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I'm willing to admit that a human factor probably has been involved too, contributing to the situation. I also understand that many of us have experienced women panicking for no apparent reason and many times I agree with the disapproval of that kind of behavior in such situations. However, I feel that people are a little too conclusive calling this guy an idiot. If I were on a highway with a lot of cars and in all of a sudden the car started accelerating putting me out of control, I would get freaked out for sure.

The major concern I have when writing my posts on this thread is that the car manufacturers tend not to take the responsibility they should for their products. They keep cutting the costs reducing the quality of their products and their philsophy seems to be; "if something goes wrong it's better to blame it all on the driver". I wish their businesses were more transparent and that people had a higher awareness of what they are doing so that the "bad apples" were quickly forced out of the market.

I'm not saying that everything is bad when it comes to electronic control replacing mechanical components. Just to give an example: Several of the experienced car-mechanics I've talked to say that the fuel injection systems as of today are very stable, reliable and less prone to failures than carburettors before they were phased out of the market. Since the introduction of all emission systems, the carbs became a nightmare to deal with and the lambda control was a god-send when it was introduced.

Remember that industrial machines such as forklifts, skylifts, mining equipment and construction equipment in many cases have this type of control and sometimes work in more corrosive environments than regular automobiles. So I think a drive-by-wire system could be reliable if it is designed properly, but when it comes to car manufacturers I'm afraid that such designs may require a lot more R&D and production costs than they are willing to take, which tends to yield much less reliable applications.

Sometimes, if you are lucky, manuals and schematics can be downloaded from p2p networks, or if you have the right connections, binders with service manuals can be bought at a not too unreasonable price. I also believe that a lot can be achieved using a regular aftermarket OBDII diagnostics unit and a laptop even on modern vehicles. But it really shouldn't be this way. At least when it comes to computers, you can always choose Linux or BSD, but when it comes to cars you usually have no choice. There may be exceptions however, there is a build-your-own fuel injection system called MegaSquirt.

I appriciate your informative posts, opportunities to learn new things about automotive technology becomes fewer and farther between these days. I guess that we armchair rocket scientists always have better ideas than anyone else and we would have an interesting conversation for sure.
Cheers!

Install megasquirt'n'spark and hack your own car.

http://bgsoflex.com/megasquirt.html

Not open source, but certainly some degree of community development. (Actual OSS for it would rule)

MegaSquirt is a DIY electronic fuel injection (EFI) kit. This part is for the controller and they have links and plans on how to build the hardware too. Once I manage to build a transmission that can handle the power of my 458ci big block Chevy (single carb), I want to see about building one of these, only using a tunnel ram intake. I should finally be able to get the MPG below 9!

The platform is not really abundant nor is it say a Windows or UNIX base. It's kinda hand built by me. I used a MegaSquirt system. It comes in a kit which is basically some directions, a schematic, a PCB and a bucket full of parts. They supply software but you can also access the source code for ALL the software including the tuning programs and even get the assembly language code for the hardware itself. We looked at source code and used some difference sensors so we have to recompile to use what isn't in the standard definitions, libraries and tables that are supplied. But then again, we are running much more boost than the 2 BAR or so that the supplied system handles.

We only do firmware updates and software updates when a new version of the software comes out that has some functionality that might help us. Like, for instance, very soon they will be coming out with a "MegaSequencer" to control true sequential multi-point fuel injection. We will have to get that, see how it fits in and then adjust and recompile the source code to fit our needs. They make it quite easy to do so and the MegaSquirt is loaded with an immense amount of info and help.

They are about as good as can be expected for the price and getting better. IMO, they rival the DFI systems from Accel and BigStuff and trounce the systems from Edelbrock and Holley. Only one system I have seen allows the same level of tunability but its from Puerto Rico and the guys are trying to keep some kind of competitive advantage so the whole website is in Spanish. IIRC, it's called Sakura. You have to go to training, which is also entirely in Spanish, to be able to use it. I know a guy who was showing me his system. But I think the MegaSquirt is better because it allows me to mess with everything, including source code.

