Faq: Apexi Powerfc - Frequently Asked Questions

[Sheng]

hey paul,

is there a way to set a rev limiter with pfc?

my stock ecu had one which set just before red line.

cheers

[Guilt-Toy]

settings -> rev/idle and set it to what you want.

[Sheng]

Cheers mate

[paulr33]

Hi Paul i received my Power fc today and was wondering if you can tell me where the stock ecu is located on a R32 GTR. I've had a good look on the net and come up with nothing.

Cheers

its located in the front passenger foot well, behind the panel

just remove it and youll find it there

[paulr33]

can anyone point me to a site on DIY separating the hand controller so i can rewire and mount the screen and buttons separately, ive seen pics in the FAQ but no links...thanks

theres no real DIY on how to do it the screen is connected to the main FC board with a 20 pin connector

if you need to extend this connection you could use an IDE cable that's long enough as its fairly dense and has 40 wires so you only need half

the guys on the rx7 forums have done this and thats all there is too it.

[HIZOKU]

Im about to purchase the sep boost controller for my power fc i was wondering if the power FC and the boost controler add on has more features then the AVCR ? or the same ? i read the AVCR has a scramble feature with the press of the bottom you can have more boost added can this be done on the power fc?

i also read that the power FC can hold 4 maps where as the avcr only holds 2 is this correct?

[lunjiaow]

Im just wondering, if the revs are hunting on idle is a good thing for the engine? (sounds cool though, rotational idle lol) Would this happen cause the timing is overly advanced. I got told by a tuner that the power fc comes stock with advanced timing roughly 20 or 30+degrees to suit Japanese conditions. I also did get bad knocks, worse one was roughly 100knocks. Dont know if its true but stock ecu is back in and my timing is true too with no misfires. Took the power fc out just to play it safe for now as i dont have money to get it tuned.

[driftmeister]

Hi Paul

I notice my idle sometimes drops really low when blipping the throttle or when the car is warm and restarted after an 1 hour. I followed the installation accordingly. Is there a vacuum leak in the system?

[paulr33]

Im about to purchase the sep boost controller for my power fc i was wondering if the power FC and the boost controler add on has more features then the AVCR ? or the same ? i read the AVCR has a scramble feature with the press of the bottom you can have more boost added can this be done on the power fc?

i also read that the power FC can hold 4 maps where as the avcr only holds 2 is this correct?

hi robert,

the avcr boost control system uses the same solenoid and pressure sensor and probably the same main logic code to control boost.

both can set duty and vary the duty cycle for the solenoid to control boost. the powerfc has a safety fuel cut if boost rises 0.25kgcm2 over the target boost setting

so it has an extra insurance policy built in if you use it.

the avcr has two extra features that i know of over powerfc boost kit

- gear judge - the powerfc does not have this

- boost screamble - the powerfc does not have this

the powerfc has 4 boost 'profiles' however - each profile has its own boost setting in kgcm2 so say 0.85kmg2 and its own corresponding duty

so you can hi / low boost profiles and vary the duty cycle etc to change them you need to use the hand controller and select the active profile via SETTING, BOOST

all in all the boost control kit is probably fine for most applications and setup and its cheaper too,. just without the screen & gear judge

[paulr33]

Im just wondering, if the revs are hunting on idle is a good thing for the engine? (sounds cool though, rotational idle lol) Would this happen cause the timing is overly advanced. I got told by a tuner that the power fc comes stock with advanced timing roughly 20 or 30+degrees to suit Japanese conditions. I also did get bad knocks, worse one was roughly 100knocks. Dont know if its true but stock ecu is back in and my timing is true too with no misfires. Took the power fc out just to play it safe for now as i dont have money to get it tuned.

hi,

it wouldnt say its bad for the engine but i would look into fixing it however

the timing when the powerfc is running the idle control is locked and you can't vary it from any settings

so if you run mega spastic ign tming (like i do) the idle should be locked to 15deg (with correction) and you can just magically set it to idle at 22deg for example.

an offset CAS sensor will cause this however so make sure your base timing is correct. if you do MONITOR, 1 CHANNEL, REV, what do you see at idle?

the stock maps on the FC arent to aggressive they are pretty conservative but they do usually knock if you just install the ECU and trash the pants off the car.

the solution is to either use the temp IGN adjust to back out some timing, use some higher octane fuel or get it tuned properly

1 & 3 are the recommended solutions - theres no need to remove the FC, its a stand alone ecu just make changes as needed and away you go

[paulr33]

Hi Paul

I notice my idle sometimes drops really low when blipping the throttle or when the car is warm and restarted after an 1 hour. I followed the installation accordingly. Is there a vacuum leak in the system?

do a standard check for any obvious things and even try touching some of the air lines to see if it varies the idle note

also check the AAC valve (theres a howto thread in the tutorial) and give that a clean

low idle rpm can be caused by a few things;

dirty AAC valve

low battery voltage or strange dwell settings

low RPM setting in SETTING, REV

airleaks or dodgy connections for the airlines

[HIZOKU]

Thanks for your help paul

now i just have to decide what to get i like the scamble feature and i dont think i will have more then two boost settings just normal and high but pressing a button for scamble could be fun to but yeah we see i like the sounds of gear judge to im happy to give away 2 boost settings for these two features

wonder why apexi did not add them seems stupid but none the less thank you for your help once agian

[driftmeister]

do a standard check for any obvious things and even try touching some of the air lines to see if it varies the idle note

also check the AAC valve (theres a howto thread in the tutorial) and give that a clean

low idle rpm can be caused by a few things;

dirty AAC valve

low battery voltage or strange dwell settings

low RPM setting in SETTING, REV

airleaks or dodgy connections for the airlines

Thanks Paul

I guess it could be a dirty AAC Valve too. Going to get it check soon. Cheers!

[R.3.2.G.T.R]

looking at getting PFC for 32R.. is there a serial range that better than rest ie. PFCGTR33010-0102 vs PFCGTR33020-1852.. later is newer but i had read somewhere theres a firmware bug on these model.. any info wud be appreciated

[paulr33]

PFCGTRRB26L should be the newer style powerfc with N003 hand controller im pretty sure (FCC 3)

the older style may be;

PFCRB26 and its probably with N001 hand controller which is like FCC NT or FCC 1

[R.3.2.G.T.R]

thanks paul.. is there any benefit to using newer model / new features?

[dmac_25]

Hi Paul,

Pm'd you about putting gtr pfc into 32 gts.

Thanks

[paulr33]

to known differences to this date

the misfire well known bug still appears to be present in the latest rb26 code apexi offer for the rb26

cubes got a latest new rb26 pfc from apexi and it was 8.x something with the bug still present

[Onthehunt]

Hey Paul,

Got a PFC in my 33 tuned and running well. If the battery in the car goes flat, will it affect the power fc in anyway?

cheers

[sl33py]

Hey Paul,

I just read there is a VCT and non-VCT PFC models for the RB25DET. Is this true? If so, how can I tell which mine is (second hand, no box). I don't know the model code right now cos it's at home.

Edited November 30, 2007 by sl33py