How to Tune & Modify Engine Management Systems

by Jeff Hartman

Book Overview

Drawing on a wealth of knowledge and experience and a background of more than 1,000 magazine articles on the subject, engine control expert Jeff Hartman explains everything from the basics of engine... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0760315825
• ISBN13: 9780760315828
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Motorbooks International
• Length: 271 Pages
• Weight: 2.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 1.0" x 1.0"

Customer Reviews

I got everthing I needed here

This has been money well spent,I am happy I got it and everyone who cant leave their car alone should own it. Not for the faint hearted or old fashioned fuel injection systems. Update Jan 6th 2010--- I got the two engine management tuning books by greg banish yesterday and within a few chapters knew who had written the bible of EFI tuning. Sorry Jeff hartman but greg banish is THE MAN.

Holy Cow Why Didn't I Find This Book Sooner?

I have a few books from the "Motorbooks Workshop" series and I am happy with all of them - in fact I'm kicking around the idea of building a library of them for myself, as they are all instant reference books full of valuable information. I could waste a weekend away just thumbing through them. THIS BOOK is one of the best automotive "how-to" books I have ever read. Let me tell you why. I have been shying away from stand alone engine management in my search for power-adders on my cars. One of my cars is a mk2 Supra with a tired 5MGE engine and I've been wondering how long it will be before I have to do something about it. There aren't a lot of aftermarket companies out there who work with this engine. Do I rebuild the 5M with stock parts, new gaskets, and maybe a mild port and polish? This would save me the trouble of worrying about engine management, and it would be cheap(er). Or do I swap in the turbo 3.0 inline six 7MGTE from the later mk3? If I do this, I'll need to source a complete wiring harness, and what if the wires are cut, and then I can't figure out how to get it running? Or do I go crazy and swap a twin turbo 2JZGTE from a mk4? Same problem there. Or do I try something completely different and modify the 5M with independent throttle bodies, or build a grassroots centrifugal supercharger system for it? Or better yet, custom fab a subframe and shove an LS1 under the hood? I'm not worried about the fabrication, I'm worried about the wiring! Now it's not just a matter of finding a parts car with an intact wiring harness... I need to build an engine management system and that stuff is... well, scary. I don't know where to start, and I'm not ready to lay down the coin for some TEC III or Megasquirt Whatever thing if I don't know what I'm trying to buy. And the various forums I subscribe to can't offer me enough hands-on information to make an educated decision. I'm not going to pay $2000 for something just `cause everybody likes the cold air intakes made by the same company. Behold! From behind a curtain Jeff Hartman steps forward with this book. Chapter 1, starting on page 14 outlines the basics of my system in a clear and concise manner. Step 1: Get fuel to the engine compartment. Step 2: Build an intake manifold and throttle. Step 3: Figure out a way to meter fuel. Step 4: Turning the injectors on and off. Step 5: Telling the computer what's going on in the engine. Step 6: Startup. Step 7: Naming the system and making it smart. Step 8: How did we do? Step 9: Revisionist designs. Each step is explained in simple and effective detail. Yes, I had grasped these concepts conceptually before owning this book, but it is very nice to have them laid before me so neatly. There is good data in these first few pages. For instance, did you know that injectors should be designed around an 80% duty cycle? Also, most injectors cannot provide accurate flow below a threshold of 1.3 milliseconds open time. Jeff told me so. Perhaps this is in my

A very good book for learning the ropes

Let me start off by saying that this is an honest-to-goodness good book. Of the hundred or so that I own about engines this one ranks in my top ten no doubt. If you are considering buying this book and your reading the other reviews, especially the negative ones, know that a book cant teach you how to tune cars, only experience. But before you go trying to tune you need to know whats in this book. You need to know the systems and setups before you go trying to change things for the better or else you'll just make very expensive mistakes. As far as actually using the tuning systems on the market today printing specifics would be pointless-there are too many and they change daily so you wont find much of that here. If you want to know how to use the management you bought, read the manual-thats why its there. Also, you need to know how the engine your trying to tune is setup. Pay close attention to things like injector size or how the ignition systems reads - and find out exactly how the engine is assembled and with what components. Theres a huge difference between sleeves and a block guard in a B-series honda,or between aftermarket and stock rods and you have to tune accordingly. Those are things you need to know before you ever crank the engine. Also, Save yourself the trouble and buy a real wideband oxygen sensor. A gauge reading your stock narrowband is no good. If you really want to get into tuning cars, read up first. Read product manuals (many are available from the manufacturer on their webpage for free) and read this book. The next step is experience-tune your own car and blow it up a few times, or go to school-there are now traveling schools that teach you how to dyno tune the right way. Either way, learn as much as you can before you try or you'll be blowing things up left and right. Tuning is a tough business and if you want to play you need to know your stuff inside and out.

Highly Recommended for those getting into this!

For those looking for a user manual on how to tune a car... well this isnt it. But if you are looking for something that will give you the basis for understanding WHY you are doing certain things... THIS IS THE BOOK. Its largely based on explaining the history, progression, and improvements to engine management systems. Then breaks down in pretty good details what different factors or settings change in the engine, how to tune for them, and what the side effects could be. There is lots of theory, and lots of info here. For those just getting into the black art of engine management, or even just engine work in general, this book is a great base to build off of. With this book, and Max Boost from Corky Bell, you really should be on solid ground when diving into a forced induction setup, or dealing with Nitrous since theres lots of the book which talkes about Nitrous injection. One thing this book also does, is clearly caution a reader from just playing with engine management. It explains how touchy some of these settings are, and how easy it is to destroy an engine from mis management.

The Bible on Engine Management Systems

The author has done a fantastic job explaining the engine management computers boxes in your car. As someone that enjoys engine tuning cars and working on forced induction systems, the book was a wealth of knowledge. There wasn't a single page that wasn't packed with great information. I can't say enough good things about the book, Jeff (author) shows his depth of knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject on every page. He explains the components one at a time and in depth and how they interrelate with each other as well issues he has had and how he resolved them. He also lists the issues he has had with his project cars and how he fixed them. I'm going to refer to this book and take notes from the project cars he detailed in the book to better understand the issues and performance techniques with my own projects. 5 STARS ...