efi just getting started
- Thread starter rustyc756
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If you have never soldered before I would not try to build an MS. If you think you want to try I would order the MS Stimulator kit (not the jimstim) and try to build that. It has a transistor on it which is the smallest and closest pins of anything on the main board and has the DB 37 connector which has a bunch of pins fairly close together. If you think the stim is easy then you should be able to handle the main board, if you had trouble with the stim dont even think of trying the main board. Having a stim should be required if you build your own board and I think it is still a good thing to have even if you buy a pre built board for some testing. I have been soldering as long as I can remember and do it fairly regularly in my day job. I built my V3 board and did not have any problems with it but I think my next one is going to be pre built. You do learn some things building one and now that I have done that I have better things to do with my time.
You dont have to use a O2 sensor if you dont want to but even a narrow band ($30ish) has its benefits. There is a section 'Wiring and Sensors' on the MS info site I linked to earlier that gives some part numbers and details. For a wide band I have only used the Innovate LC-1. It does seem to have a few minor bugs that their LM-1 does not but the LM costs more. Cheap and reliable wide band does not seem to go together. They all seem to have their down sides, even the $500 ones have some issues.
You dont have to use a O2 sensor if you dont want to but even a narrow band ($30ish) has its benefits. There is a section 'Wiring and Sensors' on the MS info site I linked to earlier that gives some part numbers and details. For a wide band I have only used the Innovate LC-1. It does seem to have a few minor bugs that their LM-1 does not but the LM costs more. Cheap and reliable wide band does not seem to go together. They all seem to have their down sides, even the $500 ones have some issues.
I have bought my recent stuff from DIY autotune. They seem to have everything you could need. I plan to buy all my future stuff from them. At least one of their guys (maybe the only one?) hangs around the MS forums and helps people out. They answered all my dumb questions early on and didnt seem to get annoyed.
The relay board is handy. If you are not real into soldering and wires it may make things a bit easier. You pretty much need everything on it anyway, the board just gets it all in one place. If you can fit a pre made cable with the connector through your firewall you may not have to do any soldering because one of the things the relay board does is has screw terminals for all the sensors. Please excuse the mess, I have not got around to cleaning things up with my install yet.
The power terminals are behind the top relay. The green terminals at the top are fused lines for the injectors. The more or less vertical strip is for the sensors. The AMP thing at the bottom is the harness that goes to the ECU inside the car. One relay is power for everything that comes on with the key, you pretty much need that because you are adding lots of stuff that your ignition switch may not be able to handle. #2 is for the fuel pump, you need this to control the fuel pump because the 'electronic switch' on the main board can not handle the load of a typical pump. #3 is for a fast idle circuit, this is used with solenoid type of on/off idle controls. With a MS2 you can use other methods of idle control so some people re assign this relay to do things like control electric fans.
The relay board is handy. If you are not real into soldering and wires it may make things a bit easier. You pretty much need everything on it anyway, the board just gets it all in one place. If you can fit a pre made cable with the connector through your firewall you may not have to do any soldering because one of the things the relay board does is has screw terminals for all the sensors. Please excuse the mess, I have not got around to cleaning things up with my install yet.
The power terminals are behind the top relay. The green terminals at the top are fused lines for the injectors. The more or less vertical strip is for the sensors. The AMP thing at the bottom is the harness that goes to the ECU inside the car. One relay is power for everything that comes on with the key, you pretty much need that because you are adding lots of stuff that your ignition switch may not be able to handle. #2 is for the fuel pump, you need this to control the fuel pump because the 'electronic switch' on the main board can not handle the load of a typical pump. #3 is for a fast idle circuit, this is used with solenoid type of on/off idle controls. With a MS2 you can use other methods of idle control so some people re assign this relay to do things like control electric fans.
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