I've numbered your questions so it's easier for me to answer them. So there is no confusion, I'm a Stinger PiMPx/PiMPxs tech so the answers will be for that ECU, not the pnp2, though some of it will apply to both.
1) We provide a 20 page startup guide that outlines every single step from removing the stock ECU to firing the engine for the first time. It's go pictures, diagrams, and of course the actual text that outlines when to do every step of the way. If you follow these directions exactly as written, and don't do anything it doesn't say to do, you don't need to know anything about EFI, tuning, MS products, etc to be successful. Our typical customer has no EFI tuning experience prior to buying our ECU.
2) Our base tune comes from a real car with similar mods to yours. With that said, it doesn't come pre-loaded because there are some steps in the setup process that require you to crank the engine before it's capable of starting so we pre-load a tune that won't fire the injectors to prevent you from pushing a bunch of fuel into your oil during this process. With that said, loading the base tune takes about 5 seconds and how to do so is outlined in the startup guide. The base tune isn't set up like an A9L because it 1) is based on your mods so only a stock 5.0 would want an "a9l" like tune, and 2) the ECU's share no components, use different strategies (MAF vs Speed Density), and therefore there is no real way to make one just like an a9l. As far as things being set up for you, for the most part yes. All of the "technical" stuff is pre-set and you'll never touch it. The warmup/startup tables are populated, fuel and spark tables are set to as close to your mods as we can do without having datalogs from your vehicle, etc. There are some things you have to input because they aren't saved in the tune but rather are saved in the ECU so they don't get reset when you load a new tune (coolant/air temp calibrations, TPS calibration, wideband o2 calibration) and also the required fuel value (engine size, injector size, fuel type). We "could" set the required fuel value for you but it's a very simple thing for you to do, we say where/how to do it, and we have a good reason to have you fill it out that is explained in the guide. The intended end result is for your engine to start/run on the base tune. It is not intended to not need any additional tuning is this isn't really possible with any ECU. Nobody can nail a perfect tune out of the box with no feedback.
3) You can use it. It doesn't get you in the ballpark, it gets you exactly where you (or the base tune) tells it to be. This is a VERY powerful tool that works very well when it's getting accurate info from the sensors (bad info into the ECU = bad tune coming out). It is as good or better (and certainly faster) than a "human" tuner 95% of the time. Keep in mind though that it only tunes the fuel, it doesn't tune timing (this needs to be done on a dyno, if you feel you can do better than the timing table we provide).
4) I tried, hope I was helpful. Our startup guide does go through multiple changes as we get feedback from customers so we try to make it as "easy" as possible to understand. If something doesn't understand something and we explain it to them in a different way and they get it, we edit the startup guide with this new wording in hopes of others not having the same issue. This way it's as "easy" as possible to understand. Also keep in mind that for the PiMPx/PiMPxs, it's MS3 based which is the newest MS version, not MS2 based like the other PNP options so it's got a lot more bells and whistles. It also comes with all options "built in" so there is no need to send it back for upgrading. It's all baked into the base price. We also have a dedicated support forum just for our ECU's that focuses entirely on Ford engines of this era and all of our ECU's are identical so there is no worry about finding info that doesn't apply to you. The forum has paid tech individuals who check it about 20 hours a day and are ready to answer any questions that may arise, or help you tune your setup, or answer questions about settings or steps you don't fully understand.
Yes you sell Mega squirts with your name on them and provide the same base tunes and the same software..... glad to have you here but please just don't spam my thread trying to push a product.
I'm not looking for a pissing match, I don't care never will. You make a ms based product..... OK I can go down to a supply store and get enough components to build my own system too. You use tuner studio, the settings for ign and fuel control are all the same. Your base tune may not be a carbon copy but it will have the same basics enough to make the car start and run.The guy asked the question about the mspnp2 or the PiMP and it was unanswered so I responded. It's not like I just randomly posted unsolicited information. He asked, nobody answered, so I answered. I figured getting info from the source would be valuable. From the original post on page 1, it said "it may be easier to have this thread as a reference for anyone thinking about using a MS product and Tuner Studio" and didn't say anything about only certain people being able to answer questions. I'll keep my MS related questions and findings in here and anyone should be able to bounce ideas around". So I though "anyone" included me. I guess I was mistaken. I'm sorry if it offended you that I posted in here and I'll be sure to stay out of it.
With that said, I am curious what you mean by "same base tunes" though. Same as who? Where do our base tunes come from? Also curious if you're aware that there is not a single "off the shelf" Megasquirt component in our entire PiMPx ECU so saying we're just sticking our name on a Megasquirt is a bit misleading. It is MS3 based but we aren't just buying stuff from B&G or DIY and soldering together their "kit" and selling it as our own, far from it.
I didn't know your name was Scott ....My understanding of this thread was that it would give folks here the arena to try tuning and data logging for ourselves. The info here has been invaluable to me.
Its not about who's ##$k is bigger. We just all want to get along. Steve has helped me out alot by helping others here.
We are interested in solutions to issues through tuning. If people aren't posting actual tune related problems and solutions I'd rather not see it here. This isn't for brand slaying or my #@#t is bigger. We don't care about that. Let us know how you tackle issues you come across....that's what we want to know.
Now, welcome buddy !...my names Scott.
@Stinger
In these days and times we take everything with a grain of salt.I'm not looking for a ****ing match either, just wanted to make sure there wasn't misinformation about our product being posted here since misinformation is often worse than no information. I've seen a number of instances where people have assumed false things about our products on other forums and it's made other people think we just put our name on something that isn't ours and has given them a sour taste towards us because of it, all because of a false statement that they took as true by assuming the person stating it had experience with the product.
@90sickfox, that I can understand. If the premise of the thread was to share tuning advice/info and not for asking about particular products or what would work well for someone's setup then that's understood. I was just trying to answer a question I saw that wasn't answered. Sorry if it wasn't answered because it didn't belong in the thread. I was trying to be helpful.
If I see unanswered questions in the future in this thread that involve tuning/logging, I'll be sure to help.
Regardless of how you have your sequential injection setup the number of injectors is physically the number of injectors on the engine. The ECU uses this for the required fuel calculations. I will go through your tune for you tomorrow and set up a lot of the basic tables for the idle strategies ego correction rev limiter ect....
ok @Sparky714 your car would have never run with that tune, the ve table was a complete mess. not sure what happened there, I had to guess for the new table but it should be "close" try to start the car if it does not fire add 10% to the entire ve table then try again wash rinse repeat.
Did you go into the "tools" menu on the tool bar? your tps and other sensors need to be calibrated as well. including the WB.