# An MS'd AEB Syncro Adventure



## ValveCoverGasket (Mar 20, 2002)

cross posting from the pacnw forum... but i figured you guys would get a kick out of this also


i originally owned this car about a year ago but passed it on to buy an old man mobile (w124) that i could rack up the miles with without feeling guilty for doing so on rare syncro stuff... 
the current owner (rollercoasterracer) was looking to move it as he was putting a lot of miles on it also, and it had developed a rich running issue - factory AEB ecu with a unitronics chip. uni wanted $300 to check the status of the ecu, and it wasnt really throwing any OBD codes that would explain it. the car had been checked out by a shop in seattle and nothing really came up as being the culprit other than a potentially bad ecu.
so, he got a hold of me and the plan was to do MS to it.

it sat at my shop for a few weeks while i finished up an MS build in another car, and in the meantime brendon (-ralleytuned-) worked out a trade deal for it if he finished up the MS rather than me doing it if the car was going to get sold anyway...

a couple shots from when i owned the car




















so we got the idea to do up the MS stuff and clean up the underhood wiring in a weekend.

brendon and jake (turbocaddy) came up last saturday morning and we got to work... 
and heres the weekend in a few pictures:


just as we were getting started and the car first hit the lift










brendon gettin busy on the new harness




















old OBD2 harness finally cut out of the car










routin some MS wiring...




















MS harness with some new connectors plugged in to test stuff....






























new MS harness done up all pretty...








































all fired up!










the new harness isntalled and everything back together...










crappy night time shot of the car.











my back still hurts from the weekend, but ill be damned if it didnt run 100x smoother under boost than it ever did with the chip setup on.
we did a real quick tune on it and the AFRs still look better than what it was running during my year of ownership.


and im really glad i got to finally see this thing get MS'd as i had always wanted to do that while i owned it but never had the time since it was my daily...

and as i guess this is the SEM forum, you guys would be interested in the ECU side of things...
its a v3 MS2 (obviously) with the new 3.1.1 code. has the PWM idle controller mods and were still running the factory AEB coil packs, so its got 4 BIPs as well. (we're gonna heatsink that floating driver really soon!!). 4 of em is apparently too much to keep the temp in there in check 








were running the stock coolant and intake air temp sensors, stock tps, and an LC1. still has a cat as well

next up for the ecu is closed loop boost and getting the idle valve set up on the engine, but brendon drove it home sunday night on MS :thumbup:


all in all a lot of work, but a lot of fun as well. we cleaned up a lot of the mess from whoever did the engine swap, and the car runs night and day better than what it had been before (even while i owned it and it didnt have ecu issues!).
i was able to get low 30s for fuel economy before, so i cant imagine what itll be able to push now with much better cruise AFRs! which is pretty damn impressive for a huuge awd wagon.


:beer:


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## ps2375 (Aug 13, 2003)

Very nicely done. I wish I had the time and patients to do wiring that nice.:beer:


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## Prof315 (Jan 5, 2009)

Sweet! Where did you get the nice looming material?


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## ValveCoverGasket (Mar 20, 2002)

ill have to ask brendon, it was his chinese finger trap stuff.

waytek might sell it, but i cant remember...


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## -RalleyTuned- (Nov 17, 2008)

The all black looming stuff is a split mesh type from Waytek, the stuff with the white x's is what Jake called the Chinese Finger Trap loom, and I'm not sure where he found it...

I love these shots...

Before:









During:









After:









I have over 300mi on the car already, and if the gauge is accurate, its doing damn near 30mpg on the freeway (which is nearly 90% of my daily driving). It feels good for 15psi, and in the next few weeks will be back up to around 20-25psi with the closed loop boost control. 

Picking up an ABA throttle body so I can set the idle lower than 1500rpm, ecu is back on its way to veds to get the coil driver heat sink in place, and test why it wigged out on me this morning. I have a couple wiring things I need to tidy up and it should be ready to tackle the winter!


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## ValveCoverGasket (Mar 20, 2002)

cant wait to check it out above 20psi again, this time with a proper tune!


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## ijcameron (May 17, 2001)

Looks good!
Quick question: are you controlling idle air (IAC) with a 2 wire solenoid and using an OBD1 throttle body, or some other way?


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## -RalleyTuned- (Nov 17, 2008)

Idle control will be PWM control 3 wire bosch valve with an obd1 ABA throttle body :beer:


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## ValveCoverGasket (Mar 20, 2002)

i guess this forum is slower than the pacnw one, but i figured there might be more interest in this thread


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## hellrbbt (Sep 17, 2006)

Nice work guys!


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## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Excellent job. :thumbup: I've been following the thread in the PNW forums as well. :wave:


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## Issam Abed (Feb 12, 2004)

:thumbup:


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## need_a_VR6 (May 19, 1999)

Just because you dont see posts doesnt mean there arent readers!!

Ps why a 3 wire valve instead of the 2 wire?