It's impressive stuff and it costs me a fraction of what a DFI box would have run and I can get much more in depth with tuning and functionality.

Check the out if you want. You can find them here: MegaSquirt EFI.

I won't feel complete until I build my own fuel injection controller and install it on my Chevy.

Check out MegaSquirt http://www.bgsoflex.com/megasquirt.html

This guy designed a fairly basic system for fuel injection around a 68HC908 processor. Most people using it have converted pre-fi cars to fi using it, but a fair amount have replaced other FI systems with it.

the moral here is that the best option is to own the oldest car you can get your hands on.

another build it your self ecu would be Megasquirt [http://www.bgsoflex.com/megasquirt.html]. Otherwise, i'd suggest just reading the input from all the sensors, they're pretty easy to interface, just make sure all your circuits are designed properly so you don't burn anything out. +Temperature sensor: resistance changes with temp, higher the resistance, the colder it is (not all are like this). Example, on my Saab, 1000 ohms is about 8 degrees F. +O2 sensor: if you want to know the fuel/air mixture, the output from the O2 sensor normally ranges from 0-4 volts. Figuring out timing and dwell is a bit harder, requiring crankshaft position sensor, and knowing the current rpms of the shaft. Most automotive books for your car will describe the various sensors, and their outputs.

If you are interested in EFI, ( even if you wish to keep your stock computer) check out megasquirt . I have learned more about how EFI works, and I plan to use megaquirt on my 65 barracuda. This type of garage/junkyard technology will keep older vehicles on the road, with better emissions and performance.

There are a lot of "open source" fuel injection computers out there (ignition too). If your really interested in making more power and hacking, join on to one of these projects. Perhaps someday someone will make an aftermarket odd fire ignition computer that I can program. In the mean time, check out these projects

MegaSquirt Electronic Fuel Injection Computer
Electronic fuel injection 11
PowerPC fuel injection

I've been both for as long as I can remember...

I grew up taking things apart to see how they worked... just like my big brother, but unlike him - I put them back together (and they worked).

I was rebuilding motorcycles and building home-made go-karts (with motorcycle and snowmobile engines, lawn-tractor tires, etc.) as a young teen, and got hooked on computers the first time I saw one... ah, the number of nights I got such a small amount of sleep because I couldn't stop coding in assembly on my new (at the time) Apple //c!

Since then I've gotten much worse.
My first car was my Grandma's '72 Duster with a slant-6.
Rather than do the oh-so-common V8 swap, I decided to do the geek thing and hopped up the /6!
I lost count of the number of times I had to pop the hood to prove to a GM V8 driver that I wasn't kidding about my powerplant! (after dusting him off hitting 2nd!)

I now drive a mildly modified (still undergoing the transformations) 2nd-gen RX-7 Turbo II, a 1976 Triumph TR7 (was a basket-case when I bought her), and am restoring a 1980 TR8 convertible.
I'm also restoring a 1970 Kawasaki Mach III 500 (triple 2-stroker)... the model frequently refered to as "Satan's Chainsaw".

As for computers, I switched to Linux (completely) back in 1992 (tried FreeBSD a couple times) for my home systems, and became a SunOS/Solaris sysadmin back in '95. I only have 5 systems at home at the moment, but 4 of them are dual-processor (one's a notebook), and two are SPARCstations.

I'm also into electronics, and plan to megasquirt at least one, possibly all 3 of my cars.

I think I'd have to answer "YES!" to your question.

Nah, still too many syllables. How about we coin the unit "megasquirt"? Oh, wait, that's already taken.

Oh, and too bad this doesn't work with MAP sensors

Input trigger events (compared to ignition events) can be divided by any number between one and eight (number of cylinders must be evenly divisable by this injection number) - this means that there can be an injection event for every ignition event, or an injection event for every other ignition event (skip one), and so on depending on selection. The user can switch which injection division number to use while the car is running - the system will scale the required fuel amount properly on the fly.

