KStar not holding maps

Throw away the 4 extra injectors, fit correctly sized EV1 or 6 jobs with a modified 1.8T fuel rail w/extensions.
I have tested vehicles like yours with those 4 extra things and they still ran lean > 14.5@ 6000rpm

PCMs depend on desired features.

So you have.

Megasquirt, OMEX, Emerald, DTA, MBE, Autronic, HydraEMS.

Your choice

Correctly mapped for response as well as power you should not require the Aquamist system either.

HTH

 

What kind of money are we talking about here?

The car didn't detonate ever, when I recently had the head off (about 14 years after I originally built the engine) there was no sign of damage to the pistons atall.

 

There may not have been any visible evidence that the engine experienced det, but then again with a mapped system you may be able to run a bit more spark advance for more torque based on the level of fuel mixture, compression, load, engine speed and fuel quality.

I would visit the website of each unit, look at prices, then compare desired features.
Sometimes you can pick up bargains in the classifieds/auctions.

 

Aside from the NXP 80C552 that I can clearly see, what are the part numbers on the other ICs?

The 80C552 is ROMless and so the DIP device alongside it is a regular EPROM (not EEPROM) holding program code.

Non-volatile user data storage is probably within a small I2C E2 memory in one of those 8-pin SOIC packages.

 

That's what we think aswell, I don't have the unit here, its at work so I can't give you part numbers.

If you look at the picture I took, its the 8 pin chip above the sign (written on paper below the kstar) that we have changed - with the new chip in place, the password to log into the unit isn't recognised. Although the laptop is connecting and getting as far as asking for the password.

The first option when you log into a kstar is to change the password so this can obviously be written.

 

We have got a bit further with this, we have managed to read the eeprom and have discovered that it is being written to when we make a change in the software. We have read the eeprom then soldered it back in, made some changes to the software, then unsoldered and re-read and observed the changes. We have also observed the data getting written to the eeprom on a scope.

The way that it works is when you make a change in the software and write it, the eeprom gets written but the data also stays in the Rom.

The problem isn't the eeprom not holding the data, its that the ksar is not reading the eeprom when it first powers up, so it has to be re written in order to be held in the Rom. As long as its not powered down it reads from the Rom, holds the maps and works as it should.

 

Can't believe its been a year since I first posted this thread!

We never managed to sort out the kstar so I have another one to play with, looking at fthaimike's diagram, it looks like I can remove the link between pins 15 & 7 on skt1 and connect my map sensor to the new unit, anyone done this?

 

I know this is a really old thread but I am hoping someone can help, I sourced another kstar unit and have it connected in the car with a laptop connected in, I am confident that I can add the MAP sensor as I have a wiring diagram for it.

The laptop is definitely communicating with the kstar, BUT I can't login to it, I can't get past the login screen as I don't know the password, I have tried all the common ones listed in this thread with no luck.

Does anyone know of any other passwords that were used? Long shot I know!

 

Thanks, just sent them a message, would hate it if they had gone in the bin!!!!

 

Unfortunately, someone had them all, so back to the drawing board....

 

I hope so, and cheers!

 

I managed to buy the later mapping software and a password reset tool (only works with the later bigger kstar units) so the password is now reset and the original maps are loaded back into it, I still need to wire in the MAP sensor but I have a diagram for that - all I have to do is cut the link wire on the back of the plug and connect to the map sensor along with a 5v supply from the back of the plug.

Well happy!

 

Cheers!

Its a major hurdle overcome - the alternative to getting a kstar setup working was a whole new engine management system, which I really have been trying to avoid as the original setup worked ok, it didn't pink (and there were no signs of detonation when I rebuilt the engine) and it was plenty fast enough!!!!