I focused on just before the engine stalled. I made adjustments watching MAP - RPM - AFR readings and visually which FuelVE cell was most active to make corrections. I also added some fuel in the 20 kPa column as RPM decreased to smooth things out but mainly added in the 700 RPM from 40 up to 65/75 kPa. I also altered the timing map to smooth it out in the higher kPa cells of the 700 and 900 RPM columns. The timing map is still mostly what I took from the TurboKitty basemap IIRC. I tightened the Idle RPM Timing Correction Curve and made it a bit more aggressive. The other day with the engine running I enabled Idle Advance and moved the last load % number outwards while increasing timing advance.
Today after work I loaded that revised tune after adding a click to the dashpot duty % (3.9 up to 4.3). I changed "Leave Valve Closed Above" value from 1800 RPM to 1900 RPM thinking it might help to better catch the lightweight flywheel. I meant to change "For This Number Of Seconds" to between .5 and .7 seconds but noticed it's still set at 1 second. I also changed the "PID Control Interval" from 150ms down to 100ms. Revving the engine tonight was smoother with very little stumble when I pressed the throttle and the MS3 caught the idle smoothly each time. I was going to take the neighbor for a spin after she put her dog inside but I didn't see her again so there's no real world driving log/test. I think the worst of the stalling issue should now be fixed. I haven't yet analyzed the attached warmup log but am open to criticism or guidance. My mood the other day might partially have been because Cypress Hill, "Insane in the Brain" was playing on FM radio as I drove home with the car stalling every time I stopped!
![FAEL](https://www.miataturbo.net/images/smilies/sawzall.gif)
P.S. For those climbing the learning curve (more like a cliff face), this link helped me wrap my mind around what was happening and in what order.
Last edited by Jesse99James; 10-14-2021 at 06:44 PM. Reason: Found the link...I had removed the link that wasn't the one that clarified everything
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I'm still making progress dialing in the VE map. I decided to enable and try tuning idle VE again taking advantage of a constuction area in a large business park with almost zero traffic. I limited the amount of change in VE analyzer and turned it off as soon as I heard the cooling fan. I again used Idle Valve Test Mode and locked out cells as they got closer. Then I set difficult mode with 10% and 5% authority so they are really close to optimal at 14.6 AFR. I need to take those numbers and tweak the normal fuel VE map but I'm still having issues with stalling no matter when I press the clutch to the floor.
I learned it has to do with engine states. The MS3 sees over-run and then switches to deceleration state but gets stuck there for too long. By the time it switches over to idle state RPM is already at or below target, sometimes by 150-200 RPM. I logged cruise deceleration to try and adjust RPMdot in the engine states was seeing greater than -1100 RPMdot. The default setting for slow deceleration threshold was -800 so I tried -1150, -1200, and later -750. The -1150 RPMdot setting was entered from what I understood from the tuning instruction popup when you hover over the "?". When I started the engine (before I got idleVE tuned, running closed loop, no EGO, idleVE off) engine RPM jumped before it settled on a hot restart and as previously mentioned, I noticed it switch in/out of idle state. That's when I tried -750 and disabled "use VSS" (set at 3 mph) because fuel over-run state also wasn't working.
I probably have a mis-matched settings but other than the occasional stalling when I come to a stop, my tune is slowly improving. Also, another recent change is on cold start. It would catch and rev up to 1300-1500 and after 3 seconds RPM and MAP would nose dive getting increasingly lean despite having tuned the 700 RPM cells so it shouldn't be lean. On the third start it catches and idles normally so it might be part of the idle state issue. I changed Crank To Idle Taperfrom 3 seconds up to 5 seconds to see if it helps. ASE is still set pretty aggressively rich but not quite where Curly set it for the hot resart stalling issue. I'll kick it back up from 17 to 20 again...I didn't realize I'd be chasing my tail so much and after two tank fulls I have a steady idle most of the time but still can't get it to stop randomly stalling. I'm beginning to wonder if I have a weak sensor going bad. I guess I'll get this battery load tested as well.
I learned it has to do with engine states. The MS3 sees over-run and then switches to deceleration state but gets stuck there for too long. By the time it switches over to idle state RPM is already at or below target, sometimes by 150-200 RPM. I logged cruise deceleration to try and adjust RPMdot in the engine states was seeing greater than -1100 RPMdot. The default setting for slow deceleration threshold was -800 so I tried -1150, -1200, and later -750. The -1150 RPMdot setting was entered from what I understood from the tuning instruction popup when you hover over the "?". When I started the engine (before I got idleVE tuned, running closed loop, no EGO, idleVE off) engine RPM jumped before it settled on a hot restart and as previously mentioned, I noticed it switch in/out of idle state. That's when I tried -750 and disabled "use VSS" (set at 3 mph) because fuel over-run state also wasn't working.
I probably have a mis-matched settings but other than the occasional stalling when I come to a stop, my tune is slowly improving. Also, another recent change is on cold start. It would catch and rev up to 1300-1500 and after 3 seconds RPM and MAP would nose dive getting increasingly lean despite having tuned the 700 RPM cells so it shouldn't be lean. On the third start it catches and idles normally so it might be part of the idle state issue. I changed Crank To Idle Taperfrom 3 seconds up to 5 seconds to see if it helps. ASE is still set pretty aggressively rich but not quite where Curly set it for the hot resart stalling issue. I'll kick it back up from 17 to 20 again...I didn't realize I'd be chasing my tail so much and after two tank fulls I have a steady idle most of the time but still can't get it to stop randomly stalling. I'm beginning to wonder if I have a weak sensor going bad. I guess I'll get this battery load tested as well.
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This'll probably be my last update in this thread as I'm happy to say my tune is finally coming together. After a few more days I have a stable idle with little droop. I think part my problem was that the initial base fuel map was too rich so when I tuned idle cells for 14.3-14.5 AFR, the transition was too drastic. I also flattened ignition timing because it was ramping up too quickly from 1100-1500 RPM. Careful manual VE tuning and some VE analyzer tuning with low authority helped. Tonight I manually lowered the entire IdleVE table by 1 (ten downward arrow clicks of .1) and idle remained stable with less EGO correction. After some changes to the Timing RPM Correction, idle RPM now varies by +/- 10-15 RPM.
I'm using these last few days of Fall to tune cold starts and polish everything as much as possible. I still have some work to do adjusting timing for loads (headlights, cooling fans, interior fan was a bit much) but I learned I had it set with too aggressive advance that was causing instability. Data logs often still make my head spin (I likely have undiagnosed ADHD) but I'm learning what to look for and what needs to be adjusted.
Thank you for the tune tweaks and advice that helped get me back on track.
I'm using these last few days of Fall to tune cold starts and polish everything as much as possible. I still have some work to do adjusting timing for loads (headlights, cooling fans, interior fan was a bit much) but I learned I had it set with too aggressive advance that was causing instability. Data logs often still make my head spin (I likely have undiagnosed ADHD) but I'm learning what to look for and what needs to be adjusted.
Thank you for the tune tweaks and advice that helped get me back on track.