I figured I would log some of the problems I've run into while installing my Ultimate so that others can avoid them later if they decide to install.

In these 3 pictures you can see the big honking harness that the EMU came with. It looks like I am going to have to cut the back of the ECU box to make this fit.

 

As suggested by MazdaManiac I am going to use this hole in the firewall.

In the first pic it is the oval shaped hole on the vertical surface, not the circular hole my finger is pointing to.

In the second pic I am actually pointing to the correct hole.

This is on the passenger side to the left of the washer tank (as you are looking at the firewall). I have not yet dremel'd out the hole yet, but it shouldn't take much to get the largest EMU connector through there. The EMU side connectors are much smaller than the connector on the ECU side.

 

The red arrow points to where the harness will come out. I tested it by running a USB cable through.

The blue arrow points vertical to give you a bit of a reference. I was sort of laying on my side when I took the picture. You'll have to snap out 2 pieces of vinyl to get to this area. One is the passenger kickpanel on the right side. The other is the long piece that runs along the door edge. Then you just pull back the carpet and lift up the insulation.

 

Thanks for the pics! That sucks about the ECU cover. I may have to order another one just to have a stock backup.

My Ultimate is supposed to come in today or tomorrow. I will try to install it as soon as I get it and let everyone know if I have any trouble.

 

I used a battery powered dremel and it took me one cutting disc and one sanding disc (to remove burrs) to get the hole big enough. It was a pain in the butt routing the wires but they went through. I found it was easier if I removed the silver metal bracket inside the car that has a few wire harness attached to it. You can see it plainly in the pic above. (just don't forget to reinstall the bracket)

Funny thing is I routed it all and then put the washer tank back in and remembered that I had to route the pressure sensor wires. Luckily that set of wires and the connector are very small and went through with no problems. The washer tank wasn't even in the way.

 

I have not seen the Ultimate harness,but here are some pictures of my Blue harness.
I removed the black plastic 'cooling jacket',but I kept the cooling air intake functional,I fabricated a liitle bracket to steady the ecu case and moved the ecu to the front of the plastic box.The three dongles and excess wire is under the ecu case.The rubber plug through which the factory harness passes to the box,I detached from the box.

So the plastc box is no longer weather proof,not a problem for me I don't use the car in foul weather.
Cooling is adequate without the plastic cooling jacket----in fact the hottest temperature I found occur when heat soaks in after engine shutdown.

 

Here are the pics.

 

I just installed my EMU and everything went well until I turned the ignition on. I started the software and it asked me for a password. Does anybody know what the password is? I had to click cansel until the password screen went away. When it did, it asked me to save the file. So I did. Any help would be appreciated...

 

The password is for the locked turbo map. You won't need it for N/A. If you ever get the turbo kit we have a copy of that map for you, though I suspect better parameter settings will be found soon anyway.

So how well does everything fit in the ecu box for ya?

 

OK, thanks guys! Right now I am planning on using it for NA, but I hope to go FI in the future. I figure the more I learn about tuning now the easier it will be when I go FI.

Everything fits but its VERY tight!!! I had to remove just about everything in the ECU box then put it all back just to get the harness to connect to the stock wires and the ECU. With a lot of work I got it all to fit. I will take some pictures tonight. I'm actually very happy with it. I didn't need to cut anything and after I wrapped the exposed wires with electrical tape you can hardly tell its there.

I have not cut the hole in the firewall or installed the EMU in the glovebox yet because I didn't have my dremel bits with me last night. I just installed the wires and did a "quick and dirty" hookup. I hope to get the install finished up tonight.

 

I have run up to redline and had no major problems. With my maps zeroed out the car seems to run a little rough at idle and at high RPMs. I think the idle problems are due to the Sflash that I got a couple of weeks ago. My car idled rough for the first 100 miles or so and then it corrected itself. When I installed my EMU, I disconnected the battery which reset my ECU and caused my rough idle again. I am hoping the ECU will relearn and my idle problems will go away soon.

As far as redline goes, I notice a little heistation in the car at high RPMs but I have not driven it enough to know what the problem is yet. I drove it about 50 miles tonight on the highway and logged my cruise information. Everything seemed to be just the way it was before I got the Sflash so no problems there. I ran it up to redline just before I got home tonight and noticed the hesitation but my CANScan lost its connection and I didn't get the information logged. I hope to try again over the weekend and will post my findings.

 

Thank you greatly for that little bit of info. Yes mine was having the same hesitation at 7000 and it's nice to know what it was.

Right now I'm out of the country for a little over 2 months so I won't be able to play with it until I get back.

I'm sure tdiddy will have a nice map going by then that works with the S flash for everyone and I think he'll be running N/A for a while. I, on the other hand, will probably be pretty eager to get the turbo installed when I get back so I don't think making that little re-wire change would be in my best interest. I'll still be working with tdiddy to get his up and running though. I think next on the list is a wideband O2!

 

Yes, please, I'm very interested.

 

I thought you were selling your EMU?

Anyway, here are the instructions from GTAW's site.
http://www.turborenesis.com/APVMmod.html

 

I'm still not sure if I'm going to sell it, nobody is currently interested in it anyway :-) but if I don't sell it or someone is interested in tuning it for an N/A I would do it before.

GTAW: Thanks!

 

Great. Now you guys have me wanting one of these! Just when I thought I had spent all the money I was going to spend...