Tweecer, PMS and all that

[1988WHTGT]

I think I can solve a lot of my problems on my car if I could just get it tuned good. Right now the idle is all over the place and I get like 9-12 mpg. What do you all recommend the most? Tweecer? PMS? Anything else? I've had thhis motor built in my car for almost 2 years and have just been running a plain ol A9L. I think its time for some tuning on this thing. Thanks.

 

[N8Miller]

if you wanna take the time to do it yourself, etiher the PMS or the tweecer is a good choice. you have to decide if you wanna have a laptop in your computer or a PMS hand unit?
also, if you already had it dyno'd why not just have them burn ya a chip?

is your combo done? if so, the chip/tune is a good way to go, if you plan on doing more later, get a personal tuner.

 

[Fett]

I personally have a Tweecer, and I am having a lot of fun with it.

Pros: You can tune as you go. It gives a whole new meaning to the term "test and tune" at the track. Make a pass, notice you are detonating at higher RPMs? Take out some timing in the higher RPM range. Notice you are running a little lean at a specific point? You can adjust your trims in between runs. You have 5 switch settings, that can literally be changed "on the fly". One is for your stock PCM calibration, and the other 4 are for your own custom tunes. You can have a daily driver tune, and aggressive track tune, an aggressive track tune with backed off timing for nitrous, and a bad tune you can use as a theft device. Or do what ever you want in those settings. If you change something on your setup, like go with a different MAFS, you don't need to spend the money getting a chip recalibrated. You simply make the changes yourself. You can even diagnose problems by monitoring different sensors. Even before you start tuning for performance, you can dial in your injectors and MAFS, which will most likely clear up most of your driveability issues.

Cons: Very steep learning curve. I am reading everything I can, I must have 20+ pages and sites bookmarked for me to read through. I have not even begun to scratch the surface on what it can do. There are a few sites dedicated to tuning, but to be honest I haven't found any of them to be helpful. There are a couple members here who have helped tremendously, and I am grateful for everything they have helped me with. But other than those few guys, I would say you will find yourself on your own for the most part. It is very much a "learn as you go" type of thing. I am finding that most of the info out there is designed for those who already know what they are doing. I read a lot of things that say "you need to change this or that"...but there is nothing telling you HOW to change those things. I spend a lot of time reading and playing, and like I said, I have only begun to scratch the surface.

All in all, I love the Tweecer. It is a LOT of fun, if you want to learn something new. The advantages are endless. If you go with the Tweecer, also go with a WB o2 sensor, and opt for the Tweecer RT. Not being able to datalog will make tuning much more difficult.

Be sure to ask around, there are a few guys on here who are pretty knowledgable using the Tweecer.

 

[vristang]

^^^Fett gives a great break down.

I too use a tweecer on my 408w.
It is a great amount of fun/work to learn how to use it properly.

There is a 5.0 Tuning sub Forum here. If you look through there you should find some good comparisons between the tweecer and pms.
Those 2 do seem to be the main players in the 5.0 world.

Datalogging is crucial.
A WB O2 is required for wot tuning

Watch out for differences between the sn95 computers and fox computers.
The programming is a little different.


Good Luck,
jason

 

[LEE93COBRA]

I am a Tweecer user as well and completely agree with the post 2 above mine.

I also have a EEC tuning are on my forums. Site is in my sig..

 

[jrichker]

Before you spend money on a tuner, make sure there are no codes or hidden problems like poor fuel pressure, electrical gremlins or vacuum leaks.

Dump the codes and see what the computer says is wrong…Codes may be present in the computer even if the Check Engine light isn’t on.

Here's the link to dump the computer codes with only a jumper wire or paper clip and the check engine light, or test light or voltmeter. I’ve used it for years, and it works great.

See http://www.troublecodes.net/Ford/
OR
See http://www.mustangworks.com/articles/electronics/eec-iv_codes.html

IF your car is an 86-88 stang, you'll have to use the test lamp or voltmeter method. There is no functional check engine light on the 86-88's except possibly the Cali Mass Air cars.

Codes have different answers if the engine is running from the answers that it has when the engine isn't running. It helps a lot to know if you had the engine running when you ran the test.

Trouble codes are either 2 digit or 3 digit, there are no cars that use both 2 digit codes and 3 digit codes.

For those who are intimidated by all the wires & connections, see http://www.actron.com/product_detail.php?pid=16153 for what a typical hand scanner looks like. Normal retail price is about $30 or so at AutoZone or Wal-Mart.

Or for a nicer scanner see http://www.midwayautosupply.com/detailedproductdescription.asp?3829 – It has a 3 digit LCD display so that you don’t have to count flashes or beeps.. Cost is $35.

See "Help me create the Surging Idle Checklist" at http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=534062
for help with your idle problems. The first post contains all the updates to the fixes. I continue to update it as more people post fixes or ask questions.

 

[final5-0]

I looked at your sig and I would think you could benefit from some optimizing of the pcm for sure.

I've been using a Tweecer for several years now with pretty good results.

The Tweecer can be a very effective tool to kill drivability gremlins with its ability to datalog and the fact it gives you pcm access to most everything you need to make improvements.

There is some basic Tweecer info on my site but it is for the next generation pcm as I drive a 95 but maybe it could give you some kind of idea about self tuning using a Tweecer.

I do see a lot of peeps who say they are happy with their PMS.

From what all I've seen others say, the PMS is more user friendly but I don't think you get access to as many various pcm parameters with it.

One last thought

While I do think you could benefit from tuning

I have always heard about the pcm in the Fox cars being more forgiving about mods.

Have you looked to see if something mechanical is not quite right like a v leak, sticking injector, bad O2 sensors, or something along those lines

Grady

 

[bditty50]

Has anyone used the MegaSquirt EEC replacement? I read about it and it sounds better then the Tweecer and its like 400 dollars. It completely replaces your computer and you can have a laptop or just have your presets. I'd like to know someone that used it.