Pfc For Neo Auto

[uncouth32]

Hi guys, been thinking of buying a PFC for my ER34 NEO with auto tranny. Recently I came across an article which says that the PFC is not ideal for auto tranny because of the computer logic being controlled by the computer or something along that line.

"PowerFC only supports manual cars (excluding Toyota). It will work on an automatic car however it will not handle gear changes and simply keep the throttle nailed during a gear change. This will result in jerky gear changes and stress placed on the gearbox. The factory ECU during a gear change will communicate with the auto box and drop timing, ignition to ensure a smooth change. For those wishing to use PowerFC with auto you should consider a mechanical auto gearbox instead of an electronic. The PowerFC should work fine with a mechanical gearbox such as power glide, transbreak etc.

This is because the mainstream ECU's in Nissan etc rely on the main cars' ECU for gear logic change control and functions. Cars such as the Toyota have a seperate ECU for the gearbox change logic and control so it's not affected. Apexi chose not to port the Automatic gearbox logic code (as its very long and complex) into the PowerFC because I suspect they found its simply not worth it & too complicated. You can buy an Automatic PowerFC for a Toyota Chaser for example and it has auto logic control under SETTING, you can set the shiftmap, ramp up speeds etc as it has the code to interact with the Toyota AUTO ECU that is seperate to the main ecu. So in summary - Auto PowerFC's exist & work but only for Toyota. We have seen quiet a few Auto R33 Skylines with manual PowerFCs - some report they work fine etc and there is no difference - do so at your own risk. " http://paulr33.skylinesaustralia.com/docs/...powerfc-faq.htm

Now, is there anyone out there with an auto tranny using pfc on the neo? and is there any trouble with gear changing or any other problems? As this article seems to be impressive and detailed thus i wish to get more feedback/advice from you guys before going with the decision to get the PFC.

I currently have a FMIC, 3in catback, BOV, airfilter, dump pipe and 108ks if that matters. And sorry for the long post.

[bubba]

Since when is "transbreak" (sp: transbrake) a type of gearbox?

[Stinky Rooster]

It can be done, a few of the stagea guys are running PFC's in their cars, (stageas are 97% auto's) but it usually done with a shift kit added to the trans. The only real issue is that the std ecu actually disrupts the engine ignition during gear changes to soften up the shifts so they don't have to be done under full hydraulic pressure (hence the comment about changes being made too harsh with the PFC) and the PFC has no way of emulating this, while it works, it will drastically reduce the life of your gearbox - just the ticket if you are planning on a manual conversion...

[Pal]

hey dale. do you know if the auto ecu will do this still if a manual conversion has been done? (sorry to hijack thread)

Edited September 12, 2008 by Pal

[QWK32]

on neo engine cars, skyline or stagea, the auto computer is built into the standard ecu. so if you change the std ecu for a PFC the auto wont work, unless you fully manualise the auto. R33's i believe have a separate ecu to controll the auto, so they can get away with changing the std ecu for a PFC if they do abit of work to the auto ie: shiftkit.

[Stinky Rooster]

hey dale. do you know if the auto ecu will do this still if a manual conversion has been done? (sorry to hijack thread)

Um,. AFAIK its not an issue if you have a manual conversion. There will be no signal from the trans telling it when to break ignition so I very much doubt it. The only KNOWN issue I am aware of, only concerns the R34 GTt PFC and you need to perform the "secret squirrel tweak" to stop the traction control output triggering the check engine light.

as explained here

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...t&p=3208663

[uncouth32]

been busy with my new job thats why i havent been logging in. hmm, so its true that its not advisable to have a pfc for auto tranny aye, and having would means getting ready to have a manual gearbox. hmm... ok, looks like i cant have it now cos my gf has an auto license and we would get another car after we buy a house next year... hope to read up more and hear more advice as well...