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standalone in a v6 pathy?


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so i really wanna get into tweeking the computer to get better gas milage, and someone told me you can really tweek the way a engine runs with standalone. i was wondering if anyone has any info on this , i am a vw nut and this is my first nissan, and when you run standalone on a vw and get it runing right , they get crazy good gas millage and way more power cause you can mess with the fuel injection and other stuff. so i need any info,, oh and here is a website that i was told about.....http://www.diyautotune.com/

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I started down that road, did lots of homework, read the mega manual several times etc...

got a list of parts, wire diagrams etc...

 

the more I learned the more I came to realize it is not simple... Yeah you can handle wires and parts and PC's just fine but the biggest thing is that its a MAP (manifold air pressure) ECU that runs off of VE (volumetric efficiency tables)

Yes, its nice the Mega Squirt takes a barometric sample before startup so it can calibrate itself to altitude and atmosphere but EVERYTHING else requires YOU. You have to calculate and program the VE table for your engine and if you change any part of how your engine breathes (intake, exhaust, cams etc...) your VE table must be re-calculated to suit it. Getting it dialed in can be difficult and time consuming. Getting it fine tuned after that is not so bad and will be quite precise.

 

Now consider a MAF (mass air flow) ecu. First you already have one and yes, I know, you want more out of it.... the big difference here is that it measures air volume and generates its own fuel maps (instead of you programing VE tables)

When you change some part of how your engine breathes (intake, exhaust, cams etc...) change of air volume is automatically picked up by the MAF and fuel maps are automatically adjusted (sometimes an ecu reboot is required)

Altitude, atmosphere, YES! those come down to different densities of air and still get picked up by the MAF.

 

That being said, maybe you can see that for a daily driver (or just ease of upgrading) that your next ecu should be a BETTER MAF based ECU.

 

Enter the Infiniti M30 ecu;

If you are MPFI then you already have the correct wiring in your pathfinder to run it. You just need to Re-pin the harness, install a Titania O2 sensor, M30 MAF and an automatic tranny TPS (throttle position sensor). The auto TPS gives the ecu your exact throttle postion, the manual TPS just tells OPEN, CLOSED and WIDE OPEN.

THE m30 ECU by itself may grant you better MPG, it was the cream of the crop for VG30E ECU's

The M30 ecu is much smoother operation than the stock pathy ecu, idles better than the mega squirt, and tunes easier(I'll get to tuning).

The M30 ecu is ecu of choice for Nisstune, it is basically plug and play upgrade by installing their daughter board. this gives you PC interface and the tuning capabilities. Once you got it where you want it SET IT AND FORGET IT. It will adapt to breathing changes just fine and will only need more tuning if you start boosting. (yes it is turbo/ SC friendly with nisstune installed)

 

BOTTOM LINE: I learned allot about both systems and both conversions. More than I can cover in one page and I was dead set on getting a MS3X (mega squirt) until I had studied both systems side by side. The M30 is more compatible, more reliable, more user friendly and if your lucky (JY shopper here) MUCH MORE COST EFFECTIVE.

 

Have fun, Lots of info on the M30 swap on Z31performance.com

Edited by MY1PATH
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i want something easy to program, or something that makes it get at least 30 mpg,, thanks for all the info,, and ya im trying to get the dam thing to run smoother and better, with better mpg..

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Sorry, but I doubt you'll ever get a consistent "at least" 30MPG from a 4,000LB+ 4x4 brick with an underpowered 150HP gasoline engine. A diesel engine made to run vegetable oil maybe but the cost of that kind of conversion would negate any gas mileage increase for a long time.

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VG30 engines are notoriously reliable considering what abuse they generally endure. They have a reputation for that and one reason why is they are very heavy engines for their size. Vehicle weight is also fairly heavy, but it is all the heavy rotating mass of this particular engine that makes it hard to get good mileage...even in the VG30DE and VG30DETT turbocharged versions. Nissan may have chosen to sacrifice fuel mileage for a super strong lower end on the 3.0L V-6.

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i think im going to go with the easy route and use the m30 ecu...

now just need to know what car/ truck to get all the parts from to make it work, and im sure my pathy is MPFI its got 6 injectors, so i would assume it is..i did a electronic fuel injection swap on my 83 jetta it took about 4 days but it made a good 20 more horse and it redlined alot easier , and after i was done yanking out the CIS crap i had about a mile of wire i didnt need.. it didnt get great gas milage , but better than it did, i had a huge 272 cam and lightweight flywheel slammed and full exhuast and a header.

