P*ssed off ... AEM a "NO GO"

Arrived at Thor early Saturday morn all ready to get my new AEM with WB & EGT Controllers fitted with an aire of excitiment looking forward to the Pod on Sunday.

Spent all day watching TV and reading all the mags Pete & Lindon had in stock and occasionally popping out to see how thing were going. All fitted and ready to roll (well dynotune anyway). Poor Pete spends the next 4-6 hours trying to get the car to run right. Managed to sort out the fuelling and got it spot on ... unfortunately it kept misfiring. Everytime he went over 1.2bar and tried to adjust the timing it either misfire with no Det or had Det and no misfire. Changed plugs to IK24's but still no better. Decided to drop it to 1.1bar and all was ok (got 438 at the hubs ... no bad I thought for 1.1).

So ... off the dyno for a spot of road testing ... wouldnt select relect reverse??? odd Pete thought. Looking at the laptop the car was showing a speed of 36mph stood still in the garage ... very odd. Turned that off so that we could get out but needed to be switched on so that the system would work. (Cant give a detailed technical description coz Im old and Im not that clever ... so bear with me).

Pete gose out on the road 5 minutes later back and saying its running like a pig. Keeps changing speed on it own with constant throttle pressure. By this time its got dark ... bin raining most the day and were all tired. Pete & Lindon from working on the car, me from getting up at 5.00am and stting on my arse . Poor Petes getting really choked off now, just cant get the ECU to run properly ... kept changing speed, saying the car was at 36mph when stood still, turning the TRC light, Engine management & Main warning lights on ... well strange. At this point Im thoroughly p*ssed off and depressed. Its dark, its raining, its cold and Im hungry and tired. So ... off comes the AEM and on goes a "faulty" one Pete had just to see if that would work .... guess what (yeah you got it right first time).

8.00PM and the bloody thing still wont work ... so I make the decision the put all the old stuff back on and at least have a drivable car. So the 2 lads get all the tools out, make all the necessary calls to loved ones to tell them they'll be late home, and get down to it. 9.00PM all finished and ready to go home .... thoroughly dissapointed and sick. Decided Im not in the mood for the Pod so go to my digs and drive home in the morning.

Pete and Lindon are concidering removing AEM from their list due to a number of problems they keep getting with them and the poor support they get. Im looking at saving a few more pennies and getting the Motec.

This thread is in no way a moan about Thor (who both did a good job refitting all my old stuff under tiring and stressful conditions, and who had just wasted a full day a work with no reward).

Appologies to Leett who had had sold the MAP Ecu to and have now refunded.

Thats the longest thread Ive ever posted. Feeling better now Im home and had a cup of tea

Sounds like you had a crap day then mate. Are you definitely gonna go for the Motec now then?

dont worry Dale

im not at pod either, and im also guted as to the reason

Sounds like you had a crap day then mate. Are you definitely gonna go for the Motec now then?

Theres nothing definite in this world , but its looking that way at the moment

Dale, really sorry to hear about the hassles. If you need any info on the Motec, you can contact me on the numbers given.

feel sorry for you dale ! i know what it feels like, i spent 6 months trying to get a one off project engine running right with no joy, makes you want to cry !!

im not at pod either due to car failure

feel sorry for you dale ! i know what it feels like, i spent 6 months trying to get a one off project engine running right with no joy, makes you want to cry !!

 

im not at pod either due to car failure

Is your Evo knackered then?

yup, bovingdon killed my clutch and im still waiting for delivery of my HKS tripple plate carbon clutch

What a bummer. You must've been gutted Dale

So the problem was down to the AEM unit being faulty?

My friend on here KennyF is having the exact same problems with his AEM, Weve both missed the pod due to problems.

K.

Hmm there seems to be mixed success over here with the AEM which is concerning. Is it the units or is it the support?. TBH I'm leaning towards the support as there are so many supras aswell as a host of Hondas and Nissans running over here with it very well and although AEM has had a spate of hardware errors ( which they are keen to rectify) I can't see every one that has problems over here having a moody unit. Is it worth giving Dimitri or Arnout a buzz to get some feedback seeing as they are factory certified and have great succsess with it ? just a though. I know most people where having troubles with the AEM on auto cars over here which I thought Pete has/is sussing .Dimitri or Arnout will be able to give you clue if you have a faulty unit or what is amiss. Not knocking the guys at Thor i just know what its like to look at a problem so hard that you actualy end up missing a really simple problem that could be starring you in the face and some fresh eyes or input can throw a spin on it....might save you money and time if its something simple ..like maybe the RTLC interupting speed signal or something along them lines..

Just as a side note Dude ( bless him) had dimitri over to map his auto single and that puppy ran sweet as a bell also auto.

Mig - totally agree with you about him asking the other guys.

That's bad news, Dale, commiserations.

Pete fitted/mapped an AEM to my auto recently. Initially he had some problems which were resolved when he discovered a fault with ( I think) the speed signal. However, touch wood, it's running fine at the moment. I believe John Fisher's is also fine (mapped at Thor), so it can be done.

