Looms And Ecu

[neil's]

Hi chaps,

after a bit of advice on what works best really. i am looking at buy a emerald k6 ecu but a put of buy the price. Are there any other units people have used and would recommend using. Also how easy is it to make your own wiring loom, is it a cost effective way of saving money or should i not be so tight a buy one from gbs a i see they have one with the right connections to the emerald ecu unit. i dont really want to shell out 400 quid then chop bits of it if it wont fit the ecu. i plan on using a new 2.0 Lt zetec black top engine if that's any help.

cheers

[Longboarder]

Unless you specifically want an emerald ecu then why not buy adeys omex 600 ecu and loom. Its advertised about ten posts down the page. I use an omex 600 ecu on my zetec as do many others. It works very well and factory support from Omex is excellent.

And he wants £500 for the lot.

 

Nigel

[Guest Alan_builder]

The cheapest ECU has to be a self build Megasquirt or Megajolt depending if you are carb or injection. (I don't know the details of the emerald k6 ecu. Next will be the the manufactured Mega ..... and then the rest.

 

Making your own loom or modifying a Ford one is simple if you can work out a wiring schedule from the Haynes manual, I am modifying the Sierra loom from my Pinto injected 2B/04 for a Zetec upgrade.

 

So I don't think you are a skin flint. Megasquirt full ECU for injection in kit form £180. I would get the wiring loom from a car for the steering column stalks you are using etc to get the connectors. If you have never assembled a Printed Circuit Board either take lessons or buy the ready built.

 

Some rolling road services who supply other brands say they won't run Megasquirt because they are un reliable due to poor construction, understandable but there are those who will and there are companies who prepare rally and race cars who use Megasquirt. So admit what you can and can't do.

[Guest loopyonion]

I've tried numerous ecu's over the years on various cars, Greddy, Emerald, Motec, Apexi, to name a few.. But DTA has always been the easiest for me to sort. £550 buys you a s40 ecu off ebay, and you can make a loom up very simply. With some default settings you can run a zetec with about 5-6 wires. Future expansions are also catered for. I use an earlier E48 EXP unit which has covered over 2000hrs of use over the years, its been on 3 cars up to date.

 

The DTA E48 is that familiar now, that it took me 2.5 hours to go from bare engine, to loom built, and tested. Joined up the fuel, and it ran

 

Its down to personal preference IMHO, download the software for DTA, OMEX, and Emerald. Have a play, and see which you like.

 

Megasquirt is okay for the money, but its a kit, and it depends who built it! There are some kits that are pro built, but new prices are £100 different to DTA?

[neil's]

Unless you specifically want an emerald ecu then why not buy adeys omex 600 ecu and loom. Its advertised about ten posts down the page. I use an omex 600 ecu on my zetec as do many others. It works very well and factory support from Omex is excellent.

And he wants £500 for the lot.

 

Nigel

HI Nigel

thanks for the reply if was to go through this route would you still be able to get a new reg plate as it would not be a new item?

 

neil

[neil's]

I've tried numerous ecu's over the years on various cars, Greddy, Emerald, Motec, Apexi, to name a few.. But DTA has always been the easiest for me to sort. £550 buys you a s40 ecu off ebay, and you can make a loom up very simply. With some default settings you can run a zetec with about 5-6 wires. Future expansions are also catered for. I use an earlier E48 EXP unit which has covered over 2000hrs of use over the years, its been on 3 cars up to date.

 

The DTA E48 is that familiar now, that it took me 2.5 hours to go from bare engine, to loom built, and tested. Joined up the fuel, and it ran

 

Its down to personal preference IMHO, download the software for DTA, OMEX, and Emerald. Have a play, and see which you like.

 

Megasquirt is okay for the money, but its a kit, and it depends who built it! There are some kits that are pro built, but new prices are £100 different to DTA?

cheers i like easy i will download the software as you say

2.5 hour sounds like you have got this down to a fine art

[neil's]

The cheapest ECU has to be a self build Megasquirt or Megajolt depending if you are carb or injection. (I don't know the details of the emerald k6 ecu. Next will be the the manufactured Mega ..... and then the rest.

 

Making your own loom or modifying a Ford one is simple if you can work out a wiring schedule from the Haynes manual, I am modifying the Sierra loom from my Pinto injected 2B/04 for a Zetec upgrade.

 

So I don't think you are a skin flint. Megasquirt full ECU for injection in kit form £180. I would get the wiring loom from a car for the steering column stalks you are using etc to get the connectors. If you have never assembled a Printed Circuit Board either take lessons or buy the ready built.

 

Some rolling road services who supply other brands say they won't run Megasquirt because they are un reliable due to poor construction, understandable but there are those who will and there are companies who prepare rally and race cars who use Megasquirt. So admit what you can and can't do.

HI Alan

i have managed to buy a brand new fiesta st loom for 10 pound for ebay i was going to have a play and see if i could mod this even if i balls it up it only 10 quid

[Guest Hammy360]

Hi

HI Alan

i have managed to buy a brand new fiesta st loom for 10 pound for ebay i was going to have a play and see if i could mod this even if i balls it up it only 10 quid

 

Mate, I hope you have better luck than me with the ford loom, I made two in total and put in a load of man hours. Then bought the Omex one and plugged it all in 15 minutes and now have the benefit of their help on the phone. Theyve been brrrrrilliant.

 

All the best

[Guest loopyonion]

Ford loom on the zetec is not a bad donor. However, ford ground out the sensors differently to the likes of dta, plus you also look at sequential or non sequential injection. Wirings different for them both. The e48 exp dta ecu I have doesn't support sequential.

 

Use the plugs, cut the wires in safe sensible places, wire to the ecu of choice. I wouldn't make an adaptor plug, or bodge together.

 

I used existing zetec loom, and cut the plugs plus 4 inches of wire. I bought a set of 15a coloured assorted wire off eBay. Sit down with the ecu wiring drawing, and use coloured pens to code the drawing to what your going to use. Ie, red +12v, white TPS output, etc. makes it easier to fault find!!