Does anyone know a bit about MBE ECUs?

[exboyracer]

I'm currently helping a friend convert his zetec'd MK1 from bike carbs to throttle bodies.

He bought a complete package second hand that was originally in a kit car, a blacktop zetec with Jenvey 45 bodies and an MBE 967e ECU.
It also came with a (quite old and shonky) laptop with the easymap software on it.

We're just doing the fuel plumbing and the physical mounting of the jenveys but I am starting to think about the wiring and mapping of the thing.

We have the pin code for the existing map (allegedly) but it's going to need some serious tweaking cause he's gone for a flowed head and cams as well.
I've never worked with MBE stuff before so I've got no idea what can be done with their software in terms of modifying the fuel and ignition maps, has anyone had any experience with them that can tell me? Are the fully user mappable?

Any help or advice (or pointers towards a how to or noobies guide) would be greatly appreciated!

[exboyracer]

Shall I take that as a no then?

[boXXer]

They are deffo fully mappable I'm sure mate. Can't you just get a unlocked base map and run it up on that then take it somewhere for a proper mapping session.

[oldskoolrools]

i would give troy at northampton motorsport a bell, he's very helpful and will know exactly what you need. i always thought the mbe was a bit like the weber alpha - remappable but only by specific users with the correct access software.

[freddy686868]

The code to unlock ghe map is put on there by the original mapper to stop the map being stolen or copied by the other tuners out there. Aslong as you have the code the easimap software is pretty easy to play around with. What easimap is it? I had a quick nose at either a 4 or 5. I knkw this won't hwlp you but i find the dta fast pro series easier to work with though.

[Pushrod King]

If it's from a Caterham it's not re-mappable. HT racing mapped mine.

[exboyracer]

Thanks for the feedback guys

It's not from a caterham fortunately - I was aware of the issues with those.

From what I've read it's not live mappable - you have to alter the settings, do a power run, alter the settings etc - is that right?

[atspeedracing]

with mbe it depends on the version of the ecu and software and ec2 files being used, and the strategy you apply to mapping it. advanced users/professionals also have acess to advanced ecu features.

it can be live mapped, or you can change individual/group cells and then send the changes to the ecu.

a lot of mbe ecus were specifically for manufacturers so some are unaccessible. others are completely 100% user programmable, providing you have the right cables.
in my own opinion, mbe is a very accurate system, but can be very time consuming to map correctly.

MBE is certainly a specialist system that very few people can actually do properly, so id do research before deciding who to take your car to for mapping.


- colin

[exboyracer]

Thanks for that Colin, I've now got the wiring finished and the rest of the system installed, we fired the engine up for the first time last week.

Apart from needing to re-calibrate the ECU as we had to use a different type of coolant sensor all seems well. I had a play with the laptop for a couple of hours and the "MBE way" of doing things started to make more sense. It's getting mapped next week by a pro so we will see what happens!

[atspeedracing]

yes MBE is a funny one, i don't mind doing it, but to do properly certainly does take some time. the graph viewing is a little poor, especially on ignition maps where they are back to front, although you can change the height and depth of the axis you view (basically zoom in/out).. its handy being able to mark cells you have done etc.. best bit of advice i can give with MBE - save your work regularly!!
MBE is not too bad to map if the engine is running ok and you can live tune it, especially steady state on a dyno and just increasing load... as you can quite happily sit there tapping away at fuel and spark.. and just increasing rpm and load as you go, thats certainly my prefered way of doing it.. problem comes when your unable to hold the ecu in a cell and have to back off the throttle for whatever reason (dangerously lean, bit of det etc) and you cant correct the problem fast enough and have to back out of it, then you have to stop live mapping, go and make that area of the map "driveable" as a non live change because you cant "free roam" during live mapping mode, send the changes, then re-enter live mapping so you can then carry on... bit ass about face lol, makes it a bit of a pain.. and obviously far worse on boosted engines because its that more critical to spark/fuel and you have to work much faster.. whereas more "free roaming" software like on omex for example, your free to open and close things, click on what you want, swap between fuel/ignition maps, live adjust, without the need to stop what your doing, save things, send changes etc. makes it overall more pleasant and faster to map, especially when you can see the shape of the map forming, so you can roughly build what kind of fuel/spark will be required at that part of the map, so when you actually get to it, its already of the way 90% there and just needs fine tuning, makes it a faster process and saves mapping costs, dyno time and engine hours.

- colin.

[Dyno]

I agree with Colin. All software I've ever seen from MBE was difficult to tune. Since the very beginning. One day they came with a new software called "easy map". My English is not so well, at least I never understood why it was called easy map. I"'m not saying there product was not high tech. Maybe to high tech for me?

If I would live in UK, I would use OMEX, DTA or Emerald. Ton's of information available. And everybody can help you out if you are stuck. If you tuner will not be common with MBE, the lost of tuning time will be higher than the price to replace the ECU right now.