ECU upgrades

[mick daniels]

Hi,
I'm hopefully going to have my Z chipped soon . Am i doing the right thing?
it's my everyday car but recently got this speed/accelleration bug which i cant shake . It's just the prospect of gaining an extra possible 60 bhp that's got me interested. I do have an aftermerket stillen k&n airfilter and a decent upgraded exhaust which should be able to handle it
I've gotten good advice, do's and don'ts from the 300zx site from people who've done it, put in the back of my mind i keep saying why???............isn't it fast enough for you Michael..ermm yes it is..no it's not...yes it is...no it's not..................


It's just that with any major modification i think there's a risk factor, and i dont want to hurt my little honey ...

 

[JEZ 280ZX]

Hi,
As you say, there's can be a risk with "upgrades".
If it's a chip you are after, you need to make sure it's been correctly mapped for the grade of fuel you can buy in your locality.Are you able to get the higher octane petrol in Ireland?
If it's your daily car, you don't want to be having to add octane booster every time you fill up!...This may not be such a problem if the car were only a weekend toy.
Cheerz,
JEZ

 

[mick daniels]

Hi Jez,

you're spot on with the fuel consideration, as you can only get 95 octane in ireland now. There is various chemicals as you were saying to add to a full tank , but i spend so much time at the weekends at the car i'm thinking throwing a bit of octane boost in every friday wont kill me!
The guy i'm buying the chip from comes well recommended from other Z owners and he knows the fuel situation over here, so he's not going to overdo the mapping... (as if I knew what I was talking about!)

Don't Know what the hell's got into me lately, i've driven N/A's for years and perfectly happy with the performance, also i've always stood by the notion they don't need modification , as they are unique and beautiful the way they are.

Maybe there is a male menopause and it starts at 35?

 

[Mr.F]

One of the basic premises of chipping the TT is to allow you to run more boost. Usually a chip package will come with some means of increasing boost. This can be as crude as a welding tip or nitrous jet stuck in a T-piece, some adjustable bleed valves or an electronic valve controller.

Whichever method you choose, the temptation of "just a little more" devil: ) will always apply. On an otherwise stock engine (internally), you should limit yourself to less than 1 Bar (about 13psi is thought to be generally acceptable). Ensure you have a good quality mechanical boost gauge to set it up, or use the digital boost gauges built into some versions of AVCs - don't trust the OEM gauge. Do most owners even know what -7, 0 and +7 really mean? It's not PSI...

Excess boost is what kills engines. A lack of mechanical sympathy to detonation kills engines. A decent re-map in the chip is there to improve fuelling and adjust the ignition advance / retard characteristics. The real power increase comes from increasing the boost - beware...

 

[mick daniels]

Thanks Mike,
I've committed myself to buying it and it may sit beside me until i've decided what to do with it. And no, i don't have a clue what -7 +7 means!!
By the time I learn how an engine works my 3 year old son gary is gonna be driving my Z

 

[Mr.F]

Most people would reckon they have a handle on pounds per square inch (PSI). Some would claim to understand the term BAR (as in 1 bar or 2 bar of turbo boost). Easier if you know 1 bar is about 14psi. European measurement seems to have now favoured the (at first sight anyway) almost incomprehensible Kg/square centimetre. Easier if you quickly multiply by 14.2 in your head while looking at the gauge and concentrating on your driving at full boost, which returns it to PSI and the world of understanding again...in other words, 1 kg/cm2 is near as dammit 1 bar (but not quite - actually 1.02 Kg/cm2).

Nissan (and others no doubt) in their wisdom, decided to opt for the good old-fashioned measurement of millimetres of mercury. Remember school in the days when you could play with mercury without Health & Safety having a heart attack and without the lab techs running around in breathing apparatus with powdered sulphur? Your teacher may have demonstrated the barometer theory where atmospheric pressure can be made to support a column of mercury about 740mm high. i.e. 740mm of mercury (Hg chemical symbol) is equivalent to atmospheric pressure at sea level which is equivalent to 0.98 bar which is equivalent to approx.1 Kg/cm2 which is equivalent to about 14.7 psi. Just to hide the fact from you, and to test your scientific knowledge in the fields of chemistry and physics, Nissan decided to abbreviate the hundreds of millimetres to just the first figure, i.e. 7 = 700 millimetres of mercury (given as Hg on the dial in tiny letters on the Z31). So, your wonderfully accurate OEM gauge reads from minus almost 1 bar to plus almost 1 bar and will be woefully inadequate if you want to increase boost up to or beyond this level!

Apologies for tutorial mode - those who knew me another life will understand

 

[MAD MATT]

Hi Mick Mr F Is Right (beware)just Found Out My Z Was Running To Much Boost Now The Engine Is Knackered

 

[mick daniels]

Hi,


Real sorry to hear that Matt, hope you find a better Z soon. There are very good write-up's on these forum's about the do's and dont's of buying.And i'll take you're advice on board about this chip.

 

[mick daniels]

Apologies for tutorial mode - those who knew me another life will understand [/QUOTE]

LOl!!

Thank's Mike for taking the time to explain that, all makes sense now
And if i do decide to install the chip then a proper boost gauge will go with it.

 

[AndyP]

Thank's Mike for taking the time to explain that, all makes sense now
And if i do decide to install the chip then a proper boost gauge will go with it.

It's not the chip that requires the accurate boost gauge it's the boost upgrade, whether that be by bleed jets or mechanical valve. Many electronic boost controllers have a built in boost gauge, so you may not need an additional one then - but that's up to you ...