Input trigger events (compared to ignition events) can be divided by any number between one and eight (number of cylinders must be evenly divisable by this injection number) - this means that there can be an injection event for every ignition event, or an injection event for every other ignition event (skip one), and so on depending on selection. The user can switch which injection division number to use while the car is running - the system will scale the required fuel amount properly on the fly.

How is this any different from turning valves on a bigger than design carborator? Give me a break. If you program your computer wrong, your engine won't work, but I doubt it will explode or burn up.

This project is cool. It looks like free software and so, we can imagine the much will come of it. A nice use of this will be to put fuel injection on engines that were never had it to begin with. I wonder what it and some new heads could do for my 1970 VW van.

Check out the MegaSquirt project for a cheap (~$110 US) Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) controller. You can connect to the MegaSquirt, which is homebuilt, via a serial cable with a laptop/pc/whatever.

You too can customize your cars performance without the cost of a Formula car... =)

This one is worth checking into if you are serious about hacking your car. You get to put the kit together, too.... so it is a real hack, not just an aftermarket ECU you drop in that doesn't give you real control for tuning.

-Joe

Or add this: http://www.bgsoflex.com/megasquirt.html. Granted, it doesn't offer the degree of flexibility that the MoTeC will, as it doesn't do ignition, but for those of us with older cars or carbs it is a god send. I just built one for my turbo 4 that uses KJet (old school mechanical fuel injection).

Well, *all* vehicles sold in the US after the 1996 model year are federally mandated to have OBDII. It's true that few of the interfaces have tunable parameters, but the interface is there, and can be read from. Yes, manufacturer-proprietary interfaces for setting parameters are causing problems in the field of aftermarket OBDII software, but it certainly exists in many forms.

Plus, there are certainly other EMS's available for less than the $3000 range, such as the Haltech, Microtech, and even the Megasquirt, which, while not unencumbered, has at least source and schematics available. It's just not to be used commercially without authorization. While I'd welcome a Free EMS, it's probably better to add your skillset to the DIY-EFI group, as they're already working on this.

I can absolutely identify.
While I haven't done any real programming in years, I do enjoy advanced administration, learning, experimenting, just plain keeping my skills up.
Once in a while, I get blocked as you describe... no biggie, I have tons of hobbies to keep me busy. I'll just switch to working on my cars (I love modifying and restoring old sports-cars).
When I get tired of that... I just switch to electronics instead, etc.
One thing is definately cool, when you can take all of your hobbies and merge them at some point. I plan to use MegaSquirt in my TR7 and I may just make my own EFI brain from scratch for my TR8 (all three hobbies merged).
If I ever get tired of the above... I can always go snorkelling. :^)

I recently participated in a 450 member group purchase for the Megasquirt EFI. Two guys: Bruce Bowling and Al Grippo designed and built this programmable fuel injection computer, and provided all of the information for building the EFI: assembler source code, schematics, PC Configuration program, wiring & tuning diagrams, you name it.

This system will allow you to replace the stock engine management system or fuel inject a carbureated vehicle. The obvious advantage over a the stock fuel injection system is that you can actually manipulate all aspects of the system: fuel curve, startup enrichments, accelerator enrichments, etc.

Since the group purchase, people have been "megasquirting" everything: new cars, old cars, trucks, Rotary engines (Mazda Rx7), even motorcycles!

Check out the website. Be sure to look at the PC configurator...

Megasquirt Home page
Yahoo discussion groups

A lot of this information is very proprietary... They've performed a huge service for the community by developing this project. It inspired me to undertake a comparatively modest project of my own: the uSpark ignition controller

Megasquirt is a stand alone fuel injection controller. The Megasquirt is a diy project that could be adapted to many engine applications.
Another good reference is diy-efi.org.

Both of these sites offer projects that would be smaller scaled and could be relativly cheap. Of course after mastering a diy efi you may be inclined to open up your daily driver!