 

 

 

DSCN0312.jpg

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Sorry, but I doubt you'll ever get a consistent "at least" 30MPG from a 4,000LB+ 4x4 brick with an underpowered 150HP gasoline engine. A diesel engine made to run vegetable oil maybe but the cost of that kind of conversion would negate any gas mileage increase for a long time.

 

 

ya very true just hoping for the best...lol

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20 MPG would be excellent for your application. It will be a huge challenge for more MPG than that. Good luck though.

 

 

20 is better than the 8 im getting now.....lol ya its really sucking the gas down.. no clue why.. im going to be doing a swap after summer .. i was thinking a supercharged v6 from a 2001 frontier.. is it possble???? the car has about 260000 miles i think the motor is tired,,

in my pathy

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@ 8 MPG I would look for other problems BEFORE you start the M30 swap. You do not want existing problems to confuse new ones.

16-22 is very reasonable to ask from a pathy if its had some nice things done to it.

Infiniti M30 is your donor vehicle. the harness should be the same but the pin out (wire location on the harness) is different. M30 pinouts will be on z31performance.com or in a M30 FSM. Pathfinder pin outs will be in a pathfinder FSM.

get a pin extractor (or get good with a micro flat screwdriver) and convert the pathy pinout to the M30 plug it in and sawp over the M30 Titania O2 sensor, M30 MAF and Pathy auto TPS if you don't have one.

The M30 TPS will not work on the pathy TB because its on the opposite side. BUT the TB might swap with the TPS if you wanna use M30 TPS and TB together.

 

Have fun :)

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@ 8 MPG I would look for other problems BEFORE you start the M30 swap. You do not want existing problems to confuse new ones.

16-22 is very reasonable to ask from a pathy if its had some nice things done to it.

Infiniti M30 is your donor vehicle. the harness should be the same but the pin out (wire location on the harness) is different. M30 pinouts will be on z31performance.com or in a M30 FSM. Pathfinder pin outs will be in a pathfinder FSM.

get a pin extractor (or get good with a micro flat screwdriver) and convert the pathy pinout to the M30 plug it in and sawp over the M30 Titania O2 sensor, M30 MAF and Pathy auto TPS if you don't have one.

The M30 TPS will not work on the pathy TB because its on the opposite side. BUT the TB might swap with the TPS if you wanna use M30 TPS and TB together.

 

Have fun :)

 

 

ya i gave it a tune up recently, plugs wires cap rotor fuel filter pcv valve. i even ran the computer and it threw out a code 55, meaning no malfunction.. BUT, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT STILL COMES ON... hmmmmm

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Plugged cat? Hell it could just be that your a heavy foot. I know I can get sub 10 mpg in mine, but thats 4wheel locked in in -2f weather, push snow.

 

Maybe do manuel hubs, exhaust and intake for starts before squirting. But then again it has 260k on it, may just be time for a new engine.

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Plugged cat? Hell it could just be that your a heavy foot. I know I can get sub 10 mpg in mine, but thats 4wheel locked in in -2f weather, push snow.

 

Maybe do manuel hubs, exhaust and intake for starts before squirting. But then again it has 260k on it, may just be time for a new engine.

 

 

ya when i put my foot in it, its real gutless.. and the exhaust is got leaks cause its prob got the original exhaust manifolds and the are prob not sealed anymore.. and i plan on doing a motor swap after summer, if it lasts that long.. and as for the cat.. how do i check if its bad.. and how do i know if the o2 sensor is bad? is there a way to test it?

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  • 10 months later...

Have you checked to make sure that you have no intake leaks? My intake hose going from my MAF to my TB is torn allowing a lot of air to bypass the MAF and the computer seems to sense this and just start throwing fuel at it. I am getting about the same mileage you are but I know I have that intake leak, the manifolds aren't sealed, the exhaust pipe is broken before the two banks come together...so I know it has some issues that need resolved. I have a book all about building and tuning EFI and from reading it I gathered that, especially for 4x4, if you can have MAF that is what you want because the volumetric efficiency of an engine changes over the course of time due to wear. Sounds like the M30 ECU is definitely the way to go!!

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