One of the main benefits to ITBs is their very small throttled volume (that is the volume between the throttle plate and the back of the intake valves), which bestows them with excellent throttle response. Another benefit is that that they have a very large throttle area, which means they can flow a lot more air, without the negative consequences of a single throttle of similar area. You see, throttles must be sized appropriately for the engine. Like the fairy tale of Goldilocks and The Three Bears, you don’t want a throttle that is too big nor too small. Throttles […]

Well that was quick! My new MS Labs CAN Wideband Module with optional OBD-II port has arrived. UPS 3 Day Select all the way across the country arrived in just 2 days! Big thanks to Trackspeed Engineering for the quick order processing. Some observations: The new hardware enclosure is anodized black instead of silver/clear. The case screws are now T10 Torx instead of Phillips head. There is a second serial connector for the OBD-II harness. The PCB is v2.1. Obviously a completely different design to accommodate the OBD-II. No more jumper wires on the back side of the PCB. Sorry […]

Trying to troubleshoot random sync loss errors. In this video you can hear the engine stumble momentarily due to a sync loss error at 1:34 and again at 2:44. Data logs show the sync loss for reason #2 (missing tooth at wrong time). This only seems to happen when the CAN module is plugged in. When unplugged, I don’t get the random sync loss errors. I also ran the high speed Composite Logger and the cam and crank signals patterns appear to be normal during the sync loss events. Disappointingly, Reverant has not responded to my last two email inquiries […]

So let’s start with the good news. I insulated my coolant return hard pipe and it appears to have done the trick. While I haven’t tested it under load, I did a cold start and let it idle until engine was warm. CLT went from 66F to 180F and MAT went from 62F to 66F. Much better than before! The bad news is I still haven’t figured out the cause of my random sync loss errors. I captured a data log of the warm up cycle and it showed 3 sync losses for reason #2 (missing tooth at wrong time). […]

I installed Heatshield Products Fire Shield Sleeve p/n 210048 (1.25″ ID x 3′) on the aluminum coolant return hard pipe. So while it’s meant primarily to protect fuel lines and such, insulation works in both directions (think of your cooler or thermos), so I’m hoping this insulation helps keep my intake air temps down when coolant temps go up. If not, I’ll have to ditch the open element air filter and go to a custom carbon fiber cold air box sooner rather than later. I secured the insulation to the hard pipe with the supplied heat shrink at the forward […]

  Finally got a chance to do some street tuning of the Miata with my dad behind the wheel and me in the passenger seat focused on the laptop computer. We started off slow just in the neighborhood and as we gained more confidence we ventured further away. Filled up with fresh 93 octane fuel. Did some auto tuning and tried to hit as many throttle position / rpm bins as we could, riding the brake to simulate loads when necessary.     Coolant temps were stable around 200F the whole time, with brief spikes to 215F immediately after a […]

I spent all day Saturday stripping a wiring harness from a junkyard Honda Pilot to get some quality OEM wire and then running a new TPS ground wire from my sensor to my ECU analog sensor ground. I didn’t want to drill any new holes in my firewall and there wasn’t enough room to run it through the same hole as my vacuum reference hose. So I did what many others have done and just poked a tiny hole in the large rubber boot that seals the hole where the vast majority of OEM wires pass through the firewall to […]

Unboxing my new Rogue Engineering steering wheel quick release adapter Here it is in all it’s glory. Should make it easier to sit in the driver’s seat with the laptop computer open when tuning the car in my driveway or on the dyno. Will also make it easier to get in/out when I temporarily fit race seats for track days. You can rotate the release paddle to any position you want. The little dimple serves as an index mark, which I located at the 12 o’clock position. This puts the release button, which serves as a safety mechanism to prevent […]

Here is a screenshot of a video I took with the timing light to verify my ignition timing. Initially I set the base timing using the Trigger Wizard per the MS Labs instructions. This was just a sanity check to make sure that when the ECU is commanding 14* BTDC at idle the crank pulley timing marks agree that it is in fact at 14* advance. The red marks on the timing belt cover are T and 10 (ProTip: paint the lines white or red so they’re easier to see). You can use either the T mark on the timing […]