Installing a Apex'i SAFC I/II on any Saturn S Series - Part 3
Tuning
Your SAFC-I or II is now setup for your car. If you go into the
monitor you should be able to display the current revolutions and
throttle position and if you rev the engine both should display
correctly. Now its time to tune! This procedure "should"
only be done on a dyno, although people do street tune their cars.
I will say that I don't recommend this but if you do decide to try
it make sure you can tune in third gear somewhere and have a buddy
in the passenger seat tuning, or you tune while he/she drives. Whatever
way you decide to do it a wide band O2 sensor is a must. You will
be adjusting the amount of fuel your engine receives at different
RPM points and you can easily cause a lean condition resulting in
detonation and a dead engine.
You will make these changes from the Settings menu, then selecting
either "Hi-Thrtl" to adjust the curve when under hi throttle
or "Lo-Thrtl" to adjust the curve under low throttle.
These hi and lo points are what you set them at a couple steps ago.
Left and right should cycle you through your rev points, up and
down should adjust the fuel. I can't tell you how to tune your car
as every car is different but I can give some suggestions I have
collected from myself and others:
1. Lo throttle, at least the first couple points, can be tuned
in park/neural. This is very helpful to even out a rough idle caused
by performance cams.
2. Aim for an A/F ratio of 13.1 for the most power throughout your
RPM range.
3. Always aim richer instead of leaner when adjusting the hi-throttle
curve as that's your fuel under load.
4. Hold the RPM you intend to tune and adjust it until you reach
your desired A/F ratio and it stays steady. This will be your low
throttle so use this as a guide for you're hi throttle. See step
3.
5. If using a SAFC-II you can save two full sets of correction profiles
under Settings -> Datafile. This is helpful to set a max power
N/A profile then a slightly richer profile for nitrous so you can
reduce the risks of detonation. Check your manual for more information.
Troubleshooting
Luckily my install went very smooth except for one item and most
other peoples seemed to go smooth also. But sometimes there are
problems and hopefully the answer is somewhere below:
Problem: SES Light comes on
Solution: There are many reasons for this but two common ones I
found. The first is you may throw a code when tuning because the
PCM is looking for values from sensors that it's not getting, and
well it confuses the PCM. For the most part you can ignore the SES
light while tuning and reset it when done. Second reason, and I
did this one, is once the SAFC is wired in the MAP sensor relies
on the SAFC harness being connected. Disconnect the harness and
start up the car and you will get a MAP sensor failure. When I was
installing mine I backed the car half way out of the garage so I
can get under the hood easily. I setup the SAFC and then disconnected
it and brought it inside because I wasn't sure where to mount it
and figured I'd mount it later or the next day. Later I started
up the car to move it back into the garage and got the SES. I realized
after a couple hours what I had done and just unplugged my negative
battery for a couple minutes to reset the code.
Problem: Revolutions are displaying wrong.
Solution: Change your cylinder setting. It should be an even number,
every Saturn I have heard of either uses 2, 4, or 12. Try these
settings and check the display. This is a setting that can be changed
while the car is running as long as you haven't made any corrections,
which you shouldn't have until verifying this was right.
Problem: In the monitor for the MAP sensor you are reading boost
and not vacuum.
Solution: The Sensor type is not right for your car. The only exception
I have found so far is having a SAFC-II on an OBDI car (91 - 95).
In this case if you find that you read boost when viewing the MAP
sensor status try using 07/07 instead of 04/04. Make sure you change
this setting with the engine off as changing the sensor type when
running can cause your engine to see a rush of air or a lack of,
causing a sudden rich or lean condition, either not being good for
your engine.
Credits
I installed the SAFC-II on my 01 SC2 using the 00 wiring diagrams
found in the download section so that was verified by me as working
but the setup was a combination of S.Bretz guide and the one on
the saturnspeed.com site, plus the SAFC manual. Speaking of thanks
to Sam for the wiring on the OBDI, which allowed me to verify my
91 - 95 wiring. Also I want to thank Matt for the 07/07 sensor info
and Nikongod for the 96 wiring, which when combined with the 97
wiring diagrams verified the 96 - 99 group. Hopefully this will
serve the Saturn community well as an all-inclusive guide for the
SAFC I/II. If anything is missing or you have something to add please
feel free to PM Titan or myself. Thanks.
Allan
a.k.a. Sprint
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Archived Articles
August 2005 TSN will be holding its first ever meet
in Chardon, Ohio. Some of the fastest Saturns in the country will
be attending. Activities will include drag racing, dyno, tech session,
and BBQ. Look for the latest information in the forums.
Different
Racing
Jeff and his team Different Racing have big plans
on breaking into some really low quarter mile times this year. Last
year he posted a 12.40 on a pretty healthy nitrous shot. This year
he has a new turbo setup and some serious determination. Visit his
website for the latest news and information. I expect we'll be seeing
some low 12's from him by the end of the year.
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