himself Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Will be purchasing either the Megasquirt or the SDS system soon but I would like to know the benifits and detractors of both systems. Searched around here for awhile and found limited info comparing both. MS replaces the cars current brain correct? Does SDS do the same as well? Atm, my daily driver, 1975 280z w/ '82 zxt, is suffocating due to the AFM so I need to get rid of it asap so I can her back on the road. I like the relative ease of installing the SDS but the price of the MS is so atttractive. Does either one work better with a turbo motor over the other? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Welcome to the board himself. This post should belong in the Engine Components and the "Other EMS" or "Megasquirt" forum.. Both MS and SDS is standalone so it replaces the cars ECU. MS is cheap SDS is a bit steeper in price. I am using Megasquirt on my 280Z with a Holset turbo and I have been running 18psi for sometime now. Tuning is fun and easy.. alot of people are running SDS and absolutly love it and its exactly what SDS stands for. SIMPLE. it can be installed and running in a day, while Megasquirt takes some fine tuning and getting it perfect. I vote Megasquirt. but SDS vote SDS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
himself Posted May 22, 2007 Author Share Posted May 22, 2007 Ok thank you for that info there. Missed the engine components forum. On a stock '82 zxt motor about how long would it take to install an MS for the first time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobythevan Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 That is really a tough question, but I would say 2 weeks should be plenty of time to get it installed if you work like I do (only a couple nights a week and then weekends). A couple weeks allows for a lot of research and dealing with a few problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
himself Posted May 23, 2007 Author Share Posted May 23, 2007 Sounds about right, I only get to work on it on the weekends for about 6 hours a day. Are they any suggestions about the best dealer to buy the MS from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Just bought mine from diyautotune.com and everything went perfectly. I've read others discuss their conversations with the owner and have only heard good things. Pricing for the kits was virtually the same for everyone, I didn't check for finished units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
himself Posted May 24, 2007 Author Share Posted May 24, 2007 zmanco, how long did you install take? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zmanco Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 himself, I'm still in the middle of it but taking my time. The manual says that building the MS board will take 8 - 12 hours, and that's probably about right. I hate to do things over when soldering circuit boards, so I went slow. The install in the car is also going slow for me, I'm in the middle of it right now. But I'm converting from carbs on a 73, so I have more work than most who start with a FI car. Also, I just moved my adjustable proportioning valve into the cabin while I had the manifold's off (easier to do with more space), so I've got a case of "while I'm at it" going on. I'm also changing the control of my electric fans to the MS and upgrading their size, so that will add more time as well. My guess is that for an existing FI car, figure 2 - 3 full days for the first time you do it. If you have someone who has done it before, you can do it much faster. I believe Mobythevan did it with Prox in 1 day (check his signature). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_82_ZXT Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 I did my second install in about 4hrs last Sunday. This is a scratch made EFI harness for my 82 ZXT engine in my 78 280z. Still needs a lot of tuning but it at least made it to Tucson which is 5hrs away from where the car was at. First install took a few days hacking away at it, I made a stupid mistake and hooked up the ignition part wrong and burned something out inside the box that I had to replace. What's nice is all the manuals are online and the whole thing can be fixed pretty easily. The sticky is great but I suggest you have a plan B if it's your DD and you absolutely need to have it going in one go. Mario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobythevan Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 I believe Mobythevan did it with Prox in 1 day (check his signature). Yeah, it was a longggg day. Prox had a non turbo engine at the time that was turbo'd so we ran into a couple problems. Not having the CHTS was one, so we had to add a GM coolant temp sensor. The other was swapping over from NA dizzy to Turbo dizzy. That was interesting, swapping shafts, timing correctly, dropping oil pump, removing dizzy spacer, etc etc. On my talon I made a conversion connector and just plugged MS straight into the factory harness. That install only took a few hours, and all of that time was spent trying to get the CAS timing set and finding out that I forget to set MS for my injector size. Why won't it start and run correctly?? Oh yeah, injector sizing is off by 200%, oops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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