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## -RalleyTuned- (Nov 17, 2008)

Paul, your vr6 write up actually helped us track down one of our issues on sunday :beer: I actually dont have a idle valve yet, so it is neither at this point...:laugh:

Ditched the chinese blow off in favor of a Forge Splitter bov/diverter setup. Working on getting it setup correctly :thumbup:


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## need_a_VR6 (May 19, 1999)

Glaf it helped, what issue were you chasing?

I would use a 2 wire aba or vr6 valve. Plentiful and I have never had them not work.


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## Prof315 (Jan 5, 2009)

need_a_VR6 said:


> I would use a 2 wire aba or vr6 valve. Plentiful and I have never had them not work.


x2


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## -RalleyTuned- (Nov 17, 2008)

MS2 crank trigger settings, we had found a "diy 1.8t on ms2" that had slightly different info and we used your thread to steer us back in the right direction...that and sorting out the crank trigger wiring, which we had 2 wires swapped :laugh:

Thanks for the tip on the idle valve, i'll keep an eye for one. Working on solving my compressor surge issues and getting the tune dialed in for now. Also doing some suspension work in the near future to get it ready for another la nina winter!


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## ValveCoverGasket (Mar 20, 2002)

i blame staring at the same diagrams too long and it being late when we did the first round of wiring on that sensor :laugh:


hopefully we can get some pics up soon when brendon comes up for the suspension swap and boost control stuff :beer:


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## -RalleyTuned- (Nov 17, 2008)

agreed, that would be a solid addtion to the site, post up the sensor pin outs we found and how to hook up up to the squirt. signal in pin 2 right? no wait, 3? no always in pin 1...wait..:laugh:


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## ValveCoverGasket (Mar 20, 2002)

-RalleyTuned- said:


> agreed, that would be a solid addtion to the site, post up the sensor pin outs we found and how to hook up up to the squirt. signal in pin 2 right? no wait, 3? no always in pin 1...wait..:laugh:


:laugh: see now id have to go look at the diagram again


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## -RalleyTuned- (Nov 17, 2008)

:laugh:

Boost control showed up today...just need tires and we may need to hang out again


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## ValveCoverGasket (Mar 20, 2002)

next weekend im in cali but free anytime after :beer:


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## -RalleyTuned- (Nov 17, 2008)

Won't be that soon unless I can sell my old MS setup out of the rabbit...

Also, in digging through to old build thread from '09 I found that ethan had installed a poly rear engine mount. So that is why it has so much vibration at idle!! Searching for a stock g60 motor mount now. Also the dash lights stopped working and the power circuit is now ground...thats gonna be a fun one to find..


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## need_a_VR6 (May 19, 1999)

1 signal
2 signal ground
3 shield

Should be red, green, black in that order as well on everything up to the mk4's then I get confused!


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## -RalleyTuned- (Nov 17, 2008)

need_a_VR6 said:


> 1 signal
> 2 signal ground
> 3 shield
> 
> Should be red, green, black in that order as well on everything up to the mk4's then I get confused!


This should be made into a sticky. :laugh:

Its bad when you are working with 2 people who are very good at wiring up squirt, and all 3 people think its most def right. We def took the long route into figuring that issue out :laugh:


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## ValveCoverGasket (Mar 20, 2002)

need_a_VR6 said:


> Should be red, green, black in that order as well on everything up to the mk4's then I get confused!


ah it was the colors that got all wonky.

there was a white blue and black... i forget now which was which pin

but yeah, signal looks to be #1 on all of the sensors we ended up finding in the various bentley manuals on the shelf :laugh:


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## -RalleyTuned- (Nov 17, 2008)

Teaser for ved


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## ValveCoverGasket (Mar 20, 2002)

knobby :thumbup:


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## Dubrunner (Nov 8, 2000)

DAMN IT - why can't we have a crack team such as this trio down here in Portland? 

I feel like a fool because it took me 6 months to install my MS, cover and hide the loom, and get my 16V ITB car to even run... and you fellows wire this and have it running in a day. :facepalm:

( I do not understand half the MS, techy stuff referred to in this thread, but the pictures and knowledge of you three is astounding)

Great job on a car I've ALWAYS wanted to have! :beer:


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## ValveCoverGasket (Mar 20, 2002)

there are some good folks down in portland too - let me know if you need to get in touch with them


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## Dubrunner (Nov 8, 2000)

VCG - I'm all ears! PM me if you'd like. 

Again, great job guys!


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## ValveCoverGasket (Mar 20, 2002)

he doesnt get on here much, but if you want his email, let me know

i was just down in portland for new years :beer:


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## Dubrunner (Nov 8, 2000)

> ValveCoverGasket
> 
> he doesnt get on here much, but if you want his email, let me know
> 
> i was just down in portland for new years


D'ooooh :banghead: 



I'd love his email address, Sir. Thanks!


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## ValveCoverGasket (Mar 20, 2002)

we spent way too much money on booze in your fair city 



youve got a PM :beer:


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