It's a bit worrying that Thor are experiencing problems and makes me wonder what's down the road for me. If you're thinking of an alternative, you could also consider the Autronic. I think Thor can also map these, as can Mark Shead - he has a lot of experience with fitting/mapping these.

Regarding autos: there were some issues with the Supra auto gear box and AEMs...I think AEM have now lowered the default line pressure settings, which has helped. However, some think that they're still harsh on the auto gear box in the long term.

Did you have an AEM cdi fitted? This was recommended to me to prevent misfires over 1.2 bar, though obviously there are more fundamental problems with yours than just that.

Cliff

sorry to hear that Dale. sent you a pm

Sorry to hear yr having trouble Dale,

If it could make you feel better.

I had no gearbox for 3 months when mine was fitted as someone at Suprastore had tweaked my custom map and they also sold me the wrong injectors and had to have the engine out and hone cylinders and fit new rings.

Lastly my new hks camshaft snapped in 2 pieces just as Pete Betts finished tuning it last xmas eve - had to trailer car home.

Hope that makes you feel a tad better.

BTW after sorting all that out took my car back in Feb and mapped it up to 1.25 bar and 467 at the rear wheels and it is still running sweet.

I have the c2di fitted and am running wasted spark setting and ik27 plugs.

Pete also tweaked all my auto tx settings at the same time - mind you i left the car there for 7 / 8 weeks.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

Bet your gutted mate. Keep your chin up. In the end it will be worth it, and look to the + your car is still a beauty to look at

It's not been a smooth ride has it

Good luck with the Motec solution.

I had some pretty low days like this too on the Kit. You waste hours and hours doing something only for it not to work out.

In a few months it'll all be forgotten and you'll be looking forward to winning lots of show awards.

Pete and Lindon are concidering removing AEM from their list due to a number of problems they keep getting with them and the poor support they get.

Hmmmm interesting.....

Sorry to hear it all went to ratshite. I really don't understand what's going on with AEM. I'm starting to think myself, that it may have been a mistake to do down that route.

The gearbox's between the US and UK, and even the Jap specs are all the same right, and the US guys have apparently got it down to a T, so I really don't understand why the big bother. Something is being missed I've no doubt.

The problem I'm having is support. I'm going to have to make a call to california tomorrow to resolve my issues. Hopefully I'll get somewhere with it.

Hope you get it solved one way or another.

Regards

Thanks for all the support guys.

RLTC never even crossed my mind (or Petes, I dont think) cheers Migs. I'll have a word and see what they think.

At least the cars running ok on the MAP ... just not to its full potential.

Thanks for the Tel numbers CJ, Ill look at some prices and then in the wifes purse and see which way I can / want to go.

As Mig said try Dimitri. My only real experience with an AEM car was dudes, but that according to dude, drove absolutely perfectly once Dimitri had mapped it. It certainly idled and went ok

hey guys ...

i'm all new to the boards, some guy pointed me to this thread via email.

i have a PHR built drag MKIV, and recently dynoed close to 1000rwhp on my AEM. guys like Woon or Saad even dyno close to 2000 crank hp with their AEMs.

i wouldn't blame AEM because of your tuner's lack of skills, not to say incompetence.

if dailed in right, the AEM does in NO WAY comprimise street driveability. it even allows me to do a lot of things which are impossible with the MoTec (say knock sensors) or very very expensive (you have to have you own harness built, unlocking traction control, launch control, data logging, anti lag costs a shitload of money ...)

just my $.02

btw, in the very beginning i also had issues with my speed signal pickup, because the speed delimiter function of my apexi rev/speed meter trashed my speed signal. make sure that NO other piggy pack has access to the speed signal.

Yep you'[re quite right, our lack of knowledge in this country is what's wrong, not the AEM...if it can work once then it can work everytime.

Yep you'[re quite right, our lack of knowledge in this country is what's wrong, not the AEM...if it can work once then it can work everytime.

So the gearbox issues they have had in the USA are all down to lack of knowledge?

if dailed in right, the AEM does in NO WAY comprimise street driveability. it even allows me to do a lot of things which are impossible with the MoTec (say knock sensors) or very very expensive (you have to have you own harness built, unlocking traction control, launch control, data logging, anti lag costs a shitload of money ...)[/Quote]

 

My Motec cost £3k to buy and have mapped. In that was traction control etc. When I asked my maper about the locked features he said I could have what I wanted but when we looked at them they were mainly things that I didnt understand and would never use. We left it with the option of going back and having them done later if I wanted.

 

This "locked up" theory and major expense came up in another thread recently but when i asked the poster what was locked and what the costs were he didnt have a clue. So unless people have first hand knowledge then the speculative posts mean very little eh?

So the gearbox issues they have had in the USA are all down to lack of knowledge?

AFAIK some tuners can do it others can't...so that'll be the tuners that need to improve. - that's how I understand it.

...guys like Woon or Saad even dyno close to 2000 crank hp with their AEMs.

 

Oh please ...where the hell has that come from?