Full stand alone question

[mspwyatt]

I am looking at doing a full stand alone but not sure if I should because of emissions and them testing the obd port. Does the obd port still work on a full stand alone?

 

[tweety2300]

You will fail emissions with a stand alone, you can hook up the factory ecu long enough for them to run the emissions test and the go back to the stand alone. You will have to run all factory sensors when this is done along with stock injectors.

 

[Spiced MSP]

if you don't plan on running every last feature of a standalone, you can run it as a parallel setup and still pass emissions

 

[2.0t03speed]

but then you cant delete anything

 

[Spiced MSP]

^^^true

 

[mspwyatt]

So what your telling me is going fast is out of the question

 

[704_mazdaguy]

no, theres no need to delete everything if you want to run a standalone. You can run it in parallel like they said, and still have all the features of the standalone working. The factory ECU is just there to control the A/C, speedo, etc.

To pass emmissions, you would need to wire the standalone to a jumper harness, and unplug it before you go to get the car tested. Then plug back in after you're done. Really the only way, I have the same problem living in NC, and a piggyback only goes so far.

 

[mspwyatt]

Do they make a jumper?

 

[THE Phen]

So what your telling me is going fast is out of the question

FS-DE... fast? That's funny. Gonna take a lot more than a standalone to do that. Just a warning.

 

[mspwyatt]

No s*** there are other things that are happening I'm trying to make it legal to.

 

[THE Phen]

Just making sure you know. There's a ton of mis-guided people on here that say "Oh, I'm gonna increase boost and make this car fast..." boom. Then they get all pissy because the engine can't take it. Or they'll think that dropping a grand into the engine is going to get them 300+ whp.

I'm hoping you're not one of them. Judging by the fact that you're trying to keep it emissions legal, you seem to have a notion of how things work. Apologies if you read my post as an attack.

 

[jdwk]

no, theres no need to delete everything if you want to run a standalone. You can run it in parallel like they said, and still have all the features of the standalone working. The factory ECU is just there to control the A/C, speedo, etc.

To pass emmissions, you would need to wire the standalone to a jumper harness, and unplug it before you go to get the car tested. Then plug back in after you're done. Really the only way, I have the same problem living in NC, and a piggyback only goes so far.

+1. Unless you are literally only using the car as a track car, there is no reason to go "full" standalone. And even then the only benefit is the 12oz of weight savings you get from removing the stock ECU. For 99.99% of MSP owners that want a properly tuned daily driver, you want a parallel setup. The stock ECU will still control the gauges, the alternator, the A/C, the fans, and most importantly the OBDII.

I am still holding on to the pipe dream that I deliver a good write up for the MSII parallel setup, but my new daily has been in shipping for 9 weeks. By the time it gets here, I may not have the patience left to finish my MS install. We'll see.

 

[mspwyatt]

I am currently finishing some machine work and then it's time to go parts shopping. I am gunna do a .20 bore on it and my crank is polished and balanced.

 

[Installshield 2]

For most purposes with these cars; going 'standalone' always involves some sort of parallel setup...if you are not using the stock system at all, you have to literally re-wire EVERYTHING...from the guages, to the HVAC controls, to various sensors that may not be compatible with the particular computer you buy...So other than full race setups, the only practical thing to do is a parallel system...

there are 2 ways to do that, depending on your emissions laws...You can have the standalone permanently wired in, which is ridiculously simple (many have done it in less than a few hours), and leave the factory ecu to handle the dumb s***...but this will often leave multiple pending codes in the factory ecu as its not receiving the signals it wants from various sensors (most guys just pull the bulb for the check engine light for these setups)...or build a harness that allows you to fast swap back and fourth...takes more time, but allows you to limp your car in for the inspection and they'd never know a standalone is ever being used. This limits some things though...your modifications will have to be subtle enough that the car can still operate on the factory ecu...Most good standalones will do some form of high load closed loop for partial throttle/daily driving street tuning (pretty much full proof anymore), by using a wide band O2 sensor...and that sensor will not work at all with the stock ecu...so depending on which route you take, you may be swapping more than just a computer harness for the inspection...

the first thing you need to be aware of is what exact kinds of 'emissions' do you have to pass? My area has emissions testing, but involves looking under the car to verify there is a cat in place...and 'testing' the gas cap for a proper seal...thats it...no OBD-II checking of any kind. Thats not how it is everywhere though, so you'll need to look into exactly what they check.

if it involves a OBD-II scan...yeah, you'll need to at least be able to swap back and forth...a little less convenient but a small price to pay to get rid of the single worst part of the car imo...

 

[704_mazdaguy]

Do they make a jumper?

AEM makes one, its a bit expensive but really the only way to make removal of standalone quick and easy.

 

[Installshield 2]

AEM makes one, its a bit expensive but really the only way to make removal of standalone quick and easy.

but i've heard mixed results with it...Isn't that the harness where the factory tach doesn't work? Or was that a pnp harness for the microtech? can't remember.

 

[704_mazdaguy]

Crossover auto uses it to supply customers with a PnP version of the Haltech without any problems, so I think you are talking about the microtech harness.

 

[Spiced MSP]

Sam at Crossover sells standalones already prewired with the AEM jumper harness. It's pretty much plug and play out of the box. You just have to wire up the power and ground I believe.

 

[mspwyatt]

That's not too bad yea they check to see that the check engine light comes on they test the gas cap then they scan the obd port