I have been talking with a gentlemen who has successfully built a standalone ems using MS3 (megasquirt software) for his Gen 1 with the help of the megasquirt creators. This software has been out for years and I have certainly heard of it over the years. He wanted a tester and after talking to him I am highly considering it but what makes me nervous is I don't know enough about this stuff in general.
There are tuners scattered nationwide who have tuned MS3 software for years so I know it can be tuned, but with respect to the Viper I wouldnt know what to look out for. It will apparently have virtually anything the AEM would have with capabilities for e85 expansion all that jazz that the AEM can do.
Is there anything about this that should be throwing a red flag or cause me to hesitate? We are talking minimal $$ to test this out and ensure it works on the gen 2 as it has been installed and is running on his gen 1.
Here is his youtube videos here , the first three specifically address the EMS: Busams - YouTube
Here is just a quick website he threw together so he could start listing everything it could do: Dodge Viper standalone
True, this was actually talked about last year on the alley and some seemed to think that the MS3 software would be great to utilize on the Viper. I have not talked to him but the FormerPFR had mentioned that the capabilities of the Megasquirt software surpass that of the AEM....
If the guy was local to you I would consider it. That way you could oversee everything and maybe learn a few things. I would have him install it and have a successful tune session prior to allowing him to tune with the TT kit you plan on installing. As far as tuning goes I would find a tuner with Viper knowledge since most vehicles have knock sensors and ours do not.
Yea he is not local and he is not a tuner, he pretty much made sure I knew someone that knew the software would have to tune it. So that would be my responsibility to find a tuner. I guess I will just pass on it, I really think its a great price but maybe its for someone who has the time and money to trial and error the system. I guess the SCT tuner will have to do until I can save up the dough for an AEM.
If he's willing to work with a tuner then I'm sure the software isn't that hard for the tuner to figure out. Probably is best you stick to a known/proven tuning platform.
Its not hard but after talking to RSI and others there are other important factors "behind the scenes" that are too sensitive to ignore. I do think for someone that is good with wiring and knows how to tune to test this and help perfect it.
I guess you're the Gen 2 guy Tony was talking about. He contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I would be interested in testing out one of his PnP Viper systems. He has the mate to my car, minus the TT system. He has a real solid package coming together, and I think it will fill a hole in the Viper world.
The problem with the Megasquirt isn't the ECM itself, but the exposure. If more tuners would learn/use it, I don't think you'd be able to keep them on the shelves.
The reason the MS hasn't been on too many Vipers before, is that it required 2 computers to run our motor as 2 5 cylinder motors. (total pita) Now Tony has been working with James over at the MS forums to get the code fine tuned so we can run our oddfire V10 sequentially. (It also wasn't possible hardware-wise until the MS3) It looks like both the Gen1 and Gen2 cam gears are supported too.
Hope this wasn't on the "down low" Tony, as I think the cat's out of the bag now.
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Andrew MacPherson
1995 TT RT/10
He posted it on ViperForums so I assumed it would be fine. It really looks like he is doing a great job putting it together but not sure if it will end up working out for me if I cannot get some backing as far as tuning and insurance that it has everything properly setup.
If it's an engine, you can run it on megasquirt. Just depends on how bad you want it. Nothing magic about the Viper engine. As noted before, it wasn't until recently that you could run a V-10 with a single unit without some big mods. Now it's doable. Heck, derivatives of MS are doing stuff you can't do on (insert ultra$$$ EMS here).
Its not hard but after talking to RSI and others there are other important factors "behind the scenes" that are too sensitive to ignore. I do think for someone that is good with wiring and knows how to tune to test this and help perfect it.
Im not the expert, if Will could chime in I think it would help but some if it had to do with timing and "known" settings that AEM has built in to keep the motor safe from the get go.
Josh and I simply discussed the need to make sure cam and crank timing is correct. We also discussed how even the AEM systems have issues with various Viper sensors. Everyone is familiar with the "blame in the AEM" game that a lot of other tuners have used for years. The issues rarely are with the AEM unit. I have seen maybe 2 bad AEM units in the past 4-5 years. Every other issue has been something with the car. Recently we had a car that another shop had for 7 weeks. They sent the AEM back to be checked twice. The car came to us and within a week left with a very happy owner. This issues normally come down to wiring problems, but sometime the AEM units just don't like a sensor. While the MS3 maybe a great platform for the Viper, Josh isn't the guy to test it.
The bottom line is that we have SCT tuning for most cars making up to 900HP. If you want to go over that number, why would you start cutting corners on what may be the single most important part of your build.
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