rhythmnsmoke

I just have a few questions for the people who actually bought the Standalone AEM unit, or are thinking about purchasing it for their tC. One of my crew members who just got back from Iraq came over to my house to wire up his AEM standalone. He bought the AEM from Dezod along with the plug and play harness. While we were sitting in the garage, he points out to me that the Idle Air Control valve that he bought with his AEM was actually a Honda part (used part). I was immediately take back by this. Then he proceeds to tell me that he thinks this unit is actually off of a Honda and not "specifically" designed for the tC. So, basically he bought an AEM unit meant to be installed onto a Honda and not configured for his tC.

So, after about an Hr of feeding wires and what not through his firewall, he connects up the AEM unit, and his car will not fire up. Tried a few more times and nothing. It tries to crank, but not actually start, so he disconnected the AEM for now, and drove home. Couple of days later he was suppose to go to a local shop to have it tuned, but canceled his appointment as he couldn't even get it to start the car, so it was pointless.

I advised him that maybe there is a jumper setting or something we might be missing (I have no experience with the AEM so I don't know). He contacted Dezod, to which his questions pretty much without any resolution. I think his words were....."they told me to take it to a tuner". Then some other information he told me was that AEM does not support their Standalone unit on a tC, cause they don't have an "actual" configuration for it. So.......He can't even call AEM for help.

My question is WHO is providing support for the standalone AEM unit when AEM themselves are not? The other standalone options are Hydra and Motec, which BOTH of them list their units to work with the tC and are configured/compatible for the tC.

I was checking Dezod's site, but I could not find any mention of getting a used Honda part.

djafropiq

i thought it was like a universal standalone that had a pnp harness made for it..

rhythmnsmoke

^^Then AEM should have no problem supporting it right?......Wrong.

djafropiq

aint that a mother.. well i hope his issue gets resolved.. thats a lot of coin to spend on something like that..

Resu

hmmmmm. My understanding is that it is a universal standalone that has a wiring harness (made by Dezod) for the tC. However, I was reading on another thread in here that, yes it has no specific configuration right off the bat that goes or is compatiable tC which is why you would have gotten the suggestion from Dezod to go see a tuner who could rectify all the fields on the map so that it would have what it needs to run correctly. To my understanding (in theory yes it should start up) but from my understanding if it really is a standalone it is completely custom. Meaning that it has nothing to read from at the very beginning. NOW I could be completely wrong in my thought process on this. But just my .02 cents. Hope to hear from some guys runing the AEM.

~Tyler

krazylowgsx

Ive talked to Paul before about the EMS he sells, and since aem doesn't make a standalone for the tc, Paul uses an ems designed for another vehicle and made a PNP harness so us with a tc could use an aem if we wanted to.
I do not know was vehicle its designed for, but I would guess a Honda from reading your post. as far as the used Honda part goes... I would send that ____ back... your buddy just dropped alot of coin on a standalone.. I'd be ____ed if I gotsomething used!

tell your friend to call Paul.. he's always really helpful!

brett561tc

the reason that the honda part is in there is because it works with the aem and our cars. jeffs tuner had to figure this out the hard way. the car needs to be taken to a profesional tuner. the aem unit is not for a honda. it is a universal unit made to work with the tc. jeffs tuner is famous for making 9 second hondas. all the spare parts laying around were hondas. thats why he used a honda part. im sure the toyota equivelent would work, but thats not what tony had at his shop.

tell your friend not to give up so easy. its not an e-manage. its gonna be alittle tricky to get it to work. thats why i suggest taking it to a pro. just remember, the fastest 2az-fe tc in the world has the same engine management. good luck bro.

paul_dezod

The unit must be configured 100% for the individuals set-up. There are injector changes, MAP sensor changes, O2 sensor configurations, scaling break points and more sorts like this that need to be configured for the entire set-up. Standalones are not plug in, start and run. Cold maps for temps must be tweaked and such. The map(s) we provide are off of running Scion tCs with this unit, and are 100% configured for their individual set-ups.

We provide a map that is made with some general fields assumed and filled in up to 2000 RPMS, but anyone who has ever done a complete map from scratch on a standalone knows that is just the tip of the iceberg.

With respect to the IAC, it is infact used and is a T1 item, which is clearly the case as it's written on the outside of the box. Our tech notes has the T1 IAC kit install instructions specifically for the tC on it.

paul_dezod

Exactly. See post above.

Mr_Meaty

the AEM unit from DEZOD is a unit that DEZOD has customized to work with the tC. I don't know if it has a "base map" to let it run from initial install.

I know the AEM F/IC I got was just zeroed out so it woudl not run at all when I installed it without putting a map on there first.

So, if we put it like that, Dezod made the custom AEM EMS so Dezod should support it. They should at least have a general idea on what's going on with it.

brett561tc

c'mon travis. no need to be so dramatic. how "taken back" were you to know that all zpi sold were used turbos?

paul_dezod

Ok. Just as a quick reference, when we where doing the IS300 AEM on MY DD IS300, it took us 3 weeks at 6-7 hours per week just to create a tweak a cold start map that would work, idle the car and not stall it out after 5 secs. For granted we worked on it on and off...lot's of cranking, but starting....lots of starting and no extensive running. EOS

Now, after approx 30 hours of tune time, my N/A IS300 pulls harder than it ever could of before with not 1 power adder EXCEPT the AEM EMS developed by us and some extensive tuning.

Enrique_Dezod

LoL @ "Taken Back"

Guru

Why not use the Hydra standalone? It has been on the market and is a well tested and viable solution. Has worked flawlessly on countless forced induction Tc's I have worked on.

brett561tc

cause the guy already bought the aem.

rhythmnsmoke

Have not made it that far yet though. He needs it to actually start first before anyone can rectify any fields on the map. Does Dezod not have the specifics as far as settings for installation/start-up?

rhythmnsmoke

His option right now is to go to VA to see if he can get it worked out. I think it would have been a little more forthright though if they would have let him know that he was getting a used valve from another car before he actually bought/recieved the unit.



So, are you saying that your customers need to have this unit installed AT a shop so that the tuner can configure it that it may start, and that you can't at least hook it up at home and drive to the shop for tunning? So, when purchasing this unit then, you should calculate in installation cost from a tuner as well as for them to tune it? Did you guys tuned these base maps yourself, or are you getting the tune from other tuners to provide for your base maps?

rhythmnsmoke

I wasn't being dramatic. Everyone praises Dezod for their customer service, I just did not expect it. So, are you saying that a little bit of non-disclosure is ok?

PS....If I was being dramatic, I would have said something along the lines of......"I was shocked ".

etsnet

iTrader: (2)

So how long you think (about) it would take to tune the AEM on a tC? I ask this cuz I'm very close to getting it but I figured it wouldn't be more then an ultimate (figuring $500/$600 to tune). I also thought it would have a base map to be able to startup and at least drive to the shop. I may have to rethink my plans and do a little more research.

Good questions Travis. "Taken back"

05-RS1

after reading this thread, i'm with you etsnet. i probably havent spent much consideration on the standalone as you have though.

at first i was also under the impression that there was some sort of "base map" that would at least get the car running so that the tuner worked from there. but then i realized since it was a complete standalone (unlike the piggybacks we use with our ECU) it's pretty much like removing our ECU and sticking a brand new box in there with no information. everything has to tuned to the individual car. so with that in mind, your looking at a ton of money spent on tuning alone..probably in the 4 figure range if starting from scratch like Dezod did . even with the partial map that dezod provides there is still much tuning left to be done...